Day 16 - Another day in the mountains for Dave

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 nearby Ajaccio.

Route barre

A kilometre on I come to the bottom of the Col de Scalella pass road with a sign telling me that it is closed. So I ride back down to the village and order a coffee at the cafe there.

I ask the waitress about the closed road and ask if it is passable by motorcycle. She is quite sure that it is "avec prudence". Well the alternative is a 50 mile detour back down via Ajaccio and along the coast. So I decide to give it a go.

The road is lovely. No traffic of course but an unblemished surface and some great hairpins and fast corners. When I reach the top of the pass there is a barrier across the road. It is made of concrete blocks about 3 feet high and completely across the road.

Navigable barriers at the summit

But someone (enterprising locals I would guess) has dumped a couple of tons of sand on each side, forming a steep ramp. I stomp around on it for a bit and reckon the K can take it on.
There are some off-road 4 wheeler types hanging around. I ask them what is the problem with the road. "Oh just a few fallen rocks" they tell me. "There is another barrier like this at the other side. No problem for you".

Back down through the trees

And so it proves. There are a few tumbled rocks strewn on the road but they are easy to miss and the road itself is great. I work my way down carefully through thick pine forest to the valley floor.

I have reached the little town of Vivario at the top of my looping route. The return leg is along the eastern edge of the central massif. Last night's storm must have been more severe here because the mountain roads are littered with fallen rocks, loose gravel, sand swirls, bits of wood and pine cones. I have a few buttock-clenching moments over the next few passes and saddles before I hit a main road where the threat changes from elemental hazards to human ones.

Breakfast stop

I get back to the campsite just before 2pm in time to go with Mick (on Sean's bike) to BMW Motorrad Bernardini in Ajaccio. They have Mick's bike but haven't yet looked at it. We talk to Rafael, who speaks good English, and explain the urgency of the situation.

The workshop manager promises to assess the problem either this evening or in the morning and Rafael takes Mick's number and promises to call as soon as the diagnosis is made. Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Back to the camp for a swim and a lazy evening with a bottle of wine. 

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