The Wobbling Sprocket

We got up today and rode down past Evisa to ponder the Spelunca Gorge before having a nice breakfast provided by Alexandra and her little shop.  She made omelets for us and supplies the town with bread.  Her jams are made from scratch.  I liked the chestnut version.

We had a 10k climb before going over the Col de Vergio which is at 1467 meters.  The GR20 intersects the road at the top.  From there it is about a 30k downhill…part of which is through the Golo Gorge. 

Everyone made it through in great shape.

Rusty is off to Paris.  Greg is doing some more solo riding around Corsica and then taking the ferry to Italy.  John and Robin are renting a car to explore parts of the island that we did not reach and Chantal and I have another day (we'll go explore some new bike routes) before heading home. 

This has probably been the most perfect weather week we have ever had on any tour.

Thanks to this group for being so easy going and good natured! 

At the top

The Golo Gorge

Yeah, it's a long way down.

Everyone made it out of Ajaccio with no problem.  It is kind of a confusing town.  We made our way back to Sagone on the beach where we stopped for some quiche and some great deserts at a Bakery.  We then continued for the long climb to Evisa.  Today is no doubt the toughest climbing day.  The weather was perfect and that helped a lot.  We checked in to the Scopa Rossa and then checked out the town before making our way to Gite d etape for some real home cooking by Mary-France.  I think I would count it as the best meal we had all week.  It's family style. No menu.  You get what she cooks.  You will have to come and find out for yourself.

Greg A making his way up to Evisa. This picture doesn't do the climb justice. This section is steep and long. It's all most people can do just to stay upriight.

Here is a good shot of John N and the day's scenery. John is not a hardcore cyclist, but he sure rode like one.

We came across this when we were walking to dinner at the gite....a Citroen CV2 in perfect condition. If I lived in Corsica I would definitely have one of these...and eat goat cheese every day.

Rusty took off a little bit early today and we did not see him again until the rest of us pulled into Ajaccio.  That is probably because we stopped for a one hour hike onto Les Calanches.  Les Calanches are dramatic rocks, some of which have been carved into strange shapes by the wind.

The ride today was fairly challenging with 3 climbs.  We arrived none too early and I think most people were glad to get there. 

No topless bathing this time at the lunch stop in Sagone…..a little too cold.  The weather was perfect again for biking though.

Robin making her way past Les Calanches

Taking a break during our hike in Les Calanches. No stubbed toes despite Greg wearing flip flops!

The view back towards Porto

The boats at Ajaccio

Everyone was on their own for dinner tonite. Chantal and I took a bretak from fine dining at ate at this place. It was actually very fine. That is a Napoleon Bonaparte hat on top.

I ran into this Basque group of riders and they let me take their picture. There were 13 of them and they all had high end carbon fiber bikes. I could barely understand them. I think they were speaking Basque.