21-07-2015     Serra-di-Scopamène → Serra-di-Scopamène   71 km
      for route click here

Breakfast at 7 p.m. (Had we prefered 6:30 p.m. that would have been possible too, said Annie.) We are joined with the Parisian couple, who are very enthusiastic about two hôtels/gîtes in the west and supply us with the phone numbers (one is on my internet list as well, it appears. We will use both, but the mentioning of the location Burgo precludes an unhappy surprise three days later). We leave without a decisive plan as to our itinerary. And with a leaking bidon; but hey, that came with the bike (in 1988).

	Lovely start		. . . .
	. . . .		With a balloon for my birthday

The only 'certainty' of today's route is the climb to the Bavella pass from the west. The 15 km till Zonza are quite a bit harder than foreseen: on the whole we descend 100-200 m, but there are several quite long climbs to conquer. Zonza is busy/touristic, the positive consequence being there is a pâtisserie/salon du thé with yummy cakes. Which is quite convenient, since I've received some pocket money from 'home' to buy cakes on my birthday!

Yummy composition

Birthday Dad

Our bikes on the other side of the road

I telephone my Dad to congratulate and be congratulated. We decide to climb the Col de Bavella (1218 m), descend to the Col de Larone, halfway to Solenzara, and then the big challenge: back to the Bavella. Depending on the time/temperature/our energy after this program, we might add the Col d'Illarate. We are so focused on the upcoming (or rather, up-going) challenge that we forsake to buy some food.

	But very		EXCITING!

Getting to   . . . .

. . . .   the top

The challenge is rather exciting than demanding. It is not harder than the prologue to Zonza, but hey, the views onto the Massif de Bavella are getting more and more impressive! The top is by far the most crowded we have seen and will see; there is even a paid parking lot! On the other side of the pass, between the high firs, there are a multitude of bars, restaurants and cabins; possibly an épicerie as well, but still our minds are not set on such sordid matters.

	On the top, first time around

What's behind

What's to come!

	Start of the		descent
	Fast/		Exhilarating!
	And it goes on   . . . .		. . . .   and on
	. . . .   and on   . . . .		. . . .   and on
	. . . .   and on		Point of return

The descent, especially after the 'village' is exhilarating. It is STEEP ("How will I ever get up here?", Enya wonders, not yet so experienced as to know that the grade always looks worse when you go down), the bends are sharp, and the environment is IMPRESSIONANT and MAGNIFIQUE! When the steepest part of some 6 km is over I start thinking and worrying about provisioning; too late! Halfway to the Col de Larone a few cars along the road may indicate a 'swimming pool'. The last two km to the second pass, some 6% up in the middle of the day, are a bit demanding. Alas, the Col de Larone is a deserted pass, and along the first 500 m to the other side we find no facilities either. The only 'activity' we come across are a Danish man with his son, coming from the other side. For them the exercise seems much more demanding. Dad is sweating all over − it doesn't seem wise/healthy would he continue till the Bavella pass. Two muesli bars and half a roll of Prince Fourrée cookies, that's all we have to get back to the redoubted Bavella. We were right about the point where we expected to find an opportunity to swim. It's not as luxurious as yesterday's near Zicavo, though it is much more crowded.

Cool break

I make quite a walk, barefoot, cautiously stepping from stone to stone and wading against the rushing river, to see if upstream there is a bigger pool. For the first 300 m or so there isn't, alas. Well, we have to content ourselves with what we have, and it is possible to have a complete dip, which we do several times. After quite a long break we go back to the road, back to our bikes. What's good: some clouds are coming in. Every square inch of shade is welcome. We come to the fontaine I remember from the descent: from there it's about 5.5 km to the top, by far the hardest kms of today.

	And back/up to		the Bavella Pass
	From here		each for her/himself
	Apart from being hard   . . . .		. . . .
	. . . .		. . . .   it's quite beautiful

I want to do this last phase in one push and send Enya ahead. I estimate the lead I will give her so that we will reach the top at more or less the same time. And then I start the 'pursuit'. It's fun! The clouds, and to a lesser extent the trees, help a lot. From halfway I start looking up, after each hairpin bend, whether Enya comes into view yet. She doesn't, which is fun too! When finally I do get next to her it's only one km yet, a km we ride shoulder to shoulder. By far not exhausted we reach the top and take ample time to make pictures of this glorious moment and the magnificent Bavella mountain range. Enya garners many admiring glances and comments.

	Last 1 km we're together again		Together at the top
	Exhilarating descent too		Well timed picture

The descent is fun too! In Zonza we finally get some food, well, not the best sort of food, in a snack bar: ice cream for Enya, beer and chips for birthday Dad − chips of a disappointing quality. We are content for today with the two passings of the Bavella; the Col d'Illarate will be for the next Tour of Corsica. The rest of the stage is hard enough, especially the last two km to Serra. A third visit to the local shop leads (among other things) to another a big bag of paprika chips. And a card for my friend Art, which gets lost and hasn't been found to this day.

Final climb to Scopa

Warm, hard, but still nice

At 'home' Enya takes a long shower while I make another birthday telephone call. At dinner we have less contact than before with our table mates, two young couples from Paris, both hiking so probably with more things to share between each other then with us. Another long evening on the balcony, writing and studying algebra, all the while annoyed by mosquitoes. Like the former evening, when it gets too dark to continue our activities a lamp from inside is put on the balcony, which costs many mosquitoes their lives!