Advice please, Greek Odyssey or Trail ride?

[Lee950]

Hi, Hope you can advise me, first a bit about me I mostly ride big bikes in off road competitive events, done lots of uk rallys and welsh 2 day enduro on a 950 adventure and done a few desert rallys on a Africa Twin Adventure Sport, don't get me wrong far from anything special and navigation lets me down.
My better half likes riding on the back of a my bikes especially in scenic areas, but we do no get much chance these days, She is 50 in October and a few days ago she saw a link and clicked on it for the Greek Odyssey which looks to be much like a road book rally but non competitive and seems to be aimed at bigger bikes, she said joking "you could do this with me on the back" ( you know where this is going don't you ! ) Me being me started thinking I have done the hellas rally 3 times and the serres once so have a good idea what the terrain is like, I have ridden a few short sections on my africa twin with her on the back the three shires in derbyshire for instance and much as I would not fancy hundreds of miles a day on that kind of terrain 2 up I doubt there will be much difficult stuff any way. http://thegreekodyssey.com/

I sent a message to the organisers and they replied yes I can do it 2 up not a problem but I have to pay 2 entry fees at 1200 euro each which includes hotels each night food etc but adding the cost of getting the bike to Greece ( going to be difficult to get time for both of us to just ride the event so not got time to ride to Greece and back as well ) and flights I bet it will be around £4000.

So wondering if about the same kind of time mid october what kind of trail riding could we do in maybe the Alps or Pyrenees or any other suggestions? Might even be better than the Greek odyssey? It is all about getting out to the breathtaking scenic areas either by road or off road, in fact I prefer off road and get to a hotel, b+b etc each evening as I do not want to be carrying tents etc.
I have not done a lot of trail riding just a bit in the UK with someone who knows the lanes well so I am sure getting lost is quite possible especially as I have never rearlly used a GPS before except just "following the arrow" in the Tuareg rally and used a few rally gps systems not very well, I think I was born to follow arrows

Any suggestions, I would like to make this very special for my better half.

Thanks Lee.

[bowber]

Trail ride, far more relaxed and you'll travel at a speed more suited to having a passenger, if you do the competition you'll always be tempted to push on a bit faster plus you don't get the option to change direction as it suits you.
Downside is you'll have to do more work finding the route.

Steve

[Ksithumper]

Do both

[OnHellas]

Have you considered one of the road books that Vibraction do for the Pyrenees? There are a few to chose from.

Stop and start as you wish kind of thing.

We may have chewed some of the same Greek dirt at some point, I’ve dine the Hellas a couple of times and the Serres once. Both good events.

Have you looked at the Illyria raid reverse edition in late September. More than just Greece. Another non competitive roadbook event through a few countries. Not sure if they’ll be up for the 2 up thing.
It used to be organised by the chap who organised Rallye Albania.

Whatever you do, have fun.

[Lee950]

Thanks for the replies,.
Bowber, the greek odyssey is not competitive, I get the impression (might be wrong) there should be time to stop along the way and enjoy the sights. That said being out on the trails after dark is not a good idea so would need to push on, I have seen some of the drops off the edges of the trails in greece and even been over one, not rearlly the kind of experience I have planned for the wife.

OnHellas, Did the Hellas in 13 on a 690 enduro then 14 on a 520 exc, also did half of it this year in a can am x3 side by side but broke it and could not get parts.
Did the Serres in 16 on a modified 950 adv.

Maybe what I need is a guided trail ride of some kind? It is not so bad my poor navigation getting me lost on a rally when I have a tracker etc I know I can get help and will be collected if I had bike problems or got injured, the same would apply in the greek odyssey.
Maybe that is the way to go.

[Tonibe63]

My Wife loves going on the back of my bike and we have done stuff like The Stella, Smugglers, lots of Alps/Picos/Uk trails etc 2up but there is a limit to how much enjoyment/punishment she will take. It is hard work as a rider and as a pillion but it is the pillion who will be saying when enough is enough.