Introduction

Time already for another bike trip.  This time to the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.  Corsica belongs to France and Sardinia is part of Italy.  They lie one below the other in the Mediterranean Sea pretty much directly below the border between France on the west and Italy on the east.  

Here's what AI has to say about Corsica - "... a mountainous French island in the Mediterranean Sea located southeast of mainland France and west of Italy.  It features a massive central mountain chain that covers two-thirds of the island, alongside deep gorges and coastal beaches."  It is the 4-th largest island in the Mediterranean.  The island is 183 km long at its longest and 83 km wide at its widest.  It has 1000 km of coastline and more than 200 beaches.  Corsica is the most mountainous Mediterranean island.  It has a population of about 365,000.  

I really should read the descriptions of a destination before I sign up for a bike trip there; sigh.....

Here are some of its "key destinations":

Ajaccio - The capital city on the west coast, famous as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Bonifacio - Known for its dramatic white limestone cliffside medieval architecture overlooking the sea.

Bastia - A major northeastern port city offering ferry connections to mainland France and Italy.

Corte - A historic inland mountain town that served as the capital during 18-th century Corsican independence. 

Corsica is home to the 180-km long GR20 hiking trail which is widely regarded as one of the toughest mountain hikes in Europe.  Not sure the biking will be all that much easier...............

Sardinia.... AI says ".... a large, autonomous Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea know for its crystal-clear turquoise waters, ancient stone ruins, and rugged mountain landscapes."  It is the 2nd-largest island in the Mediterranean.  It is about 15 km directly south of Corsica.  Sardinia has a population of about 1.5M  

"Top Places to Visit":

Costa Smeralda - A glamorous northern coastal area famous for luxury yachts, upscale resorts, and white sandy coves.

Alghero - A historic northwestern town with a distinct medieval Spanish charm and Catalan roots.

Cagliari - The vibrant southern capital featuring hilltop castles, ancient Roman ruins, and nearby long sandy beaches.

La Maddalena Archipelago - A stunning cluster of protected islands off the northeast coast offering pristine natural coves and clear blue water.    

I will be travelling with 2 biking friends - Gary and Kerr.  The outfitter we are using for both islands is Saddle Skedaddle.  They are a UK company.  One of their flagship trips is LEJOG - which I completed with them in 2024 and both Gary & Kerr did in June of this year.  This started out as a Sardinia self-guided trip, but then we saw how close Corsica is.  Why not??  The Corisca trip is called "The Beautiful Isle".  It is an 8-day fully guided trip.  That's actually just 5 days of riding + a day at the start and a day at the end.  In the middle is an optional riding day; maybe I'll take a book or play tourist.  The difficulty rating is 3 (out of 5).  The marketing material says 475 km and 7000 m of climbing over 5 days (plus an optional 99 km and 2000 m).  The actual RWGPS tracks that we have just received show the same 475 km over the 5 days, but now it's 8600 m of climbing; yikes!  I should have scheduled this one right after Japan.  Five-day daily average: 95 km and 1720 m of climbing.    

At the end of the Corsica trip (assuming we are all still alive) we will rent a car and drive to the southern end of the island.  We'll spend a couple of days at Bonifacio before boarding a ferry and heading to northern end of Sardinia.  After a few days in the Olbia region (northeast part of Sardinia) we will meet up with a Saddle Skedaddle rep and get outfitted for our 8 days of self-guided riding in Sardinia.  Self-guided means that there will just be the three of us with no guides.  They provide the bikes and maps, have booked all the hotels, and will move our luggage each day.  We have signed up for their "Coastal Explorer" trip and added two days which will get us from the northeast to the northwest.  The difficulty rating for this one is 2 to 3 out of 5, so hopefully marginally easier than Corsica.  By comparison - LEJOG is rated 3 to 4 and I didn't find it overly difficult; but the daily climbing on it is only about half of the Corsica trip.  Oh well - time will tell.....  Daily averages in Sardinia are 83 km and 932 m of climbing.  

    We leave Calgary on September 10th and are due to be home on October 5th.  Wish us luck!!