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Posted by on Oct 21, 2013 in cycling guide | 0 comments

Cycling in sunny Sicily: photos from a cycling guide

Cycling in sunny Sicily: photos from a cycling guide

In the next few days I will be cycling with some American and English cyclists and I was thinking about the cyclists to whom I’ve already shown this part of La bella Sicilia this year. So far, I cycled with Dutch, American, English, Irish, Scottish, German, French, Israeli, Belgian and Romanian cyclists and I had a great time with all of them. In this post I’ll show you some pics I took during a few of those rides. The first cyclist, Sorin, came from Romania and stayed here in February. We went for a bike ride to Carini and Montelepre and to the medieval town of Erice and back. A weeks later we had some Israeli guests with whom I did a short bike ride to the town of Terrasini. In April I cycled with several English cyclist in sunny Sicily: In May this year I had the pleasure of being a guide for a group of Dutch friends who wanted to a sporting activity together. A bike ride...

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Posted by on Sep 3, 2013 in bikes, gear and gadgets, training | 0 comments

Tacx Real life video Sicily – trailer 1: Erice

Tacx Real life video Sicily – trailer 1: Erice

The RLV Sicily – Erice is now available! Buy it here. On June 10 I posted a teaser for the upcoming RLV training videos. Jaap Wagenvoort and I have been filming for several days in Sicily for three RLV’s that can be used on a Tacx trainer: • Bike ride to the medieval town of Erice • The Bosco di Alcamo climb • Riding with Don Bici Today I proudly present you the first trailer: Erice. A ride from the town of Alcamo to the temple of Segesta, the Garibaldi monument at Pianto Roman and the Medieval town of Erice, 750 meters above sea level on Monte Erice. Join us in Sicily for the Giro dello Scorpione 2014 for several bike rides in this lovely part of Sicily!...

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Posted by on Aug 1, 2013 in cycling guide | 4 comments

Houston, we have a problem – Stories from a cycling guide

Houston, we have a problem – Stories from a cycling guide

A few weeks ago I was contacted by an English tourist called Dominic, who wanted to rent a road bike for him and his 13 year old son, Eddie. They also wanted to do a ride with a guide, so I arranged the bike rental and we made an appointment for the bike ride. Dominic wanted to do around 50 km and maximum 500 meters ascent and he told me his son had no problems climbing 7% grades. Last Sunday I met up with Aronne, the 14 year old son of Giuseppe from the bike shop and we rode to the train station in Castellammare del Golfo where Dominic and Eddie were waiting for us. I had planned a ride towards the temple of Segesta, which would be almost exactly what Dominic wanted: a 50 km ride with just a little over 500 m ascent and one steeper climb with maximum 7% grades. It was sunny and around 37°C when we left for Segesta. We followed the hilly road...

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Posted by on May 31, 2013 in cycling and bike pics, miscellaneous | 0 comments

Garibaldi and his “mille”, a ride to the Pianto Romano near Calatafimi

Garibaldi and his “mille”, a ride to the Pianto Romano near Calatafimi

I love riding my bike in the area near Segesta, but even though I’ve been there countless times, there are still some roads left to discover. So yesterday I decided to go in the direction of Segesta and explore a new route. I took the SS113 in the direction of Trapani and crossed the railroad close to the train station of Calatafimi – Segesta : and followed the road in the direction of Calatafimi. I passed Calatafimi and turned left on the SS188. This road (5.6% average with max. 10/11% gradients) leads through the hilly countryside with many vineyards to the small village of Vita. When in Vita, there are several options to go back in the direction of Calatafimi. I chose the SP61, which is a smaller country road (asphalted though). On the descent you can see the town of Calatafimi in the distance: The SP61 leads to the Pianto Romano, a hill where on May 15th 1860 a great battle between Garibaldi and his “mille” (Resistance Army)...

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Posted by on May 29, 2013 in training | 4 comments

King of the mountain

King of the mountain

Now that I work with a coach, I regularly do some low HR zone rides. I never did a lot of those easy rides and when I did, there was always another cyclist in the distance that I decided to start chasing down… Now I really try to stick to the HR zones mentioned in my workouts. Staying below a certain heart rate has became a nice game, especially when climbing in the warm Sicilian weather. A few days ago coach Rob had a low HR zone ride planned for me, so I went out and slowly made my way from the beach of the coastal town of Balestrate through the lovely town of Castellammare del Golfo in the direction of Segesta. I usually stop a lot on these low HR zone rides to take some pics I can post on Twitter or this blog and this day was no exception: I wanted to update a photo I once took near the temple of Segesta when I did a...

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