Ninth day of our trip. This morning I was woken by the alarm at 7:01 am. This is the first time this has happened on this trip.
Most likely I was aware that the sunrise did not happen directly on the sea, but behind the mountains that close the Gulf of Castellammare. However, I did my morning ride anyway. I flung myself down to the Tonnara, even knowing that I could not have overcome the gates of private property. But the view was just as beautiful from the pulpit where I took the photos. Here the sun comes out from behind the mountain and directly illuminates the Faraglioni.
Return to Scopello, not without first taking photos of the Baglio (court) in the center of the medieval town and the fountain just outside the door. At 10.00 we start stopping by the street vendor on the corner of the street to buy some grapes and two peaches. With his sly way, our dear peddler, so affable and complimenting, extorts us 10 euros for the few goods. Okay, patience! Swooping down to Guidaloca beach, and then the fun begins: the climb. In fact today there will be a lot of climbing to do. In Guidaloca we leave the sea and we will not see it again until we arrive.
Today will be a stop around the interior of Sicily. Our destination is Erice, the hill above Trapani. To get there, we will use the cableway that goes from Trapani to the tip of Erice. Like yesterday, the hardest stretch of the climb is the one that leads from the sea until it crosses the state road. Then the slopes remain below 6%, therefore pedaling well enough for us too. The application with the gps sends us, sometimes, out of direction, not making us follow the main road, for whatever reason. I always have to compensate the indications with common sense, even if sometimes he is right, I do not listen because I am stubborn. And to take revenge for my stubbornness, at one point the GPS goes haywire and doesn’t record anymore. It has reset everything and I can’t find the track so if you want it, I don’t have the track today. Barren hills, open-air caves, mountain sides completely blackened by fire, hawks circling in the sky. We see Erice from afar and practically go around it, until we reach the valley station of the cable car. We see people getting out of the cabins on arrival but, at the same time, I notice the “Closed due to wind” sign. I ask the people who get out and jokingly, hearing the accent, read the sign with a clear Lombard accent: “Closed for the Veneto”. I climb convinced that the sign was a mistake but, no mistake, it only works downhill. Wind rising, no chance for today.
Let’s change our plans. We sit down at a bar and redesign the final stage. The Saline seem to us a valid alternative. Few hotels. We are focusing on a B&B on the edge of the salt pan, near the salt museum. The white of the salt flats is dazzling, but in this hour, even the blue of the water is more intense than ever: white mountains and blue expanses. The only problem was dinner. According to the manager of the B&B, 500m away, behind the Salt Museum, is the restaurant.
Of course, we know by now that we cannot trust the natives. The museum is at 1700m, so we have to take bicycles to go there. We leave and fully harness the bicycles with a lot of headlights that we will need only for the return. At 6.40 pm we are in the salt pan waiting for the sunset.
But we immediately see that clouds cover the horizon: the setting of the sun in the water will not be visible this evening. I was hoping for it, especially because I thought that the wind, getting stronger, had swept away every cloud. We return at 9 pm after dinner. As you can see, we are not well equipped for the night. Lights are insufficient for good night vision. In tracing the road I have to be very careful not to end up in the salt pan. Fortunately, the stretch to be asphalted and the one without lights are short. Now I hear the wind howling outside the window, I’ll have to put cotton in my ears to muffle the noise. Tomorrow no climb up to Marsala, this day too we will decide step by step. Today 51 km and 595 meters in altitude.