Praised be the Lidl!

One of the most sought after places on cycling trips are supermarkets to stock up on food and water. It comes in handy that in Greece, one of the bigger German discount chains, Lidl, are quite popular and is often my first stop in the morning. A typical breakfast often includes kefir, some croissants or breads and some juice.

However when I return from my shopping spree today I'm excited to see my bike got company: another touring bike is parked just next to mine! It's owner has already spotted me and immediately addresses me in German: turns out Lucas comes from Cologne, is heading to Turkey as well and... he's even got the same bike model!

The decision is made quickly: we will cycle together for a bit.

And that does wonders to the progress: the kilometers are clocking up at high speed. When we reach a beach at Nea Iraklitsa at night, we have accumulated around 110 km, each.

We set up our camp right at the beach, wash away the salty sweat from our skins with some salty sea water and make friends with a German camper who warns us ever getting car repairs done in Serbia ("they're all crooks!")

Something that has not changed: I got a flat tire. Again! I cannot believe it! This time I'm more meticulous in my examination of the tire, and I finally find the culprits: Thorns. A lot of them are buried so deeply in the tire they are hard to spot from the outside and could be mistaken for dirt. Using a tweezer I pull out no less than 10 thorns from the rear tire, and also the front has a few in it.

I'm sure: that will be the end of my flat tire series!