From Calabria to Sicily

Day 242 - 247

After four nights in Salvatore's bungalow the weather has cleared a little and it is time for me to continue towards Sicily. The road climbs up another 200m before I ride down a very steep road back to sea level. 

Up again, 500m this time and it starts drizzling. On the way back down towards sea level I stop at a lookout and Antonino starts talking to me. He has lived in Australia for many years and still collects a pension from the Aussie government while he lives in Italy! He invited me to dinner and offers his couch to sleep on. I gratefully accept. 

In his house my bike hangs out next to the salami he made. Dinner is local sausages his cousin made served with wine made by one of his friends. I love this part of Italian culture. Different regions have different specialties and many people make and produce their own food, olive oil and wine. 

It's pouring rain in the morning and I leave the house covered head to foot in rain gear. As I continue down the hill the skies clear, I have a great view of Sicily and a rainbow appears. Pefect. I soon arrive at the port just in time to hop on a boat to the island. 

After a quick Skype with dad (Happy Birthday!) I am pushed along by some more tail winds. I have a couchsurfing host arranged in Palermo and I am meeting up with Charlie there in a few days time. 

The sunshine and tail winds hang around until about 3pm. And then the rain starts. The cycling is not the most pleasant, the road is busy and there are lots of industrial areas. I find shelter in a half constructed abandoned building for the night, happy that I am not camping in the pouring rain.

The next day emerges cloudy, better than rainy. A roadie cycled with me for a while. I was working hard to go 20km/hr on the flat to keep up and he often had to stop pedalling and coast to slow down for me. 

He spoke little English and my usual approach of using lots of hand gestures and body language to communicate was difficult whilst cycling. He was kind enough to buy me a peice of cake and a coffee for morning tea. 

The afternoon brought some stunning cliff side cycling, which was a little bit difficult to appreciate due to the howling wind and pouring rain. At one point I stop for a photo and notice the rain drops flying up over the cliff from the wind pushing them upwards. 

I find another abandoned building to hide in tonight. This one was a whole apartment complex, many of the doors unlocked and the apartments still furnished. I lay my tent ground sheet over and old bed and sleep on the matress. 

I wake up to sunshine in the morning! I cycle for a while with a group of men out enjoying the fine weather on the weekend. At one point I cycle past a sign that says 65km to Palermo. A couple of kilometres later a sign says 71km to Palermo! Where did those extra kilometers come from?

I enjoy some beer and chips at the beach watching the sunset before settling into another half built house that has been abandoned. 

It's sunny again in the morning and I actually manage to work up a sweat climbing a small hill over a headland.  The view of the med is amazing in spots and a few trees are in bloom, hinting at the upcoming summer. 

One of the most least enjoyable things about cycletouring is trying to cycle through cities. Palermo is not so bike freindly and even on a Sunday afternoon the traffic is horrible. 

I manage to navigate my way through town and out the other side. My couchsurfing host, Salvatore, lives in Sferacavallo, a village about 10km from Palermo. I eat some Gelato while I wait to meet Salvo. 

Once at his place, I drink a beer and then I am told his friend, Barabara, will be doing a yoga session. 75km cycling, a couple of beers and then an hour and a half of yoga, I was a little tired after that. 

Across the sole and then over to the top of the boot

Day 235 - 241

After a coffee and focaccia, I manage to leave town at about 11. It's a lovely ride down to the coast, blue skies, windy downhill run through green fields, quiet roads and then a tail wind along the flat. It doesn't get much better than this. 

Until I end up on a busy highway with no alternative.  I turn off soon enough into a beachside town.  In the evening I eat dinner on the beach before setting up my tent in the pine forest. Eating dinner is a little tricky - my spoon has joined my missing sock and lost towel. I manage not to cut my face off and eat spaghettie with a knife. 

After finding a new spoon in town I head west, with a tail wind! The road is busy but eventually I find a secondary road. I turn away from the coast to cross over to the top of the boot. 

I have to hide in a cafe for a couple of hours to hide from a creeper that was stalking me for about 10km in the countryside. Seriously, I am so over this harrasment. He must have gotten bored of waiting for me and when I reemerge from my hiding spot I can't see him. 

I find a nice spot amongst some olive trees to camp. My tent is covered in frost in the morning. 

I continue up hill, crossing over a pass at 700m. The climbing is nice and steady, not too steep.  I still stop often to 'admire the view' (not that my legs need resting *cough*).  There are rolling hills and snow capped mountains in the background. It is chilly up this high, the raincoat and winter gloves come on for the descent. 

Despite the tunnels this was one of the best descents I have had for ages. The road zigzags down the side of the mountain, through a tunnel, across a very high bridge contecting the ridges, switchback and repeat. 

Once back at sea level I speed along the flat road with the help of the tail wind. As I am looking for somewhere to camp I cycle past an older man with his pants down that seemed to be enjoying showing everyone what's on offer. I cycle into the next village, find a shop keeper that speaks English, tell him about the flasher and ask if he wants to call the police. 'No, he is probably just bored'. Right. I keep cycling. 

I find a caravan park that is closed for winter and sleep in an unlocked caravan. Nice and warm. 

The following day I continue south. The cycling is fairly unintersting unfortunately. There is a train line blocking my view of the ocean most of the time. I am in my own little world, listening to a podcast, spinning the pedals and in the distance I spot another cycle tourist. The first one I have met since Turkey! Dazzla is from Cornwall, heading to Istanbul and then back to England. He is also sick of all the rain and cold weather.  

As the afternoon wears on the sunshine and blue skies are replaced by very ominous looking clouds. I finally make it to Tropea and call my warm showers host, Salvatore. Only about five km and a steep hill to go. I am starving. As I start cycling up the hill I spot a sign with a picture of chocolate. I get very excited at the prospect of a quick chocolate stop. As I get closer it turns out that it is a picture of bricks. I am very disappointed. 

Just as I arrive at Salvatore's house it starts pouring. I am put in front of the fire place, given some tea and a plate of bread, cheese and ham. A perfect welcome. 

Dinner is soup and pizza. Very tasty. My home for the next few days is a self contained bungalow in the back of the garden. Salvatore and his wife usually rent it out during the summer. 

On Sunday Salvatore takes me for a drive to some scenic sights in the area. We visit and old ruin, buy some locally made cheese and salami from the back of a van and admire some great views. It is drizzly and windy all day. I am glad I am not on the bike or sleeping in my tent. 

Despite the best of intentions of leaving today, I don't. The weather is horrible. Very windy and gusty and raining off and on. I do a little work in the garden during the not so rainy periods but most of the day is spent drinking tea and reading my book. 

The next day it is the same. Salvatore is very kind and tells me it is ok for me to stay until the weather clears. 

18/2 Matera - Nova Siri Scalo: rode 75km

19/2 Nova Siri Scalo - Before Tarsia Nord: rode 78km

20/2 Before Tarsia Nord - Before Cerocea: rode 93km

21/2 Before Cerocea - Caria: rode 87km

ODO: 7085km