Costa Rei

It is a beautiful morning, sunny and hardly any wind. Still big waves are rolling in. It is a nice view. We have breakfast and go swimming. Well, swimming... the current is strong and the waves are high... but we have fun.

We get ourselves and the bicycles ready and only wait for our new beachfront place to get empty ;-) After having changed the place we finally start our cycling tour. In the meantime the wind has picked up, let‘s see how it is on the bike... From the Camping we start south on the coastal road towards Villasimius. There is hardly any traffic, the road is good and the views are splendid. The wind is bothering us only on a few short stretches.

At Villasimius we turn left to Capo Carbonara and eat our sandwiches on a small beach. We have to take the same road back for a while and then turn left again towards Cagliari. The coastline is really very beautiful here!!! This is a great giro! In Solanas we turn right onto the SP20. The road ascents first gently and later more. We see a sign that there is unpaved track ahead but hope that we are misreading it... then Michael has a flat tire and we have to stop to fix it.

Then after a few more meters the disaster begins: gravel road for the next 3km... There is no other route we could take. Either we go on or turn back. To turn back means 45km and about 500m ascent. We go on. Partly we have to push the bikes as the road is in a bad state. F... Finally we reach the highest point of the pass to see another sign: 3km more gravel road. At least it is not so steep and in a much better condition than the other side. We carefully go downhill. My hands and arms are aching soon from constantly having to use the brakes. Then Michael‘s tire goes flat again. Holy sh..! So he has to fix it once more... we had two spare tubes, both are spent now and there is more gravel road ahead.

We keep our fingers crossed and go on. Finally shortly before Castiadas we reach tar road again and take the next turn right towards the coast. We reach the camp without further incidence at around 5:30pm. Just enough time to have a quick beer and a shower before it is time for the Sardinian dinner.

The food is great and to accompany it we have a bottle of the most expensive Cannonau on the menu. Then we get a live demonstration how to make „Mirto“ the most popular local liquor on Sardinia by the lovely family who owns and runs the campsite since the mid 1960s (it was the second campsite on Sardinia!). And obviously we also get to taste the Mirto :-)

Today we wake around seven. The horizon is a band of orange and red and gradually gets brighter. Michael gets up to fully enjoy the sunrise whereas I think although it is beautiful it is far too cold ;-) So I only sit up now and then to catch a glimpse of the spectacle. It is another beautiful sunny day and there is hardly any wind. A perfect day for the beach! We swim, go for a walk on the beach, read, swim, drink a beer, read more, walk a bit more, have another beer and finally a Cuba Libre :-) An altogether uneventful but very relaxing day!!!

Again it is a very sunny day and the sea is very calm. After breakfast we go for a swim and get ready for another ride with the bicycles. There are not so many options but as the coastal road was so beautiful we are taking the same route as the day before yesterday but return on the same way as well - no way that we are taking the gravel road again!!! We enjoy the ride although it is partly quite windy.

At Capo Carbonara we take a break, this time on another beautiful beach. Then we continue to the highest point before Solanas and then turn back. The views along the way are spectacular! Unfortunately I can’t really enjoy the downhill stretches as there the wind is the strongest and I have to concentrate on going straight... After about 65km and 700m ascent we are back at the camp and have a well deserved beer. The sea is refreshing and we enjoy the beach until the sun sets. For dinner we have again Pizza in the camp’s really good restaurant.

Today it is very windy and the waves are rolling in. Neither a good day for the beach nor for cycling... we get packed, have a last dip in the sea, take a shower and leave for Cagliari. After a few km we make a short stop to buy a few liter of local oliver oil that was recommended in the guide book as well as some of the people on the camp site. Continuing our way to Cagliari we stop many times to enjoy the scenery and take photos.