Ascending an Active Volcano Called Etna on an Electric Unicycle (EUC)!

I live in London and occasionally travel across the world on an EUC. One of my recent such trips was to Sicily in Italy which was organised by a group of local EUC’ers. I’d like to share the experience here since I’ve not posted anything in a while now and the site is getting a little stale. 

So, here goes…

Getting a Wheel There

Sadly there is not much choice but to rent the wheel once we left the EU which is what I did. Shipping it would mean risking paying import duties there and back so won’t be economical. Renting is much easier and the community is ever-growing so luckily there are always people or companies willing to rent you a wheel. In fact, more often than not I get it for free from either friends or even complete strangers sometimes! I do reciprocate – if I feel like I can trust the person I’m happy to lend a wheel for a day or two. Of course, you never know what to expect back – one can only hope that you’ll get it in one piece. Anyway, this time I rented a Kingsong S18 from a local company called Overwheel. I stayed there for 5 days and at 50 euros /day the total was 250 euros.

Booking a Place to Stay

Completely irrelevant to ascending Etna so feel free to skip if you’re here for that experience however still being part of the story. Sicily is relatively inexpensive when compared to London and has plenty of choices when it comes to places to stay. I was a little busy at the time and outsourced this work to a friend. He booked us nice B&B places wherever the group I went with stayed. The primary objective of these B&Bs was low cost as we were after a budget trip. 😀 It turned into a nice little adventure and I’d do it again after all.

One place was in the middle of what I think was a vineyard, run by a family. Getting there was a bit of a trek :p

The Group

The group was fairly large. Mostly Italians, however, other nationalities too like a Spanish from Portugal, a Romanian, an Italian Ukrainian, a British Russian (yours truly), Polish, French and Swedish riders were also with us. Some girls and children were present as well, which made some of the rides more family-friendly. (Others were fuelled by adrenaline and alcohol so were a little more adventurous)

The Wheels

We had a bunch, with some being much bigger than others, as well as those that had two attached together with a metal rod (called a ‘bicycle’, I think). A lot of KingSong s18 specimen and the almighty 16x (the choice of most of the guides). The former had suspension while the latter had an interesting hole in the body, as if a fuel tank, that, as I was later told, was actually a vent to stop the wheel from overheating. They used it when the sun was particularly scorching and the wheels were climbing a steep hill. The rest of the time the hole was shut.

Day One – The Arrival

Nice sunny day. We arrived at the airport in Catania in the morning. Short walk to the parking where the wheels were patiently waiting for their riders in their respective boxes. 

We started off to the hotel that was on top of the volcano in Linguaglossa and where our ascend was to begin the following day. A forty km ride. Things I noticed are the immense heat (compared to London) and absolutely zero infrastructure for the riders (or even pedestrians for that matter). Little to no pavements and absolutely zero cycle lanes! The drivers seemed reasonable, however, even though we were told to be careful by the locals. We arrived at the hotel, had dinner and went to bed.

Day Two – The Climb

We started early in the morning. We were told that the earlier the better due to the terrain being firmer to ride on. 

To say that it was hard would be an understatement. I’ve been riding for five years to date and have not come across such a tough climb before. Right from the start I was struggling and considering going back, and I wasn’t the only one! There was volcano ash and gravel and it was a 3km ascend! I just couldn’t push the s18 hard enough to get up many slopes. The worst part was the wheel skidding. Because of the ash going through it just wasn’t possible. 

I was then offered a 16x by a fellow rider in exchange for my s18. I didn’t expect much but boy did this make a difference! I won’t say that climbing became a breeze but with every minute my confidence grew and a) the 16x seems to have had more torque and b) it had a thicker tire, which allowed it to go through the sand without skidding and that was a huge relief. I managed to make it to the top – harraaay! 

After taking plenty of photos and planting a flag we began our descent. I grew quite confident by that point and was easily overtaking the leaders. In fact, I got a bit too confident and nearly got myself lost! I took the wrong path, which led me half a km down the volcano to a dead end. I rode without getting off and at high speeds until the rocks got bigger and bigger to the point where they became boulders, which is when I realised that I should probably wait for the others. I saw them shortly after and to bemusement they passed by me, taking a different route. They were little dots far in the wilderness (about half a km from me) up the volcano. 

I began what I thought would be a dreadful ascent only fuelled by adrenaline I found it surpassingly easy! I caught up with the rest and overtook half the group. It was an awesome race down that I will never forget. In hindsight, I’m glad that I didn’t break any bones and in all fairness wouldn’t mind repeating it again someday. I’ve done a fair bit of travelling on the EUC and this climb was the hardest for me due to the difficult terrain. It made me into a much better rider because of that. 

Some riders set off again in the night but I didn’t join, deciding that 84km that I’ve done was enough for the day, especially taking into account the early morning the following day.

Day Three – our ride to Nicolosi

We set off from our hotel in the morn again. Was a tad chilly but sunny. We were driven in a bus to the other side of the mountain to begin our ride so that it’s a little more interesting for us (from memory). This was a relatively uneventful ride along a paved (somewhat) road part of the way and the other part was a forest. It was much easier, we had a wider group and it was much fun! In the eve we had a pleasant dinner, my hotel wasn’t far from that of the group’s so we spent the evening together, a few of us had a brotherly bonding session in the outdoor jacuzzi and we went for an evening ascend towards the starting point of our volcano. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it all the way and had to turn back due to a dead battery on the S18, kindly escorted by a couple of people who decided to turn back as well (one of which was my roommate). The total distance covered that day was 78km.

Day Four – Linguaglossa to Taormina

This was a fun day visiting some tourist attractions (Castello Di Calatabiano), climbing steep hills (Castelmola) and riding along the beach. I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. The hill climb to the Castle was so steep that many of the riders had to stop to cool down as their wheels began overheating (it was an extra hot day). On the way up the Castelmola hill, I separated from the group because I was conserving my battery on the way up but luckily some of the others also got lost so we made it up together. There was a bar at the top (where I was cheated into being served what must be the most expensive beer on earth). There were a lot of stairs and we were taken to a cafe by a fellow rider that left me traumatised for life as I was presented with the most penises I’ve ever had the (dis)pleasure of seeing in real life (thanks, Konrad!). It was a bar full of them everywhere I looked! As it was the penultimate day people started leaving. The total distance done was 58km. As much as I’d like to, that day I will never forget.

Day Five – Aka the Last, travelling to Catania

I woke up early morning that day and we begun travelling back to the hotel. Because the route to the hotel was fairly treacherous we got lost and I made a decision to travel separately from my mate, who was flying later than me that same day. I went straight for the airport in fear of being late. Total distance travelled was 60km over 3 hours, the highlight of which was me getting lost by going to the wrong Catania Parking (which was the name of our wheel storage place). I also had a nice Gelato on the way – something I was after from day one but was just too busy to indulge myself in such luxuries (having said that we did find time for beer!).

Some hours later I finally made it to the right parking with about 30% of battery left (was really worried that it’ll die on me). I got to see some of the city and boy was it an experience not to forget! That can easily be a story of its own. 

I packed my wheels, said my goodbyes to the last of the riders and made my way to the business lounge hoping to get some food. The lounge was the smallest I’ve seen yet and it was totally packed to the brim. The moment any food was brought out, it was gone in seconds, as people went at it like hungry vultures (myself included!). After a bit of delays I finally loaded onto the plane only to learn of further delays (spent over an hour waiting for takeoff inside the plane!). At last I made it home and at exactly the same time my mate who arrived from Singapore and was staying we me made it to my door – quite a coincidence if you as me!

The trip was great fun and travelling on an EUC is awesome. Next one is in October to Portugal so keep an ear out for that story!