1/2/11

Catania, Sicilia, Italia


Sicilian coastline; you must imagine the endless groves of orange and lemon trees, cacti lining the roads, and Greek ruins dotting the surrounding hills



My God, I've not posted in a week and a half! This just goes to show two things:
1) Internet is very hard to come by without seeking expensive internet points, where you can't use your own computer anyway (so no picture uploading ability)
2) Time is absolutely flying out here
The second point is especially interesting, as I am really taking my time getting from eh to bee, especially when compared to how Sean and I were riding together. Back then, waaay back when I was but a wee lad, we would average 90 km a day; nowadays, on mah lonesome, I'm getting 40-5o km in and I'm ready to call it a day. Why the sudden change? For one, I don't have the same drive to get after it every day, as I don't really have anywhere to get to, nor am I on a strict schedule with tight time constraints. I'd say that was one of our biggest troubles together, for it forced us to spend most of our time riding and living a very ascetic and Spartan existence. Now, this isn't bad at all, and I really enjoyed the simplicity and guts that it took (plus, we saw a hell of a lot and still were able to see a hell of a lot). However, there's something very nice about getting to a city and actually spending a day seeing the sights as opposed to an hour at night and two hours on the bike before leaving. This new approach I am taking today and tomorrow with Catania, which houses the #3 biggest Catholic ceremony in the world, following Peru and Valencia.
But the other reason that I am slowing down the pace, aside from the lack of a ticking timer, would be the challenging landscape and the joy of stopping and breathing in warm, fragrant air and basking in the sun in the winter! How wonderfully challenging this landscape is, though I have become used to it to the point that I am not ever bothered by even the longest and steepest of climbs: I just downshift as far as I can, put my eyes up (thanks, Ebert), and pedal pedal pedal to freedom. And a climb is much better when you can stop at any point as you come along a beautiful view, which seems to happen ever kilometer on the sunny days out here.
Ah, but not all climbs have been fragrant floral scented holiday soaps; indeed, my left knee began aching a great deal at the end of my longest ride on my own (100 km), where I stopped at a wonderful family-run B&B in Praia a Mare (look it up), owned by an Italian man and his Russian wife. I took a rest day there while it poured a crazy amount outside, brushing up on my Italian in the process. The next day I left and covered 190 km in the next 2 days to reach a warmshowers safe haven, with hilly/mountainous terrain in between. My knee again acted up in the final 3 kilometers of my first day and nearly kept me off my bike (or at least off the left pedal) for the last 20 km of the second day. This was particularly challenging, for the last 7 km probably averaged a 7% grade, which is tough enough on a fully loaded bike but was exceptionally difficult with a bum knee (and the left one, my preferred leading knee!). Though I rested there three full days, the pain was still there when I left. Want to know how I fixed the problem (and can you guess what the problem was?)
Mr. Ward will truly appreciate this. In my investigation of the problem to try to discover a solution that would enable me to continue riding, I came across a wickedly knotted left vastus lateralis muscle.


Oh Stromboli, always erupting and constantly causing scientists to refer to such ongoing volcanic activity as "Strombolian."




After pausing a bit to massage the area with my thumb, I continued with pain until I finished for the day, where I spent 15 minutes using my thumbs and foam roller (Nalgene water bottle) treating the trouble spot until it was clearly bruised. I was only 90% convinced that this was the problem and the solution, but the next day when I lasted a full 40 km until the pain started, I became fully convinced. Since then, I have treated the area before and after every ride, also making up for my lax habits and rolling out every major muscle group of the lower body at least once every two or three days. Guess what? No more knee pain. Amazing how muscles work/fail and how easy it is to get them back in line.
Alright, enough of the boring stuff about my body (good thing we are stopping here - some funky stuff has been going on). Let's recap where I have been. After I left Praia a Mare, I headed through Calabria, one of the most culturally proud areas of Italy (and with perhaps the most delicious food), to Tropea and the warmshowers place in Caria (7 km straight uphill). I remained there for a number of days: resting, enjoying my own cabin, sharing some time with the Italian family, and catching up on my BBC time (I guess Egypt has been a riot recently).
When I left, I saw some of the most photographed cliffs and scenery of all of Italy, and it wasn't the least bit disappointing.


Capo Vaticano: a beautiful area on a beautiful day.



In fact, it was the perfect setting, for the sun was shining, the air was warm, and I was completely alone, which seemed a sacrilege for just one man to be enjoying Paradise.
Eventually, I meandered my way through Calabria and took a ferry to Messina, Sicilia, where I spent a night and began my Sicilian quest south the following day. I've since made it past Mt. Etna, visited some amazing Greek ruins at Taormina, and tasted the most delicious oranges in my entire life. This morning, I had 10 of these deep red and orange fruits, which tasted as though they had been injected with sugar while still maintaining their oranginess. My God, I wonder why these fruits are not imported to America, and, if they are, why they are being withheld from the commoners.
In short, the past 11 days have been full of many a small story that I wish I could share here. Well, a few of them are just not appropriate for the upstanding nature of this web blog, but 95%... alright, 90% would be perfect for the likes of CycloQuest. Expect another update tomorrow with some prime pictures of Mt. Etna. Until then, I am off to catch some zzz's before checking out the beginnings of the Saint Agatha fair that will be transforming this city into a madhouse.