Monte Pellegrino

March 18, 2023

If you’ve been paying any attention at all you know that Jacquie and Al arrived in Palermo two days ago, on the same day we did. So where’s the CycleBlaze meetup, you’ve doubtless been wondering. Some explanation is in order.

It was always clear that meeting the day we arrived was a poor idea. Even if we all arrived on schedule, we’d surely be too jet-lagged and stressed out to be up for a visit. The next night seemed reasonable though, and so a few days back I proposed that we share a meal together Friday night.

Since then though our four flight day happened; and Thursday night we cancelled the Friday dinner plan, feeling like it would take all we had just to make it through the next day. Saturday night for sure though, we all agreed, our last chance before we all leave town on Sunday.

Yesterday though we felt much better than expected, and late in the day we proposed getting together for dinner after all, and told Jacquie where we’d be dining in case they wanted to drop by and join us. Which they might have done if they’d opened up invitation in time - but by the time Jacquie picked up on our email they’d already had dinner themselves. In expressing her regrets though she proposed that we join them Saturday on a shakedown climb up Monte Pellegrino. We quickly accepted, which brings us up to today.

The plan was to ride a loop climbing Monte Pellegrino from the south, dropping down the Roth side, and then returning to Palermo along the coast. It’s essentially the reverse of the ride we took four years ago, and one Rachael and I were eager to repeat. In fact, it had ready been our planned ride for today when Jacquie proposed it.

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We met at 10 in front of Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy in case you’ve forgotten this interesting fact already. after a quick greeting we hopped on the bikes and enjoyed a relaxing two mile ride down to the waterfront and along a pleasant cyclepath to the base of Monte Pellegrino.

Oh, wait. Rachael reminds me that it wasn’t exactly like that. Rachael proposes harrowing and hair-raising as more appropriate descriptors for this part of the ride. And she’s right, of course. Palermo gets no votes for its bicycle friendliness, and we were all relieved to reach the base of the climb unscathed. Bicycling in Palermo is not for the faint of heart.

Such well behaved visitors! Actually, waiting for the green is treated more like a suggestion here, to be observed at your own discretion whether you’re on foot, on a bike, or behind the wheel of a car. You really do have to keep your wits about you at all times.

It’s not like Palermo doesn’t have bike routes. It’s just that there aren’t many of them, and the few that exist are pretty terrible.

Aah! Much better. Two miles into the ride and we leave nearly all the traffic behind and begin the steady six mile climb to the summit of Monte Pellegrino.

We’re stopped here for a break for some reason. I forget why and where, and even if the photo’s in the correct sequence. Nice shot though.

On the climb, with Palermo receding behind us. Oh, and a comment on the photos - they’re a blend of ones taken by all four of us plus a few strategically placed volunteers.

Looking across Palermo from one of several spectacular vista points on the climb. As you can see, Palermo is in a dramatic setting ringed by low mountains on three sides with the sea bordering it to the north.

Here we’re looking in another direction - to the northwest, around the western side of Pellegrino. The ridge on the right of the gap is Capo Gallo, with Mondello sprawled beneath it and the coastal resort of Sferrocavalla through the gap. Or, another way of looking at it is that this is all just Palermo, more or less completely blanketing the coastal plain surrounding Pellegrino.

Worth stopping for a longer look, even if a breather hadn’t been in order.

Here’s the fourth side of Palermo’s box. You can just see the edge of the city on the lower right.

At the top, at the end of a dead-end spur to a vista point overlooking the sea. Here’s where one of those strategically placed volunteers came in handy.

Looking off the east side of Pellegrino. Below us the slope is covered with trunks of downed palm trees, possibly the victims of a severe storm.

Capo Gallo. If you could see down to it, Mondello is the coastal town wedged into the cove.

Al is just finishing up some maintenance work on his chain. I think the most interesting thing in the photo though is how well his shirt matches the sea. Well planned, Al!

Another strategically placed volunteer contributes to the cause.

So the plan was to return back to the loop from this dead end spur and then continue north, dropping down to Mondello and returning to Palermo along the sea. Rachael and I have ridden this road on the north side of the mountain twice before. Eight years ago, we crossed Pellegrino on our ride to Castellammare del Golfo, our first stop after Palermo on our first tour of Sicily. I still remember what a wonderful descent that was, and how excited I was to find a tree full of Monk’s parakeets in Mondello.

Four years ago we rode today’s loop in reverse, meaning we climbed up the north side of the mountain instead of the south. It was an outstanding ride, especially because since we were here the first time the road he been closed to cars, barricaded at the top and the bottom. We had this gorgeous road to ourselves, along with a few other bikes.

Today though, the road is closed to all comers - cars, scooters, bikes, walkers, the works. I looked it up, and it looks like the road is more or less permanently closed because it’s too dangerous due to frequent rockfalls. For all I know, parts of the road might have even collapsed since we were here last.

So if you’ve read our previous accounts and thought you might come this way yourself someday, I wouldn’t plan on it without more research on current conditions. And as an FYI, don’t trust RideWithGPS here - it thinks this is still a fine ride.