Bob on BAC Sicily 2006

I left San Francisco on May 2 and arrived in Rome on May 3 staying at a hotel near the airport. On the morning of May 4 I took a flight to Palermo, rode the train into the city and checked into the Hotel Moderno. It was a real struggle carrying my suitcase/backpack and pulling my Bike Friday case up Via Roma to the hotel. My single room was very basic but clean. That afternoon and evening, I did a walking tour to get acclimated.

The next morning, I did some more touring finding the morning market near the hotel. My BAC roommate, Bill Armbruster (minus his luggage), arrived in the afternoon and we moved into a double room. Bill and I did some more wandering in our neighborhood and had a good dinner at Antica Focacceria San Francisco. After dinner we stopped at a wine bar with a group of locals and filled our empty wine bottle from dinner with some mystery wine from the tap.

On the morning of May 6 we left Palermo and rode the train to the airport to meet our group. We were loaded into vans along with our bicycles and suitcases and driven to Scopello, a very small town a few kilometers west of Palermo. Our BAC ride director was Dorleen Root. Our tour company was Siciclando Cycling of Italy. We spent most of the afternoon putting our bicycles together and testing them out. Of course we had a little time to check out the local gelato. Before dinner, we had a happy-hour/orientation meeting with Dorlene presiding. Then it was on to dinner and off to bed.

I will not describe the tour in detail. Click here for the tour description and itinerary. It was a challanging ride with mid-range mileage and lots of climbing. George Root compiled the statistics. The highlights for me were the wild flowers, the vistas, the country roads with almost no traffic, the wonderful food and wine, the friendly local people, the almost perfect weather and, of course, the ideal tour companions. If you would like to view my photo album, click here. Below are some of my favorite shots: