West Sicily | Two More Rides

Over the two weekends we spent in Palermo we went on two longer, full day rides. One when we rode out west of the city, where we saw Castellammare del Golfo and Erice and another south, to Agrigento, where we travelled by both cycle and train. Both rides were full day, road-only outings.

Castellammare del Golfo

Depending on which path you choose, Castellammare is about 60 to 75 km west of Palermo or about an hour drive in all, accounting for traffic and speed limits. You get the sense that when the Palermitani decide to get away from the capital and be seen, they ride out to Mondello. But when they want to get away from the scene altogether, they may chose a place like Castellammare instead. Where Mondello feels more like an upscale beachside bedroom community, Castellammare is its own little jewel complete with a yacht port, a little centro historico, and beaches. For a motorcyclist, the twisties are just a stone’s throw away and the views of the town from above are pretty breathtaking.

We almost picked Castellammare by accident. It simply looked like a good place to take off the helmet for a few minutes midway to Erice. What we found far exceeded our expectations. Research enough so that you have a worthy destination, but leave some to be discovered. That’s our general modus operandi. On a good day, you’re pleasantly surprised. On great one, you’re left in awe. This particular day fell in the latter category.

Going there, we chose highway SS186 leading out of Palermo through the mountains. Freed from the urban jungle, the SS soars high above the valley below, but leaves many a mountain peak to admire above. It begins with long, high-speed sweepers and later tightens to bends still easily taken at 70km. Between the views and the curves it makes for a very satisfying ride on a two wheels and so it wasn’t a surprise when we came across a few small groups of riders along the way.

Approaching Castellammare from the east hills you see the whole Golfo when still several kilometers away, but you only realize what you’ve found when you get up close.

Even then, you may feel tempted to stop at the first opportunity and stare down at the turquoise waters below from the large public terrace overlooking the beach at the east entrance. And yet you’re only part of the way there. The centro historico and the yacht port are well hidden but only another 500m away.

A slow 360 ride through Castellammare ending up at the port.

Erice

Our trip to Erice was inspired by a single sentence about impossibly twisty turns. I don’t remember where I found it on the net, but I stopped reading further and looked for a photo confirmation. If the town wasn’t hideous, the impossible would be enough to draw us out. Of course, the one photo I did find was so stunning that I immediately closed the lid of my laptop. No more. This would have to be discovered.

Leaving Castellammare with our compass pointing west led us to a steep climb that had us pause several times to take photos of the town and port below. The locals know this road well. In fact, they placed a wooden picture frame with the inscription ‘the most beautiful spot in the world’ right on the side of the of the first hairpin turn going up. The first photo in the Castellammare section above was taken at that location.

Northeast side of the bay above. Erice is on the opposite side, left of photo.

Ahead of the dramatic climb up Monte San Giuliano, the first portion of the 50 minute ride from Castellammare is quite pleasant and offers sweeping views of the bay and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Then, as one draws closer to the mountain and Erice comes into full view, excitement becomes hard to contain. Perched dramatically above the valley below and built entirely of stone, the town has been capturing man’s imagination for at least two millennia.

Although the turns do live up to the impossibly curvy description this isn’t a road you’ll be dragging your knees on on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a summer vacation. There’s only one road up and you’ll be sharing it with tourist buses.

Still, on this particular March weekend the traffic was light and motorcycles were very well represented in the parking lot at the entrance to town. A mix of sport and adv riders. One group of younger riders from Palermo even paused to practice their English with us for a couple minutes before disappearing in the maze. Very well preserved and truly beautiful, the town is a bit of a stone labyrinth so snapping a picture of the tourist map is a good idea if your phone is low on batteries.

Erice begs to be walked and explored so if you do have the option to swap your enduro boots for something more sensible do so before leaving the parking lot. As for us, we traversed the town creaking, squeaking and stumping instead. It was a beautiful sunny day and the alleys and inclines were many. Let’s just say that both the water and the beer we enjoyed at the end tasted much better because of it.

Erice is not a place one forgets easily. Coupled with Castellammare the two make for a perfect Sunday ride for anyone based out of Palermo. This was our most pleasant outing in Sicily so far and one of the best easy rides one can hope for.

Short 360 clip. My poor battery hygiene that day cost us a nice walk-through video.

With such a fruitful day of exploration our appetite only grew on the way back, but Min’s neck and back refused to cooperate. We had to pause a few times to let her stretch and ended up taking the shortest path home. This was the right call as the pain required a visit to a chiropractor and an osteopath a couple days later. For a moment or two our plans were put on hold, but she’s been recovering well, especially after the second doctor’s visit.

A relaxed ride down the mountain from Erice.

Agrigento & Valle dei Templi

About 130-150km south of Palermo, depending on the route, lies the ancient town of Agrigento. Valle dei Templi, a World Heritage Site and a remarkably complete conglomeration of temples dating to the Magna Graecia period is situated just two kilometers below.

As neither one of us has been to Greece and it’s been many years since we’ve been to Rome visiting the Valle was high on our list and an early beep on our radar after landing in Sicily. Min’s back had not yet fully recovered at that point so we had to be a bit creative. Not a particularly hard puzzle to solve in Europe with railways running every which way so we decided that Min and our friend Maria would take the train. Tempting as it was to join them, the Tenere wouldn’t be happy left alone in the garage. Besides, it would also give me a chance to slice across the western tip of Sicily along two unexplored roads.

In order to arrive ahead of the ladies, I had to get an earlier start. The train from Palermo to Agrigento takes about two hours and getting to the train another 20 minutes. The path I chose was closer to 2hr 40min, a twenty minute deficit.

Of the three paths I could have taken to Agrigento on the bike, AI thought the western route I chose would be the most scenic. It was also the longest. I preferred the return trip to be the shorter of the two knowing that, with Maria around, there was a very good chance that an Aperol Spritz would be served for lunch.

The long way around turned out to be quite spirited.

I first followed a middle aged rider testing the limits of his Honda Transalp. He waved as he hopped off the highway some twenty five minutes after we met at 130km/h on a long sweeper east of Palermo. I waved back. We had fun.

Some time later, I came across an Alfa Romeo Guilia Quadrofolio driven by a very young man. Probably 25 or so, based on what I could see in his rear view mirror. He was already busy passing anything he could find and the throaty gurgle-y 505hp engine sounded like it was having a grand old time. My arrival on his tail seemed to inspire even more antics on the part of the driver and soon the rear end of the Alpha was bouncing off of the little humps in the road. Fortunately for both of them home and the rightful owner must have been close. One last sprint to 160 and they took a bow onto a secondary road.

With my two playmates gone, it was time to play solitaire. I sat back, took in the views and began hunting for any road sign with the words ‘Castelvestrano‘ on it. It’s a town that our neighbor and friend Bruce traces his roots to and I’d be passing tantalizingly close. Alas, either there was none to be found or I missed one looking at the green fields gently rolling into the island’s southern coast. Min took the photo above from the train, but views looked very similar.

Another train photo.

Reunited at the entrance to the archeological park, the three of us entered Valle dei Templi together. We picked this day for the expected sun and the star did not disappoint. A little sketchy on the way, the weathered cleared out completely just in time for our exploratory walk.

Taught by our experience in Erice, I brought an appropriate change of footwear this time. I carried the monster Sidi boots on my back in a 22 liter Mosko bag as we walked. They barely fit, but the bag comes with make-shift carrying straps good enough for a couple hours of ambling.

I won’t get into the archeology behind Valle dei Templi, it’s one of the top tourist destinations in Sicily and many a publication is available on the subject already. The park itself is structured as an easy walk from a hill down into a valley. Every so often there’s a ruin of a temple along the way. Some, like Temple of Concordia (both photos above), are very well preserved.

Others, like the fortification Min is leaning against above, clearly less so.

Altogether an amazing world heritage site and one very much worth a visit. Not many structures built by man have outlived these 2600 year old Greek columns. The longevity alone demands respect, but there’s also the architectural design, the setting and the effort involved. A low bow indeed.

My solo ride back tested the thermal limits of my chosen gear for the trip. I rode out thinking 17C midday in Agrigento, but I did hit a low of 10C on the way down and a cloudy 11C on the way back up. Many years ago, in college, I once barely made it back home after just an hour of riding poorly dressed at 30F on New York’s Thruway. The lesson lasted decades. The experience this Saturday was merely uncomfortable. My favorite 15C and above gloves were simply deployed a few degrees below intended use.

The ride straight north through the mountains wasn’t perhaps quite as pretty as the western route, AI hinted as much – but the difference wasn’t as significant as I expected. More of a riding style difference. The western route is fast and offers relatively wide roads. The central path, on the other hand, is slower, composed of more narrow local roads and tighter turns. One thing that’s invisible from the west route are the many towns built at high elevations hugging bare mountain peaks. Truly remarkable.

Alright, the next ride report shall be from the east side of the island.