#tseri

areski mou 

This is a hard route on good quality roads (except the part within Tseri) with some easy climbs mainly between Tseri and Analiontas, some moderate ones between Analiontas and Kapedes and many hard ones (with my standards) between Kapedes and Machairas Monastery. The roads in most of the route are very quiet. The route starts in Tseri and moves in a southern direction until we pass an army camp after which we turn right (south-west) towards the village of Analiontas. When we reach Analiontas, at the stop sign we go right (west) towards Kampia. When we get to Kampia, at the stop sign, we turn left (south) towards Kapedes. At the entrance of Kapedes there is a roundabout, where we take the 4th exit towards Machairas. From there onwards we just stay on the paved road ascending towards Machairas, passing from 'Mantra tou Kampiou' picnic site, Poullaros peak (~600m), Skordokephalos peak (~700m) and Saint Onoufrios, until we arrive at a crossroad where the monastery is clearly visible on our right (and clearly marked). One can make a right turn and go to the monastery (as i did) or continue towards Kionia peak (the peak straight ahead with the golf ball-looking radar site). The way back is exactly the same (but much easier). The length of the route is ~35 miles.

For more info (including a zoomable map) click:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213941889

Me at Skordokephalos peak:

'Stavraetos tou Machaira' monument at the peak next to Machairas monastery: 

Stavraetos refers to Grigoris Afxentiou, perhaps the most prominent Greek-Cypriot freedom fighter of EOKA, the organization which took on the fight (1955-59) against the British colonial troops occupying Cyprus at the time (1878-1960). Afxentiou's hiding place was in the area of the monastery; in fact this is where he was burnt alive at the age of 29 (3/3/1957), after many hours of fight, when his position was leaked by a traitor.

Machairas Monastery:

  Kionia peak, as seen from the area of Machairas monastery:

This is a relatively easy route on good quality roads (except the part within Tseri) with some easy and moderate (at least with my standards) climbs mainly between Tseri and Episkopio and Arediou and Mitsero. The roads in most of the route are very quiet. The route starts right off the Nicosia-Limassol motorway (A1), on the exit to Tseri. We head towards Tseri (western direction) and then make a turn towards the south. We continue until we pass an army camp after which we turn right (south-west) towards the village of Analiontas. We take the first paved road turn on our right (western direction) and continue towards Psimolofou until we reach a stop sign. We turn left (south) and enter the main road. We take the first turn on the right, at the stop sign make a left and then take the first turn on the right towards Episkopio. After the first houses at Episkopio we take the first turn to the right and then the second to the right and continue on a western route towards Arediou. When we reach Arediou we make a left turn at the stop sign and then the fourth to the right (west direction) and then the first to our left. We continue until we reach a stop sign, where we cross the main road (the road going to Palaichori) and continue towards Agrokipia and finally Mitsero. On our way back we follow the same route until we pass Arediou, after which instead of continuing to reach Episkopio we take the first paved road turn towards Ergates (north direction). From there onwards the route is straightforward just passing through the village centers of Ergates, Psimolofou and Panw Deftera. When we reach Katw Deftera, we need to make a turn to the right (east direction) towards Tseri (clearly marked). We continue until we reach the traffic lights in Tseri, where we make a turn to the right (south direction) and continue on the main road passing through the center of Tseri and after we pass a zig zag part of the road we take the first turn on the left towards the motorway (eastwards) to get to the start/finish point. The length of the route is 36 miles.

For more info (including a zoomable map) click:

This is a harder route on relatively good quality roads (except the part within Tseri) with some easy-moderate (at least with my standards) climbs mainly between Tseri and Analiontas and a harder climb between Analiontas and Kapedes. The roads in most of the route are relatively quiet. The route starts right off the Nicosia-Limassol motorway (A1), on the exit to Tseri. We head towards Tseri (western direction) and then make a turn towards the south. We continue until we pass an army camp after which we turn right (south-west) towards the village of Analiontas. When we reach Analiontas we turn left and continue towards Lythrodontas. After we exit Analiontas we take the 2nd (paved road) turn on our right (western direction) towards Kapedes. We climb towards Kapedes and when we finally reach it we stay on the western side of the village until we reach a roundabout, where we take the 4th exit (1st counterclockwise) towards Nicosia. We then descend on a northern direction through the village centers of Kampia and Pera. After we pass Pera village we make a right turn (easter direction) right before Psimolofou village (28is Oktovriou road). We continue until we reach a stop sign (staying on the main road) where we make a left turn towards Tseri. Again we continue until we reach another stop sign and make another left turn to enter Tseri. We have finally arrived in Tseri (on the same road we passed earlier) and turn right (eastwards) to get to the start/finish point. The length of the route is around 29 miles.

For more info (including a zoomable map) go to:

This was my first real ride with my newly purchased bike. It's a relatively easy route on relatively good quality roads (except the part within Tseri) with some easy-moderate (at least with my standards) climbs mainly between Tseri and Analiontas and Analiontas and Lythrodontas. The roads in most of the route are very quiet. The route starts right off the Nicosia-Limassol motorway (A1), on the exit to Tseri. We head towards Tseri (western direction) and then make a turn towards the south. We continue until we pass an army camp after which we turn right (south-west) towards the village of Analiontas. When we reach Analiontas we turn left and continue towards Lythrodontas. From there onwards the route is straightforward just passing through the village centers of Lythrodontas, Mathiatis and Agia Varvara where we make a left turn (northern direction) towards Kotsiatis village. We continue on this road passing through Kotsiatis and Marki until we finally get to Tseri (on the same road we passed earlier) and turn right (eastwards) to get to the start/finish point. The length of the route is around 29 miles.

    For my riding data (including zoomable map) click: