934 - Dikteon Andre

I am a bit confused about the climb 934 Dikteon Andre, so I wonder if someone who knows the climb could shed some light on a couple of things.

First, the map indicates that the top of the climb is reached by following the road east from the Lassithi plateau. This is also consistent with the GPS coordinates given.

However, from what I understand, the Dikteon cave is located at the southwestern boundary of the plateau, close to the village of Psichro (or Psychro); see http://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/crete/lasithi-plateau/sights/cave/dikteon-cave Further, on one of the posted pictures, there is a sign saying Diktaio Andro, and searching for that term, I find the same cave as mentioned above.

So, what is the correct location of the the top, the one to the east of the plateau or at the cave on the southwestern boundary of the plateau?

Also, is it correct that the start of the climb from Gonies to Moni to Kardiotissis is not along the main road but that it follows what from the satellite images seems to be a rather small gravel road/track? If so, is it at all possible to do it with a road bike given that one is careful? Or, is any such attempt a certain failure?

GoranS wrote:

I am a bit confused about the climb 934 Dikteon Andre, so I wonder if someone who knows the climb could shed some light on a couple of things.

First, the map indicates that the top of the climb is reached by following the road east from the Lassithi plateau. This is also consistent with the GPS coordinates given.

However, from what I understand, the Dikteon cave is located at the southwestern boundary of the plateau, close to the village of Psichro (or Psychro); see http://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/crete/lasithi-plateau/sights/cave/dikteon-cave Further, on one of the posted pictures, there is a sign saying Diktaio Andro, and searching for that term, I find the same cave as mentioned above.

So, what is the correct location of the the top, the one to the east of the plateau or at the cave on the southwestern boundary of the plateau?

Also, is it correct that the start of the climb from Gonies to Moni to Kardiotissis is not along the main road but that it follows what from the satellite images seems to be a rather small gravel road/track? If so, is it at all possible to do it with a road bike given that one is careful? Or, is any such attempt a certain failure?

I made it 2002 and started from Malia, up (and down) to the plateau and near the cave close to the village of Psichro

Yes, that seems like a quite natural route up.

However, when I was there about a month ago, I tried to follow the suggested route that starts in Gonies. I therefore left the coast in Kato Gouves and took the road via Kalo Chorio to Gonies. In Gonies I rode up through the village on narrow streets/alleys. Approaching the upper regions of the village, the road surface changed to concrete/cement. In places it was starting to fall apart so one had to be a bit careful. After a rather steep ramp, the surface changed to gravel. I did not dare to continue since the surface was rather loose. In combination with the steepness, it felt like I stood no chance of getting up with a road bike. I I had tried, I believe either the front wheel motion would have been impossible to control in the loose gravel, causing me to fall or I would have lost the grip with the back wheel and most likely lost a bit of rubber from the rear tire.

I therefore went down and followed the main road up to the plateau. I then went to the eastern part of the plateau and followed the road (towards Agios Nikolaos) up to where the top of the climb is located according to the map. That place is really strange since it is a house that I cannot see has anything to do with Dikteon Andre. Also, it is not even the top of the road as it climbs a little bit further before starting to descend.

I went back down to the plateau and over to Psichro/Psychro and up to the parking lot where the Diktaio Andro sign, seen in one of the pictures with a Brompton-type bike. I continued a bit further up on the (walking) road with a stone surface seen in the picture. However, at one of the hairpins a bit further up, I was not able to turn the bike around the sharp corner and I had to walk up to the stone house where they sell tickets to enter the cave. The last part, by the way, is for non-trial experts not possible to ride even with a mountain bike.

In my opinion, the way the climb is described today is not entirely satisfactory. Personally, I would suggest the following modifications/clarifications:

1) Remove the strange gravel road up from Gonies and let the route follow the main road.
2) Add the approach from Malia as it gives a longer continuous climb.
3) Specify that the top of the climb is the parking lot where the road/path with stone surface up to the cave starts. There is no point in trying to ride up it, in particular as it is rather narrow and there are people and donkeys going up and down there. I was there during end-of-season, but was still a bit lucky to be able to ride as far as I could without being stopped by meeting people or donkeys. Had I started the climb 15 minutes later, I would have had to try to get up through a bus load of russian tourists (would not have been possible).