Dino embraces 'old coot' internationalism

Eight Canucks and four Yanks, all of notable age, rode BC's Bowen Island with Dino who took this photo.

BOWEN ISLAND, British Columbia -- Dino Enell, the Chippings bike mechanic extraordinaire, rode this scenic island with a group of eight Canadians and four Americans (counting Dino) last weekend in what he reported as total harmony. The group has been doing an annual three-day cycle ride on the island for 25 years, Dino said.
Admittedly, the island is small and laid back. Even by cycling up numerous hills numerous times, the Yanks were hard pressed to log any more than 55 miles total on their speedometers. The Canucks recorded 90 kilometers of their odometers.  
Perhaps it was the leisurely pace. Or maybe the frequent rest stops, or the downhill coasting, or the ample food and beverage. Whatever it was, it was mellow. Dino, the beleaguered chair of the dispute resolution process on the Chippings' Sicily ride, declared that the international group of old coot bikers had "mastered the art of interpersonal male communication."

Three Chippings ride Peninsula Metric on Kitsap

Strawberry shortcake for Scott and other 50K finishers

SOUTHWORTH - Three Chippings, fueled on rice, beans and raspberry filled fig bars, rode the 50-kilometer route of the Peninsula Metric Century in Kitsap County Sunday. Nearly 500 cyclists, setting out from either the Southworth ferry landing or Gig Harbor did 50K, 100K or 100-mile routes in this annual event sponsored by the Tacoma Wheelmen's Bicycle Club (TWBC).
Tom Yagle, Scott Fraser and Johnny McCoy opted for the 50K ride because Tom, despite lightening sprints up the hills, figured 32 miles was enough. Plus he wanted to visit his mom in the afternoon. Scott said he needed to see a doctor. And John, who had registered participants for three hours, was already sunburnt. Even with a couple wrong turns and a lingering rest stop at a Kitsap fire district station for grub, the three Chips completed the rolling 50K course in less than three hours.
All three routes took cyclists along Puget Sound with some magnificent views of the Olympics, Sinclair Inlet and the naval shipyard at Bremerton before plunging into the backroads of rural Kitsap County.
Like all great rides, the threesome likely gained weight. The Peninsula Metric is known for its food. Aside from the usual oranges, bananas, muffins, cookies, candies and Gatorade, TWBC volunteers served up hot rice and beans, boiled spuds and -- get this -- strawberry shortcake.

John, Tom and Scott at Southworth finish: "We just did 50K no sweat."

Exclusive videos from Chips' Giro di Sicilia

Dino, the official Chippings bike mechanic (or, in the words of one cynic, the "placebo mechanic") was also the unofficial videographer on the Sicily ride.  After mastering a complicated downloading and file transfer protocol that included use of the Linux operating  system, a PC to Mac video converter and three weeks of advanced trial and error engineering, Dino provided three videos for posting on Chippings site.  Viewers will appreciate his authentic, unrehearsed, hand-held camera approach. The videos are:

A self-narrated 360-degree view of Agrigento, the most extensive Greek temple ruins outside Greece itself.  You'll note a spot appearance by Giovanni DeRocco at the end.

A belly dance by Dottore James P. "Jimma Jamma" to the tune of the jam and jelly song.  Filippo Cane also appears in this clip but his belly don't dance like Jimma's.

The Chippings' comments on a dinner, prepared by master chef Giovanni DeRocco, in the kitchen of the LoL Hostel in Siracusa.  

Follow the link below to see Dino's photos from the Chippings' Sicily ride

You are invited to view dean enell's photo album: 7 bikers in Sicily Spring 2011

7 bikers in Sicily Spring 2011 Mar 27, 2011 by dean enell Most have know one another for 30+ years View Album Play slideshow

Message from dean enell:

After severe edits and deletions - here's the Sicily pictures taken with Dino's zoom camera. Copies available on request (I'm dreaming of course). 7 old Seattle guys wizzing thier bicycles through the old country

Dean

If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=deanenell&target=ALBUM&id=5600424964217283841&authkey=Gv1sRgCOPC7NOG8orjbA&invite=CPSdhMIJ&feat=email

Click below to see David Wilder's photos of the Chippings' Sicily ride

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=108936897149693527591&target=ALBUM&id=5595889716345028785&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLr3_3xntr0eg&invite=COe-xMQI&feat=email

Phil Truncer, aka Filippo or 'The Philling,' says no downside to Sicily ride

John "Jimma" Ward says mamma's slow food made Sicily a great ride

Bruce Abdenour, "il Brutto," lauds Sicily comraderie

Dino Enell, il mecanico, grouses about snoring

Gianni DeRocco, aka "Lance," calls Sicily 'molto bello'

David Wilder, Chippings newbie, loved the hills of Sicily

Il direttore Johnny McCoy, aka Spazio, reviews the Giro di Sicilia

Two week Giro di Sicilia ends for seven Chips

SIRACUSA -- The Chippings "Giro di Siclia" ended here last night at the Lol Hostel where it began two weeks ago. The closing ceremonies featured sea urchin pasta ("spaghetti ricci di mare") and a final pinochle game won by the unlikely partnership of Filippo and il Brutto.

Giuseppe brought his delivery van to load up the bikes. We praised his cycles and equipment, noting that while we had three minor falls (Dino twice and Bruce once), we did not suffer a broken spoke or a single flat. Giuseppe pointed to his bikes' German-made Schwab tires. "They cost 37 euros each and are impenetrable," he said.

While the Chippings Dispute Resolution Committee and its Let's Get Our Feelings Out Consensus Group failed to convene a formal "Lessons Learned" discussion, here are some insights about cycling in Sicily:

1) Speak some Italian. With at least advanced beginner ability in la bella lingua, you can engage friendly, curious and helpful locals. On more than one occasion, a question about a street, a shop or a food led some Siciliano to takes us by the elbow down the street to a trattoria or a bike shop. Sometimes, it led to a meal.

2) Accept that the public tourist offices are hopeless. They are closed on Saturdays, Sundays, Friday afternoons and on the feast days of any Italian saint who can be claimed as a local patroness. When they are open, the staff may be able to offer a map of the city in Italian or perhaps a computer-translated English gibberish guide. Little else. And they are unlikely to speak English. Ask the tourist lady in Italian to book a B&B for you and you'll get a look that says, "I work for the city and that is not part of my job description."

3) Don't believe the traffic or directional signs. Often signs pointing to the "Centro" have arrows in polar opposite directions at the same intersection. After awhile, I realized: This is true. You can go either way to get to the Centro. Nonetheless, it's disconcerting. Even more so when "Centro" signs disappear altogether. As for the frequent one-way streets, no problem. Police waved as we cycled the wrong way down "Senso Unico" lanes.

4) Cycle aggressively or you'll wait forever. Sicilian drivers are assertive and will grab the road if you yield it. But they are also competent and respectful of cyclists, including many of their own who tool around on weekend mornings in Tour de France gear. Typically, drivers gave us a faint toot just to let us know they were there behind us on narrow or shoulder-less roads.

5) Don't expect to find food at lunch time. Except for the occasional bar, where you might manage a pastry or a slice of pizza, virtually everything is closed from 1 to 4 pm in Sicily. Everyone goes home for "pranzo" with mamma. Restaurants are open for dinner and are rarely ready to serve before 8 pm.

6) Cycle in Sicily in spring or fall or you'll die of heat exhaustion. Summer temperatures go over 100 degrees F. On hot days, shade is precious.

7) If you're traveling Chippings "di piu economica" style, expect to stay in hostels with dorms or be prepared to share beds and rooms at B&B's. Sicilian B&B's, which rarely have more than three rental bedrooms altogether, are equipped for couples, not grouchy old guys who think they don't snore. So suck it up.

8) Finally, expect some absolutely breathtaking vistas, incredible medieval towns, turquoise blue seas, delectable fish dishes and some gregarious people delighted to converse even pigeon Italiano with biciclisti americani.

In subsequent posts, the Chippings themselves will sum up the Giro di Siclia in short video clips.

Location:Siracusa, Italia

Jimma captures Giro di Sicilia pinochle crown

Dottore James P. "Jimma" Jamma captured the Loose Chippings Giro di Sicilia pinochle crown with a combined record of 7 wins and 3 losses. Jimma's superb pinochle play included a record bid of 48 with partner Gianni DeRocco in which the two amassed a total of 67 points in one hand. Jimma is holding the cards he had after Gianni's pass. You'll note that it includes a double pinochle, aces around and molto trumpo in spades.
For the record, Gianni DeR finished second with 6 wins, 5 loses; Spazio was 6 and 6; Bruce was 1 and 1; Filippo and Dino (defending champ) had identical records of 2 wins, 4 loses; and David was 0 and 1.

Location:Siracusa, Italia

Baroque city of pink stone lures Chippings

NOTO, Sicilia (April 9) -- This classic Baroque city built of pink stone enraptured the Chippings so much that they stayed for two nights. Or maybe it was the 16 euro a night cost of a dorm room bunk bed at the youth hostel.

The hostel, housed in an 18th century palazzo, had beds for 77. But with the departure of a 27-member international cycling group the day before, the seven Chips had the whole place to themselves. They sought out the most distant bunks of the spacious 16-bed dorm to allow for maximum snoring diffusion and all slept well. So well that there were no complaints about a single tepid shower and sink faucets operated with floor pedals.

The Ostello di Noto was a welcome site after a hot 40-plus kilometer ride from Modica in mid-day. After dallying away the morning there, the Chips had a cycle stop at the Cava d'Ispica, a 13-kilometer gorge of cave dwellings and tombs dating back 4,000 years.



The "papa albergotore" (the hostel "dad") turned out to be 29-year-old Davide Civello, an enterprising young man delighted to converse with us in either intermediate English or intermediate Italian. Davide and his father, Vittorio, 67, shared a plastic bottle of the local vino rosso with us and we talked soccer, Berlusconi, farming, masonry, corruption and family life.



Soon it was dinner time (9 pm in Sicily). Davide suggested we go to the Trattoria Delicioza, famous for its marinated fish antipasti and seafood dishes. And, of course, operated by his good friend, Nella. (The 27 international cyclists, Davide told us, had eaten there the last five nights. Nella was wearing a big smile when we walked in.) Four of us had a black squid ink ravioli and looked afterwards like we'd suffered major tooth decay. Despite the black gums, it was delicious.



At some point in the dinner, Davide's 19-year-old girlfriend, Tamara, showed up. She'd already eaten so no black lips for her. Instead she told Gianni DeR that he looked like Richard Gere. Meanwhile, on an overhead television (even the fanciest restaurants have the television constantly on), there's the Italian version of a Guinness Records competition. The host, a bombastic fellow who looks and acts like Rush Limbaugh, is timing a very large Italian woman as she smashes beer cans with her gigantic right breast.



I'm thinking: We saw a gorgeously restored fresco of the Ascension of Christ in the cathedral dome this morning and now, in the evening, a corpulent, dyed blond is using her boobs to crush cans on a TV show. Che e' successo alla cultura italiana?


Jimma luxuriates in Bed No. 9 at the Ostello di Noto.



Bruce, "il Brutto," rests against a seawall outside the fishing village of Portopalo at the extreme southeast of the island. There is nothing but water between il Brutto and Africa.



On a day ride along the eastern Mediterrean coast of Sicily, the Chippings encounter thousands of shuttered homes awaiting the summer season that will arrive like a gale after Easter. This estate sits idle and forlorn facing the sea.

Location:Noto, Italia

Chippings feast on "slow food" at Mamma's ristorante

MODICA (April 7) -- Fattened on free chocolate samples and a five-course Sicilian dinner of grilled rabbit, fava bean pasta stew, stuffed antipasti, sautéed vegetables, vino rosso and fruit liquors, the Chippings woke up to another "bella giornata" in this Baroque hillside town.

We lodged in three reasonably spacious rooms in the Al Corso B&B in a renovated building on the city's main street. Gracia, the enterprising and bustling proprietor, told Jimma that her mother runs a "slow food" movement restaurant eight kilometers out in the country. She showed him the press clippings and the mentions in the Italian culinary guidebook. Moreover, she, her father (Giovanni) and her husband (Giovanni) would be happy to take us there. So at 8:30 pronto last night, we were off to Maria Fidone's (www.mariafidone.it), a white-table cloth, carefully-appointed restaurant where our ample, home-cooked meal was served "piano, piano" over several hours. The only other guests were two priests who blessed us and bid us arrividerci.



Gracia, third on left, her husband, mother and father, in the foyer of their restaurant, "Maria Fidone," in the rural village of Frigintini.

The banquet meal came after two days of fairly strenuous cycling. The Chips checked out of the Al Faro Hotel in the dusty, port city of Licata on Tuesday morning and logged a record 93 kilometers to the seaside resort town of Marina di Ragusa. Admittedly, most of the riding was at sea level with only occasional climbing. But the conditions were hardly idyllic. We rode through the center of Gela, a once sleepy town now befouled with petrochemical plants and tar on the beaches.



At one point an Italian driver hit the front wheel of Bruce's bike. Bruce stayed upright and was uninjured. The driver was apologetic. But readjusting the brake and brake cables required immediate attention. Dino, who some allege is but a "placebo mecanico" made the adjustments. Following his standard greeting in Italian ("We are Americans cycling around your island. We love it!), Gianni DeR was treated to four expressos at a nearby bar.

Once off the main highway and beyond the refineries of Gela, the Chips had a bucolic ride along the Mediterranean. They saw the old Sicily, the herdsmen with their sheep and goats, as well as the new Sicily, large tracts of south-facing land covered with plastic, hydroponic greenhouses for growing tomatoes, eggplant and grapes. Thanks to the greenhouses, tomatoes with Renaissance names such as Boccaccio, Desdemona and Donatello are being harvested now.



At the coastal village of Scoglitti, we took advantage of the shade of a refreshment stand -- not yet open for the season -- and made lunch. We tore open fresh bread, doused it with olive oil and stuffed it with sliced swiss cheese, salami and ripe tomatoes. Dino, happy and fed, donned his red swim trunks and took a dip in the Mediterranean. "Warmer than Puget Sound," he said.

Continuing along the coast, the Chips begin scouting for accommodations, always a challenge off-season in Sicily. Not many B&Bs are equipped to handle seven guys who want single, private beds in rooms with snore-proof walls. And are willing to pay no more than $35 a night. So we share, drawing cards for roommates and encouraging anti-snoring measures ("Sleep on your side, dude!").



The extremely gracious staff at a four-star hotel ($350 a night) in Marina di Ragusa assisted the two Giannis in locating the Capo Sud B&B where we shared three small rooms. Jimma, Bruce and David had a windowless basement bunker at the bottom of a tiny, circular staircase. The two Giannis had bunk beds. But, hey, nobody had to break a 50 euro bill!

Yesterday the Chips again split into hill climbers and coasters. The two Giannis, Dino and David gained about 3,000 feet on the long incline up to the central plateau cities of Ragusa and Modica. The coasters, Jimma, Bruce and Filippo, cycled a more direct route to Modica but eventually gained just about as much elevation. Unfortunately, the Chipping rendezvous strategy of "let's all meet in the main piazza" feel short. The climbers discovered there are two main piazzas in Ragusa. And the coasters discovered there is no clear main piazza in Modica. As a result, Gianni DeR and David enjoyed a very leisurely lunch in Ragusa's historic old city before Dino and Spazio showed up. And Jimma had three hours to chat with everyone who passed by the cathedral in Modica.



Before entering a long, dreary zone of industrial parks, the main arterial into Ragusa features this safe driving reminder.



Spazio poses before descending to the delightful medieval town of Ragusa Ibla with its narrow lanes, ornate palaces, gardens and cobbled, virtually car-free streets.



Given the incredible interest in designer shades, Dino agreed to pose with the 5 euro glasses he purchased in "Argumento." Note the cool Ferragamo hairstyle.

Location:Modica, Sicilia

Chips pursue two routes in record 83-kilometer day

LICATA (April 3) -- Riding in two groups, the hill climbers and the coasters, the seven Chippings on the Giro di Sicilia arrived in this hot, dusty, port town in mid-afternoon today after taking separate 80-kilometer routes from the hilly interior.

The climbers -- Dino, David and Gianni DeR -- gained and lost several thousand feet of elevation as they wound their way on secondary, yellow-colored roads over ridges and through hilltop villages. At one point, a family riding in a car stopped them and warned them of a pack of marauding dogs sure to attack on the road ahead. The intrepid Chips armed themselves with sticks but the dogs never appeared.

The coasters -- Jimma, Bruce, Filippo and Spazio -- glided down the more primary, red-colored State Route 117 to the city of Gela, where General Patton and American troops landed nearly 70 years ago to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation. Cement pillboxes still stand on surrounding hills. The coasters, however, faced a strong headwind off the Mediterrean in riding the remaining 28 kilometers to Licata. A gelato, a coke, a coffee latte and a bag of Cheeze-Its saved them from exhaustion.

The cuisine was much better the night before. In the ancient, hilltop city of Piazza Armerina, the Chips ate at a crowded, white tablecloth restaurant crowed with locals in their Saturday night best. It was the best meal thus far and a far cry from the usual continental breakfast of bread and coffee and the mid-day, on the road panini sandwich. An antipasto plate of cheese, prosciutto, sardines, mussels and salmon. Pasta plates of rigatoni, eggplant spaghetti and tagliatelle. Main dishes of grilled calamari, swordfish and jumbo prawns. Only Filippo and I still had room for dessert, a cassata, a baked ricotta-cheese almond-flavored cake topped with a cherry.



The two Italian bikers on the right stopped to chat with the Chips in a backwater Sicilian hill town where the cop in the piazza said the population was 15,000. But, he added, 10,000 of them have left.



Dino and Bruce stop to await other Chips at a yellow-road junction enroute to Piazza Armenia.



Dino stretches out on a bench outside the Villa Romana del Casale, a hunting lodge built in 300 AD by a Roman emperor. The villa, buried until its rediscovery in 1950, is a "World Heritage Site" famous for its floor mosaics. The best know portrays Roman girls in bikinis lifting weights and running with olive branches.



This room in the Umberto 33 B&B in Piazza Armerina was shared by Dino, Spazio and Filippo in gentle snoring harmony. A new snoring rule allows Chips to administer a kind poke to snorers in high decibel ranges.



Sicily is very green in early spring with fields of lettuce, fava beans, finocchio and grape vines just beginning to leaf. Highs are now in the mid-70s.

Location:Licata, Sicilia

Chips avoid "argumento" in Agrigento

AGRIGENTO (April 4) -- By bus and bike, the Chippings journeyed to Agrigento today to walk through the most extensive Greek temple ruins outside of Greece. "The Valley of the Temples," a UN World Heritage Site, includes the still upright remains of at least eight large Greek temples and the fallen remains of many more scattered over hundreds of acres on the lower slopes of the ancient coastal city.

Going to Agrigento was without "Argumento" (Filippo's mistaken name for the town). Everyone agreed to go, the question was how. Filippo, Bruce, Jimma, David and Spazio, a bit weary from the 83-kilometer ride the day before, took the 46 kilometer bus ride from Licata. Dino and Gianni DeR elected to cycle there on busy State Route 115 which features narrow dark tunnels, a six-inch shoulder with thistle plants and every conveyance from Vespas to 18-wheelers. They put their bikes on the bus for the ride back.

Despite a hot, 80-plus degree day, the Chips spent several hours on the unshaded temple site, wandering about the ruins which currently feature large bronze statues and heads by a modern Russian-Japanese scupltor.

In Greek and Roman times, a half million people lived in Agrigento. Pindar described it as "the most beautiful city every built by man." One influential resident said his fellow townsmen "built as if they would live forever and ate as if they would die tomorrow." Today, however, the Rough Guide calls Agrigento the poorest large city in the country and the most Mafia-dominated.

The Chips didn't see any wise guys in the Temples of Venus, Juno or Jupiter although they did pay extortionist prices for a mediocre pizza lunch on the temple grounds.




This is the Temple of Concord, dating from 430 BC and preserved because for many centuries it was a Christian church. The figure on the pedestal at the left is not cast in stone or bronze. He is Jimma Jamma, Chippings ambasciatore a tutti.



Bruce, "il Brutte," poses for a German photographer at the Temple of Juno.



David doffs his ball cap in salute of the temple ruins at Agrigento, a city that has been variously ruled by Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spainards and now the Mafia.



The Chippings had a pizza lunch at a restaurant at the gates of the "Valley of Temples," the most extensive Greek temple ruins outside of Greece. Filippo explored the archeology museum while Italian teens sunbathed.



In the bus ride back from Agrigento, Dino sports the yellow-rimmed shades he purchased from a Senegalese street vendor. He got the price down from 10 to 5 euros and was pleased until he learned they often sell for a single euro.

Location:Agrigento, Italia

Cycling the narrow streets of Siracusa

John DeRocco, following on his own bike, shot this sensational 19-second video of Dino cycling through the narrow streets and alleyways of Ortigia, the medieval, historical center of Siracusa.

Location:Siracusa, Italia

Chips take day off in Sicily's ceramic capital

CALTAGIRONE -- The roof terrace view, the homemade breakfast and the exuberant hospitality of Rosa Occhipinti, the proprietor of "Il Piccolo Antico" B&B, persuaded the Chippings to spend two nights in this ancient city that advertises itself as the "Ceramic Capital." A thousand years ago, Arab invaders introduced a distinctive yellow and blue terra-cotta tile displayed throughout this medieval town of 40,000 inhabitants.

There were also other factors. After a 64-kilometer ride from Palazzolo Acreide, where the Chips had spent a cool and wet previous night, Jimma and Filippo were bone-tired and sore. Both complained of irritated areas where bike saddles make contact with the human form. Spazio and Davide were for taking a day to explore Caltagirone. Dino and Bruce were for cycling on. And John DeR would graciously go with the flow.

It looked as if, for the first time, the Chippings untried dispute resolution process would be invoked. Dino proposed a straight up and down vote on the two-night proposition. Then Davide, a psychiatric social worker, suggested the Chips express their feelings and work toward a consensus. Reluctantly, grudgingly, a consensus was achieved. The Chips would stay two nights and bike on early Saturday morning for the old castle and cathedral town of Piazza Armerina.

A deciding factor, perhaps, was Signora Rosa, who responded to our request for eggs by supplying fresh ones from her own hens in the country. Rosa is an enthusiastic, loquacious, middle-aged Siciliana whose hands and face speak volumes. She'd be the idle language school home study mamma, rambling on in well-enunciated italiano specially designed for the intermediate student. She was absolutely delighted to speak italiano with John DeR and Spazio, telling us how "brutta"("ugly") English is. Only German, she said, is uglier. Geez, grazie Rosa.

Rosa has stretched the B&B experience beyond the usual. We returned from dinner last night to find our kitchen mess cleaned up and our discarded underwear arranged at sharp right angles on the beds. She accommodated Chipping squeamishness about shared matrimonial beds by setting up separate single ones. And she did Filippo's laundry. In the photo above, she is making a very emphatic point about Italian cuisine to John DeR. My cell phone shutter speed was not fast enough to freeze her hands.


The receptionist at the Lo! Hostel in Siracusa seemed less than delighted to pose with the Chippings as they set out for Palazzolo Acreide. Perche?


Davide, John DeR and Dino are all smiles after climbing 3,000 feet into Sicily's hinterland.


On a cool, soon-to-be wet afternoon in the central piazza of Palazzolo Acreide, a stray dog does tricks for Davide and Filippo.


Filippo points out a Roman votive niche depicting heroes offering a sacrifice. It was carved in the first century BC.


Despite aches, pains and soreness in private areas, Jimma punched out 64 kilometers of serious up and downhill riding on Route 124 to Caltagirone.


Unknown, at this point, is the delicacy that John DeR and Filippo discovered on a restaurant window in Caltagirone: "Hot Doo."

Location:Caltagirone, Sicilia

Exploring Siracusa, once the power of the Mediterranean

SIRACUSA -- The seven Chippings on the Giro di Sicilia wandered about the ancient and modern city of Siracusa yesterday.

They bought pasta, cheese and vegetables at the open air market in the old quarter of Ortigia. They scrambled up the 2,500-year-old Teatro Greco, an open-air amphitheater built to accommodate 15,000 people who came to view the plays of Euripides and the gladiatorial combat of the Romans. And they rode their bikes through the narrow lanes of the Jewish quarter (at least until they were expelled in 1492). Narrow lane bike riding ended when Gianni DeR had a gentle collision with a woman motorist who called him a word usually not included in Italian-English dictionaries.



Spazio in the Teatro Greco, said to be the largest and best preserved Greek amphitheater in the world.



Gianni DeR exits the cave called the "Orecchio di Dionisio" ("The ear of Dionysius") in Siracusa's archeological park. The cavern was used as a jail.



Intrepid Chipping photographers Filippo and Giannia DeR shoot stunning shots of a lemon tree.



The Baroque cathedral plaza. The cathedral itself includes massive Doric columns, some of them fractured by the 1693 earthquake that destroyed much of southeastern Sicily.



A street scene in Ortigia, the ancient quarter where the Greeks first settled and now the heart and soul of the city.

Location:Siracusa, Italia

Giuseppe comes through with bikes, pinochle play begins

SIRACUSA -- Helmut, the proprietor of www.sicily-bike.de, turns out to be as illusive as the Wizard of Oz. Invisible. Behind a curtain in Deutschland.

After a 50 euro deposit and a series of e-mails in which most of my questions about rental bikes went unanswered, I received a cryptic response. Go to the little town of Solarino, a few miles west of Siracusa, and meet Giuseppe at the soccer field. Call him by cell phone first. He will arrange the bikes.

I thought this sounded more like a Mafia drug deal than a cycle rental business. But with 50 euros already spent through PayPal and no other rental prospects, we decided to go along. So mid-day yesterday, six of the seven Chippings on the Giro di Sicilia boarded the Interbus at Piazza Borsellino in Catania and took the one-hour ride to Siracusa, the ancient city that for three centuries before Christ was the biggest power in the Mediterranean. The capital of Greater Greece.

We were six because il ambasciatore, Dottere Jimma Jimma, was still waiting for Alitalia to deliver his luggage from the Saturday flight he took from Venice. So he opted to spend another night in Catania at Gianluca's B&B (And, buoni auguri, his bag was finalmente delivered last night, a mere two and a half days later.)

The six Chips arrived at the bus station in Siracusa, where they boarded a local bus, full of Italian school kids, for the final 20 kilometers to Solarino. The piccolo paese of Solarino looks like the hot, dusty, sun-drenched stone town in "Cinema Paradiso." Old guys in old suits gassing away on stone benches in the central piazza. A baroque church, its doors closed against the world, facing city hall. An ancient dog, drool down its muzzle, asleep in the shade.

I had called Giuseppe first from Siracusa. Forget the soccer field, he told me. I'll meet you in the piazza. And there he was, bounding toward us, a burly, enthusiastic, unshaven guy in his 40s. He showed me the e-mail message he had received from Helmut at 4 that morning. It was the first he heard of us, he said, explaining that Helmut is totally disorganized.

We piled into Giuseppe's cargo van and proceeded to drive out of the little town, through groves of lemons, oranges and olives. Some Chips were apprehensive; others dubious. At one point, we found the street blocked by a motorcyclist. Giuseppe, yelling, gesturing and waving his arms, berated the guy, calling him a "pazzo," an idiot. The guy laughed, Giuseppe laughed, they both shrugged and we moved on.

After winding down a long gravel road, we came to a farm. Giuseppe's father was out on a tractor, tilling between rows of grape vines. We parked in front of a large concrete, barn-like shed. Giuseppe flung open the door and, allora, biciclette galore.

Over the next hour, Giuseppe adjusted saddles, pedals, brakes. We changed from our long pants into bike shorts and shirts. We filled water bottles, tested tire pressure, and fastened our panniers to the rear carriers. And then we were off, back to Siracusa on a less-travelled route suggested by Giuseppe.

In fact, Giuseppe mapped out a whole tour of southeastern Sicily for us, using various Magic Markers on my Rough Guide roadmap, to indicate routes he called beautiful, enchanting, without equal. But also some routes with a good bit of climbing.

In Siracusa, we are lodged for two nights in an eight-bed dorm room at the Lo! Hostel, a very hip, clean, Euro-tech place done up in black, white and stainless steel. Our spotless, white linen came starchily folded in clear

plastic bags. We ate the complementary breakfast in a kitchen that would have done Julia Child proud.

And, last night, John D and David were introduced to the joys of pinochle.
"Introduced" seems hardly the right word since the two of them are both obvious card sharpies, very familiar with counting tricks, flushing out trump and passing for maximum meld.

The first official game ensued. Despite aggressive bidding by the team of Davide and Spazio, they were unable to overcome the first hand advantage of Gianni D and Filippo. Gianni D, holding a run and aces around, bid 48 and, with Filippo along for the ride, captured all 12 tricks. Their partnership wound up with 59 points for the hand and deprived Davide and Spazio of their meld. Final game score was 120 to 57.

Location:Siracusa, Sicilia

Chippings do "Corri Catania"

CATANIA, Sicilia -- On the eve of their bike trip, four Chippings joined thousands of Catanians this morning for a 10 kilometer run and walk through city streets.

On a bright, sunny day, Phil (Filippo), Bruce, Jimma and Spazio walked out of their B&B in the centrally located Piazza Stesicoro to become part of the crowd that surged through the closed streets for the annual "Corri Catania." Participants wore white and green T-shirts proclaiming Catania's commitment to environmental action. Official entries, wearing numbers on their backs, included infants in strollers, school children, the disabled, women's groups, the elderly, even the occasional T-shirt wearing dog.

Catania has some environmental challenges. The coast immediately south of the city is fouled with petrochemical plants. The medieval centre is crumbling, plaster walls peeled and broken and scrawled with grafitti. A guidebook describes the Corso Italia, a main thoroughfare, and the area around the train station as "insalubrious."

No worries for the Chips, however, who ambled along with the crowd.

The Chippings' cycle ride around Sicily begins in earnest tomorrow when the Chips pick up their rental bikes in Siracusa. After overnight flights from Seattle, Jimma, Bruce and Filippo checked into Gianni & Lucia's B&B yesterday afternoon. Spazio arrived by train from Taormina. Jimma, dapper in his black wool trousers and sweater, discovered upon arrival that Alitalia had not loaded his luggage. The airline promises he'll have it this evening.

Meanwhile, Dino, looking remarkably refreshed after stops in Philadelphia and Rome, showed up about 2 this afternoon. Gianni DeRocco and Davide Wilder are expected later today.

Location:Catania, Sicilia