Translation
The bike rally was 'intresting' to say the least! You will be pleased to know its held in a different part of Greece each time so someone else will be unlucky next year and Kostas informs me it has only been to Thassos once before and then it was the camping site at Golden Beach - too close for comfort at the Castle Studios
. The Greeks also have a nice way of overstating and expanding all sorts of things - the 'death toll' and the number of bikers on the island changed many times 
Its a shame that holidays were spoilt and the roads around Sk Prinos were littered but the financial gain for the local people must have far outweighed the inconvenience (for the locals). We were lucky in that we had the benefit of our friends and their excellent home and pool. It was also the middle weekend of our two week stay. Kostas said it would be sensible to 'stay at home' on the Saturday and Sunday so we didn't drive. Those of you who remember him from the Nautilus would know that he was itching to go and see the bikes and we were a good excuse
On the Sunday, I took a chair out to the front of his place and had a couple of hours watching the bikes go by and have to say they were all pretty sensible in their riding, with just a very few exceptions. Some nice bikes too. Kostas finaly convinced me that I (he) wanted to go to Prinos and we should go by Ford Focus - 'mine'! I convinced him that we should go by Dodge Nitro (the only one on the island)
- his! We went via Panagia and Thassos Town and whilst both locations had a huge influx of bikes, both places were orderly. However, Prinos was just like a place in England on a bikers day.... the roads were covered in tyre marks and there was a lot of litter. There was a hint of Death Race 2000 and we saw two 'broken' bikes in a heap on the main road. We went into the campsite via the beach as another friend supplied the stage and sound system for the concert. The campsite was typical biker - beers, bikes and smokes. Some wild riding and a few 'events' but trouble free. We bought food and drink then returned to beach to watch/listen to the band setting up for the concert. We had a trouble free drive back to Sk Potamia in the early evening.
I wouldn't have wanted to be around Prinos late evening and can imagine what the noise and atmosphere was like well into the night. I also wouldn't have wanted to try and get a car onto the ferry on Monday.
Having ridden bikes in my (long ago) youth and been to races and rallys here in the UK I can say it was no different - just a shame it spoilt peoples holidays - but no different to someone booking a holiday on the Isle of Mann and turning up to find it was TT week. I'm not condoning the actions of the irresponsible ones, but looking at the weekend from a Thassonian point of view, a huge amount of money was spent on Thassos over those three days.
Best wishes .. Graham.
We only visited briefly and the situation there was horrendous. An hour was more than enough for us so if you were stuck there you have my deepest sympathy!!!
