Euro Bimble 2016 - Corsica

Wednesday 20th July 2016 Last night the Old Boy recommended two more ravine roads to us. He said they were very beautiful, which considering how beautiful it is here in his gorge, means we really have to go see. We are up early and use the time to get some washing done. It's a beautiful morning for drying our clothes and we are back on the road at 10am. That's another week's clothing sorted Sean is still holed up in his hotel. The repair shop is still waiting for a slave cylinder to arrive so it will be a minimum of two days before he is back on two wheels and he is getting stir crazy. So for us it is a day for the riding of the gorges. We travel back down the Gorges de Vesubie, in and out of short tunnels down the narrow ravine on a switchback ride with vertical rock faces on the right and a steep drop down to the river on the left. In the Gorges des Versubie  Next comes a section of the Vallee du Var before we hang a right and climb up Gorges du

Thursday 21st July 2016 Yesterday was so hot we have made a conscious decision to get up and off early this morning to take advantage of the day before we start to boil in our protective gear. As it happens there is much more cloud in the sky when I lurch out of my tent at ten to six in the morning but it is warm, as it has been all night.  We are at an altitude of 1200 metres  but you wouldn't know it. The temperature is about 18C at six in the morning and is climbing rapidly. Climbing up the Col d'Allos Above the tree line So we are on the road before 9am for the climb up to the top of Col d'Allos. We ride through pine forested hills and through a ski resort below the summit.   View down the Ubaye valley to Barcelonnette We get above the tree line and ride a narrow and twisty route up to the top on unfenced roads with scary drops straight down the valley if you miss an apex by more than a few metres. All in a day's work!   Monume

Friday 22nd July 2016 We are up with the larks as daylight creeps into the valley. It has been rather wonderful sleeping in a comfortable bed with a gentle breeze from the wide open shutters and windows. View from our room Breakfast is served in the garden. Nice fresh bread with jam and honey as is the habit in France. They don't do cheese and meat or eggs at breakfast round these parts.We take our time coming round and slowly pack our overnight stuff onto the bikes. Sean is in touch. His bike is running but the garage cannot (or will not) guarantee that the clutch itself is not damaged. Only one way to find out. Hopefully this is just arse-covering on the part of the garage. We arrange to meet up at the Corsica Ferries office in Nice. There is a ferry we can catch leaving this afternoon and arriving on the island around nightfall. Breakfast in the garden It can't have been much fun for the lad stuck in a hotel in the midd

Saturday 23rd July 2016   There is thunder in the night and a few big drops of rain fall. It continues into the early morning but it has been a warm night and by 9am the sun has burned away the clouds and it looks like another scorchio day in prospect. Our pitch at Camping Prunelli It was very dark when we pitched our tents last night and in the light of day we find that we have chosen a very small area by the side of one of the camp roads. We really should move our camp to a better spot but it is handy for the water point and not far from the main complex. Anyway it is getting hot and the camp shop bakes it's own baguettes and croissants. The smell wafting down as I walk up there is wonderful. Pools to the left of me.... ...and pools to the right It is a great looking camp with deep shade under the trees and two or three swimming pools. Before 10 we are in the pool. It is too hot to ride until evening so a day chilling out and s

Sunday 24th July 2016 Mick and I are on the road at 7am to do one of the shorter planned routes north and east of Ajaccio up to the village of Vico. Corsica is pretty much one big mountain range with a few flatter bits round the edges. I have planned a few routes that take us up and over the peaks in wide circles so we can get to see as much of the island as possible. Old bridge over a ravine Away from the coast the roads are narrow and winding with very little traffic. They climb up wild ravines spanned by old bridges, serving the many farms and small villages in the interior. Lovely views high up in the mountains It's a beautiful morning. Our route takes us first north along the coast on fast sweepers above the rocky coast with occasional swoops down to isolated beaches. We turn off the main road and head up into the mountains on a small twisty with plenty of broken stretches of Tarmac to keep us on our toes. Rest stop with a bit of welcome shade

Monday 25th July 2016 Misty morning start Mick and Sean have decided to stay around the pools today. Mick does not want to miss any calls from BMW or Carol Nash Insurance and Sean wants to work on his tan. so I get up for an early start with a circular route plugged into the GPS, up into the mountains to the north and east of Ajaccio.  The sun is coming up with the promise of a hot day ahead but at 7am it is cool and the country roads are empty of traffic. Statue of Sampiero Corso dominates the village I arrive at Bastelica, a small village with an intriguing statue high on a plinth dominating the Main Street. It is Sampiero Corso who was born here at the end of the 15th century and went on to be a soldier and later served as a diplomat and governor of Aix-en-Provence. Some claim he was an inspiration for Shakespeare's Othello. He led a mercenary army in a revolt against the Genoese in Corsica and was beheaded by rival mercenary. His head was displayed in

Tuesday 26th July 2016 It's getting to be a routine. I am up at 6am for coffee and a breakfast of whatever is available - a leftover croissant, jam and a banana. High up in the Haut Corse Then I'm off for another early morning solo run into the mountains south and east of Ajaccio. The temperature drops as I climb up to some of the highest peaks in Corsica. The roads are empty and the scenery is very beautiful. The road winds up a number of hairpins and out onto a treeless high plain. Haut Corse overlook I stop for breakfast at Bar Relax in the tiny mountain village of Aullene. It certainly is a relaxed affair. The lady owner offers me access to the Wifi and I spend a couple of hours uploading photographs to the blog, catching up with the blog diary and getting another episode published and posted. The cafe at Aullene Leisrely breakfast Then it is more mountain pass riding until I drop down to the coast and

Wednesday 27 July 2016 Mick is determined to make the most of the ashes of his holiday so before 9am he borrows Sean's bike and comes with me to see some of the roads and spectacular views I have been raving about for the last few days. Mick gets back on the road We head up the main road that runs along the spine of the island, as far as Corte in the centre of the Haut Corse region. This is the area with the highest peaks in Corsica rising to over two and a half thousand metres. Climbing the gorge It is a fast sweeper of a road and we are through Corte in no time at all. Now we turn off west into an area of the most outstanding natural beauty. We find another gorge road that climbs up high through a narrow ravine on a corniche road that clings to the sheer wall of the gorge. It's called the Gorges de Asoo. Gorges de Asoo Finally we breast the summit and ride down then up even higher through dark, gloomy pine forest