Midweek, eight-thirty in the morning, and there already were a few people on the beach while I was cranking out the first of many revolutions that would take me from sea-level to 630 metres some 52 kilometres later. The route was worked out using a Garmin Oregon 550t GPS, with a bias for secondary, hence quieter, roads.

Route of Day 1

Along the way, I made sure to remind myself that this was not a race, neither a challenge but a tour. As such, I was entitled to stop as often as I wanted, pedal as slowly as I pleased and not feel an iota of guilt about it. To prove the point, I was soon stopping to take the first of many photos and video clips with my Sanyo Xacti digital movie camera (the waterproof version, for those just-in-case situations).

Space-age vegetation

A lonesome building

I knew I was in trouble when, after some upward twists and turns, I saw a chequered line painted across the one-lane country road with the word START (aha, it was in English) in bold red paint. This could mean only one thing – a hill-climb course. Though I normally relish climbs – that’s why I chose this part of Sicily for my tour – I wasn’t exactly ecstatic with the thought of what lay ahead, especially with the water in my bottles seemingly evaporating in the relentless heat and with shade in equally short supply. What choice did I have but to deceive myself into thinking that the FINISH lay round the next bend … or the one after that.  

If you listen carefully to my voice in this short commentary to the video clip 40kms on, you’ll realize I’m not kidding! As an aside, this is also where I took my first pee on Sicilian soil.

Valletta harbour at dawn

What is it like to begin the day with a series of mistakes waiting outside the door and, just for the heck of it, to add another one before hitting the road? It must be like the 17th June2010, when, with bum on the bike, I cycled the pre-sunrise streets from St Julians, where I had spent the night at my mum’s place, to the Valletta Waterfront, to catch the catamaran to Pozzallo, Sicily.

The idea behind this trip was simple: ride to Contrada Bauly, a country road lost in the hills of the Monti Iblei (about five kilometres from Palazzolo Acreide) and temporary home to my home away from home, and spend the next seven days exploring the area. No specific sightseeing for me, just the simple pleasure of being on unfamiliar roads and taking in a different scenery. Those of you who get on your bicycles regularly will know exactly what a joy it is to get away from the routine routes of Malta’s limited road network.

Simple, yet a path strewn with errors. Primarily, the lack of physical preparation. I was cycling three times-a-week at most, usually 17 kilometres to work and the equivalent, sometimes a bit more, back. In addition, a half-hour or so of jogging on the other days. Secondly, even though I knew I’d be tackling a few tough climbs in the Iblei mountains, I didn’t do any specific hill work. Thirdly, I wasn’t quite expecting the heat that hit me on the first three days. I became aware of this problem the moment I exited the air-conditioned deck of the catamaran. It was still 0815 on the Sicilian coast and I was already feeling smothered. Not the best of omens when I was going to be travelling inland and generally climbing for the next 50 kilometres. Fourthly (only in connection with my first and last days) was my inexperience of cycling with an eight kilogram pack on my back. The closest I got to was half that weight when I went to and from work and, then again, it was for less than an hour’s ride each way. The final boob was my lack of fuel for the outgoing leg of the journey; more of that in another post.

I acknowledge my mistakes. Hey, I was even aware of them before setting off. So why did I clip my shoes to the pedals? Simply because there’s always an excuse not to do something. This cycle tour had been bubbling away on the back-burner since Lifecycle 2008, nearly two years ago now. However, it was either that the time wasn’t right, the finances weren’t in order, the preparation could be better, I had a bit of a sniffle … bla bla bla. So 72 hours before departure, I threw caution to the wind and booked the seat and accommodation.

To be fair, there were some plusses to the 17th. The sea was pancake flat, giving my stomach an easy ninety minute crossing and the sun was shining at the other end. In spite of listing the heat as a problem, the warm weather is more of an asset to me than the wet, which dampens my confidence in bike control.

This video was taken on board the catamaran MV Maria Dolores and shows the harbour at dawn: Valletta harbour view