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THE TOUR OF SICILY
2-13 May 2006
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Stage Seven: Piazza
Armerina - Giardini Naxos:
(165km)
The planned route for this
stage was daunting. This, the longest and probably most demanding stage
of the tour, was to take us from the centre of the island, over three
huge climbs, part-way up and around the north-west side of Mount Etna
and eventually down to the eastern seaside town of Giardini Naxos.
Hotel staff and guests watched in disbelief as the bunch ate it's way
through an enormous breakfast before setting off in fine, sunny
weather. Spirits were high and the kilometres rolled easily beneath our
wheels as we cycled through the beauty of rural Sicily. The scenery was
breathtaking - each bend in the road revealed yet another postcard
landscape of distant hills, deep valleys and endless blue sky. This was
the Sicily we had travelled so far to experience, however we knew what
awaited us over the horizon. Eventually we plunged into the dark of a
long road tunnel and the sinister theme music from the movie "Jaws"
seemed to envelop the bunch. As we burst from the tunnel, we saw for
the first time, the smoking, snow capped volcano known as Mount Etna.
As we approached, the sheer size of the mountain was overwhelming. At
3,500 metres, Mt Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe.
Courageously, the bunch attacked the two monster climbs topped by the
twin towns of Centuripe and Adriano which, separated by a deep valley,
stood like sentinels before the mountain. Flushed with success, we
quickly regrouped then mounted an assault against the final climb that
would take us through the cobbled streets of Bronte and finally on to
the town of Maletto, perched high on a plateau on the side of the
mountain. At just on 1,000 metres, this was our highest elevation to
date. During the final climb, Dale capitulated and held the side of the
support vehicle to be towed until he recovered sufficiently to rejoin
the attack. He got away with this indiscretion as we were simply too
exhausted to reprimand him. The bunch finally reached Maletto,
regrouped again and prepared to take revenge on the mountain. It was
payback time as we unleashed our aluminium and carbon fibre weapons and
soared down the almost 50 kilometre descent to the sea. Ruined
fortifications and the ancient lava towns of Randazzo and Francavilla
rose up only to disappear in our wake. We finally swept into the
seaside resort town of Giardini Naxos to the imagined cheering of the
crowds. It had been a memorable day, however our elation was tempered
by the knowledge that after tomorrow's well deserved rest day, we were
going to take the mountain on for the second time. Only this time we
wouldn't sneak around the back, but would attack it head on.
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