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?