April 12, 2023
Day ride to Rifugio Sapienza
Ascent of Etna South
We had today in our itinerary to ride up Etna, but it was always “weather permitting” and, up until very recently, the weather forecast hadn’t looked promising. But today was perfect! So, despite our residual tiredness from two tough days of loaded riding to get here, the ride was on!
I’d created several possible routes for this (and booked our stay in Zafferana Etnea, which seemed an ideal starting point). We chose to do the one that minimized riding on the busy highway between here and Nicolosi. We hadn’t enjoyed it yesterday and had no desire to repeat it if it could be avoided.
This meant, as we discovered, a very steep climb from Poggiofelice, where we turned off said busy highway after 2 km. We both had to push. As we discovered on our return, even the main road up is pretty steep at this point—but not as steep.
Once we got past the super-steep section, it was a pretty and quiet ride. It was still quiet after we passed Tarderia and joined Via Catania about a km further uphill than we’d joined it yesterday going down. There was almost no traffic at all.
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Just before the point where our uptrack on Via Catania joined SP 92, the two riders from AG2R Citroën, followed by their team van, came zipping down. Not only are these two not riding Giro di Sicilia, which started yesterday, neither are any other riders from that team.
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Al had gone ahead because he was getting cold waiting for me and wanted to get to the top and put his warm layers on. I didn’t see him or his bike as I rode all the way to Rifugio Sapienza, where I spotted an e-mtb business. I headed over there and had a nice chat with the young man working there, his first day. I wasn’t trying to chat up a good-looking young Italian (probably younger than my sons) but was asking him if they happened to have an SPD cleat bolt. I’d noticed on the ride up that I was missing one. It’s probably been missing since yesterday, not that I could have done anything about it as Sicily doesn’t have many bike shops. The rental place didn’t; all their bikes have flat pedals. We even looked in their miscellaneous parts box but no luck. At least the remaining bolt was tight.
Once I found Al (he’d ridden to the Rifugio and back to the Crateri without us seeing each other), we walked around the smaller, lower crater (inferiori). That was enough in cycling shoes, not to mention having just climbed 1400 metres on our bikes.
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The road down, which all the tour buses and private vehicles in the parking lots must have taken because only a dozen or so passed us on the way up, started off beautifully. Then the surface changed and became bone-shakingly rough, though it was still asphalt. It was really hard to see the cracks and holes because my glasses were bouncing. Many stops were needed to admire the surroundings and let the body recover.
Our B&B is on the top floor of what’s probably called a villa. It’s like a suburban house at home but there are at least 3 other living units in it, in addition to the B&B. It also has a large garage (where our bikes were stored, a lawn and garden (with an orange tree, the source of the fresh-squeezed juice we were served in the mornings) and a hose. Al used this, with permission, to rinse off the accumulated mud from the past 4 weeks. I went to the supermarket for beer and chips.
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Time now to try and deal with my cleat issue. After reading about Susan Carpenter’s experience last year in Puglia, I’d decided to carry a spare cleat bolt. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack one and Al didn’t have one either. Google told me there was a Trek Premium shop, Le Due Ruote, fairly close to our location, and open. Less than an hour’s walk, “mostly flat” according to Google. I contacted them; yes, the shop existed, it would be open until 8 p.m., and they had a bolt for me. The walk was not flat at all, but I expected that as we are on the side of a mountain. It was worth it to me because it’s a lot easier to walk unencumbered on a pleasant evening than to be pushing my loaded bike (or riding it in trail runners for any distance). I should add that I’ve been riding in SPD shoes for decades and this is the first time I’ve lost a cleat bolt.
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1 year ago
When I got back, we ate our leftovers from last night for a light dinner and retired.
Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 1,102 km (684 miles)
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1 year ago