March 21, 2023
To Trapani via Segesta (video links fixed)
Our B&B in Castellammare del Golfo is this reddish building. We wheeled our bikes in and out of the “basement” door, the wide black one, which saved us carrying them up or down any stairs. The main entrance is down the stairs just below, through the arch behind the plant in the photo, then our room was on the first floor (counting Italian-style). That’s our balcony above the front door plus we had another balcony with a small table and chairs on the other side. The breakfast room was two floors further up, at the top.
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We loaded up and headed out of town towards Segesta. Once we turned onto a small road, all traffic was left behind. We were barked at by a fe2 dogs, but never more than barking. I’m sure we were the excitement of the day for them.
After what seemed like a lot of climbing,we arrived at Segesta. Once you purchase your admission ticket, you are directed to put your bike in an inner area. Unfortunately, the bike rack was one of those front wheel things which aren’t so good if you have a load on your otherwise light bike. Nobody minded that we leaned our bikes against an adjacent railing and locked them there.
The big draw at Segesta is the temple. It’s huge! And was never finished. It’s been here in its unfinished state for about 2500 years.
There’s more to see at Segesta, including a theatre, but the other sites are on top of a rather large hill. We think so, anyway, because we looked at the road up and didn’t go. We decided to skip that part and carry on.
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The ride from Segesta to Trapani seemed very long to me, though it wasn’t, really. I was just tired.
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We were entranced by the wind in the grass:
I had created two potential routes for today: one that went along the coast and one that climbed over the shoulder of Monte Erice. Al had been angling for the climbing but didn’t object when I said I’d prefer the flatter coastal route. Once he saw the mountain, he could see that he’d be freezing in the wind at the top of the climb while waiting for me. At Crocevie, we turned toward the coast.
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The descent on SR 25 included some very steep switchbacks, over 25%, I think. We ride steep grades through residential areas in West and North Vancouver so we do know steep and this seemed the steepest yet. All I was thinking as I braked was “I hope this isn’t a terrible blunder and we have to go back up!”
We didn’t. We came to SP 18, the main road along the coast and thankfully not too busy. RWGPS had suggested a road/path right along the water and we turned toward it at the first opportunity. The street to the water was a divided boulevard between farms, like it was to serve a new resort development that never happened. It was the same with the road, which eventually changed to a wide walking/cycling path past a few marble processing plants.
Perhaps the planned tourism(?) development never happened because the shoreline was completely covered in a thick layer of dead seaweed?
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Eventually, the path ended, we returned to the main road, and braved the traffic into and through Trapani to our B&B out on the point.
Today's ride: 64 km (40 miles)
Total: 191 km (119 miles)
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