Not. Far. Now...

Bounding through Aegean isles by bike and sail.

- Jason H Harper

We are biking up the side of a volcano. As one would expect, it’s steep. Breathpilfering, leg-cramping steep. Lava boils in my calves with each crank of the pedals. The road switchbacks up the flanks of towering rock, ever upward.

This is the Greek island of Nisyros, and the road leads to the village of Nikia, a 60-person settlement built on the volcano’s rim, with views directly into the still-hot crater. I’ve been promised that a cold, freshly squeezed lemonade will be waiting for me in the town. Looking over my shoulder, I’m graced by a view of the Aegean Sea glittering below. A thousand pinpricks of light bounce offthe softly undulating blue. Our sailboat, the Kaya Guneri Plus, bobs placidly in the expanse.

Hours from now I will cannonball back down the mountain, whooping wildly as I lean headlong over my bike, volcanic rock and greenery flashing by. There will be cold drinks waiting on board the yacht, too.

Until then, there is only one way to reap either reward: keep pedalling.

Nobody said biking through the Greek Isles would be easy. The Dodecanese Islands are sprinkled throughout the southeastern Aegean and are perhaps best described as high, craggy mountains sunk into the azure waters as if magically dropped there. Perhaps they were.

According to legend, the island of Nisyros was formed during a battle between the god Poseidon and an immortal giant (a not-so-unusual occurrence in mythical Greece, apparently). The sea god tore offa huge chunk of a nearby island and smashed it atop the giant’s head, pinning him to the bottom of the sea forever. The new land mass became Nisyros, while the giant’s angry subterranean shouts formed the volcano.