Training in Sicilia

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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djm
Posts: 1403
Joined: Thu May 14, 2009 12:19 pm
Location: Norway

by djm

Anyone have reccommendations for training/riding in Sicilia/Sicily, Italy?

I will be near Ragusa in the south some time this summer. I'll make some routes with Strava route builder, but some input from experienced riders would be very welcome.

Also I'm going prepared for rougher surfaces than usual and will ride 25mm tires. Also planning to drive to near the foot of Mount Etna to climb it one day, I haven't researched it yet, but I understand some approaches are more favourable/secure than others.

The stay will likely coincide with a period of longer rides after having a couple of easy weeks, so I ak interested in doing rides with as many climbs as possible.


Any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated :-)

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TedStriker
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Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:17 am

by TedStriker

Just been there (though not on bike!).

Tbh the Road up Etna from the South to the cable car village at Rifugio Sapienza was one of the only consistent road surfaces I saw all week on the island. It's also nice and 'open' on that road so there shouldn't be a problem with traffic not seeing you as they whizz round a corner (another reason I was glad not to be tempted to get the bike out - the traffic was quite scary!).

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tymon_tm
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Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:35 pm

by tymon_tm

one major tip: get an italian national kit.

seriously. i've been once in calabria, with a few day trip to Sicily, and the traffic in both these areas is a nightmare. it's not even about the quantity (though it can get busy where least expected) but the 'quality' or, should i say, the culture - in this case, a dramatic lack thereof. i'm polish so i'm pretty much used to idiots behind the wheel on a daily basis, but boy, some southern Italians are really nasty drivers... interestingly, i never had such problems in the north, sudtirol etc. one thing that actually seemed to help was riding in a blue kit by sportful i got at some LBS. instead of horning, passing by an inch and expressing some sort of hostility (i don't speak italian...), they would horn, pass my by an inch, and cheer like it was some freaking race going on :mrgreen: really crazy stuff...

roads - some are better, some are worse, can't recall any specifics, but i was fine on my regular 23c Pro Races, didn't puncture once during a three week trip :thumbup:
kkibbler wrote: WW remembers.

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stella-azzurra
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Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:35 am
Location: New York

by stella-azzurra

You do not need 25 mm tires unless you like to ride on 25mm.

If you don't like to ride in traffic then you will be afraid to ride in Italy or anywhere else in Europe for that matter.
You do not need the national kit get a better experience in Italy.

You can get 0 or 10 punctures it is irrelevant of where you ride in Italy.

What will help you if you tried to at least speak some basic words in Italian. The other option is English.
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TedStriker
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2013 8:17 am

by TedStriker

^ My post was no offence to Sicilians btw...It's a beautiful place with lovely people, I too just found the driving pretty full on!

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