Calvi to Porto

April 29, 2025

It’s feeling like the Groundhog Day movie. We woke to another perfect morning of weather. I had been scrolling my phone from about 5 am to get Canadian election results and then never got back to sleep. Lousy internet prevented me from uploading any blog photos, even at reduced sizes and in the very early morning when there weren’t other users. Argh. I’ve fallen behind.

The German and Austrian motorbikers were up early and beat us to breakfast, but refills were prompt.

We were out the door shortly after 9. No point in sticking around on a nice day. Plus, I couldn’t do anything online because of the lousy internet.

The exit from Calvi was easy easy, and I even mastered a Euro self-serve gas station. The first part of my journey went inland, unlike Mel who biked on the coast to start. After Galeria, it was back to a narrow, twisty road that was very busy with motorcycles. No goats on the road today, but there were a few random free range cattle.

I had pre-planned a hike en route, and stopped in the village of Osuni. I should’ve used the big parking lot above the town, but I followed a route from Komoot where they apparently didn’t know where to go either. Haha. I’ve had trouble finding useful trail descriptions in English. Probably because there are hundreds of trails, and they all seem to be beautiful. Documenting them would be hard.

The hike was through absolutely breathtaking scenery. I stopped for lunch and had a beach to myself. Most hikers skipped my beach to head to Girolata, a town accessible only by water or on foot. Once I realized that Girolata was the next stop, I succumbed to temptation and kept walking. Spectacular! I managed 9 km and 500 m vertical. And my leg felt okay doing it.

A typical swarm of motorbikes. I pulled over to let them past.

A random cow where I might expect to see a goat.

Girolata, a village accessible only on foot or by boat.

After walking back up to Osuni, I was pleased to realize that my leg was doing fine. I was nearly out of water by that point so stopped for a cold drink at a nearly empty trailhead cafe. By that time, Mel had already arrived to our funky camping cabin near Porto.

Following a 45 min white knuckle drive along the coast, I arrived in Porto just in time for quite a decent afternoon thundershower. Good thing Mel didn’t get caught in it. It poured for at least 90 minutes.

The instagram version of Corsican roads.

And the reality. The narrow roads are busy at times.

The blue sky in the distance hides the fact that it was pouring rain in Porto.

Our campsite cabin was a good deal, and we booked it in anticipation of making ourselves a big salad for dinner, complete with some local cheese. Two bedrooms is a treat too. We declared an alcohol-free day and tried the local zero beer. It was pretty good.

Once again, less climbing than predicted.

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 300 km (186 miles)

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