Day 6: 6/14/24

 Our first full riding day. Location: Scicli

Here is a better picture of our guides during our morning review.


We rode to a beach in the morning where we had lunch and while a few people went into the water, Mike and I dared to dip our toes in.

One sight that was recommended to us was a German WWII pillbox.

Another was an abandoned brick factory.

There was a monastery a short climb off the route. If I visited it, can I write off the trip as a business expense? 

Here I am hobbling down the steps.

Unfortunately, one guy went over his handlebars before lunch. There were a few members of our group with him and many more who were behind came up upon the scene, including us. He had scraps on his elbow and legs, but more important was that he probably broke his wrist. That meant that the guide who was driving the van had to find him, load him and his bike in the van and take him to the hospital. His riding is probably done even if it wasn't broken.

Morning stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/11650443210  

Afternoon stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/11650443164

Total: 28.45 miles, 1858' climbing, 10.4 mph

Mike's speed was much faster because he was soft-pedaling and waiting for me most of the day.

Update:

After I finished this post, we had a walking tour of the town. Here's our tour guide.

Even though she is from Belgium, she has been in Italy long enough to do a lot of talking with her hands.

She mentioned that the patriarchal culture was changing. I didn't really see that since pretty much the only people hanging out on park benches were old men. She pointed out that the daily rhythms of life in Italy made it difficult for women to work full time since kids went to school in the mornings and someone had to take care of them later. Businesses closed from 1:00-4:00 so in order to work fulltime, you had to be available to work from 4:00-8:00. She said she was fortunate to have parents or in-laws who watched her kids while she did tours. Like our previous tourguide in Taromina, she often did two or more tours per day.

Plants find homes wherever they can. This picture is of a rock wall outside someone's home. It's a caper plant.

Looking up from the the town are holes in the cliffs where people built dwellings to avoid attacks.

She was very knowledgeable and personable, but after riding all day, it was information overload for me. I didn't absorb very much and didn't take many more pictures.




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