Cycling

The morning's ride to Tindari was tough and wet; but in contrast, the rest of the day was easy-going and sunny. From Capo Tindari, I simply continued west for the entire day, along my good friend the SS113 coastal highway. I passed through Capo d'Orlando around midday, but I decided not to ride all the way up to the cape itself: my guidebook doesn't say anything exciting about it; and I've had enough hilly capes for one day. The Sicilian north coast around here continued to be endless, as well as endlessly lovely — it's still a bit over-developed in this area; although the concentration of towns and resorts got less dense as I continued west.

I grabbed a delicious hot chocolate and a pastry near Capo d'Orlando; and in the town of Sant' Agata, last night's leftovers became today's lunch. After yesterday's excellent gelato experience in Milazzo, I was kinda holding out for another gelato, in whatever town I happened to pass through this afternoon. Well, that town happened to be the very sleepy village of Caronia: and disappointingly, there was no gelato available there! In fact, there was nothing open at all in Caronia — couldn't even find a packet of chips, a can of coke, nothing — which I felt was most unfortunate.

All up, my second day on the road in Sicily was largely calm, relaxed, and easy; albeit a bit uneventful. Anyway, the coast was certainly beautiful — plus, the easy roads made for excellent progress around the island.

From my night's abode at Camping Bazia, this morning I cycled on, and tackled the winding road that leads up to Capo Tindari, and to the village and attractions at the top. It was quite a tough uphill ride — like Capo di Milazzo to its east, Capo Tindari is tall and steep — and a sprinkling of damp, drizzly rain along the way didn't help, either. However, once I reached the top, the weather improved, and the sights proved to be worth the effort. Not that I had a choice, anyway: not only is Tindari a major attraction in this part of Sicily; there's also no easy way around it. As well as some Greek ruins (which I skipped), Tindari is also home to a very impressive church, which sits right atop the cape (above the village), and which overlooks the cliffs and the sea beyond.

After a short gelato break, this afternoon I continued cycling up past the port town of Milazzo, to the Capo di Milazzo itself. Capo di Milazzo is a long, thin, steeply-rising cape, that sticks out into the sea from the north coast of Sicily. Getting to the tip of the cape proved harder than expected — I didn't realise how high-up the cliffs at the tip are, so it was uphill all the way — but once I made it, I was well-rewarded for my efforts. The views from the tip are stunning: as well as the gorgeous cape itself, you can also see the resort coast curving back into Sicily behind you, and the sea and the Isole Eolie in front of you. Lovely spot, especially with the sun waning at the end of the day.

After much ado, today my great, epic bicycle ride around Sicily began! To commence, I rode north from the city of Messina, up to Capo Peloro — Sicily's northernmost and easternmost point — and then around the coast, to Capo di Milazzo and beyond. I was scared, I was nervous, and I was pumped: but the day started out incredibly, and it just seemed to get better and better, as I went along. The Great Sicilian Ride is in progress — let's just hope that this awesome first day has set the standard for the whole voyage.

On Wednesday I went window shopping; and today, I made the big purchase. As of now, I am the proud owner of a €50, second-hand, "Giant" brand mountain bike! As I suspected, I was able to purchase the bicycle, plus all its accessories, from Porto Portese — the dodgy Roman market to handle all your shopping needs. Got the bike from a funny old dude called Alfredo, who runs a little repair shop in the alley that makes up most of the market, and who permanently has a ciggy in the corner of his mouth. It doesn't look too crap: hopefully, it will get me around Sicily.

For those of you that haven't yet heard, I think it's time to announce it officially: next week, I plan to travel down to Sicily, and to go around the entire island on a bicycle! However, I have no bike here in Italy at the moment — so to prepare for the Great Sicilian Ride, I need to do some shopping. Today, for my first rainy day in Rome, I began window shopping around, and looking at what's on offer. I'm hoping to find something second-hand, nice and cheap, but good and durable enough to last me for my journey. And it seems that Rome is a promising place, if it's a decent second-hand bike that you're after.

One of the things I've been looking forward to doing, here in England, is the famous Bath-to-Bristol bike ride. Well... maybe it's not that famous — several of my English mates from South America, including Oly (who lived and studied in Bristol for several years), recommended it to me (so that makes it famous enough for me). Anyway, today I gave the ride a try, and I'd be lying if I didn't say it was a blast. Lovely route, following an abandoned railway track and a peaceful countryside valley; well-done track, wide and sealed almost the whole way; and reasonable weather for it as well. I don't think too many tourists are aware of the ride, but whoever stops by here and doesn't do it is missing out.

For the first time since I arrived here in BA — over a week ago — today it stopped raining, and the sun came out! Yay — good weather at last (it's been wet and freezing all week, until now). So with the sun finally shining, I decided it was time to immediately seize the day, by seizing one of the free bikes that they have at The Clan, and to take myself on a bike tour around the city. As Master Yoda would say: "good this weather finally is, so ride a bicycle you must".

This afternoon, for my first day here in Pucón, I decided to go on a bike ride over to the nearby Lago Caburgua ("Caburgua Lake"). I had wanted to leave a bit earlier, and to get some supplies (e.g. backpack, sunnies, water) — but since I couldn't get into my hostel, I couldn't get those things, and I got delayed and didn't set off until about 3pm. Despite those hiccups, however, it was a lovely ride, and I made it back in time to avoid the onset of night.

Did a fun little day-tour today: downhill mountain-bike riding, on dirt tracks down Volcan Cotopaxi. This is a very popular tour, and one that you can easily arrange from a number of towns, including Quito and Baños. It was very cold at the top, but once we were headed down, we soon warmed up. Had a daredevil group, enjoyed the lovely scenery of Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, and got well taken care of during the day (transport-wise, food-wise, etc). A bit of a bumpy ride — but after the Death Road in Bolivia, you can do anything.