Cycle Sardinia 2 – it's the tops!

At the top of a huge and wonderful descent - Villanova Monteleone

Hilltop villages are so attractive. They are also at the top of a hill. Take Santu Lussurgiu, or Orgosolo for example. The only way to reach them is to engage a low gear, think of a cold foaming Ichnusa beer and trundle upward round bend after hairpin till you reach the main street.

 

Long and lonely roads - but with wonderful views and colourful verges

Orgosolo has 300
politically-charged murals

At this point you discover the streets are a tangled mass of lanes so narrow, residents can shake hands from their windows on opposite sides. The roads are so steep you can't even push your bike up.


Towns and villages in central Sardinia are far apart in bicycle terms and often there is no chance of refreshment between them. However, every village has a bar: a dark cavern from which the sound of a couple of dozen large men conversing loudly helps you find its location. Step inside and you find in the gloom a plastic table with just four grizzled old guys with loud voices.

But the coffee is good, really good, and with luck there will be a sticky croissant or two. In the end the bill - just €1 for an espresso - how good is that?

As most of the population of Sardinia lives in towns, the communities are all quite large. This means that when you do reach one, finding accommodation is not easy. Then, for an island that welcomes tourists, away from the beaches, there isn't much choice of accommodation anyway. And the surprise in store is that, maybe, you will have to ride on to the next hilltop village to find a bed, even if your legs protest.

But Sardinia has more to offer than good coffee and great pizza.

 

Sunni and Tinnura have murals which will make you wonder where reality begins and ends

At times it seems as if you are riding through the set of a spaghetti western, or maybe a location for Baywatch where the sea is a brilliant blue and the beaches sandy. There are biblical scenes of shepherds and their flocks, enormous views and empty roads, colourful verges, cacti, palms, and cork trees.

 

Scenes from a spaghetti western

And a village, perched on a hill, where you will find 300 murals full of political angst, or come across a celebration where men, women and children are parading through the streets in gorgeous traditional dress

Fancy a bike ride with a difference?  Sardinia is a great choice.

Traditional dress in Orgosolo


Mural in Tinnisura...or is it?

Cycle Sardinia – the Giro

Alghero went pink for the start of the Giro

It's only a bike race. Yes, 180-odd skinny guys pedalling like mad for 3500 km. 

But that having been said, watching the build-up and start of the Giro d'Italia, it is easy to see that it is so much more than the guys on the bikes. Let alone the fact that the whole palaver has to move around the country with a new start and finish almost daily.

30 Police Motorcycles ready for the start - which one caused the crash on the Blockhaus climb?

Without a doubt, it is a feat of organisation. Getting all the bikes, riders, support teams, cars, motorcycles in the right place at the right time. Joe Public, meanwhile, is free to wander among it all. That’s impressive.

The police have rustled up 30 motorcyclists, umpteen cars and vans. Flocks of senior Carabinieri strut their stuff with medals and gold braid prominently displayed.

The caravan of sponsors which leads the cyclists

Then the sponsors with their village of small stalls, and their caravan of cars and vans which lead the cyclists. The mountains of give-aways for the fans along the route. The huge stage and presentation on the eve of the start. Photographers, broadcasters, tv camera crews, tall thin girls to promote everything from detergent to coffee.

All around the town, dozens of bikes sprayed and wrapped pink are parked. Pink is the colour of the Gazette sporting newspaper which founded the event. Pink is the colour of Giro's "yellow" jersey. Pink geraniums brighten every window box and bike carrier. The town and surrounding roads are spruced up and in the pink.

And along the route, the Giro will take, roads have been resurfaces, potholes filled and roadside rubbish collected. 

On the eve of the start, a big show celebrating the 100th Giro

And in the midst of it all, people with bikes; young, middle-aged, old and ancient people, electro bikes, racing, touring, kids, hybrid, chopper, BMX and plain old knockabout everday unloved bikes with their riders came to watch, dream, oggle, envy, photograph, gasp, gape, and most of all, love the atmosphere all created by the simple bicycle.

They're off - Lukas Pöstlberger (centre) who won the first stage

Everyone was in the mood

Nairo Quintana - will he win?

Cycle Sardinia1: the booking conundrum

Threatening clouds over Alghero as the ride to Bosa begins

Riding around central Europe, you are never far from a place to eat or somewhere to stay for the night. Who needs to book ahead? Part of the fun of cycle touring is not knowing as you set out each morning, where you will end up at the end of the day.

Poring over the map after arriving for the first time in Sardinia, it was clear that away from the coast, towns and villages were widely spread with little sign of habitation in between. Choosing scenic roads (marked by green lines) we didn't take much account of the terrain. 

Where is the sun? Despite wet and windy conditions, the ride had to begin

The big question was: "is there any accommodation in these tiny villages?"  For once we decided it was prudent to make some reservations on line using the booking service which seems to have penetrated even the remotest rural community. 

A short four-day tour along the coast and returning on an inland road would bring us back to Alghero in time to watch the start of the Giro d'Italia. A coast road should be largely at sea level shouldn't it? It would be a good introduction to cycling in Sardinia but as a precaution we booked each night along the way. 

The loneliness of the long distance cyclist, grinding up the hills

We soon began to learn a few lessons. Day 1 was windy, chilly and with rain forecast. We had to get going - after all, rooms were booked for the next four nights in four different locations. Accommodation for the first night was only 50km anyway.

But what a ride! We climbed and climbed, in total 1000m, following the coast road south from Alghero. The wind in our faces and the clouds darkening above. The forecast was correct and we experienced a few sharp showers blasted along by the wind. For the whole distance there was not a single place where we could warm up with coffee. The road climbs steadily with a few flying descents, and, at least, most of the final 10km into Bosa were fast and effortless. 

Profile of the 50km from Alghero to Bosa

Colourful houses in Bosa

This was more climbing than we had bargained for and some belated research showed that the following three days would follow the same pattern - in fact they would be tougher.

After 40 years of cycling and years of touring, we were still caught by the Catch 22 conundrum: Book ahead and you really have to go the distance. Don't book ahead and take a chance: will you find somewhere to sleep and eat? Over a period of days the problem becomes increasingly challenging.

Writing this having just walked through this colourful coastal town in a fruitless search for food we are subject to another feature of cycling in Sardinia. You may have finished the day's ride early but you are going to have to wait until 8pm before you can get anything to eat. 

Nevertheless, challenging or not, there are some wonderful views along the way, some very empty roads and, at this time of year, the verges are overflowing with yellow, pink and purple blossoms.

Bosa - well worth the struggle to get there - and to leave