Day 24: Troina to Gangi

68 km (42 miles) – Total so far: 1,599 km (993 miles)

The best riding of the Course today. Starting at 1100 metres it was up and down through some magnificent countryside with quiet roads and a cooling breeze to keep the temperature manageable. Although in the afternoon the breeze turned into a wind that I was headed into.

The rises were a series of villages; Cerami, Nicosia, Sperlinga and Gangi, the main ones. Each of them magnificently situated amongst the bare rock of the mountain they are on. These towns have seen many battles in their time, and hence their protected position.

The climbs were similar to many, in that they went up until the very very top, and then tended to slope away rather sharply.

Cerami was the high point of the Tour so far, at 1204 metres asl. It is a spectacular village come town, and I must confess that I really didn’t want to go down. Onwards and downwards though on this occasion, but a chance to remember one of my favourite quotes: “Let us stop here a little while longer. It is good to rest on the summit and dream amongst the clouds for a few short moments of ones life.”

A large bonus (I’m always careful when I write those words…) was to discover an as yet unopened bypass behind the town of Nicosia. To be opened at the end of the month, and with no workmen in this holiday week – a great chance for some illegal riding, fast, downhill and two tunnels. It was only 5 kilometres, but it brought back memories of riding 15 kilometres of new and unopened motorway on Bike Spain heading for Valencia. It is one of the most special things a cyclist can do.

Up again to the 867 metre asl Sperlinga, again spectacular, then rather a “buttock burner” of a downhill on some road in need of repair, before the final climb of the day to Gangi. Tremendous!

Distance 67.8 km, Max Speed 60.9 km/hr on the unopened bypass, Moving time 3 hrs 56 mins, Moving average 16.8 km/hr. Left Troina at 10:00 hrs, arrived Gangi at 15:05 hours. Elevation gained 787 metres. Height here at Gangi 854 meters asl.

This hotel, in which I stayed last night, has 124 rooms, and just 2 guests last night.
It is filled with over the top decoration. 4 restaurant staff for dinner.
Apparently it is used by people working at the nearby sanatorium.

Cerami – one of the most spectacular locations for a village I have visited on this journey.

“I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways…”

Much spectacular scenery. Note hazy Etna in the background.

Bushfire panic just outside Cerami.
There are several big ones around Palermo at the moment – covered on the nightly news.

The town of Nicosia, I took a left on the new illegal bypass.
These twins or villages have similarly amazing histories.
Many were originally Greek settlements from around 5000 BC, and became Roman towns.
They have known many battles, hence their position for protection.
Chiefly in the Medieval times, Middle Ages, generally between 1000 and 1250.
Cerami for example, a huge battle between the Normans and the Muslims in 1036. The story says that the 136 Norman Knights were besieged in Troina for 4 months. Then led by Roger of Sicily and Tancred of Hauteville, the Knights took on 50,000 Muslims at Cerami. They killed 35,000 and the rest retreated. They were supposedly led into battle by St George on his horse with the cross on his shield. Historians agree that if the victory wasn’t miraculous it was fabulous. The Normans went on to conquer the island.
In latter years these places all saw plenty of action in the 2nd World War.