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