The weather has been exceptional in October (see October 2013: cycling in sunny Sicily)! With temperatures ranging from 24 to 27°C in the last few days, I don’t think I have something to complain 🙂 I took the following pics on yesterday’s bike...
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A few days ago I did a bike ride to the Bosco d’Alcamo, a nature reserve on Monte Bonifato near the town of Alcamo, 750 meters above sea level. It was a lovely, sunny day (around 26°C) with only a few clouds in the sky. First I rode to the town of Alcamo and then followed the signs for the Bosco d’Alcamo. It’s a few kilometers to the top with an average gradient of around 7.5%. And with every hairpin, the view is getting better and better! Monte Bonifato is not that far from one of the other mountains in the area, Monte Inici, where I took lots of pics a few weeks ago. I love this part of the climb: great views and a lovely area with lots of trees and only a few houses. After a short 10/11% stretch I arrived at the bosco. On my way down I took a pic of a statue of Jesus in the sunlight. I rode through the town of Alcamo...
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October is almost always a great month for cycling in Sicily and this year it’s been better than ever! I guess I can’t complain with temperatures ranging from 27 to 31°C… Here are some pics I took during bike rides this month: Still lots of sunny days to...
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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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I have used several types of chain cleaners and most of them broke easily, weren’t easy to use and/or weren’t really doing a good job cleaning the chain properly. When I was ordering some Skins on the Chainreaction website I came across the Muc-off X-1 chain cleaner, which got a few good reviews. I checked it out on the Muc-off website and it looked quite sturdy to me, so I decided to give it a try and ordered it. A few weeks ago I used the X-1 for the first time and I was so impressed I thought it would be nice to share my experience with you guys. The X-1 is wider than the other types I’ve used before, because it has several lateral cogs that drive both a cog with brush that’s mounted on the lid of the cleaner and one cog with brush on the bottom. The plastic is also much thicker than that of the other cleaners and it has a nifty handle. It’s very...
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Ciao! I'm Don Bici and I'm a cycling guide on the sunny island of Sicily and ambassador for Polar bottle and Pursu nutrition. I blog about cycling in Sicily, training and beautiful bike routes and post lots of pictures of this beautiful part of the island (the area between Palermo and Trapani).
Click here to read more about me.
