Roma to Capidomnte

I must admit I'm a little bamboozled as to what I think of Rome... I mean, we've had two days to explore the place and whilst I made sure as to visit some of the obligatory sightseeing places, like the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps (still not sure what the appeal is with them) and the Trevi Fountain - I won't be able to upload any photos till I get home. 

I also spent a bit (and maybe too much) time looking for a better bike computer - I think I've got a bit of bike bling envy. 

That said, whilst the weather over the last couple of days had been good, the rain started coming down this morning but despite this we were all very keen to get on our bikes and on the road again.... and with Rome being a "transition stage" there'd been a few changes within the peleton, as some riders departed to return to their "normal" lives and others joined us for tour upto Lake Como. 

I think the biggest impact of all of this though was that it added to the air of anticipation & excitement, making the rainfall some irrelevant. Fortunately however the weather cleared as the morning wore on and the rain had completely stopped by the time we got to our lunch stop near Lago di Vico. 

A good feed was definitely needed, given that the route home to our campsite in Capodimonte included a climb with sections in the vicinity of 16%. Just so glad I'd invested in a rear cluster (gears) with a 28 cog sprocket.

The photo below was taken from my tent in Capodimonte across Lago di Balsena.  

Sapri to Paestum

Wandering out of the hotel this morning, it was obvious we were in for an interesting day as far as the weather is concerned. It had rained quite heavily during the course of the night, and the grey clouds both out to sea and over the mountain tops were looking rather ominous. By the same token, the level of humidity was right up there, so the big question became "What to wear". In the end I opted to skip the long johns, but went with the wet weather jacket over the top of my normal riding jersey.... Can't be too careful.

The first 15 kilometres or so, were to be along the sea front and I didn't want to be overly burdened with a heavy set of clothing unless absolutely necessary, which it proved to be 10-15 minutes after I started our first serious climb for the day. I got so soaked in fact, that I used it as an excuse for a coffee stop with Harry even though we'd only been on the road for an hour or so.....

Fortunately the rest of the mornings ride proved uneventful, and hence we were able to motor along through the hills & valleys of the area, taking in sights such as more mountain top villages. Today's route Sapri to Paestum

It's got to be a bugger to do the shopping and I can't imagine that I'd be particularly keen to take up cycling or any sort of sport for that matter, living on the top of a hill, as the locals do....

Somehow or another I found myself one of the first into Ascea which is where our lunch van had set up shop in the town square.... I suspect that say's more about the fact that everyone else found a really good coffee shop as opposed to my pace. Wanting to keep it that way - OK - I was in boy racer mode, I tucked into a tasty cheese & tomato roll that Doutse had prepared as quickly as possible wanting to get through to Paestum before the heavens opened up again.

I was enjoying myself so much, that I even did something that I would never condone or dare do at home - I popped a couple of headphones in and listened to the likes of ACDC, Queen, Ultravox and The Levellers to see whether that could spur on my cadence - It did!

Arriving into the town of Agropoli, the rain really started to come down, making it doubly difficult for me to make sense of my map / route instructions. I think I must have spent an hour today, trying to find my way through town, all the time getting colder and colder.

In the end, when it started to hail, I ended up seeking refuge under a petrol station awning. Boy o boy was it cold. The picture below might give you a bit of an idea what it was like..... Unfortunately, my photos of the road, which was covered in the hail stones, forcing drivers onto the footpath (and I kid you not) didn't get properly stored on my camera - Not to sure why! All I can say, it is a scenario I have never seen anything the likes of before....

Once the rain eased off I found myself a restaurant in order to grab a couple of warming coffees and the opportunity to make a bit of sense of my map. It's time's like this that I wish I had bought the latest greatest Garmin and input the GPX so I knew where the heck I was....

Fortunately and it is amazing what a latte does for the mind & body, I managed to work out where I needed to go and consequently hopped on my bike to ride the final 10-15KM to the campsite. The idea of setting up my tent, sending me into such a shiver that I invested in a cabin. It wasn't much but it did have a heater - What bliss....  

On a sad note it would seem that Liz had a fall and in the process broke a rib. I'm still a little unclear of the circumstances but wouldn't be surprised if the rain were a contributing factor.... This news however has shocked all of us, leaving everyone feeling a little sick.

Tomorrow we continue along the Amalfi Coast and hopefully we'll have better weather.

Sibari to Sapri

Whilst I must admit I am glad in many respects that we'd had a rest day at the camping ground in Sibari, the place is hardly a hive of activity. Sure the camping resort in which we stayed was fine and it gave me an opportunity to get plenty of sleep so as to get over the worst of my cold, in addition to doing a bit of shopping for the essentials I'd forgotten or been unable to pack owing to the airlines weight restrictions, it was also located in the middle of an industrial / trucking zone, which meant that there were some very "interesting" women sitting by the side of the road.... Apparently it is not uncommon in many parts of Southern Europe for the ladies of the day / night to "sell" their services to the long haul truck drivers in this fashion, but I digress.

As a result and despite feeling like "$h!t" it was actually a pleasure to get back on the bike, anticipating precisely what would be around the next corner. I mean, sure we all knew that we had a long ride ahead of us, the longest to date, with three rather substantial climbs involved, but by now these thing don't seem to matter to greatly..... 

In my mind at least, it is simply a case of taking your time and simply enjoy the views, whether that is at a slow steady pace as you climb the mountain which often provide the best excuses or should I say opportunities to stop to take photos, or at a pace as you enjoy the exhilaration of a descent down the other side. Sorry - You are unlikely to see many photos taken on these sides of a mountain. 

A village high in the hills that we detoured around somewhat during the course of today's ride.

And another. 

Roads here frequently have sweeping corners are often subject to landslides or surface irregularities all of which means it is more important than normal to keep your eyes on the road. 

A number of people have come off (without serious consequence) as I am sure I have mentioned in the past as a result of just over cooking the corner, being caught out by loose sand, gravel or cracks in the road. Fortunately I've been OK so far, though I do have to admit to going down the final descent today on one corner a lot quicker than was appropriate. Ended up missing the corner altogether and winding up in someone's driveway.

What can I say, it was a bloody stupid thing to do and it's amazing what happens when the blood rushes to your head...... Just need to keep reminding myself that it is only Stage Ten of what is to be a thirty day's riding adventure. Sibari to Sapri

Villaggio Mancuso to Sibari

This is the bulk of our motley crew as we check out of our hotel looking forward to the day ahead. One which was to result in us coming off the top of our mountain peak get away and back down to sea level. That doesn't mean to say however that there wouldn't be a few climbs as we rode along the ridge line. Refer to the profile Villaggio Mancuso to Sibari

The view of Lago di Cecita o Mocuno  where we stopped for lunch

Further along the road after lunch, I came across this wonderful little setting, which highlight's just how lush things are in this part of the world, at the same time gives you a bit of an idea of the mountain range where we'd started the day.

The tour organizer - Wilbert - took the opportunity today to "test-out" a short cut that someone had pointed out on the map. What he probably didn't take into consideration is that whilst it cut 20-30 kilometres off the route, it added about an additional 500 climbing metres. What makes matters even worse, is that as a result of all the additional climbing, there was snow on the ground / road purportedly five or six feet deep.

Now I don't normally take photos of power poles, what I was trying to capture but couldn't was the fact that there was snow on a couple of the mountain peaks in the distance.

It wasn't long after the aforementioned photo was taken, that I turned towards the right, and onto the road which was to take me down to our beach side resort. Unfortunately I don't have any footage (still) from my helmet camera, not that the little villages or townships through which I rode were particularly scenic or for that matter memorable. All I know is that whilst everyone was raving about the joys of this ride home, I got stuck behind a bus who was having difficulty negotiating some of the tight corners (hence slowing me down) and nor would he let me past.

Ah well, nothing better than soaking up some exhaust fumes for 20-30 minutes or so!

Taormina to Palmi

I mentioned previously that I'd take a photo of our main support truck, which as you can see below was formerly a Dutch Fire Truck, which means that it has plenty of room for having separate but readily accessible compartments as well as being sufficiently capable of storing our luggage both on it's roof and within the interior part of the truck.

Today, we finally travel from Sicily to the mainland, with today's ride split into roughly two forty kilometre sections on each side of the water, as you can see from the profile.Taormina to Palmi

The first twenty five or so weren't too bad, however negotiating our way through the traffic and chaos of Messina was another thing altogether. Car's stop anywhere & everywhere, often without the driver's intentions being obvious as they suddenly pull up in front of fruit & vegetable sellers who have their wares, on display on the back of trucks. It's an organised sort of chaos however and for one reason or another it seems to work. Just means that riders such as ourselves have to keep a very vigilant eye open for what is occurring, as there is every prospect that a door is going to be opened in your path or what have you.

Having reached the ferry terminal, it was then a case of waiting for the entire peleton to work it's way through the traffic so that we could all travel as one. Well that was the idea. Sure we all caught up before boarding, what was somewhat unexpected however is the speed with which the ferry's unload then reload their cargo. The majority of us were in the port side cafe, buying a latte and/or gelati when the ship started to disembark, with only five of our group on board. Fortunately the next ferry was only another forty five minutes later, which gave some of us time to buy a second gelati, which I must say went down a treat.

View of Messina from aboard the ferry

View of some of the extra ferries which seemingly come into play in the Summer high season.

Whilst the five who'd been lucky enough as to catch the first ferry had stopped at our lunch point and then carried onto the campground, the rest of us (myself included) rolled in for a bite to eat, which probably wasn't all that necessary given the number of gelati's consumed, bar the fact that by now the sun was beating down, meaning it was a little warm.

Once lunch had been consumed, we then pretty much rode as a group the final forty KM into the camp. Sure I got dropped on the climb by a couple of minutes or so, but quickly caught up with the pack on the descent into the campground. Another 87 kilometres done & dusted. It will be interesting now to see the difference in culture, natural flora and fauna between Sicily and Calabria.

Etna Puffs

It's just gone 1:00AM and I am in my tent, with my laptop hooked up to my mobile phone, cause there is no WI-FI connection in the area that I can tap into in any other way... It has been pretty much the case wherever we've stopped during the course of the last few days and arguably won't necessarily improve in the imminent future, though we do have a stay in a hotel coming up shortly, so hopefully that will make life a little easier. As a consequence, I do so apologise for not being up to date in terms of posting comments & photos.

Tomorrow is a rest day - A much needed one as far as this little black duck is concerned. The climb today up Mt Etna, which started pretty much as soon as we got out of the campsite's gates, after yesterday's torturous final climb (refer to the Strava log for a bit of an idea as to what I am talking about) was just a little bit tough. In all honesty, I probably needed a 5-10 KM of flat terrain in order to get the legs turning over properly. Instead I was cramping up, somewhat for the first 30-45 minutes of the climb. Suspect that the Strava file highlights this, but either way, one way or another I managed to get to the top, without dismounting or stopping for too many pitstops along the way. 

The task of climbing was hampered a little by a consant drizzle and a cold biting wind. Very intersting however to see all the lava rocks and ofcourse the numerous abandoned houses along the road, where they've stood in the way of a lava flow, etc.

Once we all had reached the summit, a quick group photo was taken, a small bite of morning tea eaten and then we all proceeded down the other side. No time for a tour of the mountain, it was just dammed cold, windy and wet for that... Next time!

Now of course, the only pleasure (for me at least in cycling up a hill / mountain) is the knowledge that I'll get to come down from on high. As a result whilst the road was somewhat full of pot holes, and so on up near the top - Don't forget that it snows up there in Winter then bakes in Summer - I headed down the road, somewhat cautiously at first then opened it up a bit as the road surface improved.

Admittedly, there were times I could have pushed things a tad more and others where I found myself going just a bit too quick for my own good, remembering that I don't really want to head back to OZ early cause I've come off my bike. At any rate, I managed to make it down the road safe and sound, at which point I sat up and joined the "A Team" for the final forty kilometres or so to final destination for the day. Well, whilst the road map and accompanying profile that had been given to us at tea the previous night suggested that it was a fairly flat run into town. Lies, lies and more lies I tell you.

At any rate, all of us feeling somewhat cold and wet decided that a coffee was the order of the day and hence the search began, until after some probably twenty odd kilometres of riding, we finally came across a nice little cafe. Following a couple of quick lattes in the cafe in the town square whilst the drizzle continued to come down, we then proceed the last few kilometres into town. At this point I should also mention that a couple of bandages were applied to people who'd come down whilst descending Mt Etna, and whilst a cafe does make an odd spot to turn into a triage area, it does at the very least provide a comfortable setting for those who are simply looking after their colleagues and so on. Etna Puffs

Thank god tomorrow is a rest day! Might even give the injured time to recover from the worst of their injuries, which fortunately were no more severe than severe bruising and road rash

Gerace to Nicoliosi

Wow what a day, it just seemed to go on forever! 

Mt Etna, which I believe is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, has been on the horizon since about lunchtime, and knowing that we had to climb a portion of it, before we arrived at our campsite, acted like a taunting nemesis. That said, riding along roads with vineyards and olive groves on either side has at least dulled the brain as to what is to come.  

By the time you get to the base of the Etna climb you have already ridden 80kms and climbed 1500! The heat of the afternoon sun saps the lungs and the legs of any energy despite the climb supposedly only being in the 5-6% range. That said, my Garmin indicated that there were a number of sections of in the 10-12% range. As you can see from the profile. Gerace to Nicoliosi

Anticipating when we'd reach the climax of today's climb, before we got to turn for the descent into town was very difficult, with much of the climb despite having a fairly dense forest on either side of the road, having a somewhat "suburban" feel. At this point I have to admit that I was struggling a little and hence very appreciative of Margie and Kath's company for the last 30 odd kilometres or so. 

Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity

We finally made it in to camp, just after 5PM despite leaving at 7.30 this morning. Has been a very long day in the saddle, fortunately Dammo & Kenny ensured I had a beer in my hand the minute I dismounted. Has definitely been the toughest day so far, but the spectacular scenery and sense of accomplishment make up for it somewhat! 

Tomorrow, something I am not necessarily looking forward to, we climb Mt Etna (assuming it's not erupting) a climb of some 1900 metres before we then proceed predominately downhill to the coast and a town called Taormina.

Agrigento to Gerace

A series of steady climbs took us back into the central part of Sicily. A variety of terrain and rural scenery presented us with some very memorable kilometres on quiet roads. The road surfaces are a little bit dodgy at times, but I tell you what, I wouldn't be dead for quids. 

I mean sure, I've got myself lost a few times, but I've got to confess that also proved a great opportunity to pop into a bar a beer or two.... Too warm for a coffee! 

Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, no matter what..... 

Just some of the scenery I managed to enjoy as I rolled through town...

I've got to say I really enjoyed today's ride Agrigento to Gerace the weather has been great to say nothing of the fact that it's been nothing more than a series of rolling hills. 

In saying that, I'm not necessarily looking forward to tomorrow's distance / profile, I believe in speaking to a few of the chaps who've done this tour before, it's just a tad difficult.

Santo Stefano Quisquina to Agrigento

Today we head for Agrigento, which is apparently home to a number of ancient Greek temples and so on.

I gotta be honest and say that I never knew (or had forgotten) that the Greeks had ever resided in Italy. I mean sure I knew about my namesake - Alexander the Great I - I wasn't particularly aware however that he'd ever headed West, thinking that the majority of his accomplishments had been in Turkey and so on.

It wasn't a particularly long stage, being only eighty kilometres or thereabouts, though as you can see from the profile, Santo Stefano Quisquina to Agrigento there were a couple of hills that we had to get over in order to get to over in order to get to tonight's camp ground.

It was a little bit cool and extremely windy when we departed this morning and so jackets and arm warmers were donned by the majority of the group. As we descended and time passed, the warmth of the day meant a lot of this gear was subsequently ditched in the lunch van.....

Making it in to Agrigento early in the afternoon as we did meant that a stroll around the Valley of Temples, was somewhat obligatory and I gotta say these Greek temples which stretch across a large ridge above the coast have a rather imposing presence. Unfortunately I've taken the vast majority of memento photos on my camera, so you'll have to wait to see what till I get home to see what this place really looks like.

Terrasini to Santo Stefano Quisquina

After last night's team briefing, we all ambled out of our rooms in the hotel and down to breakfast with an air of anticipation, excitement and nervousness in the air. After our hearty breakfast it came time to pack our bags onto the truck.

I'll have to remember to take a photo of it in the next day or so

We all then posed for our group photo!

Now before you start making rude comments about the colour of our jersey's, it should be noted that we are in Italy, at the same time as the Giro De Italia, the leader / winner of which is awarded the Dela Rosa (IE: Pink Top). The colour of the jersey being based on the fact that the newspaper which created the Giro originally, La Gazzetta dello Sport, had been printed its papers on pink paper. Admittedly, it does look a bit "poofy" but what the heck and we've decided with typical Australian laconic humour to call ourselves the Freddie Mercury cycling crew.

After lunch however it became apparent that there were some riders who were keener and arguably more capable than others to race to the end. Having always said that I was interested in doing this ride as a means of getting fit, seeing the Italian countryside and making a social occasion of it all, at the same time also knowing my limitations, I decided not to take off in pursuit. There is plenty more time for that, should I ever wish to do so. Yeah right.

At any rate, all of that aside and not knowing whether everyone was intent on simply racing off into the distance once we left the outskirts of Terrasini or whether we'd ride as a reasonably paced peleton, I must admit to being a tad nervous.....

I didn't want to find myself falling off the back of the pack too quickly cause otherwise it was going to be a long ride to Como if I couldn't even keep up on day one! Fortunately however we stayed together pretty much as a group for the first 50 odd kilometres, such that we all rolled into the lunch spot together.

As a result I rode at my own pace, which at times was faster than others but slower than the boy racers. What do you do when you find yourself not capable of catching the breakaway group yet still sitting out the front of the peleton??? I know, I know, I should have sat up and let the rest of the group catch up and ultimately I did this, though it wasn't by choice!

Basically that last four or five kilometres of climbing was just enough to finish me off. Now at this point I should mention that I'd been unable to get the lowest four gears throughout the day as obviously the gears had become slightly misaligned during transit, however a poor tradesman always blames his tools, so ultimately I'll just have to put my hand up and say by the time I'd turned onto the final "goat track" which led up to where our hotel was located, I was totally stuffed. As a result some of the peleton caught and then passed me with only a couple of kilometres to go.

Ah well, there is always next time and all in all I can't complain! 

Partinico

Well what was supposed to be a five minute check that all was all OK with my bike, ended up being a very enjoyable pootle through the local countryside. I had no idea of where I was going at any given point in time, hence the frequent stops whilst I checked my phone to see where I was relative to my hotel. I also used this ride to fine tune things on my bike.

I'm still having a little difficulty getting some of the lower gears which I'll need to rectify A.S.A.P given that Saturday's itinerary has a fair bit of climbing involved.

Now for those of you who are still eagerly awaiting some video footage or even just a couple of photos to accompany the route information, hopefully the following prove that I am in fact in Italy.

My hotel is located in the beachside resort or fishing village of Terrasini. As per yesterday's comments, highlights just what a clot I was in not investigating where it was, relative to the larger town of Palermo. IE: Some 35 Kilometres away.

What this photo of Partinico doesn't show you, is how hectic the peak hour traffic at midday can be and the fact that this road is likely to have parked (abandoned) cars on either side of the road, and yet still have traffic coming or going from either direction. Sheer madness.



Cinisi-Terrasini

Well the last couple of days have been a comedy of errors. Whilst it wouldn’t happen to me, I have visited enough foreign lands now and got myself into and out of silly situations in doing so as to not make any daft mistakes, such as that of a friend of mine "Cadel". 

Basically he recently made the mistake of booking into a hotel, which was to be the departure point of a tour he was undertaking, without doing all of the obligatory checks. Sure he’d checked to see that the room rate was competitive, the facilities adequate and so on, what he didn’t do however was to check it’s precise location relative to the town in which it was purportedly located. IE: That the Palermo Beach Hotel was in fact located within walking distance of Palermo as opposed to being some 35KM from town (and at the arse end of the world as far as public transport is concerned). Sorry for the language – His word’s not mine!

Now that in itself wouldn’t be the end of the world, if he:

• Knew the local language;
• Had been astute enough as to write down the addresses of the bike shop(s) in Palermo from which he needed to pick up some vital supplies rather than just having their webpage saved in his “favourite’s file”; and
• Italian restaurants / hotels actually provided WIFI or cable connected internet access.

All of this would have saved him doing the inevitable thing one does when on holiday being to walk 500 miles looking for a "bike" shop.... In his defence however is the fact that shops are spread far and wide and are open at odd hours. IE: The Italians (in Sicily at the very least) take a midday siesta in the same way the Spanish do! Fortunately however, as I write this blog, I can report that my friend “Cadel” has now managed to get his bike roadworthy and that as a result, this should mean that you’ll see that a training ride has been undertaken and appropriately recorded in the Strava within the next 24 hours or so….

The first ride that you’ll see, is likely to be a bit of a tour of Cinisi-Terrasini (hopefully including a bit of video footage) which highlights precisely how shops of all sorts are located amongst the houses and so on of the local community. As a result don’t expect it to be an intensive training session over a considerable distance, that’s something that will be something undertaken shortly and once I have been able to create a circular route of sufficient distance and trying conditions….

Outward Bound

With only a week to go before things get serious, I am writing today’s blog in Singapore.

Now whilst I've been riding regularly during the last fortnight or so, with some of the ride data having been uploaded into Strava and from there made available for viewing on the panel on the right hand side of this screen, what I have realised however is that I haven't uploaded any of the video collected from my Contour Helmet camera. Looks like that's something that I will have to rectify on my first training ride in Italy.....

Just hope I don't do anything silly on this ride, such as riding on the wrong side of the road or what have you. If I do, close your eyes (particularly if you see any cars approaching me at speed) as I will have done something similar. 

Now as some people have asked as to how am I getting my bike over to Italy I thought I'd show you another little investment I made a couple of months ago. Essentially, I purchased an Evoc Bike Bag, in anticipation of this ride and wanting to ensure that my steed arrived safe & sound rather than popping it into a bike box 

With wheels removed and the handlebars detached from the headset, bikes suddenly decrease in size quite markedly, not that the baggage handlers at the various airports may necessarily agree. At any rate, here's what happens when you make the minor modifications mentioned.

Wheels meanwhile, fit in their own external pockets, on each side of the main case, like so.....

Sure I added a bit of additional padding after taking the above photos, it's now just a case of keeping my fingers crossed, that it was enough, that the baggage handlers are all cyclists and that my bike arrives safe & sound in Palermo on the same flight as myself.....