Blue skies. A perfect day for the ride to L'ille Rousse. With quick stops at the local fruit stand, patisserie and Spar grocery store, we are on our way.
We rode along the waterfront, past the marine works yards, made a right at the only intersection at the edge of town and began an uphill climb immediately. We got some great views of Saint Florent below. The road rose about 200 metres in the first ten kilometres, then leveled out a bit for the next 150 metre rise. Part way up four road riders in matching "Sky" kit and Specialized bikes gave us a wave as they headed down the other way. I told Pat, as we struggled up the hill, that I bet they are going to Saint Forent for coffee and then back to L'ile Rousse. That would be a nice 90 kilometre ride.
Nice view of Saint Florent as we begin our ride today.
After a couple of short breaks we made it to the top and stopped for lunch at a large parking area for people to stop and enjoy the views. The area is known as the Desert des Agriates. It is a barren, rugged area that is quite beautiful to ride through. As we were enjoying our lunch, the same four roadies were back at the top and without slowing down, just flashed the "V" sign and continued down. We struggled for two hours and they just breezed by!
We finished lunch and began the five kilometre descent and in no time quickly lost 300 metres of elevation. This side is a much more compact ride to the top. At the bottom we reached the main highway leading to L'ile Rousse. Pat was about to check her phone for direction details when she noticed that the top of one of the panniers was open and empty. Immediate panic at the thought that it contained not only the phone but all our other valuables! Scott contemplated the ride back up the hill that would obviously be necessary when Pat realized she was looking at the wrong pannier. Amazing relief!!!
More rugged coastline. Really great views and Pat is starting to see the benefits of the hill climbs...not!
The last section of ride was 18 kilometres along a highway. It had a shoulder but speed limits are fast and there were a number of large trucks. It is nice that it is now mid October and traffic is relatively light and there are lots of stretches without any cars. We arrived in L'ile Rousse after 2pm, found our very nice hotel with a sea view and set out to see the pretty town.
Quite amazingly we ran into Robin and Louise from our dinner a couple of nights ago! Like long lost friends we shake hands and hug on the street. Their vacation ends tomorrow and they will be flying back home.
The view from our room in L'ile Rousse. The ocean sounds to which we fell asleep.
When the late dinner hour arrived we were having a hard time just staying awake. There were lots of resaurants in town and we settled for a light meal at a Vietnamese restaurant. The restaurant was quiet and the vegetable, chicken and rice dishes were very well prepared. We then headed right home and collapsed into bed. Pat declared this as the most comfortable of the trip so far as we fell asleep listening to the ocean below.
