November 6, 2023
Ittiri to Bosa
An all time great ride
Wow. What a great day of biking!
We were up in good time and left Ittiri by 8 am under blue skies. We wanted an early start because we knew we were in for more than 1,000 m of climbing.
The ride started through farmland. Once again, there were more sheep than people. And a few cows today too. It was funny to see small calves this late in the year - I suppose they don’t have to worry about freezing here.
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Only a handful of cars passed us all morning. It was blissful. Mostly paved, but there were a few short sections of good gravel.
We climbed to the top of a ridge amid lots of wind turbines that weren’t too active today, and stopped at another tomb along the roadside. This one was constructed of rock slabs rather than being carved out of the rock.
One question that has perplexed us. Where do farmers live? We don’t see what look like farmhouses, either current or abandoned. We’ve only seen small huts for herders. Nothing that could accommodate a family. Even yesterday in Artichoke Valley we didn’t see houses.
By 10 am our sun was gone, never to return. But it was a pretty much perfect temp for cycling, right around 20 C. And our trip to the interior delayed us long enough that the winds were light and in our favour today.
We knew from the route profile that we’d have a twisty descent down to the seaside road that would take us to Bosa. What we didn’t expect was to have a view of the ocean from the top of the descent. Or to have perfect pavement. Or for zero cars to pass us in the amazing 400 m + drop. It was glorious.
When we turned south to Bosa, we then immediately started a long climb, with rugged cliffs that plunged down to the ocean. I wouldn’t want to have been shipwrecked here in the olden days.
We met another bike tourer today. He was an Italian - half Sardinian, he said - riding northwards. He’d been to visit his aunt and uncle, and was heading for Alghero.
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It’s a good thing we bought groceries yesterday, because there were no restaurants or shops on our route today. It’s easy to pack a great lunch in Italy.
The last 15 km to Bosa were mostly downhill. The strange thing about this fabulous road is that there numerous pullouts and parking areas, but no interpretive signs and apparently no hiking trails except right near Bosa. It’d be interesting to know a bit more about the history of the area, and when the road was built.
We arrived in Bosa at about 2:30, and had a radler in the local bar while we waited to check into our great two bedroom apartment. We did laundry and then went out to buy some groceries for dinner. We had a salad, ravioli with mushroom sauce, and a very good frozen lemon dessert. Both of us got sore throats after we arrived today. Is it the start of a cold? Early to bed to try to defeat it. A not so great end to a day with a terrific ride.
In other news, I’ve changed the title of the blog, because I’m pretty sure I won’t get to Corsica. There’s lots to explore here, and going further north seems like a bad idea weather-wise. There are showery days ahead everywhere in Italy, it seems.
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 425 km (264 miles)
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