Day 9: 6/17/24

 Today was another transfer day. Location: near Siracusa

We started the ride at a spot at a higher elevation than the hotel, so there was a coach to take us to the start. I had been playing with the idea of riding to the ride but it was mostly just talk. It was about 10 miles with 10% grade. It would be a hard climb to start the day. I had pretty much given up the idea until one of the stronger riders in the group asked me at breakfast if I was going to do it.

Then I thought it might be fun to borrow one of the ebikes. With an ebike, Mike was in.

Here's what they look like although this is someone else's bike after the riding was over.

This made the morning a little chaotic since we had to leave before the bus so that we could arrive at the start at about the same time that the other riders were ready to go.

Unfortunately, my ebike had no power. Despite resetting and rebooting, it wouldn't give me more than eco power, barely enough to compensate for the weight of the bike. It turns out it had a bad contact.

Mike kindly soft-pedaled and waited often while I plodded up the hill. In the chaos of the morning, I forgot to turn on Strava, so I don't have data on the fun and since it was not an official route, I can't pull it from the VBT materials. But it was long and hard and I was the last one to get to the start.

Actually, the strong rider who asked me about adding this segment got lost an never made it to the start. He had to be retrieved from the countryside after getting lost on gravel roads.

At the start, the guides figured out the problem but I rode my road bike to the lunch stop. My glycogyn stores were just about completely depleted, so I was definitely not "hammering".

It was an interesting test of a 71 year old body. 

Except for Mike who stayed with me, I was the last one to arrive. Everyone heard the story, so I got a lot of sympathy.

The event around lunch was looking for truffles. I skipped this and lay down on a couple of chairs, but here's the truffle dog and her handler. Apparently she found quite a few during the demonstration.

Although I was seriously considering skipping the afternoon ride, I thought it might be fun on an ebike that worked. The guides scrambled around and got me a bike and I did the last segment on an ebike that had power. 

Ebikes in Europe have a maximum assist speed of 25kph/18mph so even on turbo, a road bike would descend faster. But they are great on climbs. This was one of the few moments I could get ahead of Mike to take his picture. He's working hard.

There was an extension to the afternoon ride and I was feeling pretty refreshed on the ebike so I took it while Mike checked into our room.

One attraction was the town of Solarino which was unremarkable except for the anti-mafia sign.

When I told our guide Eduardo that I made it Solarino, his face lit up since he has been active in community activism against the mafia.

Here's our hotel for the next few days. Calling it a "resort" is not unrealistic since it is an oasis in a sea of brown. 

The last two hotels we stayed had no signage for where to go to check in. This was the front entrance. This picture makes it look like I am a circus clown on stilts.

Here's the entrance to our room.

One of the interesting aspects of our door is that you need a physical key to get OUT as well as into the room. Fire code?

An interesting bathroom door. Looks like it came off a battleship.

I had the chance to book a massage. It has been a long time since I have had a massage and today it felt particularly great. I probably fell asleep.

We had a pleasant dinner at an outdoor terrance. Since the hotel is in the middle of nowhere, we ate there and didn't have to take a bus back. That saved us an additional 30 minutes before getting to bed.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11673772673