rugby bloke
Veteran
- Location
- Northamptonshire
A quick report on my experiences of riding in Gozo.
I hired a bike from On Two Wheels bike hire in Marsalforn. A friendly operation, they can deliver the bike but I preferred to walk down to the shop to have a look at the stock. The owner looked me up and down and immediately had me rightly down as a Carerra sort of man, so kitted me out with a Carerra Apollo with disc brakes and allowed me a quick ride around the block to get a feel for it. Back to the apartment to stcok up on water and I headed out. It was now around 11 am and getting a little warm.
The first thing I noticed was that as soon as you go off the main roads things become very steep and very bumpy. For some reason I decided to head up to Zebbug, which can be seen on the horizon. A little over ambitious given the heat ... Things started to get steep and bumpy - due to my lack of mountain bike skills I had to get off and walk the bike down hill. Then it started to climb and the fun really started. There was a lot of walking involved but I got up there in the end,
The views from the top were stunning and well worth the effort. After that it was back onto tarmac and downhill. I eventually ended up down at the salt pans, for the necessary "Bike next to the sea" shot.
After this is was a nice and easy ride along the coast back to Marsalfon.
After a quick lunch and resupply of water it was time to head out again. This time I decided to stick to the main roads and see if I could get a few more miles under my belt. I took the road up from Marsalforn to Victoria. Which is a long steady climb, tough enough in the heat but at least with decent tarmac. After Victoria I headed out to Sannat and then Cenc to pick up the south coast. I was back on bumpy tracks but the adventure was worth the effort when I found this little gem:
The temptation was too much and I had to ride down to get a closer look and a hydration opportunity. As we all know, if you go down you must go back up. As I ground my way back up the hill I saw a car that I thought was parked to admire the view. It was only after another minute I realized it was waiting for me ... As I past the car the driver gave me a smile and said "Well done, I'm impressed", without a touch of sarcasm.
I then picked up some bike route signs so decided to follow them to see where they took me. Unfortunately they took me on a somewhat nondescript bit of road that headed in the direction of the ferry terminal. At least it was flat though !
Getting bored of the road I cut across to Ix-Xaghra and one final big climb before a glorious run down into Marsalforn. Dropping the bike back to the shop I was straight into the bar across the road to reflect over a cold beer.
I would recommend riding in Gozo, although perhaps not in August. You will need a mtb as the road surface swings from nice and new to terrible. The car drivers are very chilled though and there are plenty of tracks where you will find no cars at all. Just bring your climbing legs.
I hired a bike from On Two Wheels bike hire in Marsalforn. A friendly operation, they can deliver the bike but I preferred to walk down to the shop to have a look at the stock. The owner looked me up and down and immediately had me rightly down as a Carerra sort of man, so kitted me out with a Carerra Apollo with disc brakes and allowed me a quick ride around the block to get a feel for it. Back to the apartment to stcok up on water and I headed out. It was now around 11 am and getting a little warm.
The first thing I noticed was that as soon as you go off the main roads things become very steep and very bumpy. For some reason I decided to head up to Zebbug, which can be seen on the horizon. A little over ambitious given the heat ... Things started to get steep and bumpy - due to my lack of mountain bike skills I had to get off and walk the bike down hill. Then it started to climb and the fun really started. There was a lot of walking involved but I got up there in the end,
The views from the top were stunning and well worth the effort. After that it was back onto tarmac and downhill. I eventually ended up down at the salt pans, for the necessary "Bike next to the sea" shot.
After this is was a nice and easy ride along the coast back to Marsalfon.
After a quick lunch and resupply of water it was time to head out again. This time I decided to stick to the main roads and see if I could get a few more miles under my belt. I took the road up from Marsalforn to Victoria. Which is a long steady climb, tough enough in the heat but at least with decent tarmac. After Victoria I headed out to Sannat and then Cenc to pick up the south coast. I was back on bumpy tracks but the adventure was worth the effort when I found this little gem:
The temptation was too much and I had to ride down to get a closer look and a hydration opportunity. As we all know, if you go down you must go back up. As I ground my way back up the hill I saw a car that I thought was parked to admire the view. It was only after another minute I realized it was waiting for me ... As I past the car the driver gave me a smile and said "Well done, I'm impressed", without a touch of sarcasm.
I then picked up some bike route signs so decided to follow them to see where they took me. Unfortunately they took me on a somewhat nondescript bit of road that headed in the direction of the ferry terminal. At least it was flat though !
Getting bored of the road I cut across to Ix-Xaghra and one final big climb before a glorious run down into Marsalforn. Dropping the bike back to the shop I was straight into the bar across the road to reflect over a cold beer.
I would recommend riding in Gozo, although perhaps not in August. You will need a mtb as the road surface swings from nice and new to terrible. The car drivers are very chilled though and there are plenty of tracks where you will find no cars at all. Just bring your climbing legs.
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