Report on Sicily Part 1

This is Part One because Luisa and I couldn't make the full three weeks that Ian planned, so we were together for the first week and then Luisa and I went on a shorter route the second week. Pam's going to do Part Two.The group was: Bob, Ian, Lesley, Luisa, Mike, Pam, Robin and me.

Mon 12: We were able to check in for an early-the-next-day Easyjet flight after 8:00pm so we did so and stayed at the nearby Travel Lodge. Minimal hassle about checking our bikes in. Mike arrived looked as if he'd been in world war three - look for the scars in the photos.

Tues 13: Early start. Flight routine but with lovely views of the snow-capped Pyrenees in the early morning light. Arrived at Palermo on time and all the bikes were OK. We then pottered down the coast in sunshine at a pleasant temperature. Sea views to the right limestone cliffs on the left. In the towns the roads were pretty grotty, similar to London roads, but elsewhere the surfaces were generally good.Stayed two nights at Balestrate in a nice B & B run by a charming man who couldn't do enough for us, even buying our rail tickets for us. 22 miles.

Wed 14: Sight-seeing day in Palermo, where we went by train. Separate ways - six of them went on a hop-on hop-off bus, Luisa and I walked around. We saw some of the principal sights, including the fabulous silver and gold mosaic Cappella Palatina, Mary Magdalena's withered left foot (indubitably), the area round Fontana Pretoria with it's naked statues. back for dinner at the B & B which was good fun. Lots of nice vino and the brandy delivered by the waiter from the bar down the road. 0 miles.

Thurs 15: Off we went on a slightly damp morning. I persuaded the group to go via a large reservoir. This diversion from the CTC route meant going up a hill which was as steep as the dam ie. very steep! But all was well in the end. It had rained hard the previous night and there was sand washed on to the road in quite a few places, deep enough to stop a road bike. One downhill section was a stream and several of us got a good soaking from passing cars. Stayed in Corleone in a wonderfully-located hotel with a super view. Bit of a performance storing the bikes, especially when bikes locked together. 42 miles.

Fri 16: Nearly 10.00 by the time we left. We separated but met up in Bisacquino. Mainly sunny but with a few mini-showers. Lovely scenery, vineyards and olives. Quite a bit of climbing. After Bisacquino - which was about 750m - we went down one of the longest hills ever. Lunch in Burgio where Pam arrived spitting blood because no-one answered their phone! We had a bit of trouble finding the B & B but Luisa's invaluable Italian saved the day. The B& B was super, the nicest, a fairly large modern private house in the middle of a large olive orchard; beautifully furnished and appointed with a family who looked after us very hospitably, they provided a typical Sicilian meal which was delicious and plenty of wine. 34 miles.

Sat 17: It was quite cold but sunny, we stopped for a coffee at Montallegro and then on to Siciliana for lunch. After some difficulty we found a hotel where we had rather a nice meal, quite reasonably priced, and served by an amusing waiter who reminded several of us of Manuel in Fawlty Towers. Just as we were getting on our bikes it started to rain, hard, really hard. Luisa and I stayed on the main road to Agrigento, the others thought it safer to take a small road. Luisa and I found the B & B without too much trouble - other than having to carry our bikes up a lot of steps. The others had a more adventurous time which involved a police escort and a rescue by the B & B owner who led them up a long hill in his car. We were all cold and wet by the time we got there but by dint of hot showers and heaters we were soon OK again. One problem, someone had hidden Robin's passport in a secret compartment in his pannier. So there ensued 27 phone calls to all the places we'd stayed and eaten, his insurance company, the British Embassy and MI6. 37 miles.

Sun 18: Relief - Robin's passport was discovered. Sightseeing day, Agrigento is rightly famous for its Valley of Temples one of which is the finest Doric temple anywhere. After dinner a new record time was set - only 27 minutes to decide the division of the bill. 0 miles.

Mon 19: Luisa and I left the others and set out on a shorter route towards Catania. Quite a lot of climbing. Sunny morning but quite cold again, 14 degrees at lunchtime. Our route was Favara, Canicatti, Caltanissetta. It took us a few minutes to find the right road to start with, this was caused by us not realising that the main road was closed and there were yellow signs directing us towards Palermo which was not the way we wanted to go. Afterwards I realised the yellow ones were temporary. Nice little hotel in town centre, dinner in a pizzeria where the chap had been making pizzas for 30 years and could do all the tricks like throwing them behind himself. 40 miles.

Tues 20: Another sunny cold morning, 11 degrees at 10.00. More hills to Barrafranca and Piazza Armaria. We managed to lose each other which took a few minutes to sort out. We were there by lunchtime, found a hotel close to the Casa Romana and had the afternoon to see the Roman mosaics, the best-known one is the bikini girls. 30 miles.

Wed 21: It took a long time to get out of town and quite a big hill, caused by a combination of a closed road and an out-of-date map albeit recently purchased. We got to Caltagirone which has a thriving ceramics industry which are liberally scattered round the town. We caught the train at Caltagirone all the way to Catania and found a nice hotel with a wonderful view from our bedroom window of the west front of the duomo, extravagantly baroque. We stayed five nights at this hotel. 25 miles.

Thurs 22: Etna - in a jeep not our bikes! All very interesting, we only went to the limit of the road, about 2,000m out of the 3,323m height of Etna. we saw the place where the 2001 eruption came from and its end point. We also were taken along a tunnel in the lava from the 1792 eruption.

Fri 23: Off to Syracuse, confused by road signs (again), this time caused by a bridge which had collapsed. I had a bit of tummy trouble! Some nice bits of road but too many unavoidable main roads. Had a look round the Archaeological Park. Back by train.50 miles.

Sat 24: North from Catania, first to a pretty town of Acireale and then down to the sea sticking as close to the coast as possible, a lovely lunch in a tiny harbour called Stazzo. We got as far as Riposto, it started to rain so we trained back. 30 miles.

Sun 25: Again north from Catania but sticking to the main road which wasn't busy being Sunday and virtually no lorries. For the first time there were lots of cyclists, many of them fit-looking young men whizzing along on smart bikes with all the gear. So got to Taomina by 12.30 and had a look round. It's reputed to be the most popular resort in Sicily and is a very attractive town perched on a steep hill. Trained back. 50 miles.

Mon 26: Early flight home - BMI/Air Malta. There was a sign telling us to remove our front wheels which we decided to ignore. But when we tried to check in they were adamant, their machine "wasn't big enough to scan the bikes unless the wheel was removed". So unpack and repack our bikes. Otherwise flight routine.

Bernard