After a cool, but not cold night under the constant rumbling of Etna, I ride down the mountain. First along beautiful pine-covered forest paths, the along small roads until I reach Adrano. Here, I turn north onto a larger road for about 20 km until just after Maletto, were I turn off onto a smaller road. In betweeen, I stop in the small town of Bronte to shop for water and groceries.
At a scenic reststop I have my lunchbreak, looking at the scicilian hills, while behind me, Etna spews smoke and turns the sky into doomsday black. Or perhaps it’s just a forest fire. (Edit: I hear there’s been a big eruption.) Quickly, the sun is hidden by smoke, and I continue onwards on small roads until the foot of Castiglione di Scicilia, a town perched high on a hill, overlooking the Alcantara river valley.
Over an old railroad bridge I pass the gorge and ride to Francavilla. After filling up on water, I start the last big climb of the day, up towards the Dorsale dei Peloritani. This is the ridge that I want to follow the next day, but it’s unclear how good the road will be.
The ride up is hot, long and very steep. Thankfully, the top section is in the pine forest and a little cooler. At the top, I’m rewarded with a nice long downhill along a series of wind power plants. The road is wide and pretty decent, until the end of the windmills. Then it turns into a single trail, mostly rideable, but the last 500 m of the day, I push uphill over loose rock.
I end my day with a view of Etna in the distance and the bells of a goat herd nearby.
92 km, 2250 m ascent