Corsica, April 2019 − Travels − Captain Tom

Corsica, April 2019

Corsica in April like I did last year.

This time I am on Extreme-Tour(s) with Beat and Marcellus.

Before Easter it is calm on the island but spring is in full swing.

Weather is mixed. We have very cold temperatures on top of the mountains and we have frequent rain showers. But there is some sunshine in between and at the shore we have spring like warm temperatures.

On six days we travel almost 1200 miles on the island and enjoy scenery, food and riding.

1 The journey to Corsica

I ride from Berlin to Riederau at Ammersee lake close to Munich. There I meet Marcellus. We load the bikes onto a trailer and the next day we proceed to Beat in Switzerland. We put the third bike onto the trailer and proceed over snow covered Alps and San Bernardino pass to Savona in Italy. Car and trailer get parked and we embark the ferry with our bikes. The next morning we arrive in Corsica.

I pass lignite mine Profen and have a look
Inside the lignite mine
At Beat's place: all three bikes are on the trailer
Much snow on San Bernardino Pass
The southern ramp of the pass
Off-Loading in Savona
The ferry
The bikes get secured
Departure in the evening
2 Bastia-Calvi

We arrive in the early morning in Bastia and ride right away up into the mountains. Then we turn north along the coast before we turn west towards Calvi.

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Map 2019_04_09

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Bastia in the morning
Another ferry follows
Getting ready for disembarkment
We are in Bastia
View back to Bastia
Col de la Serra
Col de la Serra
First coffee stop in a little fishing village
The fisherman maintains the fishnet
We have the Schoki-Box with us. It is filled with Swiss chocolate
Torra di Seneca at Santa Lucia pass. The view on top is supposed to be quite impressive
The view is indeed brilliant
The tower
Shore and Mountains
We make our lunch break in Nonza
Local cheese specialties
Spring
Bocca di Vezzu
Bocca di Vezzu
3 Calvi-Southern loop

We have a nice loop south of Calvi. The red cliffs of Les Calanques de Piana are on the list and some more nice mountains too.

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The day starts with rain
For the coffee break we find a place with an open fireplace
Pigs
Ponte Altu
It is quite cold on top of Col de Vergio
Rain while riding the moutains
Red cliffs of Les Calanques de Piana
Les Calanques de Piana
Tom and Beat
Les Calanques de Piana
View from Piana to Les Calanques de Piana
Beach Plage d'Arone
Spring
Capo Rosso
Goats on the road at Capo Rosso
Another Superduke rider on Col de Palmarella
In the evening a flight to the fortress of Calvi
Fortress Calvi
Fortress Calvi
Fortress Calvi
4 Calvi-Zonza

We move from Calvi in the North to Zonza in the South of the Island. In between we get a tire change for the Africa Twin.

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Departure in Calvi with view to the fortress
On Col de Palmarella we notice the big bullet holes. How to transport arms of that size here?
Col de Palmarella
Goats on the road
Coffee break in Porto
View to mountains on road D84
Mountains at road D84
Mountains at road D84
Pigs are laying around as road blocks
View at Col de San Bastiano
While the tires get changed we notice the big number of big scooters in the shop. They sell better than motorbikes here.
The owner of the shop Christian Lucchini is former motorbike champion - of course
5 Zonza-Western Loop

We do a western loop from Zonza. Many coastal roads and some higher mountains. We find Corsian specialties and some sun at the coast so we can have lunch in the sun at the beach.

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Morning scene in Zonza
Coffee break. We stop at a shop for local specialties
It is all about pigs
The shop
Pig
A selection of specialties: Cheese and bacon
Riding over the mountain passes in the rain
Dinner at the fireplace
Evening scene in Zonza
6 Zonza-South Western Loop

Another big loop. We pass Bonifacio, a particular higlight.

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Signs of spring in Zonza
The sandstone cliffs of Bonifacio come in sight
Bonifacio
Bonifacio
Bonifacio - The stairway Escalier du Roy d'Aragon
Bonifacio
Bonifacio
Bonifacio
Bonifacio
Bonifacio
We have our morning coffee break directly at the city hall
And there is a bridal couple
Bocca di Roccapina
Bocca di Roccapina
Marvellous view on road D55
Road D55
Pizza in the evening
7 Zonza-Bastia

Today we have good luck. the weather turns sunny, we find decent mountain roads with brilliant views and we have lunch with locals in the mountains. And even the morning starts with some good luck.

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Preparations in the morning
Farewell from hotel owner Jean-Marie
Immediately tire pressure warning
A pin is in the tire
We turn around immediately. Jean-Marie has got a garage and a compressor and Marcellus carries a tire repair set.
Marcellus repairs the tire
Done. The whole operation took only 20 minutes
It is quite cold and windy on Col de Bavella
At river Solenzara it is already warm and sunny
View to the flat North East of the island
Us three Marcellus, Tom, Beat
Brilliant views on road D14
View on road D14
The restaurant is closed
View to the mountains
Lunch in a tiny village in the moutains. You eat what you get. Very tasty.
Beat
Asco valley is quite surprising. The dead end Haut-Asco is at about 4200 feet elevation. We ride up to the top first and want to take pictures on the way down. But the weather changes quite quickly
It starts to snow on top. One can see the white snow flakes on the seat.
L'Asco
I run into a group of Capricorns
Beat in Asco valley
Asco valley
Back to Bastia
Bastia
While waiting for the ferry I compile the tracklog of the day
Embarking the ferry
Departure
8 The journey back to Berlin

We do it the same way as we did on our way to Corsica. We load the bikes onto the trailer in Savona. Then we drive into Switzerland to Beat's place. We drop him off and proceed to Riederau at Ammersee lake. The next day I ride my bike home to Berlin.

Arrival in Savona
Backing into the landing place
Leaving the ferry
The bikes are on the trailer
San Bernardino pass
San Bernardino pass
Dropping off Beat
It is freezing cold in the morning and I get a freeze warning
Easter decoration
Spring
Spring