Cyprus is a gravel paradise! Beautiful gravel roads connect the blue sea, rounded mountains, pretty valleys and mediterranean fruit plantations. The Bedrock Gravel Festival takes place in the days before an international gravel race and introduces you to the home of the Olympic Games and world championships cycling coach (and festival founder) Mike Hadjioannou. Mike knows every inch of his island. He combines covering ground, technical descents and steep climbs in order to let you have a lot of fun. Also, he shows you the place with the best homemade halloumi, how Cypriot handicrafts is made, and how you can stretch and relax after a day on the bike. In doing so, you meet people from all over the world and you can totally enjoy the most eastern country of the European Union.
Individual arrival to Cyprus. Organized transfer from Larnaka to Tochni (transfer from/to Paphos: see “Extras”). Tochni is a small village on two hills in the Cypriot inland. You can discover the village afoot right on your first day. Tochni is made of the typical local stone houses that the inhabitants maintain with love (read more about Tochni below). Optionally, you can ask Mike (the festival organizer) for GPS data for a first short discovery tour on your first day. If you are accompanied by non-riders, we recommend a tour to the large supermarket that is 7 km away, because restaurants in Tochni are usually not open for lunch, and the local supermarket is very small. On the evening, you meet at Mike’s Feed Zone Cafe for a welcome dinner with a tasting of local wines. Overnight in Tochni for the duration of the trip.
Day 2: 1st round trip (75 km / 45 km)
Riders
After an early breakfast, you meet with Mike and all other festival participants at the Feed Zone Cafe. Today’s ride is the longest of your festival week. If it’s too long and ambitious for you, you receive GPS data for an easier alternative. Both tours are exciting! At the end of your ride, you will enter Tochni’s beautiful neighboring village, Choirokoitia. Petros awaits you there for demonstrating you how traditional baskets are made on Cyprus. Afterwards, you return to Tochni where you have dinner together.
If you want to sleep in and therefore miss the daily pretty early breakfast, you can enjoy a short walk to Tochni’s small grocery store to buy some bread and fresh fruits for your breakfast. Afterwards, you can for example enjoy the pool of your hotel. If you are curious how baskets are traditionally produced on Cyprus, you walk about 2 p.m. to Choirokoitia where you meet the riders. Afterwards, individual return to Tochni where you have dinner together with the festival group.
Day 3: 2nd round trip (50 km)
Riders
On Tuesday, you ride a shorter and relaxed tour together. It’s your second riding day and you already start to have a good feeling for the Cypriot gravel, so you can enjoy and observe the nature and landscape of Cyprus. Who knows, maybe you will meet today a colubrid, a lizard or a partridge on your path. After a refreshing shower, you meet for a yoga introduction. Today, you learn how to stretch and relax after an extensive riding day. Later, a mini van is waiting for you to bring you to the coast. In the fisher village Zygi, you enjoy your evening with a seafood dish. Transfer back to Tochni.
After breakfast, a driver awaits you to bring you to a goat farm close to Tochni. Did you know that halloumi cheese is originally from Cyprus? Today, you see how the cheese ist traditionally made – and if you’re lucky, you can even try the fresh and warm halloumi. Back in Tochni, you can meet with the riders and do a yoga course. Later, a mini van is waiting for you to bring you to the coast. In the fisher village Zygi, you enjoy your evening with a seafood dish. Transfer back to Tochni.
Day 4: 3rd round trip (75 km / 60 km)
Riders
Today, you have another ride through Cyprus with your guides. On your ride, you can eat fresh fruits like oranges and medlars directly from the trees, you enjoy the mediterranean air, and you relax in the middle of incredibly beautiful landscape. On the evening, you have a local Cypriot dinner in one of the authentic restaurants of Tochni.
Today, you are off. The gravel bikers are not away for a long time, so you can discover Tochni or relax at the pool. If you are in the mood for a longer walk, you can walk on beautiful gravel roads passing fruit plantations until you reach a restaurant in a neighboring village. On the evening, you have a local Cypriot dinner in one of the authentic restaurants of Tochni.
Day 5: 4th round trip (70 km)
Riders
Also today, you cycle on beautiful paths all together. You enjoy the sea, discover amazing gravel paths on the coast, and if you don’t mind cold April water, you can have a swim in the blue Mediterranean Sea. Back in Tochni, you can again stretch and relax with yoga. Afterwards, you meet at Mike’s Feed Zone Cafe where a cook teaches you how to make koupepia – delicious wrapped grape leaves that are so typical in the Cypriot cuisine. Afterwards, joint dinner at Feed Zone Cafe.
Dress up day! After breakfast, a driver brings you to Limassol (app. 30 min drive). The city by the sea has seen an economic boom for the past few years and is on its way to a small metropolis of luxury life. The small old town has a medieval museum and a pretty cathedral. We highly recommend you to stroll on the almost endless, palm-lined coast promenade. For lunch, it’s best to discover the luxury harbor area with its numerous international restaurants and bars. Afterwards, your driver brings you back to Tochni. There, you meet the cyclists at Mike’s Feed Zone Cafe where a cook teaches you how to make koupepia – delicious wrapped grape leaves that are so typical in the Cypriot cuisine. Afterwards, joint dinner at Feed Zone Cafe.
Day 6: Free time in Tochni
Riders and Non-riders
Today there is no guided tour. You can either ask Mike for GPS data for a self-guided tour. Or you relax at the pool. If you want to engage your muscles differently, you can have a hike – a hiking map with nice routes is sent to you by mail before your travel to Cyprus. Hiking around Tochni is a great adventure: there are no marked paths, but your hiking map describes well the routes, and you receive the most beautiful views on the medieval Tochni and the surrounding hills and valleys. On the evening, you are introduced to even more typical Cypriot culinary delights during a Meze dinner.
Day 7: Race day (85 km)
Riders
Race day! In addition to the festival participants, many more gravel cyclists from Cyprus and abroad are coming to Tochni. Categories are by sex and by age. In the morning, you meet at Feet Zone Cafe where everyone is getting ready. Mike gives you the GPS data and explains the rules. And then you start – out of the village and over beautiful asphalt and gravel roads of the island. On the way are some checkpoints where you receive water, snacks and electrolyte. After the race, there is a small price giving ceremony and a barbecue with local beer. You enjoy the evening and you say goodbye to the festival team and to the other festival participants.
Race day! This is also exciting for non-riders because you can watch the race from start to end and you can cheer on the festival participants who you know well by now. If you also come to the Feed Zone Cafe in the morning, you can feel the happy and nervous energy. Not only the festival riders participate in the race, but many more gravel cyclists from Cyprus and abroad. It’s fun to watch the strung bikes in this mediterranean surrounding, and to be there when the cyclists prepare theirselves for the race. During the race, it’s worth staying at the Feed Zone Cafe because the route is a bow, so you can attend in the start, inter station and finish. Afterwards, you can party with the others and attend the price giving ceremony. Besides, there is a barbecue with local beer. You enjoy the evening and you say goodbye to the festival team and to the other festival participants.
Day 8: Departure Tochni
Riders and non-riders
This is the end of the festival. After breakfast, you are transferred to Larnaka (transfer to Tochni: see “Extras”). Individual departure from Cyprus.
The location
Tochni is a beautiful historical village in the inland of the European republic of Cyprus. The village with 400 inhabitants has dedicated itself to sustainable tourism and becomes more and more a base for active holidays. Worth seeing are not only the Greek-orthodox church and the ruins of the Latin church, but also the traditional stone houses that are almost all restored. The village is built on two hills, and it is surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains very inviting for visitors to be discovered. What we particularly liked is the calm location of the village that allows travelers to get the know the “real Cyprus”.
The accommodation
Some of the traditional stone houses in Tochni have been converted into small vacation accommodations in recent years and are scattered throughout the village. All accommodations have a pool and an inner courtyard, which is lovingly planted with plants. The studios and double rooms are right next to the pool. All rooms and studios are equipped with a small kitchenette. The accommodations in Tochni are licensed agritourism resorts.
Services
RidersNon-ridersExtras
Included services:
7 nights
7x breakfast, 6x dinner
Visitor’s tax
English speaking guide (Days 2 to 5)
GPS data (on spot)
Race entry for the Bedrock Gravel Race (Day 7)
Transfer Larnaca-Tochni-Larnaca (incl. bike+luggage transfer) (additional fee for Paphos: see “Extras”)
Nearest airports: Larnaca, Paphos Transfer Larnaca-Tochni-Larnaca: included Transfer Paphos-Tochni-Paphos: 150 EUR (für 1-3 persons) resp. 180 EUR (for 4-6 persons), see “Extras”
Please take account of the travel and safety notice of your home country for the European Union country of Cyprus, as same as the applicable regulations in this country.
The main guide for this tour is Mike Hadjioannou. He was born in Cyprus, speaks English and Greek and is the founder of the Bedrock Gravel Festival. In Cyprus, Mike coaches professional cyclists who compete in the Olympic Games and World Championships in the road and mountain bike categories. He runs a bike stop in Tochni, the Feed Zone Cafe, which is also the starting point for numerous cyclists. Mike knows Cyprus and especially the area around Tochni inside out and can spontaneously adapt routes to weather conditions. Depending on the number of festival participants, Mike is supported by additional guides.
