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Alan McWilliams

E-MTB rider based in Western Crete, documenting off-road routes across mountain, rural, and historic terrain.

Routes are personally ridden and field-verified, recorded with GPX data, clear grading, terrain notes, and surface accuracy. The emphasis is on rideability, access, and realistic conditions rather than headline distance or speed.
Many routes follow older paths, resistance landscapes, battlefield ground, and working rural or sacred sites. Historical context is included only where it arises directly from the ground being ridden, with attention to place-names and land use over time.


Off-road riding in Crete involves linking existing tracks, older paths, and rural access routes with short road sections, reflecting the absence of a way-marked E-MTB trail network and the terrain’s settlement-based structure.
emtbcrete.gr/

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Timeline

went mountain biking

September 24, 2026 at 05:02

Morning Ride

Time

3h11m

Distance

36.3km

Speed

17.8km/h

Ascent

680m

Descent

690m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 22, 2026 at 04:53

Morning Ride

Time

3h15m

Distance

28.9km

Speed

14.6km/h

Ascent

610m

Descent

610m

, and like this.

went mountain biking

September 20, 2026 at 05:02

Morning Ride

Time

4h07m

Distance

42.4km

Speed

16.0km/h

Ascent

890m

Descent

890m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 13, 2026 at 05:01

Morning Ride

Time

2h42m

Distance

27.6km

Speed

15.1km/h

Ascent

610m

Descent

620m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 10, 2026 at 04:56

Morning Ride

Time

3h16m

Distance

38.4km

Speed

15.6km/h

Ascent

820m

Descent

830m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 8, 2026 at 05:07

Morning Ride

Time

2h53m

Distance

27.5km

Speed

16.8km/h

Ascent

550m

Descent

550m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 6, 2026 at 06:24

The Descent and the Twenty-Seven Bends

The way down lay in full view and told us almost nothing. It was only a pale thread scratched across the limestone, appearing on one shoulder of the mountain and vanishing behind the next. Far below, the Frangokastello plain spread beside the Libyan Sea, green and geometrical where the high…

Time

3h45m

Distance

27.9km

Speed

11.7km/h

Ascent

980m

Descent

980m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 3, 2026 at 04:54

The Wells at Kefalas

There are places I have ridden through so many times that I have stopped really looking at them. Kefalas is one of them.

On this morning's ride I stopped in the village square beside the church, where a small group of old wells sits among the stone paving and trees.…

Time

2h56m

Distance

30.9km

Speed

17.6km/h

Ascent

620m

Descent

620m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

September 1, 2026 at 04:59

Reading the Landscape - Part 5: The Koules

Time

3h24m

Distance

37.2km

Speed

15.1km/h

Ascent

830m

Descent

840m

went mountain biking

August 30, 2026 at 04:55

Reading the Landscape - Part 4: Phrygana

The Cretan Landscape in Summer

The previous rides in Reading the Landscape had taken me to the salt pans beside the sea, into the limestone country of Apokoronas, and then to water — or, more accurately, to the evidence left by water in a landscape which for much of the…

Time

4h37m

Distance

37.0km

Speed

15.2km/h

Ascent

780m

Descent

780m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

August 11, 2026 at 05:04

Reading the Landscape - Part 3: Water

Reading a Dry Watercourse in the Limestone of Apokoronas

The first two rides in Reading the Landscape began with things that were immediately visible.

The salt pans were cut into the coastal rock beside the sea. Stone was everywhere across the limestone country of Apokoronas.

Today was different.

The subject…

Time

2h42m

Distance

26.1km

Speed

16.7km/h

Ascent

600m

Descent

600m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

August 9, 2026 at 04:58

Reading the Landscape - Part 2: Stone

Limestone and the Karst Landscape of Apokoronas

The first ride in Reading the Landscape took me down to the coast and the salt pans cut into the rock beside the sea. Today the route went in the opposite direction, away from the coast and into the broken limestone country of…

Time

3h04m

Distance

33.5km

Speed

16.4km/h

Ascent

710m

Descent

710m

went mountain biking

August 6, 2026 at 05:29

Reading the Landscape — Part 1: The Salt Pans

The landscape itself can preserve the memory of an industry long after the buildings, tools and people have disappeared.

The ride began, as so many do, in Kokkino Chorio, following familiar roads across the Apokoronas before descending towards the coast. The morning was warm but clear, with excellent visibility across…

Time

2h17m

Distance

12.8km

Speed

14.7km/h

Ascent

240m

Descent

330m

, , and others like this.

went mountain biking

August 4, 2026 at 04:59

Objects Along the Way — Part 10: The Shepherd’s Hut

A small dry-stone shelter within Roupakias Forest preserves the practical knowledge of those who once worked and moved through this landscape.

Some objects stand openly beside the road. Others must be found. The shepherd’s hut lies within Roupakias Forest, the wooded area included in local walking route guides known as…

Time

3h07m

Distance

30.6km

Speed

16.5km/h

Ascent

590m

Descent

590m

went mountain biking

August 2, 2026 at 04:28

Objects Along the Way – Part 9: The Minoan Tholos Tomb

Riding Through Time ......

Today's circular ride began and ended in Kokkino Chorio, covering 51.7 kilometres with 980 metres of climbing through the varied landscapes of Apokoronas. The ride took 4 hours 8 minutes overall, including stops for exploration and photography, with 3 hours 6 minutes of riding time. The…

Time

4h09m

Distance

51.7km

Speed

16.7km/h

Ascent

980m

Descent

980m

, , and others like this.

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