Of comfort zones and Sicilian Adventures

So last weekend I tried something new. I caught the ferry to Sicily. Believe it or not, in 33 years I had never got round to doing this. And it was somewhat of an experience, given the rough seas. And then I tried another new thing - I used my Garmin Edge 1000 to navigate my way from Pozzallo to Scicli. And the biggest new thing of all was participating in a Gran Fondo. 126km, lots of lovely long climbs and long downhills. A few switchbacks and the experience of riding in a group of about 16 cyclists - none of whom spoke English.

It was fun. It was also tough - especially the first and very hilly 60km. The start was quite fast, despite the fact that we were climbing up a 4 - 6% gradient for about 7km. This is where we all sorted ourselves into groups. I wasn't very sure of myself at the start and held back a little. But then I spotted a group of guys just ahead of me and I knew that I had to catch them and team up, or risk cycling alone. It was the right decision. The hills kept coming and after 20km I was wondering how on earth I was going to do another 100+ km. We hit the highest point at 70km and then it was mainly descents with short climbs here and there. Somewhere along the line we caught up with two cyclists - a guy and a girl. At this point it was game on. I tried to crack her - some hard climbs to see if she got dropped, but she held on. Towards the last 3km there was a short steep climb. I thought it was going to be longer so dropped to the small chain wheel. Big mistake, she attacked on the big gears and flew away. I sprinted hard but she and another three guys got away. Turns out she's a Scicli native and knows the roads very well. And she had done this event before, as had the girl that came first.

So I finished 3rd, having held 31.8km/hr for 126km. I'm well pleased though - especially with the box of lovely Sicilian tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers and peppers that was part of my prize. The taste is beyond compare :)


It bears recognising that for a number of reasons - I was well out of comfort zone during the event. Firstly I live in Malta. Malta is tiny and we cyclists know all the roads by heart. We know exactly what is coming and what effort is needed. This makes for lazy reactions. Now being with a group, not always having full view of the road - and especially not knowing whether we were about to hit an uphill, downhill or corner was an excellent nervous system stimulator. Secondly, the longer absolute time spent in the same gradient - in other words simply longer roads. Those who know me will attest that I have a strong preference for long straight roads with no kinks. I gaze with envy and those who seem to enjoy twists and bends and technical sections. I also realise that the best way to learn to enjoy it - is to do these sections often. 

I'm also so glad I went up as part of a group. Great guys, no ego - plenty of communication, plenty of good humour. As an Ironman athlete - the journey is often lonely. Long hours spent training hard with no one to share a joke with. I have made an effort to spend Sundays cycling on my road bike with other club cyclists. Not only is it more stimulating but quite frankly nicer.  Will it pay off? I think so.