Malta

Hey, anybody in Malta fancy going for a ride? I'm in Msida near the main hospital. Let me know!

I'm off to Malta on Monday for a wedding. Will be there for a week and wouldn't mind hiring a bike for a day to pootle around the island. Has anything changed in the last three years? Can I hire a road bike? Am I more likely to return to London in one piece??

Hah, I'll be there next week as well.

Whereabouts are you staying?

I'm taking running shoes, not bike. I'd still say that if you want to ride, head over to Gozo, but Gabby128 might be the person to ask.

I'm going to be in Sliema. There's talks of a trip to Gozo but I'm going with a load of people that don't cycle so getting them on a bike with me will be nigh on impossible! Was kind of hoping I could get up early one morning to stretch the legs while everyone else is in bed suffering with hangovers. Running shoes isn't a bad shout though!

That's 5-6km away I think, could run over in the morning if you fancy legging it around Valletta.

Off to Gozo for our Honeymoon in October. Will be freaking sweet. Love Malta and can't wait to stay on Gozo this time for climbing, kayaking and lying in the sun. Woohoo

@edmundro go climb down near the blue grotto, some sweet deep water free soloing there

Yup, blue grotto is on the list. Lots of routes to tick on the azure window as well. We're only taking sport gear, not trad, which limits us a bit and annoyingly our guidebook doesn't list any DWS which sucks. Might get a climbing guide for a day if they're cheap through the Malta Climbing Club. They run private coaching and led days so sure we can get someone to point us in the right direction for a decent price.

Have a look at the Weather forecast - October sees the rain sweep in, it's very very sudden and there are deaths every year (people drown in their cars).

Yeah we're aware of the October weather situation. Old wives tales and long range predictions say we should be in for a mild and sunny one this year but obviously given it's position in the med things can change fast. We're probably going to forgoe the more exposed climbs we had planned just to be on the safe side but think we'll be ok if we plan the days properly. Not planning any climbs that can't be escaped on foot at high tide..

Oh, and I've spent more than enough time up trees in the pissing rain, weather doesn't phase me much! Drowning in the car doesn't sound much fun so will do some more research.
Luckily there are inland routes so overhung that it's possible to climb dry while it's pishing it down all around...

Ive got the latest copy of the climbing guide book if you want to borrow it. plenty of sport routes and newly bolted stuff to keep you busy.

also October last year was really dry, things went cats and dogs after mid November so you should be pretty good

Cool, we've got the latest copy of Sport Climbing in Malta and Gozo(tufa publications), we're probably only going to spend 3 or 4 days climbing max so should have enough lower-graded stuff to amuse us. Any good tips for nice spots on Gozo? Liking the look of the Ic-Cnus slabs and Wied Ix-Xlendi areas near Munxar for a warm up day to get a feel for the place before heading to the sea cliffs or more demanding inland stuff. Any good recommendations greatly appreciated though!

so! malta! going for a week i think.
hows the cycling? x

Roads are dusty and in very poor repair(although there is a big drive to improve this), locals drive in the standard med way but are very friendly and generally chilled. It's prob no sketchier than london and outside the big towns it's fairly quiet on the roads.
We didn't ride there and saw very few bikes indeed. The countryside is astonishingly beautiful so you'll really enjoy yourself I'm sure.

It's hot as hell there during the day so take a lot of water!