We’ve been in Sicily exactly a month today, and are nearing the end of this stage of the tour. Today we start a short two day traverse back to Taormina on the south coast, our last overnight on the island until we return to Palermo at the end.
Today’s ride to Randazzo has about the same stats as our ride to Petralia Sottano: 42 miles, 5,400’ of climbing. On paper, it looks pretty straight-forward - just a single climb, and then we coast all the way into town for the last 20 miles, hopefully with awesome views ahead to Mount Etna the whole way down. All we have to do is get through that first 4,500’ in 20 miles, and we’re in Scott-free.
The day begins at 5, when we are awakened by rain on the roof, just above our heads. We expected this, which was forecasted to pass through briefly. In its wake it will leave wonderfully clear skies for the first time in three days. I lie in bed awhile trying to decide if it is worth the risk trying to make it down the stairs in the dark to the bathroom. I succumb, succeed in not killing myself, and then listen anxiously as Rachael executes the same neat trick.
Now if I can just make it down safely one last time.
The ride begins with an easy five miles further east along the coast, the first mile of which is beside the immensely long market. On the way, we stopped at a bike store east of town that we had scoped our earlier. I had noticed when changing Rachael’s flat that the cap on her quick release skewer was slightly cracked. I’ve been a bit worried about it, since a skewer failure would stop the tour in a hurry. They checked it out, and pointed out (as I could have seen for myself if I’d just taken the cap off) that the crack is only to the plastic cap that covers the actual device, and not a concern.
At Rocca di Caprileone we leave the coast, enter the valley of the Tortorici River, and start climbing. The first miles are easy as we gradually gain elevation with the help of a wind assist - we’ve been really lucky with wind direction on this tour. After a few miles the climb stiffens a bit, but it’s never bad as we follow the river all the way to the village of Tortorici.
Conditions are perfect for a climb. The temperature is comfortable, the wind is favorable, and the sky gradually lightens up as we gain elevation. One thing about the ride though - it’s a bit depressing. We pass a huge, flattened and desiccated frog smashed on the shoulder; and then another, and another, and another. All the way to Tortorici we see these huge frogs, perhaps as many of a thousand of them, always flattened. I never did see a living one, though Rachael thinks she may have seen just one. They really are huge, with torsos about eight inches long. Sad.
The market is fully developed this morning. People must stream in from every small village and town in the region.
After biking past market stalls for nearly a mile we finally come to its eastern end. The horses are at one of the last stands. We couldn’t tell if they were for show, or rides, or for sale.
We leave the coast at Rocca di Caprileone and follow the Tortorici River. We quickly leave the main road, which is quiet enough, for a much quieter one that lifts us above the valley.
A few miles of climbing later, we’re irked to find that the planning team has placed us on the wrong road. We have to drop back to the main road, down this very steep and badly surfaced connector.
We arrive at the charming small town of Tortorici, elevation 1,300’. Its square and streets are full of loiterers and shoppers, and there’s a market on. A great spot for people watching, but we’re only a third of the way through the climb so we continue on. Almost immediately after leaving town the climb stiffens a bit, to perhaps 5%, as we start climbing up the east wall of the valley.
Ten miles later, we finally near the summit of our climb. We’re still several hundred feet below it when we first see the tip of Mount Etna poke above the ridge. Exciting - the skies look clear in that direction, and we can hope for some impressive views just ahead.
Tortorici, an attractive little mountain town that is lively this afternoon. It looks like it would have been worth exploring for awhile, but we still have another ten miles of climbing ahead.
And impressive they are - stunningly impressive when we first crest the ridge and come to a full, unobstructed view of the mountain, it’s summit striated with snow. Incredibly beautiful. We are so lucky!
It’s awesome, but at 4,200’ up it’s also windy and quite cold. We look for a sheltered spot for lunch, finally stopping in a bar where we order beverages and eat our lunch while we warm up. Then it’s back on the road, where for the next hour we experience a truly epic ride. After a fast, windblown four miles along the top, we begin the long descent to Randazzo. The entire way, we are faced with one stunning view of the mountain after another. Phenomenal!
Etna starts peeking above our final ridge about a mile before we crest it. Suddenly we’re over the top, and the mountain fills the sky. Breathtaking.
After stopping at a bar in Floresta to eat our lunch and warm up, we bike for about four miles across this green plateau, maintaining our 4,100’ elevation. It’s effortless riding, pushed along by a big wind.
Rachael is grinning ear to ear because she’s having the time of her life. For the next ten miles we coast toward Randazzo, with Mount Etna visible much of the way.
The church of Saint Nicholas, Randazzo. The town has a great collection of unique churches that we’ll explore later, after we’re done with this thrilling descent.
We arrive at our B&B, Ai Tre Parchi Bed and Bike, just past four. This is the same bike-friendly (obviously, from its name) place we stayed the last time we passed through Randazzo, and it’s as good as we remembered it. Matteo, himself a biker, welcomes us warmly and remembers us and our peculiar bikes from our last visit. He tells us how lucky we are to have such a great day to see the mountain, which has been masked by a sirocco haze for the previous three days.
Randazzo is a wonderful small medieval city, large built from the local material - Mount Etna lava. It’s one of our favorite stays of the tour, but this post is long enough already. We’ll see the town itself shortly.
Oh, OK. One last mountain shot. This is from the deck of our B&B. We were told that the summit is only about ten miles away, and that there was a mild earthquake last night.
There’s more to Randazzo than Mount Etna hovering above it. Before dinner we walked around the town, and found this fine view southeast down the Alcantara valley. We found much else to like here, but too much for this post.
4 years ago