Tour Of Corsica - Part 2

This is part two of a write up on my recent tour of Corsica. Part one tells the story of the tour as far as the southern tip of the island.

Bonifacio is a beautiful place, a harbour/marina at the end of a inlet cut into limestone cliffs with an old town above set on the headland with huge defensive walls.



We stayed Wednesday and Thursday nights at theHotel Santa Teresa which is located almost at the end of the headland which great views over the bay.


Early on Friday we started back up the east coast of Corsica. It's very different from the west coast, a lot less mountainous. After a few miles of straight roads, the N198 to Porto-Vecchio, we turned inland on the D368 to Zonza. Great views from L'Ospedale back to sea. Then back to the coast Solenzara on the D268 via the Col de Bavella and Col de Larone. Both magic roads, a lot of time in pine forests so it was relatively cool.




We stopped at an old Roman town outside Aleriafor lunch and a wander around. Again stipping out of kit for a couple of hours.


Then inland to Corte on the N200. We only stayed in Corte on the Friday night, as I didn't think it rated two nights however La Citadelle is impressive.


Then off to Bastia on the east coast, our last ride in Corsica. Used the N193 for part of the way, then turned off onto the D155 at Ponte Nuovo to Lento which was probably the second worst road we came across. It got a bit better on the D5 to Murato



We had a short stop at the church of San Michele before heading back to the main coast road and into Bastia.


I'd booked a hotel in Bastia for the Saturday night and the overnight ferry crossing back to Nice for the Sunday evening so we had nearly a whole day to explore, eat and drink.


Another clear, hot day just like all the days we had on Corsica:

• Sun rise at just before 06:00
• Temperatures quickly rise for an pre-dawn low of about 23°C to high 20s
• By midday it's 30°C and mid afternoon it's 33°C
• The sun sets about 22:00 after which barely cools down until well after midnight

All the locals ride around in t-shirts, shorts and trainers. It's only the tourists which ride in full kit, at least at the start of their holiday.


Arrived in Nice at 06:00 on Monday morning. Managed to escape after a couple of wrong turns and made it up into the hills. Lovely and cool, riding in the valleys before the sun got into them. Onto the D2202, through the Goeges de Daluis and over the Col de la Coyolle.


Then a bit of the R85 Route Napoléon from Gap via Corps into Grenoble. Still hot, 29°C, but it started raining and we were cooked again after stopping at every set of the many sets of traffic lights into Grenoble.

I'd booked the hotel in Grenoble for two nights so we have a day off the bike after the long days ride form Nice, only 200 miles but it took up 9 hours - OK we did have a few drink stops and long lunch stop. Unfortunately it rained most of Tuesday but we did get out for a bit of sight seeing.


On Wednesday we had to get back to the hotel near Geneva by 16:00 to drop off the bike. After a late start we had a fairly bland 100 mile run. We did have a nice menu du jour at a restaurant overlooking the lake at Aix les Bains. Luckily the only rain we had was while we were having lunch. Having dropped off the bike and kit we got an expensive taxi to Geneva airport, for out 21:05 flight that took off at 22:20. After a delay getting off the aircraft at Luton we finally got home well after midnight.

On Thursday, Diane drove me to the Bikeshuttle base near Weedon Bec to pick up the bike. Luckily we only live about 14 miles down the A5 so it's very convenient for us, especially as Luton airport is just over 30 miles down the M1.

Total distance traveled by bike, a mere 1,118 miles. The bike averaged just over 46 mpg and used about 350ml of oil. The only problem I had with the bike was a sticky lock on one of the panniers which took me a few minutes to work lose. I did scrape a fair bit of metal off the centre stand

Many years ago my friends and I used to ride down to the south of France for the Bol D'or endurance races and once into Italy for the Stella Alpina rally. Blandola Blasting is what we used to call the long ride down through France. Thirty years older, I'm more than happy to use Bikeshuttle to avoid those long days in the saddle. They provide an excellent service which I would strongly recommend to anyone heading down to the Alps, south of France or into Italy.

 

I usually ride out the other way to Ducati Aylesbury or via Chipping Norton onto the A361 for my regular runs down to Cornwall to see my folks. I've only been in the area a couple of years so still finding out the good places/routes for a ride out.

 

My parents live in Newquay, my preferred route is the B4031 to pickup the A361 at Chipping Norton, more or less follow it to Taunton, then the B3227 to Holsworthy (the best bit), A3027 across to Bude, then down the A39 Altantic Highway (the fast bit). Takes me all day with stops at Devizes and Taunton.

 

They are a very friendly bunch and totally sorted. I first used them last year when the AutoSlapp sleeper trains service form Den Bosch went pop. The drivers were talking about the possibility of more routes for next year. I've not used the shuttle service to/from Luton airport as I only live down the road and it's easier for us to make our own arrangements.

Briancon's not bad, I've stayed there a couple of times. Both times in the Parc Hotel which used to have garages for bikes but they've recently turned them into a breakfast room having separated the hotel form the adjacent restaurant. Still not a bad place to stay but there might be better especially as it's a bit of an uphill trek into the old town.