Writing this up some weeks later I struggle to remember what, if anything, I had for breakfast. Its as likely to be some sort of bar or chocolate from the food pouches on the bike.  I knew I was going to make the ferry today but I wasn’t sure how far I would get across Sicily. I was tired, had lost weight but somehow, each morning, as soon as I got on the bike I got into the ‘flow’.

Towns were becoming more frequent but I was still traversing a national park to get over the last climbs until the long and sinuous descent to the ferry.

The ferry to Messina goes from Villa San Giovanni, so to come across a turn in the road to Villa S.G. was energising.

And then I was there – at the ferry, buying my ticket, getting on board, buying food and watching the approaching shoreline

I didn’t have time to eat all the food I bought, just the arancini and the deep fired block of mozzarella and almost left the pizza behind. At the last moment I got a bag from the counter and wrapped the pizza up to put under the straps on the bag at the back of my bike.

There was a steady climb out of Messina and then a descent to the southern coastline where I could put my head down and my elbows on the tribars and speed along the flat. It was warm so an ice cream seemed like a good idea. The proprietor asked if I was doing the 2VS!  I guess it would be an obvious place to stop for all those who proceeded me.

As ever Juliana threw in a little surprise which was an off road climb up some steps linking two different roads!  You can see the pizza strapped to the back of my bike. 

I was calculating how much further I could ride and as dusk fell I realised I didn’t have enough power in my light to take me through the night, I probably didn’t have enough power in my legs either and it would be better to finish the event in daylight, the next day. 

I tried to find somewhere on booking.com but everything seemed booked up or well off route.  I resorted to asking a friend by WhatsApp to research places along the route and they found a place in Villa Franca which I booked. The owners messaged me via the app with the code to get in and I eventually arrived after 9pm knackered but delighted I had kept the pizza as there was an oven in the apartment and I was able to heat it up and not have to go out to find something to eat. There seemed to be a slight problem as I could not find any sheets for the bed. Then I remembered that I had a sleeping bag – so I just slept on top of the bed in my bag that night.