May 26, 2019
La Maddalena to Santa Teresa Gallura
Our cycling friends have been getting soaked on their European tours this spring and today it was finally our turn. This was no little shower. It was bucketing. After the great weather we had in Sicily last year, we expected another dry tour so neither of us brought any serious rain gear. Oops!
We took our time over breakfast and weighed our options: stay put, take a bus, take the ferry to Palau and stay there or ride 30k to the next town and hope the rain stops. We didn’t want to wimp out so we made a reservation in Santa Teresa Gallura, put on all the gear we had and ventured off to the harbour to catch the ferry.
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We rode off the ferry and soon realized we would not see Palau if we followed the signage, so we did an about face and rode against the traffic through town. It seems like a really dumb thing to do, but it takes very few turns to get completely lost in these places. Besides, we really do want to see the place. I promptly stepped in a deep puddle while navigating some train tracks and got a soaker, a prelude of things to come.
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We checked the paper map and saw that today’s route would be scenic (marked as a green route) but we would probably have to share the road with a lot of traffic as it was an SS designated state highway. We prayed there wouldn’t be many twisty downhill sections because our brakes were quite useless. But there were a few things in our favour, namely it was Sunday so there were no transport trucks and traffic was lighter than normal, it was about 14 degrees so not too cold and the wind was at our side, not in our face.
In short order after leaving Palau, we were both drenched though to the skin. We trucked on through the rain and only stopped a couple of times so I could clear my fogged up glasses. Consequently, there aren’t many photos to show and really, it’s too bad because it would be a glorious place area to cycle otherwise. All in all, the drivers were very courteous and respectful of the challenge we were facing on this dreary soggy day. An older gentleman slowed up in his Panda at one point and offered us encouragement through the passenger window.
We located our hotel easily in Palau but it was closed until 2pm, so we parked our steeds and deeked into the restaurant across the street. The waiter told David that the hotel manager was in the restaurant and we could get in to our room after lunch so we pulled off our soaked outer gear and ordered lunch. By the time we were finished eating, there was a small lake under the table!
The waiter turned out to be the hotel manager, so he kindly took us to the hotel and showed us to our room. We got dried off and spread every piece of clothing and gear out to dry. Our fingers are crossed that things will brighten up a bit by tomorrow.
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 548 km (340 miles)
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