To Piazza Armerina: We find a patch of rain

May 1, 2016

Our day began with a sumptuous feast at our lodging, Grangeola B&B. A terrific spread, and a highly recommended spot to stay in Licata. In the middle of the meal, our hostess brought out a small ornament to stick into one of the delicacies: Buon 1 Maggiore! It is May first, and a holiday.

The weather is much different this morning. Our two day hot spell has passed on, and now it is cool and grey. As we eat breakfast a light rain breaks out, so we take our time before setting out, hoping it will pass on. It does stop shortly, and when we leave our B&B at about 10 it is quite comfortable - about 55, with minimal winds.

Our lodging for the evening is in Piazza Armerina, elevation 2300'. We've got a bit of climbing ahead of us today. As usual we're following the minor roads as much as possible, so I'm sure we've got a few ridges to cross on the way there. From the weather forecast it looks like we should have four hours or so of dry riding, with rains arriving later in the day. Hopefully we'll arrive dry, but just in case we prepare for the worst by bagging everything up in plastic bags before setting out.

Once we escape the outskirts of Licata and turn off onto provincial road 247, we 're in cycling nirvana again - carfree, striking landscapes, brilliant floral displays. It is amazing how many of these roads we have ridden along in only nine days so far - they are unfailingly wonderful. They also feel just a bit precarious though - the surface is usually malformed, and signs warn of closures or poor conditions are common. After yesterday's experience driving into Licata especially, we feel a bit less confident passing by some of these signs.

Buon 1 Maggio (happy 1st of May)!
Starting the month out right at Grangela B&B in Licata.

We were presented with a huge, delicious spread again at breakfast this morning. This is a new one for me - a loquat, grown locally. Just OK.

Leaving Licata. Dry so far, but overcast and cool.

Provincial road 47, direction Mazzarino. Cycling heaven. We didn't see a single car for the next hour. A correction from Rachael: she saw one - a small truck that passed by as she was hiding off the side of the road, communing with nature.

We're not sure what this means, but it doesn't really look good. We 're going anyway.

I suppose one could get tired of cycling on roads like this.

A bit before Mazzarino we felt the first drops come down. Nothing serious yet though.

Well, we got three hours or so of dry riding. We're traveling pretty slowly today because the road conditions are pretty rough, it's quite hilly today, there's a lot to see, and frankly because I'm so old. Still, this was nearly enough time to get us to our lunch stop, Mazzarino. Nearly enough - but for the last two miles it poured, and we arrived in town soaked. The main road through town was a river of water - we had to keep weaving back and forth across both lanes to find the high side of the road and avoid the torrent.

Bad news - Mazzarino, although it's quite a large community (population 12,000) doesn't have much going on. On arriving in town we find one open bar with one croissant and a crowd of drunken soccer fans, and decide to keep looking. To no avail - nothing else is open, including a cafe with an annoying lit open sign. Rachael pronounces, several times, that she really dislikes this town.

Soaked and cold but with no alternative, we press on; and soon, just about the time we think we can't take it an more, the rain stops and a bit of sun comes out. The warmth feels so wonderful it is delicious. About ten miles later we come to a hotel/restaurant and pull in for a snack, even though we're only two miles from our hotel.

In Mazzarino, waiting for a hard rain to abate a bit. This is not one of Rachael's happier faces, I'm afraid. I'm not sure what bothered her more here - the fact that we are still fifteen miles from our room and there is no end in sight; or that nothing is open in the town we designated for our lunch stop.

The sun broke out a bit once the rainstorm passed. We were both quite wet and chilled, and it felt incredible to feel it radiating down on us.

Looking north from Mazzarino. I'm not sure, but I think this is Barrafranca straddling the next ridge over.

We're still drying out under our small patch of sun, but all around it looks dark and grey. Hopefully we will cover the last 12 miles to our room without getting soaked again.

On SP147, nearing Villa Casale de Romana. We're too cold and damp to stop there today, but we'll try to make it back in the morning.

Piazza Armeina is another hill town. Keeping with my pattern so far, I have booked us into pretty much the highest lodging in town, Grangela B&B. It is quite a stiff climb up through town, with the last stretch on narrow, busy, slick cobblestone streets - just the usual.

It's fairly sunny when we arrive, but we're too tired to look around right away. Instead we warm up with wonderful hot showers, veg out, and pore through the day's photos and videos. When we do step outside to look around, there is a procession parading through town right outside our door - it is completely amazing how diverse our experiences have been here - but almost immediately it starts raining so we scurry back to our rooms.

Until dinner time, when we step out to a stunning sunset and then move on to yet another wonderful meal.

We love Sicily.

Total elevation gain: today, 4,400'; for the tour, 29,700'.

Here's Rachael's video clip for the day.

Stepping out of our room to look around town before dinner, we witnessed this small procession passing through the plaza.

Over breakfast the next morning, our hostess explained a bit about this for us. She described it as a manifestation for Saint Giuseppi, the patron saint of workers. She said that this occurs on May Day each year. As a lifelong atheist, I can't claim to know much about what I'm witnessing here. I researched it a bit though - May 1 is the festival of Saint Joseph the Worker, an observance the church established in 1955, apparently as a counterpoint to the communist's observance of the day.

The manifestation of Saint Joseph the Worker, Piazza Armerina

The rains began soon after the procession passed the cathedral. Immediately a hundred umbrellas popped open.

The view southwest from Piazza Armerina. We've really seen some spectacular sunsets in our short time here so far.

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 441 miles (710 km)

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