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John, Steve and Nick teamed up with Pete for our toughest tour yet: a circular tour around the island of Sardinia. We started at Fertilia airport not far from Alghero, our final destination.
We cycled a total of 619 kilometres in six days (see statistics). After arriving in Fertilia on the Saturday night, our first full day involved a leisurely ride around the North-West coast up to Stintino. We then followed the Northern coast before turning inland to tackle some real hills, stopping overnight at Oschiri, Cala Gonone, Lanusei and Macomer before returning to Alghero.
Day 0
We arrived around 8pm on the Saturday night at Fertilia airport. A quick assembly of the bikes and we were on our way for the 6km ride to our B&B. It was dark with no moonlight. Somehow Giovanna, our B&B hostess, was at the airport in her car and offered to lead us. This proved to be a level of hospitality and friendliness that we'd experience throughout Sardinia.
Pete broke his chain after just 1km or so, prompting Giovanna to load Pete's bike in her car and take him with her. It was a good job she was there, because the map I had to her B&B was woeful and it turned out we were lodging at her sister's place! Once there, however, we were quickly given a lift to a Pizzeria in town and we soon had food and beer inside us.
Day 1
We awoke to bright sunshine. With John's help, Pete soon fixed his chain and we were on our way by 10. With the wind at our backs and sun on our faces we trundled gently into Fertilia town and our first sight of the sea. We then followed the road West around the coast and down the Capo Caccia peninsula. We stopped at a viewpoint atop a cliff to take some photos and to survey the wonderful scenery.
We then doubled back heading north into a strong headwind, a feature of our trip as the prevailing wind seemed to turn against us on most days. Much of the landscape was rocky, arid farmland punctuated with wild olive trees. At Palmadula we turned off the main road and headed down some steep hillsides before finding lunch at Argentiera, a mostly-abandoned old silver-mining town nestled next to the sea.
After a very leisurely lunch, we felt well rested, but knew we immediately had a couple of tough little climbs to help work off our ample meal. Once up the hills we traversed a rolling landscape that gradually gave way to flatter, lower terrain as we edged towards Stintino. Pete remarked that he'd never cycled over such hilly terrain before – the rest of us keeping schtum, nervous in the knowledge from previous trips that this was the easy stuff. The Northerly wind slowed our progress and sapped our legs, but we soon found the seaside town and our rooms at B&B Al Martin Pescatore. We enjoyed our first taste of Ichnusa, the Sardinian beer, watching the sun set from our balconies.
Day 2
With a full day ahead of us (132km) we left Stintino early but relaxed. After heading South for a while, we turned East towards Porto Torres (reminiscent of Puertollano or Port Talbot), then further along the coast road to Castelsardo, where we stopped for lunch. Although speedy along the flat at times, it was hard-going into the Easterly headwind as the road turned from flat to rolling to hilly.
We were rewarded for our efforts with continued sunshine and the beautiful town of Castelsardo, despite a steep ascent into the town proper. We paused for a leisurely lunch before moving on, quickly turning inland just out of town, where the road forced us to tackle a long steep rise, before descending and rising again.
The road afforded some fantastic views back towards the coast, but after climbing a few hundred metres we were horrified to see signs indicating that the road was closed due to landslip repairs. The only other route to our destination would mean a major detour. Thankfully, a couple of workmen soon confirmed that we could pass through with the bikes, but the greatest benefit was we had the road and the awesome views all to ourselves.
After all our climbs we raced down through Bulzi and on to Perfugas, after which we encountered a couple of small but evil climbs near the tiny hamlets of Modditonalza and Campudulimu. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky, we still had quite a way to go, and the road was still rising, along a ridge up to the town of Erula. Soon after we passed through a col, then began to race downhill once more, again encountering spectacular views, this time of the Lago del Coghinas.
As the evening started to draw in we passed through Tula, then kept our fingers crossed that the road we followed would turn out to be the shortcut we needed. We sped mostly downhill for a few kilometres before finding a "closed" bridge. Though rickety and rusty, it seemed passable, so we risked it. All was well, so much so, that we were quickly followed over the bridge by several Italians in their cars who had somehow circumnavigated the barriers. The sun soon afforded a brilliant sunset and we were forced to trundle in darkness our final few kilometres into Oschiri. The day's hills had been a bit of a shock to all of us, but a baptism of fire for Pete. He'd risen to the challenge, however, coping admirably despite growing discomfort (read very sharp pains) in his knee.
Day 3
After finishing in the dark yesterday, we were determined not to repeat the experience on what was forecast to be our hardest day (119km of hills). Our planned early start was slightly scuppered by the late arrival of our hostess to prepare breakfast, but the benign roads out of town and continued sunshine soon raised our spirits. It wasn't all that long, however, before the hills arrived.
What goes up, must come down. So sayeth some old Newtonian. Despite straining our legs, lungs and hearts on the up, the road also gave us the opportunity to try and reach our maximum recorded speeds as it also raced us down hill. As we weaved our way up towards Pattada, both John and Steve suffered punctures, our first of the trip but they were to slow our progress.
We raced down again out of Pattada, slowed to a crawl by a herd of cows being shepherded all the way down the hill. We passed through Budduso, after which we traversed a plateau of scrubland with trees with half their bark cut away, then descended sharply into Bitti. We stopped for some bitty... rather, panini and coke (the old staple), then moved on, aware that time was marching on.
More climbing followed, with more downhills, allowing me to top 40mph (66.45kmh on the speedo) for the first time. We rose some more. Somewhere along the way, Pete's chain broke once more, causing all but John to pause before we caught him up just before passing through a col that opened up a new landscape with views of the mountains near Orosei on the coast, and the mountains of the Gennargentu inland. A long, fast descent into a strong headwind followed, before the road coasted us along gently towards Dorgali, nestled half way up a huge ridge in the distance. We still had more descending to do, into a deep and spectacular gorge, before ascending steeply into Dorgali.
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Unsure of the best route through town, we trusted a local's directions that took us up, then down, then back up (not the best route), before starting us along what looked like an interminable ridge, the other side of which was our destination, Cala Gonone. Blessed be the ancient Gods, however, that fashioned the tunnel through the hillside just out of town. Phew! Once through the tunnel, the last 7km of our journey comprised a fast descent to sea level round hairpins as darkness quickly fell. Hotel Pop was quickly found by the sea and we enjoyed a splendid meal rounded off by Grappa (or Limoncello for sweet-toothed Steve) to reward our efforts on a long hard day.
Day 4
With rain overnight, we awoke to wet roads and foreboding clouds atop the hills above Cala Gonone. Pete took a headstart up the hill and hairpins we'd raced down the night before, whilst the rest of us paused to shop for provisions to keep our energy up as the map indicated 50km or so before the next town and any chance of more food and water. We also knew that the day's route, though shorter than the previous two days at just 88km, would once again be peppered with climbs, including our high point of the tour.
We emerged out through the tunnel high above Cala Gonone a bit quicker than expected, but the road along the ridge was far from level, snaking us upward for 17km or so to the Passa Genna Silana at 1017m. The scenery also slowed us down, turning our heads at every viewpoint (practically the whole road, then), as we cycling up the side of a steep ridge looking over a deep valley and the Gennargentu mountains beyond.
Once over the big col we started what was to be a series of long descents, at first in thick cloud and heavy rain, but the lower we got, the rain cleared and the sun shone more. Some hard effort kept us warm and we soon dried out, pausing occasionally to admire the continued beauty of the Sardinian landscape.
We stopped for a late lunch at the first town we found, Baunei: yet another nestled half way up a massive ridge of hills. Thunderclaps and approaching storm clouds sped us on and we had a 10km descent from Baunei (480m) down to sea level near Tortoli and warmer, drier air. At Tortoli we turned West for our final 20km to Lanusei, which, at 595m, meant some more climbing.
Everyone got split up as we climbed nearer to Lanusei. Pete and I, trailing at the back, somehow managed to be first to get to our resting place, the Hotel Belvedere. Steve and John, attempting to use superior navigational aids (manifested as a draft tour itinerary, not listing the correct hotel) took themselves off on a wild goose chase half way to a retreat for retired firemen and yoga teachers somewhere in the deserted hillsides. Mobile telecommunications brought the crew back together, however, and not for the first time (remember John, not all roads lead to Rome!).
Day 5
Breakfast at the Hotel Belvedere turned out to be a bit of a treat, even if grumpy-in-the-morning John wished politely to ask the admittedly jolly proprietor, Roberto, to cease his cheerful interpretations of Italian opera. After jovial farewells to Roberto we had a sharp rise out of town and thereafter a fairly easy-going trundle through the Gennargentu park on a well graded road. The scenery was not to be as splendid as previous days as the road meandered us up the centre of the same valley, blocking out views of the higher mountains on either side.
The road was levelled by continued series of viaducts and gentle climbs until we reached a 1870m long tunnel that took us underneath the col of Arcu Correboi. After the tunnel we raced along some fast downhill and flatter stretches before turning West near Malmoiada. Now on quieter roads with some twisting up and down, we reached the town of Sarule, where we asked at several cafes before finding a friendly barman to serve us panini and coke.
During our break Steve noted that we'd "squeezed out the enjoyment and replaced it with endurance", a fitting summary of our trip – although we were still loving it – mirrored by the Rough Guide's comment that "those wishing to cycle in Sardinia should be ready for some strenuous uphill pedalling". Out of Sarule, though, and we encountered a fast 10km of downhill that headed towards Ottana, where the landscape opened up into a large plain.
We struggled against the wind a little as we headed towards another ridge of hills at Bolotana. Fortunately, we turned to follow a road along the bottom of the ridge that was to take us all the way to Macomer. Macomer is another town that required a sharp ascent to reach its centre, but our legs had grown stronger over previous days and we soon overcame it. Obviously chastened by the experience of searching for the wrong hotel the day before, our route to Hotel su Talleri was then expedited by an unusual piece of navigational genius from Steve.
Day 6
Our final day had arrived. At last, a "short" day too, enabling us to be more casual about breakfast and we feasted on dried toast and various sweet cakes whilst supping coffee (hot chocolate for Pete). Despite a bit of a climb North out of Macomer, we even had time to indulge Steve's relic-hunting tendencies as we stopped to clamber into and atop of one of the many Nuraghe (ancient towers) that dotted the Sardinian landscape, especially in the "flatter" regions.
The first 30km or so of the day was spent on a very fast, smooth road that took us mostly downhill all the way to Bosa on the coast. It was a day without too much wind and both John and I clocked up our maximum speeds for the trip (70.5kmh for me, 66kmh for John). We arrived in Bosa, our lunch stop, well ahead of schedule not long after 11, so we congratulated ourselves with an early beer to go with our food. We also met a jolly Dutch couple in town who had cycled down from Alghero the previous day. We all managed a laugh about the Sardinian hills.
The road North out of Bosa was to hug the coast for around 45km, all the way to our final destination, Alghero. With sunshine yet again the scenery was beautiful, even if the route rolled up and down as the road snaked around headland after headland. We paused to chat to an elderly German, heading the other way on his mountain bike. He regaled us with stories of Orange-picking in Sicily, where he was provided with free "hammy-hammy" (evening meals), and other cycling adventures. The only downside was a nasty 4-hole puncture in John's front tyre, which allowed Pete to take quite a lead on the rest of us for a while.
We were soon all together again for our final stretch into Alghero. The road threw up a few surprise hills not long from the end, but overall it was a very enjoyable last day's ride. John pointed out that it made quite a difference from our usual one- or two-hour trawl through the grubby suburbs of some European capital city! We quickly found the centre of Alghero and with several hours before our entourage were to arrive and meet us, we had time to sit smugly at a cafe with a view of the sea and sink several beers.
Stats
| Day |
Leg |
Distance |
Door-to-door |
Cycling time |
| 0 |
Fertilia-Fertilia |
6km |
0hr 40m |
0hr 15m |
| 1 |
Fertilia-Stintino |
87km |
7hr 25m |
4hr 25m |
| 2 |
Stintino-Oschiri |
132km |
10hr 20m |
6hr 30m |
| 3 |
Oschiri-Cala Gonone |
119km |
9hr 35m |
6hr 50m |
| 4 |
Cala Gonone-Lanusei |
88km |
7hr 40m |
5hr 15m |
| 5 |
Lanusei-Macomer |
111km |
7hr 50m |
5hr 30m |
| 6 |
Macomer-Alghero |
76km |
5hr 45m |
3hr 20m |
| Total |
|
619km |
49hr 15m |
32hr 5m |
| |
John |
Nick |
Pete |
Steve |
| Punctures |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Breakdowns |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
| Sick notes |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Shopping trips |
0 |
0.33 |
0 |
0 |
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