Overview of the Day
Today's ride really was built up for us last night at briefing, mainly because we were going to be passing the famous Marsala saltworks - which have been in use since the Phoenicians settled in the area in about 800 B.C. - and finishing at the important Greek archeological site of Selinunte.
Exiting Trapani
Our briefing from the guides last night suggested we might all like to start a half hour later today. Two reasons were given: it was going to be a fairly easy day regarding distance and terrain with the wind largely at our backs; and it would give a chance for the majority of the the commuter traffic to get where it was going before we started our ride. None of us were going to argue with the chance of an extra half-hour kip!
Here's a few of the crew getting ready to roll in the little alleyway which is the access to the entrance of our hotel ...
Apart from the T & T Train (Ted and Tim from southern Ontario) and a couple of passengers who left the station early, most of us headed out together at the appointed hour. When we got out on the road we soon found that the wind was not at our backs at that point in time. Consequently, we did get a little strung out, but it was geographically rather than psychologically. I cruised up and down the pack a bit, using my action camera to take a bunch of photos.
Here's Jeremy following Patti ...
... and Marcello leading Ian, Emilie and Chris onto a bike path to get out of the traffic for a while ...
The bike path proved to a bit of a red herring, as it was very, very rough and we really had to keep our wits about us to avoid frequent potholes and sand scattered over the surface. On one slightly smoother section I pulled the camera off its mount and got a photo of Chris sticking out his tongue, followed by Di and John ...
The early section of the ride was semi-urban/rural as we wound through a couple of towns and the Trapani saltworks. Here's Emilie and Chris, followed by Sharon and a few others riding through one of the built up areas ...
All the while we were coming in and out of the wind, which at this stage was mostly either in our faces or coming at us from the right. The wind might have actually been something of a blessing at this stage as it probably dispersed the smell of random large piles of rubbish like this one ...
Vineyards started to become more prevalent as we moved further south. Given that Marcello advised us last night that Sicily has the largest production of any region in Italy I thought I should try to get a photo of some vines ...
Marsala saltworks
One of the highlights of the day's ride was to be going past the historic Marsala saltworks. Here's an early glimpse ...
There was a bit of excitement amongst the punters when they saw the salt collection areas and the attendant windmills ...
On we moved, but our focus on the saltworks was a bit disturbed by the increasing strength of the side wind. This photo illustrates it pretty well with the tall grasses alongside the road flapping about quite a lot ...
The next shot shows the group getting strung out a bit more, and the whitecaps on the water starting to build ...
Soon though we were getting nearer to the heart of the Marsala saltworks, with big piles of salt along the road. The closest windmill is clearly visible in distance in the next photo ...
... and here's a closer view ...
The area that was being worked for salt collection stretched along the coastline for some kilometres. Normally we would probably have stopped for more photos but we were still battling the wind which was continuing to build and most of us just wanted to get to some shelter at the morning coffee stop so we pressed on.
Relief and reward
The original plan was to have coffee out on a wonderful waterfront terrace at a cafe at 37 kilometres. However, with the Mistral doing its thing our guides had reorganised for us to have our break indoors. This little video might give you a hint of why that was ...
Di had a short chat with Team Wagga, with whom we'd intended to spend the day riding. Basically she said she thought that the nature of the wind made it a bit difficult to ride together as we'd planned and we'd head off on our own.
Interestingly, shortly after we got back on the bikes we headed more directly south and suddenly the wind was at our backs, forcefully pushing us forward. We were soon cranking along at greatly increased speed, with greatly increased enjoyment.
Clichéd as it sounds, almost before we knew it we'd covered the next 30 kilometres to lunch. And the piazza where Simone had set up was somewhat sheltered, although not quite enough to set up a full outdoor picnic as planned. Instead, we went to the little cafe that he'd organised to supply us with picnic niceties a là Siciliano. Here's Di (attaching her helmet to her chair so it doesn't blow away) along with Sharon, Ted, Bernadette and Tim enjoying some sunshine ...
Post-pizza, Sharon decided the highly-recommended gelato was the go. Here she is telling Di that the cone is definitely NOT overloaded ...
... at which point Jeremy appears to ask, "Are you sure?", while Bernadette contemplates the concept of a gelato herself ...
Meanwhile, Sarah makes it clear to Chris and Steve that they could probably share a piece of pizza. Tthe piece she was given was enormous - perhaps the mamma who served her thought she needed a little filling out. Simone, who knows what's good for you, thinks that no piece of pizza is ever too big ...
Di and I climbed back on the bikes after a short break (we wanted to maximise the rest time we'd get before heading out for the tour of the the archeological site) and it was literally ride, ride, ride like the wind.
There wasn't much photography the rest of the way but I did take this shot of Di on a bridge we crossed about 10 kilometres out of Selinunte ...
Selinunte by day and by night
Arriving nice and early and having a stiff breeze meant that we were able to get our day's riding gear washed and dried before heading off to look at the much-hyped Greek ruins. And what an impressive set of ruins they are. Following are a few photos that Di and I took during our visit.
I'm pretty sure this road isn't authentic, but it does make for a rather attractive lead-in ...
There is a massive amount of broken columns and other bits of formed blocks scattered around the place ...
The newest, most intact of the buildings from a little closer ...
This photo gives a nice sense of scale for this religious edifice ...
... and I really like this photo that Di took from the front steps ...
... but maybe my favourite is this one she took, which suggests to me a quiet corner where intimate liaisons may have taken place ...
We had a bit of time to yarn with our fellow travellers before this evening's briefing about tomorrow's ride, and then dinner. Just as we thought we were heading out to the evening's nominated restaurant as per the programme, Dylan announced that we'd be eating at the hotel. I don't know about anyone else, but both Di and I were delighted with the idea of not having to walk anywhere, and to be able to slip quietly away to our room when we felt like we were ready for bed.
As it turned out, we were in for a real treat. There were three local musicians teed up to perform for us. Their main gig was Sicilian folk music, but two of them had a very wide repertoire of English language tunes as well. The star of the show however was the guy who played saxophone, clarinet, violin and guitar and had a huge repertoire. He sang everything from the great Louis Armstrong (yes, he did perform "What a Wonderful World") to Elvis Presley to stuff from the opera.
Our group is quite a diverse lot. There are the introverts (like me 😉 ) and some more outgoing types. Then there are a few wildly extroverted folk, particularly Patti from New York. She was up dancing something fantastic, and soon had a bunch of fellow riders out on the floor with her. I slipped off to finish this post, but Di told me that she had just quite a few more out on the floor once the band got their Elvis trick working. (Di worked up such a sweat out on the dance floor she had to have a shower when she got back to the room.) Apparently, Patti even managed to get a cohort from the staid German contingent sitting on the other side of the room to get out and do the white-shoe shuffle.
Before I slipped away I got Di to record a short video of the star of the show. Shot on an iPhone in poor light, the quality is not great but it does illustrate well the capabilities of this local star ...
