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tagesk · 02-25-2008, 02:48 AM

There is much talk about the New Colonies (they took the liberty of calling themselves United, even!), but little talk about the
old ones. This must be rectified.

Sicilia was a colony belogning to the Pisa Maritime Republic from 1030 until 1204. That, I guess, quality as an Old Colony. It is the
colony-part that enables me to document the ride here in Riding in Tuscany - what is 800 years of independence?

BTW: is it "riding ON Sicilia" or "riding IN Sicilia"?

Besides the village of Corleone, I knew nothing about Sicilia. Reading up before departure I found that, by European standards,
it would be a decent country all by it's own with 6 million people. I also quickly realised that our general plan of crusing around
in an unspoiled countryside would not hold up. The island is filled to the brim with historical sites. Complete Baroque cities (not
just a church here and there), huge Greek temples (plural, not singular), Roman ruins, Norman castles, Arabic city centres, and
so on, and so on.

Here we are, ready to go. If you look closely you'll notice I am wearing a safety-west. Ugly, ugly, ugly, but it really
makes people notice us.

But to the important stuff: The riding. I did the 80.000 km service in November and had reached 85.000 as we got
ready to leave. Changed the oil, decided the tires and break pads would hold 4.000 more km. I was right about the
tires (Tourance) but wrong on the pads. One front pad was consumed there was a mere 100 km left before we got home,
and I probably wasted the disk getting home. I used 1 liter of oil, and we were never below 15 km/liter of fuel (and Google tells me
this translates into 35 mpg). The best day we managed 17 km/l (or 40 mpg). That's OK.

We rode 3.450 km (2.150 miles) in 10 days. I'll make 10 posts, one for each day. We have also kept careful notes on
what we ate and drank, and the food is just outstanding!

I hope you will keep us company as I tell about our trip! Here are the links as I manage to document our vacation (all the links
will open in a new window):

Day 1: Pisa - Ceccano is here.
Day 2: Ceccano - Palmi (Calabria) is here.
Day 3: Palmi - Taormina (Sicilia) is here.
Day 4: Taormina - Noto is here.
Day 5: Noto - Agrigento is here.
Day 6: Agrigento - Trapani is here.
Day 7: Trapani - Milazzo is here.
Day 8: Milazzo - Lungro (Calabria) is here.
Days 9 and 10: Lungro (Calabria) - Cerveteri (Lazio) - Home is here.

The map is here.

[TaSK]

02-25-2008, 02:48 AM
tagesk Tuscan rider Joined: Jun 2007 Location: Tuscany, Italy Oddometer: 2,158	Riding on/in Sicilia There is much talk about the New Colonies (they took the liberty of calling themselves United, even!), but little talk about the old ones. This must be rectified. Sicilia was a colony belogning to the Pisa Maritime Republic from 1030 until 1204. That, I guess, quality as an Old Colony. It is the colony-part that enables me to document the ride here in Riding in Tuscany - what is 800 years of independence? BTW: is it "riding ON Sicilia" or "riding IN Sicilia"? Besides the village of Corleone, I knew nothing about Sicilia. Reading up before departure I found that, by European standards, it would be a decent country all by it's own with 6 million people. I also quickly realised that our general plan of crusing around in an unspoiled countryside would not hold up. The island is filled to the brim with historical sites. Complete Baroque cities (not just a church here and there), huge Greek temples (plural, not singular), Roman ruins, Norman castles, Arabic city centres, and so on, and so on. Here we are, ready to go. If you look closely you'll notice I am wearing a safety-west. Ugly, ugly, ugly, but it really makes people notice us. But to the important stuff: The riding. I did the 80.000 km service in November and had reached 85.000 as we got ready to leave. Changed the oil, decided the tires and break pads would hold 4.000 more km. I was right about the tires (Tourance) but wrong on the pads. One front pad was consumed there was a mere 100 km left before we got home, and I probably wasted the disk getting home. I used 1 liter of oil, and we were never below 15 km/liter of fuel (and Google tells me this translates into 35 mpg). The best day we managed 17 km/l (or 40 mpg). That's OK. We rode 3.450 km (2.150 miles) in 10 days. I'll make 10 posts, one for each day. We have also kept careful notes on what we ate and drank, and the food is just outstanding! I hope you will keep us company as I tell about our trip! Here are the links as I manage to document our vacation (all the links will open in a new window): Day 1: Pisa - Ceccano is here. Day 2: Ceccano - Palmi (Calabria) is here. Day 3: Palmi - Taormina (Sicilia) is here. Day 4: Taormina - Noto is here. Day 5: Noto - Agrigento is here. Day 6: Agrigento - Trapani is here. Day 7: Trapani - Milazzo is here. Day 8: Milazzo - Lungro (Calabria) is here. Days 9 and 10: Lungro (Calabria) - Cerveteri (Lazio) - Home is here. The map is here. [TaSK] __________________ '00 R1150GS - Adds life My Riding in Tuscany-thread is here. Renting out motorbikes in Toscana, Italy Proud contributor to Wisdom and GSpot FAQ and European Ride Report Index. IBA: 33616 tagesk screwed with this post 03-08-2008 at 03:24 PM.