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10-07-2015 Calenzana → Calenzana 82 km
for route click here
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The daily struggle of the blonde
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Balagne on a beautiful summer morning
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A relatively easy stage today, so the alarm is set at 6:45 a.m.. First a lovely, quiet road via Moncole, followed by a short descent to a crossing, 150 m above sea level. Yesterday we chose the harder alternative, today we (again) skip the Bocca de Rezza (Chaos de Bonifatu). 'The' pass of today comes quickly: the Bocca de Marsolinu, a mere 443 m high, with a gain in altitude of 280 m in about 5.5 km. From the start the location of the pass is clearly visible.
One of the many good ideas of Enya is to do the climb without t-shirts. Half an hour is (still) the longest our white backs can have without getting burnt. The climb is slow, easy going, nice, wonderful!
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Relatively fresh ride up . . . .
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. . . . to Bocca de Marsolinu
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The descent, especially the first part − we use it to dry up (let the sweat evaporate) − is even nicer without being spectacular. The road follows the Marsolinu − supposedly a river, but we don't see any water − downstream, but there are some short upgoing sections as well, until it 'flows' into the Fango, some six km before this river flows into the sea. We cross the Fango and need a sidestep to the beautifully located Galéria (nice bay!) for coffee and (delicious) pastry.
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Quiet, easy descent . . . .
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. . . . to Bocca de Marsolinu
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Galéria and its bay
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. . . . and its pastry
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We take our time, as it's only 35 km to Calvi, where we've planned to have a second swim.
These 35 km are curvy all the time, hardly ever flat, but the highest point, the Bocca Serria, is only 146 m a.s.l..
The descent from the first, even lower bocca goes down to almost sea level. Halfway these our 1.5 l bottle of coca cola from the Spar in Galéria is drunk to the last drop. The inland part of the D18B is warm and a bit boring, but most of the time we have nice views 'terre-mer' especially around the cape just west of Calvi (where it also gets busier with traffic).
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Us
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Terre-mer
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Terre-mer (cont.)
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Easy ride
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Terre-mer (again)
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Small girl
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in large environment
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Happy girl
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More terre-mer
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Going down, going up
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The north-west cape
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Close to Calvi
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Nice place for a rest
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We find a very comfortable place to sit on a (relatively) cool terrace with wi-fi and beer.
We both do not look forward to a hot and crowded beach, so we stay where we are
for at least 2.5 hours. One thing I want to have fixed is get my other brake cable replaced as well −
after Calvi, where will we possibly find a cycle shop?, and after quite some searching (and just in time)
we spot a sports/cycle shop where they are willing to help us with half an hour (and they do not overcharge us).
Dinner falls through, an easy snack doesn't seem to be available and we end up in a big supermarket where we succeed for the moment.
And then comes a ominous message from Holland: Oxana hesitates whether to consult a doctor for her ankle,
but she hasn't settled the right insurance . . . . Auch! Now dinner becomes a real disaster,
with telephone calls to Holland (mum) and the U.S.. We don't feel like eating anymore.
Quite dejected we ride the last 15 km 'home'. Where another misfortune is awaiting us:
our three Kronenbourgs (beer) have disappeared from the fridge. Well, at this quite advanced hour
we manage to finish at least some of our eatables. Five minutes before we decide to go to sleep
we receive a redeeming message: nothing is broken and the bill adds up to a mere $300.
Quite relieved we install ourselves in warm chambre 8 for our last night in Calenzana.
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