Today’s route was a little tougher, as it included the 1246m pass of Correboi.
I set off at around 8.30am, determined not to waste any time, so as not to be put off by the ticking clock on this slightly tougher route. But at the first change of direction, I’d turned in the right place but hadn’t seen that I had to change direction again almost immediately afterwards. I went a kilometre too far, retraced my steps and saw that the sign at the entrance to the road indicated that it was cut off 12km further on... I didn’t take the risk and took the normal road to Lanusei, which wasn’t very busy at first. We soon reach gradients of 7 then 8 % and even 10 % at the entrance to Lanusei...
At the crossroads a few kilometres after Lanusei, I’m almost a third of the way up and more than halfway up. I’m beginning to think I’ve done the hardest part, but the next few kilometres are pretty foot-cutting : you climb 80m, then descend the same amount... and then do it all over again...
I saw on my map that there’s a supermarket on my way out of town. Unluckily, it’s closed today... looking for another one means going up or down a few streets... I’m going to wait for the next town, about twenty kilometres away.
When I got to Villaseria Strisailli, the supermarket was open... but it should have been closed 5 minutes ago ! The guy let me buy my few pieces of fruit. Fortunately, otherwise I’d have had a hard time keeping up with the route ! My 1.3 litres of water were just enough, but if I hadn’t had the tomato and apricots I’m not sure I’d have lasted. I was also helped by the slightly cool weather.
The route is fairly quiet in a landscape of limestone plateaus that are not yet arid... The last part of the climb is steady, 3, 4 or even 5% max...
A beautiful view at the finish.
The descent is similar to the ascent, max 5%. But the landscape is completely different : water overflows everywhere. It overflows saturated fields and flows onto the road, the grass is tall and the cows and sheep are enjoying themselves.
I arrive in Orgosolo at around 5.30pm, and tomorrow I’ll be here for a day of visiting.
