Hellenic Mountain Race is the shortest of Nelson Trees's Mountain Races, but also the one with the most elevation gain per 100km. Taking place in the Greek Pindos Mountains, the start line is in Kalambaka, near the magnificent Meteora monasteries and after crossing the remote and vast mountain landscapes of Northern Greece, you'll finish at the coast in Nafpaktos.

The region is, even to the Greek, not very well known. The mountains are unspoiled, the villages small but welcoming, the food is delicious and the people, oh the people, they are the kindest you'll ever meet.

Having followed the first edition last year, we had an idea how though the race was going to be. With 28.000 meters of climbing over 880 kilometers and unpredictable mountain weather, we were prepared for the worst. While Manu was still in recovery mode after knee surgery last year, we decided to take this opportunity to race Hellenic Mountain Race as a pair with the goal to be efficient and to see where that would take us.

After a loop on Meteora's finest single tracks we arrived back in Kalambaka to continue on to the first major climb on the route. We steadily climb up to 1800 meters. Soon the asphalt turns into gravel, that turns into washed out roads. We drag the bikes under and over fallen trees that block the road and we soon find the first hike-a-bike section before we approach a first important resupply point, the town of Metsovo. The climb into the town is super steep, but the promise of food is always a good motivator. We buy supplies for the night at the super market and carry on, despite the rain. On that first evening and night the heavy rain turns the trails into a mud fest. We find ourselves a shelter next to a water fountain and a house with a dog that's been barking on and off through the night. Setting up camp takes much longer than we would have wanted because everything is wet and muddy.

By the time we get up, it stopped raining, but the trail has far from dried out. We reach Kipoi and find the first pair, sitting at a cute B&B, having breakfast. We decide to stop there as well. The lady is kind enough to let us into her spotless house, with beautiful clean carpets. She looked at Manu's muddy shoes and gently asked to take off his shoes but he told her it would be lots worse so he could leave them on . We take a quick breakfast and use the garden hose to wash our bikes. The first 200 kilometers of the race have already worn out our brake pads pretty heavily, making us a little worried if weather would continue like this, we wouldn't make it even with our spare brake pads. The highlight of today is an ancient stone path that leads to the small village of Vitsa. We climb further on tarmac to Vikos Gorge, a deep and narrow canyon where the route leads us to a viewpoint so we get a good look at the canyon. Determined to reach checkpoint one before the end of the day we try to be as efficient as possible.  Before we know it, we are pushing our bikes up to 2150 meters, at sunset, over the highest pass on the course. Although it is a magical moment, this is a tough one and after thinking several times that we have reached the summit, we finally see Dragon Lake. The downhill to Smolikas Refuge is a steep, rocky and fun single track. A warm welcome, hot food and a bed are waiting for us at CP1.