A slow start in Scopello, allowing the whole group to leave at once. We split up during the gorgeous descent to the Golfo di Castellamare, and i rode with Scott and Joe for the first climb, past Segesta. Our route repeated a segment from the previous day, through the woods and into Buseto Palizzolo, where we stopped for a late lunch at a bar and i successfully used my tourist Italian to get us food. We met up again in Valderice, before the big climb up the mountain to Erice. After arriving, we went to a pastry shop for hot chocolate, cappuchino, and souvenirs, then met up with David, Tom, and Bill for a great dinner at the hotel restaurant.
view from hotel window in Scopello |
The hotel room window had a complex mechanism with about six different types of hardware to unlatch and open various parts of the window. Sadly, it was impractical to take it home as a souvenir |
hotel corridor, despite appearances not actually the entrance to the changing area of a spa |
Dave, standing in a storage area to avoid the sun until we are ready to get underway |
Tom and Sarah, ready to get underway |
view from the street in front of our hotel |
view from the street in front of our hotel |
lining up for a mass start |
and they're off! |
more mass start footage |
approaching the camera... |
...fleeing the camera |
Our mass start is short-lived due to uncertainty about directions. Is this the arch we're looking for? |
looks pretty arch-like |
we find our direction and are rewarded with another view of the sea |
also some plants and rocks and things |
more sea! |
Bill, watching the bikes as we go into the grocery store for supplies (i got several slices of fantastic salami at the deli, which came in handy later during our ride) |
looking back past the market at the mountain behind Scopello |
Dave and Sarah return from downhill |
an inland cliff visible from our grocery stop |
Scott looks at the view during our descent towards the Golfo di Castellamare |
we see windcatchers or something else sparkly in this valley (needless to say, it doesn't show up on camera) |
inland across the valley |
inland towards the mountain |
we've reached the water |
David, Tom, and Bill stop to check out this beach; Joe, Scott, and i keep going |
houses and a tower |
buildings on the hillside |
Tom and David, waiting by the beach |
Scott, and the road behind |
goats by the roadside, not posing for the camera in the way that goats don't |
I pulled over on SS-187 to get this last view of the north ocean before we left it for several days |
valley panorama |
a ruin behind a field of crops |
a field and the road behind |
the road ahead |
Scott and Joe take a break at the side of the road |
fields in the valley |
my bike, at the side of the road with cliffs above |
my bike, in the happy days before the mud |
this signage was confusing and did not match our cue sheets very well |
a quarry |
train bridge under which our route passed |
seriously, how cool is this bridge? |
close up of one of the eyes of the train bridge |
train bridge and highway overpass meet at infinity (possibly slightly closer) |
looking back at the highway bridge and train bridge |
ruins on a hilltop |
view into the valley |
Joe and Scott ride up from Bruca |
in the interest of time, i had intentionally walked up the steep-hill shortcut we found by accident the day before |
Joe, riding |
Scott, riding |
Don't try this at home. Or, really, anywhere. |
Part of the intriguing mechanical systems series, this toilet flushed by turning a handle 90 degrees, like a sink faucet |
sheep! |
windmills! |
first view of Erice - we're going to the top of that? |
water, island, and buildings by the south foothills of Erice |
this picture is a little hazy, but it shows the islands and salt flats we're going to see the next day after leaving Erice |
we continue to contemplate Erice |
It's kinda mountainy-looking. Maybe we should stay home. |
we could just go to Trapani instead |
Valderice, the larger town at the beginning of the climb to Erice |
the street in Valderice |
Dave, Sarah, Scott, Joe, and i regroup in Valderice to prepare for the climb |
building facade with clock and bells |
First view of this big rock (which turns out to be called Monte Cofano) as we start to climb |
Sarah, on the road ahead |
See that rock up there? We are going up there. Looks kinda far up. |
View north near the beginning of the climb |
Clouds overhead as we approach a switchback |
Sarah on the road ahead |
Monte Cofano from a little further up |
Hills to the east - one of these must be the mountain we were futzing around on our way to Scopello and back |
View out to sea from a little higher up |
Stone guard wall on the road behind |
Last view back to Monte Cofano and the mountains |
Coastline to the north east |
Sarah, on the road behind |
Sarah, with approaching traffic |
mountains to the east |
we're making progress |
castle on top of the mountain |
it's a long way down now |
view out to sea |
we noticed Joe and Scott on a lower switchback, and waited for them |
mysteriously, a twisty maze of switchbacks has appeared below us |
fields and roads as we approach the top (approaching the top takes awhile) |
finally there - a view from my hotel room to a rooftop courtyard below |
alley in Erice, from hotel room |
we saw these rocks on the tile roofs of a number of buildings, and wondered about them - are they to keep the tiles from blowing away? |
my hotel room, populated by Dave and Sarah |
our bikes, in an interior courtyard |
closer look at the rooftop courtyard |
tiles above the reception desk |
close-up of a tile |
we wander around Erice in the dark waiting for the others to arrive |
a street in Erice |
door of a building |
anonymous yellow members of our party, in Erice |
we climbed 5700 feet; we shouldn't have to choose between red and white wine |
extremely tasty couscous tabouleh |
My notes say our appetizers included cheese with sardines, cured beef, multiple types of cured fish, and prosciutto and melon. Almost certainly, this bowl had pasta in it rather than any of those things. But at least the bowl is a nifty shape |
veal, in a terrific eggplant and garlic sauce |
passito! still my favorite dessert wine |
after dinner, we went out onto the rooftop courtyard we'd seen before |