Sardegna extreme (4SG2302)
On our first riding day we headed straight to the west coast of the island and followed its beautiful coastline back to Olbia where we started our trip today. Since this is an "extreme" tour, our Van had to stay behind at the hotel. Our first stop for pictures already had some stunning views of the island to offer. Our first view of the sea in the nice little town Isola Rossa. Quite a selection of different ice creams and all of them delicious. Our next stop Capo Testa, a little bit further north the westcoast also had some stunning views to offer. At our lunch stop the great food was not the only atraction. Those old Vespas are just beautiful. On last view of the sea for today before we head back to Olbia.
Today we stayed away from the coast and road inlands where Sardinia is in alot of areas still pretty remote and we had the roads often to ourselfs. The riding today was even better than yesterday and proved that sardinia is really the motorcycle paradise. Appart from great roads sardinia also has a lot of culture to offer and some of it is unique in the world. Today we also had the chance to explore some of it. After our first coffee stop we visited a church that was built in the 12th century with the beautiful name Santissima Trinita di Saccargia. In the afternoon we used the opportunity to visit something that is unique in sardinia, one of the famous Nuraghe that only exist on sardinia. Dating back to the bronze age the inhabitants of sardinia built over 7000 of these stone structures all across the island and still today the are very impressive to visit.
Day 3 is when we say goodbye to Olbia for now and head down to the little town at the beach Santa Maria Navarrese. With 330 km to ride this is our longest riding day and probably one of the most exiting ones. We did mostly backcountry roads with little to no traffic and probably rode more courners in a single day than ever before. The Monte Ortobene is only 955 meters high, but since its the highest in this area by far it has some amazing views over the surounding areas. The little town Orgosolo is known for his many grafitis that mostly originate in the 1960`s and 70`s as part of a resitance movement against plans for this area by the italian government. At our lunchstop we had a little visitor who was paitiently waiting for his share. Even this early in the season you meet bikers everywhere in Sardinia. This one came all the way from switzerland.
After our long and exiting riding day yesterday everybody felt a bit tired today, but that didnt stop us from having another great day on the bikes. Today we did a 270km loop around our base in Santa Maria Navaresse and the landscape was just gorgeous. Talking about todays ride at our morning briefing. The Lago Basso Del Flumendosa was the perfekt background for some nice pictures. Chuck and Dan taking a well deserved break from sitting on the bikes all day. Looking pretty relaxed. We ended today riding day with a great evening at a beach restaurant, were we finaly had the chance to taste some sardinian pizza and it was delicious.
Sadly this amazing tour is already coming to an end. Today it is time for us to leave Santa Maria Navarrese and head back to Olbia, where we started our trip a few days ago. We had alot of great roads these last few days, but we saved probably the best for last. The Passo Genna Silana is only 1017m high but the ride is just amazing. We have seen alot of animals in Sardinia, today on the Passo Lito it were mainly goats who were enjoying the great weather alongside the road. After riding for five days in Sardinia i think we can all agree that its truly a motorcycle paradise. Expecially with such a nice group, it is a dream come true to ride around this beautiful little island. I hope to see you all again on another tour. Daniel