Stage 18
Week 3 - Stage 18, Friday 25th May
Vescovato to Bastia (68kms)
Total Ascent - 2,348 metres
Total Descent - 2,364 metres
So..my final day's ride dawns! Breakfast is already prepared by the time I've washed and packed away my clothes. Sharon and Jacky have been great hosts. I would like to spend more time with them - they are such interesting characters - but time marches on. I retrieve my bike from the side of the house and prepare to leave. Jacky is picking fruit from a tree in the garden. I assume it's a fruit but not quite sure what it is? Ovoid in shape with a skin similar to a peach but smaller. Jacky says the fruit is a 'Lef'. Never heard of it! He picks one and peels it for me, the fruit is very refreshing - like a cross between an apricot and lemon sorbet!
The panniers are back on the bike. A quick check of the tyres, gears and brakes and I'm ready to leave. I say my 'thank yous' and we say our 'goodbyes'. A short ride downhill to the T10 (N193). Should have been more adventurous and stayed in the mountains after Cervione instead of being drawn to the coast. Oh well...too late now. 10 kms of almost near straight road North - that's enough - I turn off onto the D82 and away from the 'Road to Hell'. The road climbs the South side of a valley through which runs the Bevinco river. On the far side of the valley I can see another road winding its way up the North side of the valley. Think I should have been a little less impatient to leave the main road because the road on which I'm cycling is climbing much higher than the other! 10kms later I reach the Col de Santo Stephano (368 metres). Not only is this road a higher climb but clearly lorries choose this route over the other one because there are fewer sharp bends. Mind you...the view is better.
It's 11:45am and, once again, I'm sitting outside the pretty cafe/restaurant in Oletta in first visited on Stage 2 - eighteen days ago! Not much distance under the wheels so far today, only 23kms. A half hour later and refuelled I climb on my bike for the final ride of my Corsican adventure. Outside the village the road forks, left would take me downhill to St Florent. Right takes me onto the D38 and a 10kms climb to the Col de Teghime. The view to my left is spectacular. A fertile valley far below with Monte Sant' Angelo and Monte Silva Mala for a backdrop with the sea beyond.
The end of my journey is in sight - literally. Finally, the top of the climb - the Col de Teghime (536 metres). Here I have a view of both the West and East coastline. St. Florent on the West coast and Bastia on the East. This pass was part of a battle for the liberation of Corsica during the Second World War. A monument commemorates the victory by the North African soldiers, the Moroccan Goumiers, in October 1943. The following words are carved on the monument:
"Filled with the memory of a unique light, their eyes closed to the Western Mists, Lord, allow the hard warriors of Berber who liberated our homes and brought comfort to our children with their smiles to stand against our shoulders shoulder to shoulder and let them know, oh let them know Lord how much we loved them. "
I stand at the top of the climb by the monument overlooking Bastia and pause for a while...I cannot imagine the horrors of war witnessed here 64 years ago.
With mixed emotions I saddle-up for the final ride - and it's downhill all the way. At 2:15pm on Friday, 25th May - 19 days and 1,170 kms after setting out on my cycling journey - I'm back at the junction where a taxi driver asked me for directions. If he asked me again for directions the answer would be the same, but I could tell him of so many other wonderful places and interesting people on this beautiful island!
My flight home is booked for Sunday and Saturday's accommodation prearranged with Madame Vignon. Therefore, by way of a celebration, I shall spend this afternoon and evening at a hotel. On day 1 of my ride I passed a hotel on the outskirts of Bastia. The Hotel L'Alivi on the Route de Cap is a 3 Star hotel right on the coast. I hope the Management is 'bike friendly'?! Thankfully the staff are very helpful, with the bike stored in a locked outbuilding, I carry my panniers up to my first floor sea view room. After a shower it's time to head over to the swimming pool and terrace which overlooks the rocky coastline. There's an empty sunbed near the pool and I settle down to soak up some sun. Makes a change to have the sun on me while resting rather than peddling up a mountain staring down at the hot tarmac a metre in front of the bike.
An American couple, in their mid to late fifties, are lying on sunbeds not far from me. I keep catching snippets of their conversation: "Yeah, my friend said that Napoleon was born here." "Where...Corsica?" "Did you check it out Honey?" "No". "Well, you could ask the Front Desk, they might know".
I switch on my iPod and listen to Chris Rea's 'On the Beach' album while watching two eagles soaring on the thermals overhead. With the temperature up around the high 20's it was time to head in the water. The pool is quite small and with the sea only a few metres away, I decide to take the steps down to a tiny strip of sand between the rocks. This is absolutely idyllic! I tread water while facing the shore and look up and the mountain range in the distance and think of many memorable climbs in the past 3 weeks. There is still so much of Corsica I haven't seen. Perhaps a return trip one day? Maybe I should just leave it at this ride? Sometimes when one attempts to recapture a time and a place it's never quite the same.
A quick dip in the pool to wash off the salt before finding a local bar to sup a beer or two before dinner. The American couple are still deep in conversation: "Do you know what 'Foie Gras is Honey?" "No." Well is like pate, or so it says here."
"Did you hear about those thunderstorms over Spain"? "Yea, that's the Alps causing the bad weather."
Definitely time to take a shower, then find a local bar before dinner back at the hotel. A very pleasant evening passed - tucking in to a hearty meal while the sun set over the mountains behind and small local fishing boats worked their way along the coast. As the light fades a cruise ship makes it way across the horizon. I make my way back the room and fall asleep before my head hits the pillow.
