Back in Bastia

Picture captions: road between Bonofacio and Porto Vecchio; knives are popoular gifts in Corsica; it's quite a hike UP to teh old city of Porto Vecchio; the harbor in Porto Vecchio from the terrace of the restaurant where I had dinner and heard the shots of the MAFIA assassination.

September 6, 2010 La Place Republic, Porto Vecchio 26/2054km 11:00am

And the cycling portion of our program comes to a close. Cycled back here from Bonofacio this morning. It took just over an hour. The hills t the very beginning weren’t nearly as steep as I had remembered them on the way in. After that, it was pretty much rolling and flat for the middle portion. Then, the hills here to get to the City Center and the hotel. Oh, and the wind that was in my face on the way to Bonifacio had somehow managed to turn around and was in my face again. The Bicycle God certainly has a sense of humor. I guess I can say it now without worrying about whether I’ll jinx myself…ANOTHER CYCLE TRIP COMPLETED WITHOUT A SINGLE FLAT TIRE!!! Pretty amazing. Of course, it’s better to carry spare tubes and not need them than to need them and not have them with you.

The room at the hotel isn’t going to be ready until 12 o’clock. I’ve put the time to good use. I asked the young woman at the front desk to call the bus company ad reserve a spot on the 8:00 am bus tomorrow with a bicycle. No problem. Then, I walked down to where the bus leaves from. About a 10-minute walk from where the hotel is. No worries. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a smooth take-off tomorrow.

Sadly, it’s time to retire the overall SCOTT cycling pants. I’ve had them for about three years now, and they’re pretty much worn out. As is the wearer. There’s a small hole in the right pant leg. I still have my other SCOTT cycling pants. Maybe for next year’s summer cycling I’ll pick up another pair of overall pants. Maybe I’ll hang the retired pants on the wall somewhere in my apartment with a list of all the cities and countries that those pants have gone (with me in tow).

Walking up from the hotel to here, I picked up a t-shirt. On the front, it simply says “Corsica.” On the back it has a picture of a skull-and-crossbones with the saying “That’s the Spirit” underneath. Obviously, the island of Corsica has a long history of pirates. I just liked the shirt. It’s white. They didn’t have the black in XXL. Oh, well. I’m sure I’ll pick up one or two more in Bastia. Of course, that’s just what I need…more t-shirts. I also have to figure out what to get everyone else as souvenirs. AND, of course, I have to mail all the postcards back in Bastia. If the bus gets into Bastia by around 11 tomorrow (as it is supposed to), I should be able to ride/walk the bike over to the bicycle shop and try to communicate that I want them to put it in a box for me. Here’s hoping.

The woman who works at the restaurant on La Place Republic where I was sitting having a Coke while waiting for my room be ready just came up and asked if I was an actor. How nice. I had to tell her no.

Back to the hotel just after 12. I’m actually in Room #1. I don’t think I’ve ever been in that room in any hotel I’ve ever stayed in ANYWHERE. Same lovely view, just a floor lower. AND, the air conditioning is working in this room. I watched a little bit of Charlie Rose interview Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson about their new book, Sixty Feet, Six Inches. Pretty interesting stuff.

Today’s Monday, so, like many other European places, many shops are closed. Not much going to happen today. I’ll have to wander around to see if I can find the same place for the “set menu” dinner as I had last time I was here. If not, I’m sure I can find another place for a margherita pizza.

I’ve asked for a 7am wake-up call from the front desk so that I can get down to the bus stop by 8:00 for the bus to Bastia. There should be a couple of places on the way down where I can pick up some snacks for the trip.

Received little bit of bad news yesterday. Since I hadn’t sent off a rewritten proposal taking into account all of the suggestions from my potential thesis supervisor by the deadline (right about the time of Mom’s passing), my application for starting my Ph.D. in October has been withdrawn. I’m guessing I can still apply at a later date, like maybe for January 2011 or even October 2011. We’ll see. I’d hate to think all of the reading I’ve been doing over the past two years will go for naught. Oh, well. We’ll see. I’ve certainly got quite a bit on my plate right now as it is.

Oh, ya. I picked up a novel by John Sanford (a good trashy, quick read type), who writes the “Prey” novels, featuring the central character of Lucas Davenport. This novel didn’t feature that main character, but was still a good distraction for most of the afternoon and evening. I finished the book while enjoying a post-dinner glass of wine.

For dinner, I went back to the same place for pizza again. I don’t know what changed, but this time the pizza pretty much matched the size of the plate. I still had the mixed salad before, but this time the pizza was margherita (only cheese) instead of ham and cheese. And, of course, the small pitcher of local red wine. I finished it all instead of leaving half like last night.

The port was pretty quiet last night because I think many of the boats in for the weekend had left. Most of the HUGE yachts had left, that I know.

On my way out of town this morning, I saw the bus from Porto Vecchio arriving in Bonifacio for the return trip. I had seen passengers waiting for it in the designated place. I just wanted to make sure that I was in Porto Vecchio before the 12:30 bus from Bonifacio arrived there. Mission accomplished.

As I sit here at the Café Tropicana (because of the free WiFi access), I notice that the wind has picked up quite a bit. Glad I don’t have to worry about that on the bicycle any more.

When I get back to Dubai, I’ll probably take a bit of a break from the bike at least outside and just do the stationary bike (so I can read as well). I’d also like to start swimming a bit more. To do that, I’d like to get a snorkel and goggles to wear in the pool. Anyway…we’ll see. Tennis and squash will also be on the itinerary.

September 7, 2010 Bastia, Corsica 5:15pm

Got my 7am wake-up call; got on the 8am bus to Bastia (and so did the bike). Now I’m back here to wait out my final day (and a half) before heading out on the 9^th.

Last night, I went to the same pizza place as I had eaten my first time through Porto Vecchio. I sat back out on the terrace. I was actually the first person who arrived for dinner. By the time I finished, I was far from alone. BUT, one thing that happened during dinner was that we heard two gunshots from somewhere down in the port. I could tell that the waiters and waitresses knew something was up. This afternoon, I read in the Corsica paper that apparently some sort of MAFIA-style assassination had taken place. GEEZ!! Wouldn’t Mom have just loved that? Just some Corsican-style excitement on a Monday evening.

Oh, by the way…dinner was great with the chorizo and onion pizza, the tomato and mozzarella salad, and the carafe of local red wine. I stopped at one place for another glass of red on the way back to the hotel, and then crashed pretty early because I had to get up early for the bus. I made sure to pack the night before, so all I would have to do in the morning was put on my sandals, grab my backpack and get my bicycle out of the garage (unless someone had stolen it).

I was at the bus station (empty parking lot) at about 7:20. There was a big blue bus in the parking lot. Since the name of the bus company is Rapides Bleus, I figured that was the bus and that the driver was sleeping somewhere (maybe even in the bus). Not the case. The REAL bus pulled in at about 7:45. I took off the front wheel and put the bike in one of the luggage compartments underneath. 30€ later, I had my ticket. When we pulled out of the parking lot, there were only two and a half of us on the bus. (The ½ comes because the woman had a baby with her…doesn’t really count) We picked up and dropped off people all along the way.

It was difficult to look at the road and think that I had bicycled over these same roads over the past week. Had I really done that? I guess so. I recognized each of the places where I had stopped for the night or along the way where I had stopped for a drink and a bit of a break.

We picked up 5 people who looked as though they had been hiking in the mountains here. I’d like to come back at some point and give that a go. We’ll see. I don’t think I’d want to do any of them in the winter. Highest point on the island is around 3,000 or so meters. I guess that translates to about 10,000 feet. Definitely talking snow at that point.

When we arrived back in Bastia, the protesters (mentioned when I first arrived), were just arriving in San Nicolas Square. I could see how it might disrupt traffic quite a bit. It seemed as though there were TONS of them. Don’t these people have jobs? How do they get the time off? I walked through the demonstration on my way back to the hotel.

I didn’t get the same room at the hotel. I’m in the central building this time. That means that I can’t take the bike up to the room (although there is room for it). I had to put it downstairs in one of the garages under the building. The room is nice enough, still with a water view. I got to check in right away. Good stuff. It was also good to get my bag out of storage. I’m wearing my grey CITY SPORTS t-shirt. For the last week, I wore either my Moosehead Lake long sleeved t-shirt or my KWIK-Dry black Nike shirt when I wasn’t cycling.

The wind here in Bastia (and through much of the bus trip) has been up pretty good all day. I am SOOOO glad I didn’t have to cycle in it. I might have gone insane. Oh, well.

Just before I sat down to write this, I mailed off 40 postcards to both the US and to Dubai. The cost for each postcard to both destinations was .87€. Overall cost 34.40€ or something like that. The hard part was that I had to put three stamps on each card. On stamp for .85€ and two for .01€. That’s a lot of licking!!! Oh, well. I’m glad I got it done.

When I first left the hotel this afternoon (after relaxing a bit), I found that my ATM card was rejected at two different machines. THAT was certainly cause for concern. Without being able to access money, I could pay for my hotel room (on my VISA card), but I wouldn’t be able to pay for the cab to the airport, or the bike shop for putting the bike in the box, etc. I returned to the hotel and called my bank in Dubai. It turns out that the card was being rejected because my bank in Dubai has a limit on the amount of money which can be withdrawn in a particular country over a particular time period. I guess I had gone over my withdrawal limit here in France. We got that straightened out. I know that because I have since used the card to withdraw 300€ late this afternoon.

It was also nice to get back to my book stash in my bag at the hotel. I had pretty much exhausted the books I had brought with me. I’m now reading a book on one guy’s travels through Afghanistan. Seems promising.

I’ve been wandering through the souvenir shops to try to figure out what to bring back for my colleagues in Dubai without spending too much money. It looks like it might be stickers of Corsica (of various kinds and let them pick). For some of the more “important” colleagues, it might be key chains or something similar. We’ll see.

I’ll be taking the bike down (actually UP) to the shop tomorrow and hopefully pick it up on Thursday on the way to the airport. My flight to Nice (I flew in through Marseille), doesn’t leave Bastia until about 6:30 pm. I’ll try to get to the airport at about 4, just in case there’s any hassle with the bike and stuff. (That’s another reason I needed access to money…in case I have to pay for extra baggage.) I then have only about 1 hour in Nice to get to the next flight. I arrive in Charles de Gaulle airport at about 10:30 pm. I’ll get a hotel room at the airport. My flight on Friday is at 1:30 pm and I arrive in Dubai at about 10:15 local time. There’s only a two-hour time difference between here and Dubai, so the jetlag should be minimal.

So, we’re winding down on this Corsica thing. It’s been quite a trip. Wonderful towns and cities and beautiful scenery. Nice hotels (probably a little costly, but that the hell?).

Once again, my body has proven to me on this whole 2,000km bike adventure that no matter how poorly I sometimes treat it, it’s a brilliant machine and can accomplish some wonderful things. As I usually do at the end of these adventures, I vow to try to take better care of it. But, like always…we’ll see.

September 8, 2010 Bar Novelty, Bastia, Corsica 4:00pm

Last full day in Bastia. Last night I stopped by a pizzeria where I had eaten on my last evening in Bastia a week or so ago. The proprietress recognized me. Still good stuff. Mixed salad, margharita pizza, and a bottle of the local red. All the while reading one of the books I left behind when I did my bicycle trip: An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot. Pretty good stuff so far. As I write this, I’m about 140 pages into it.

On the way back to the hotel from the pizzeria, I stopped by the O’Connor Pub only to find it tightly closed up. That’s not a very good sign. Oh, well. I guess no “going away” drink there. The air conditioning wasn’t working in the room, so it was a god thing tht it was a windy evening.

The wind continued this morning. I was up and got the bike to the bike shop to be “boxed up” by about 9:30 am. (Go back to pick it up same time tomorrow morning…that’s quite a relief to have it professionally packed rather than my own doing. I mean…I could DO it, but probably not quite as well as the guys in the shop.) On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at a SPAR grocery and picked up a roll of duct tape and a package of razors Also, on the way back, I saw that the dark clouds were starting to come over the mountains outside the city. AND the wind started to really pick up. I hustled back to the hotel and back to my room. And then the rain started coming down in BUCKETS. I opened the windows, but the shutters stayed closed, so my room stayed pretty cool for the duration of the storm. After reading for a while and then showering and shaving (final time on the trip), I wandered back out. The wind had almost disappeared, and, if it wasn’t for the wet ground, you wouldn’t have noticed that there had been a storm.

Since then, I’ve just been wandering around the town, mostly trying to find stuff in souvenir shops to bring back for the Division of Arts and Sciences. It will mostly likely be stickers or key chains or some such thing. Anyway…since my plane doesn’t leave tomorrow until 6, I still have some time.

As I write this, I’m at the far end of San Nicolas Plaza. I’ll probably head up over to where the Old Port is before heading to dinner (probably same pizza place…don’t mess with a good thing).

Yesterday afternoon as I was sitting outside a café on the edge of San Nicolas Plaza, I watched a Corsica/Sardinia boat come in to the “modern harbor.” I then watched it pull out about 30 minutes later. I thought to myself, “That wasn’t very long.” I then caught myself. The boats that had come into the Istanbul harbor (which I could see from my balcony) were CRUISE ships. The ones here are FERRIES. They are simply designed to pick people up and drop people off. They aren’t stopping here so that people can visit the city and then get back on the boat and go to the next “port of call.” DUH!!

It’s official…I’m over 31,000 words for this blog. Pretty amazing. Of course, having the netpad has made that so much easier. It also added a little bit of weight to the backpack, but not too much…that and the camera. I’m glad I only brought one lens with me. It really was all I needed.

Perhaps when I get back, I can get some periodicals interested in some stories either about Boston or about Corsica. We’ll see.

Bunking down in Bonifacio

Picture captions: steps up to the old city; rock formations off the coast of Bonifacio; strange outfit in St. Barthelme's Church; part of cemetery at the end of the old town; tombs overlooking the water...Sardinia is in the background; view of the harbor from the old town; view of the citadel from the harbor; small boat leaving the Grotto du Sdragonatu; Heading into the grotto (looks like a Disney ride, doesn't it?; Part of the grotto illuminated by a hole in the ceiling; beautiful turquoise water; pretty easy to see how a house could fall off this cliff; this big boat is from Nova Scotia

September 4, 2010 Hotel Roy d’Aragon, Bonifacio 26/2028km 1:15pm

I’m pretty much dreading the ride out of here on Monday. It’s going to be uphill for about the first two or three miles. That won’t be any fun at all. I could take a bus back to Porto Vecchio, but I’d feel like a schmuck if I did that. (Although I still might)

No Internet at the Hotel Caleche d’Or, so there wasn’t anything to distract me this morning. I was on the road at about 8:30 and pulled into Bonifacio at about 10. Beautiful morning. Not a cloud in the sky. The terrain was pretty much rolling until about 5 miles from Bonifacio. Then there were some pretty serious hills (both UP and DOWN). Also, there was a bit of a headwind, which I’m hoping will turn into a tailwind on the way back. (Not that that ever happens)

The whole town of Bonifacio is pretty much the harbor. There are some GINORMOUS boats here. Some beautiful sailboats as well. There is a lot of traffic with the boat tours heading out to the grottos and islands. I’ve only seen one big ferry like the ones I saw in Bastia.

I couldn’t check into the room immediately upon arrival. First time that’s happened since I’ve started this trip. Of course, I’ve e-mailed when making reservations and let them know, “I’ll be arriving late morning by bicycle and would appreciate early check-in.” Apparently, here the place was packed, and the people from the rest of the week were a bit tardy checking out. Oh, well. I wandered up and down along the Quai (key) having a Coke here and an Orange Juice there. I finally got into the room at about 1:30. Not too bad. Even though I don’t have a “marina view” (how ironic is that?), the room is lovely. There’s a nice big balcony with two sliding doors from the room out to it. From the shutter doors, I hung my bicycle clothes, and laid my shoes and socks where the sun would have maximum effect. I only thought afterward that I have two days before I have to put any of it back on.

I had originally thought that I’d just stay in the port today and explore the haute village (old town) which is a HUGE hike UP tomorrow. Well, for some reason, I did that this afternoon after showering in the room. The old town is pretty extensive, and allows for some amazing views over the ocean between Corsica and Sardinia (seen in the distance) as well as the harbor of Bonifacio. The overall picture is one of hard living as well as amazing beauty. Limestone cliffs falling into the sea. Turquoise sea near the shore. Wonderful stuff. The cemetery is a wonderful mixture of old and new structures and graves. And, of course, crosses out the wazoo. And all overlooking the sea.

My legs were feeling it when I descended down the stairs into the port. I guess that means that I’ll just stay down here tomorrow. I’ll try to keep it just a relaxed day. First thing in the morning, I’ll go out on either a GROTTO tour or an ISLAND tour (which includes the GROTTO tour). That should chew up a good part of the morning and give me the opportunity for some great pictures.

I’m also hoping to take some pictures of the ABSURD yachts moored here. I’m assuming that the C.I. on their names indicates the “Cayman Islands.” But I could be mistaken. There are some from Amsterdam, some from London, and one that I’ve seen from Nova Scotia. WOW!!!

September 5, 2010 O’Brian’s Pub, Bonifacio 1:45pmOK. Grotto tour taken care of. I decided not to do the island tour because it was windy and a bit rough. I didn’t want to get spray all over myself and my stuff and, most importantly, my camera. More on that later.

Last night for dinner, I had a ham and cheese pizza (pizza has been a staple of dinner on this whole trip…I “trust” its results) and a large carafe of good local red wine, and a mixed salad. The pizza, it turned out, was GINORMOUS!! It was twice the size of the plate underneath. It was flopping over the sides of the whole thing. I could only finish about ½ of it. I didn’t bother taking the rest of it home to the hotel. I didn’t want to wake up to the smell of day-old pizza. Too much like college.

17.50€ for the grotto boat trip which lasts about an hour. What the hell!? Some pretty amazing rock formations. We (boat and all) went right into the Grotte du Sdragonatu (no idea what the translation is). It was pretty amazing stuff. We also visited some of the other inlets along the coast. The color of the water was so turquoise!!! I almost felt like jumping over the side and going for a swim. Almost. The trip also allowed all of us to take pictures of the old city perched above the cliffs which drop right into the sea. In fact, The Rough Guide discussed “in 1966 one house fell into the sea, killing two people.”

Pushing on to Porto Vecchio

Picture captions (not sure what order they appear in on the blog. Hope you can figure them out.): Beach at San Pellegrino; Great Eastern Plains with the mountains in the background on the way to Aleria; Part of the Casablanca vineyard on the way to Aleria (with tractor); Part of Roman site outside Aleria (2 pictures); Road to the mountains on the way to Solenzara (thankfully, I didn't have to cycle OVER the mountains); View from my room in Solenzara; Tower over a small beach on a stormy morning on the way to Porto Vecchio; View from my room in Porto Vecchio.

August 30, 2010 Café L’Ancura Marina, Bastia, Corsica 4:05pm

I’ve got all of the postcards addressed, but in doing so, I found I needed some more, so I’ll try to get them today.

I put the bike together this morning and then took it up to my room. All seems to be in working order. I put the box back in luggage storage at the hotel, hoping to use it for the trip back to Dubai.

I also did a bit of exploration this morning. I found the road which I had seen everyday pointing to Bonifacio. It seems that there is a tunnel that goes under the harbor and comes out on the other side. Unfortunately, no pedestrians or cyclists are allowed inside the tunnel. It looks as though I’ll have to go up and over by the citadel. I’ll also be leaving my big bag at the hotel as well. I’ll only be taking my backpack with me. Shouldn’t be a problem. At least I hope not. I left the rack that I used in Canada and Maine at Mom’s house. It wouldn’t fit in the bag, and I forgot to ask the bike shop to put it in the box. Oh, well. Here is the tentative itinerary for the Corsica bike trip (and beyond):

Aug 31 T Bastia – San Pellegrino San Pellegrino Hotel 48.5km

Sept 1 W San Pellegrino – Aleria Les Oranges Hotel 40km

Sept 2 TH Aleria – Solenzara La Solenzara 31km

Sept 3 F Solenzara – Porto Vecchio ?? 43 km

Sept 4 S Porto Vecchio – Bonifacio ?? 28.5km

Sept 5 SU Bonifacio ??

Sept 6 M Bonifacio – Porto Vecchio ?? 28.5km

Sept 7 T Porto Vecchio – Bastia (bus) Posta Vecchio

Sept 8 W Bastia Posta Vecchio

Sept 9 TH Bastia – Nice – Paris Radisson Airport

Sept 10 F Paris – Dubai My house

So, once more I’m off on the bike. Today is a little worrying because it is quite windy, but I can’t really tell which direction it’s blowing. Let’ keep those fingers crossed for a tailwind (or no wind…or not much wind).

In the table above, even where I haven’t listed a definite place to stay, I know there are a couple of options. I don’t like to make reservations because if anything happens and I get delayed, I’ll be charged for the room. Not good.

August 31, 2010 San Pellegrino Hotel 48.5/1887.5 1:45pm

I’m not sure if that’s the actual mileage because the computer was a bit dodgy this morning. But, that’s what the map shows, so I’ll go with that. There were times when the display for speed on the computer would go from 21 to 6 to 0 to 15 to 0 to whatever, all in a matter of seconds. Of course, that affected the odometer as well. Finally, it seemed to give up the ghost and just sit on 0 for the rest of the trip. Oh, well. If that’s the only thing that goes wrong on the bike, I’ll be in good shape.

Last night was pretty uneventful. I finished writing all of the postcards. I’ll mail them when I get back to Bastia. I didn’t want to schlep them all over. I only took my big grey backpack on this trip. It has only the essentials in it.

The terrain today was pretty rolling, so I was actually able to carry pretty good speed throughout. Even though the traffic on D193 and D198 was pretty steady, all of the drivers were courteous and gave me sufficient room. Some of the time there was a shoulder. Sometimes the shoulder was cement instead of asphalt which made for a bit of a bumpier ride.

Seeing as how I’d been off the bike in about 10 days, I was pretty pleased with my performance. It took a little while to get my legs under me. Only one stop for PowerAde and water. The rest of the time it was “Head down, and GO!”

Check out this morning went pretty quickly. I left the big bag to gather when I get back to Bastia on the 7^th. I think I reserved the same room I had this time for the 7^th and 8^th. Yesterday in my wanderings, I found a bike shop which might be able to box the bike for the trip home. I wasn’t able to ask because yesterday was Monday and it was closed (as were many other shops in town). Fortunately, the SPAR grocery store wasn’t, and I was able to pick up a wrench with which to tighten my pedals on the bike.

I arrived at the San Pellegrino at about 10:30. Pretty good time. (That’s what makes me question the distance). I had made a reservation two days ago. I had cancelled my reservation when Mom passed. There was a 25€ penalty for the cancellation. They were nice enough to apply the penalty to my room now. Isn’t that great??

The room is wonderful!! Lots of room. Air conditioning. About 100 yards from the beach (where I’ll take a long walk after finishing this entry). The only drawback is there are two single beds instead of one BIG one. But, it was the only room that I could check in to when I arrived. No problem.

Aleria, next stop on this adventure. There is a site containing Roman ruins just outside the town, so I’m hoping to get there at about the same time that I arrived here today so I have time to look around the ruins. According to The Rough Guide they are worth seeing.

I sent off a first draft of the initial correspondence for the project that I’ve been assigned the other day. The Director of Institutional Effectiveness sent it back with some suggestions. Before I make any adjustments, she’s going to share it with the President to see what he has to say. We’ll see.

I’ve taken the bottoms off the “zipper pants” for the first time since I began all of this in Montreal. Since I’ve got a bike tan, I guess it looks OK. The sock tan leaves a little to be desired.

Since I stopped cycling, the wind has picked up quite a bit. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m on the immediate coast or if it’s windy everywhere. I guess what it tells me is that I should get out on the road early in the morning before the wind get up. Important.

September 1, 2010 Hotel L’Atrachjata, Aleria 42/1931km 5:10pm

Overall a pretty good day on the bike. For some reason the computer decided to work again. 26 miles total. That translated to 41.6 km. Took just about 2 hours. No rush. More later.

I gotta say…the San Pellegrino complex (and it was), was pretty amazing. After a short nap after arrival, I took a loooooong stroll down the beach toward the left. There seemed to be a point of land jutting out at the end. The wind was up pretty good, but it was behind me as I headed in that direction. The sand was pretty soft, so the walking was a bit tough. The waves were up a little bit because of the wind.

At the other end was another “complex.” Just as I sat down on the patio to have a small beer, it felt as though at least two buses of senior citizens descended on the place. They all carried their “welcome glass of juice” with them. They were then addressed by what seemed to be the local version of “Julie McCoy” (Love Boat reference), a guy in a blue Hawaiian shirt. Of course, it was all done in French, so I had no idea what was going on. Anyway…I read my book and tried to be invisible.

The wind had subsided a bit for the walk back. On the way back, I walked along the edge of the water the whole way. It was so nice. I hadn’t had my feet in the water since I don’t know when. Maybe last summer in Cuba. Anyway…it felt great.

I had made a reservation for dinner (suggested by the front desk when I checked in) for 7:30. Caesar salad to start (with no anchovies) and then grilled steak with potatoes wrapped in bacon. It was all quite good and filling. Actually, I don’t usually eat steak, but it was the only thing on the menu that I could figure out. There weren’t any menus in English, so I had to try to decipher the French one. I wasn’t sure about the pasta dish, and there wasn’t any chicken, so I went with the grilled steak.

After dinner, I had two small glasses of red wine (to help with digestion). All the while I was reading some of the “box texts” in The Rough Guide with information about Corsican vendettas and the nationalist movement, etc. Pretty interesting stuff.

After that, I went to bed and slept pretty much like shit. I’m not sure why. Even though the air conditioning was on, the room was a bit stuffy. In the middle of the night, I opened the sliding door which is just inside the slatted front door. The allowed lots of cool air in. Helped only marginally.

7:30 up and over to breakfast. Hey, I was paying 7€ for it; I might as well eat it. A bowl of Corn Flakes…a bowl of fruit, a croissant, water, and juice. Should stand me well on the bike trip. Supposed to be about 40km to Aleria. That’s about 24 miles.

The morning was actually pretty cool even though the sun was shining brightly and there were a number of people strolling along the beach. I wore my black Nike Quick-Dri shirt over my bike shirt on the way out of San Pellegrino. Again, it felt good to start the day on the bike.

All through the day, I kept getting mixed up with kilometers and miles. When I first left San Pellegrino, the odometer read 22.something. The map said that Aleria was 40 km away (24 miles). I figured, “OK, when I get to about 60, I’ll be almost there.” However, I forgot that the odometer was in MILES, not KILOMETERS. So, when I took my first rest stop at 10, it took me a while to realize that I had already gone 10 MILES, not kilometers. That meant that I was almost halfway there. Oh, well. In fact, the distance wound up to be about 26 miles for the total. Of course, that included the additional two kilometers from San Pellegrino to the main road.

Again, traffic wasn’t too bad. I even clicked into my pedals today because most of the time there was a six-foot wide travel lane for me. Two stops for water/PowerAde along the way. At the first stop, I took off the black Nike shirt and put it in the backpack. The day had warmed up in a hurry. Occasionally the wind whipped up (or at least I felt it) because I was riding through the plains of Eastern Corsica. The ocean was a ways off to the left, and the mountains were a ways off to the right.

I found the hotel in Aleria without any trouble. Got checked in right away. (I had made an electronic reservation.) Really nice room. Except, the 2^nd time on this trip a room that has an unattached shower nozzle…expected to use it by hand. Nowhere to put it. Oh, well.

After showering and checking e-mail in the room (free WiFi), I headed out for the Fort and the Roman ruins just outside town. From the elevated area where they are located, there are some great views of the surrounding countryside. In addition, other than over the mountains, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Beautiful blue.

The displays inside the Museum were “okay.” But it was pretty amazing to think that I wasn’t in ROME looking at this stuff. I was a long way away.

Oh, ya…When I checked e-mail, I found out that the hotel in Solenzara where I had hoped for a reservation for tomorrow night (Sept. 2) has no availability. It is, as they often say in Europe, complete (meaning full). So, I had to go to my 2^nd option, which is a bit more expensive (but not overly so). Fortunately, I can get a room with a “sea view” for a reasonable rate. Yay!!! I’ll be sure to take pictures and send them along.

When I returned from the ruins, I wandered down to the far end of town to the local equivalent of Carrefour. There, I bought a new pair of boxers and some new highlighters. The highlighters I purchased at Office Max before I left don’t work so well. To me, it seems to be a design flaw. The ones I bought work like ball point pens. The point appears when you click the top. This is all well and good and eliminates the need to take a cap on and off, but it also leaves the tip exposed to the air. That means it dries out quickly whether in use or not. The yellow one I’ve been using is already almost dry. Not good. So, I bought a pack of four different colored mini-highlighters with caps. Should last me to the end of the trip. The boxers I’m currently wearing are on their last legs, so I picked up a cheap pair to last me until I get back to Bastia where there is a clean pair in the bag I left behind. Probably more than anyone wanted to know.

The roads of the D198 continue to be good. I’ll be following it all the way into Bonifacio. Over the next day, I’ll also try to line up accommodation in Porto Vecchio and Bonoficcio for the end of the trip. I’ll be taking a bus back to Bastia from Porto Vecchio. If I took the bus from Bonofaccio, I’d have to change in Porto Vecchio, so what I’ll do is travel from Porto Vecchio to Bonofaccio…stay overnight and one more day in Bonofaccio…then bicycle back to Porto Vecchio (30km) and stay overnight and take the bus from there.

Of course, in the back of my head, I’m deathly afraid that I won’t be allowed to take the bike on the bus back to Bastia. Just before I left Bastia, I thought about taking the bus (with the bike) down to Bonofaccio and bicycling back to Bastia. That way, I’d arrive in Bastia with the bike and not have to worry about getting it on the bike. Obviously, I didn’t do that. We’ll see if that comes back to haunt me.

So…that’s about it from here in Aleria. I’ll post more from Solenzara. There’s not much to see there. Just hanging out on the beach. No ruins or anything. It should be an easy day on the bike. From here in Aleria, it should be about 30km.

At this point, I’m over 26,000 words for the blog. Isn’t it too bad that I can’t submit a travel blog as my dissertation? I’d be about 1/2way through by now. Oh, well.

September 2, 2010 Hotel La Solenzara, Solenzara 32/1964km 3:00pm

Pretty easy day on the bike. I got a bit of a late start (about 9:30). That was because I was “only” going 32 km today (20 miles). I had a little bit better grip of the miles/kilometers thing today. Not too much confusion.

Pretty rolling terrain (only one real “hill) for most of the day. There were also quite a number of “flats”…spaces which had pretty much open plains on both side. That meant that the wind had a chance to become a bit of a factor. Oh, well. It didn’t blow too badly. (In many senses of that expression)

I managed to find the hotel La Solenzara without too much trouble. It is, after all, right on the main street. I arrived in the late morning but was able to check in right away. Pretty good stuff. Technically, it has a “sea view,” if I look straight left out the window. I immediately hung my riding clothes out the window in the sun to dry. By the time I had checked e-mail and taken a shower, they were already dry. The bed is large, and the TV works (although the only thing I could understand is the US Open highlights on EUROSport.

As I write this, I’ve already walked the entire length of the town. Not really much to see. Although, there are two other hotels that weren’t listed in any of the books that I consulted (including one given to me at the Tourist Information Office which was supposed to have all of the hotels in it from all over Corsica). No big deal. I decided not to go for a walk on the beach just down from the hotel because the other day at the San Pellegrino, the beach walking really did a number on my leg. It made them a bit more sore than usual. So, seeing s how tomorrow is a 43 (or so) kilometer day, I decided just to rest.

I now have all of my hotel reservations for Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio. The one in Porto Vecchio was a little complicated to try to do over the internet. I would up just contacting them by e-mail to let them know that I wanted a reservation for two night but not consecutively. The one in Bonifacio is not the one that I originally had a reservation in when I first planned to come here but then had to cancel. Both of them are slightly pricey, but the location more than makes up for it.

Just before I rode into Solenzara, I passed a sign which indicated that Bonifacio was 63km away. That’s odd. The map says that from Solenzara to Porto Vecchio is 43km and Porto Vecchio to Bonifacio is 28.5 km. A book from the Tourist Office in Aleria says that it’s 41 to Porto Vecchio and then 27 to Bonifacio. Who to believe? Oh, well. Just put my head down and go. When I get there, I get there. It’s not a race. I’m constantly reminded of my two favorite Nike t-shirts which I bought at the huge mall in Kuala Lumpur: one said “The Road is Long. So what?” The other one said, “It’s not a Race. It’s a State of Mind.” I had my picture taken in both of them at various points. (The first one I wore when I finished the Camino de Santiago…pretty appropriate.) I gave that one to my Kenyan doorman friend at Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai. I still have the other one. I’ll definitely have to take it with me on my next bike tour.

In Bastia, I saw a number of long-distance cyclists. Sometimes I saw them bicycling into the city. Sometimes I just saw their bicycles (complete with trailer) leaning outside one of the tourist attractions. However, since being on the road, I’ve only seen ONE. He was ahead of me on the road to Aleria early in the morning. He was riding in a tank t-shirt (wife beater) and what looked like black track shorts (ouch, my bum). I didn’t have the inclination or the energy to overtake him. I did see him turn off somewhere to have breakfast (I can only assume). Haven’t seen him since. I’ve seen TONS of long-distance motorcycle riders. Maybe I’m just going the wrong way. Who knows? But it’s the only way I’m going.

September 3, 2010 La Caleche d’Or Hotel, Porto Vecchio 42/2006km 1:00pm

Boy, was it dark this morning when I woke up. I thought I heard the distant sounds of thunder as well. In my head I started going through all of my options: Ride in the rain; take a taxi to Porto Vecchio; stay in Solenzara and wait it out for a day or so; etc. etc. The sky looked just so dark, but really, it hadn’t even started raining yet. Then, just as I was getting into m cycling clothes, it started. I kept getting dressed, figuring I could wait it out in the lobby. But I wanted to check out.

By the time I had checked out and gotten my bike out of storage, the rain had stopped. The clouds were still dark and foreboding. I decided to make a run for it. I figured that even if it started raining again, I could find somewhere to sit it out.

Just a quick note on the totals above. This is the 2^nd trip that has gone over 2,000 km. The other one was my first trip through Eastern Europe so long ago. No new countries on this trip, though. That’s a little disappointing, but what to do???

Anyway…I rode pretty hard for the whole 42 kilometers today. I got spit on a few times. I a couple of places, it was clear that it had rained just before I had gotten there. I was a little concerned with the thin tires on the wet road, but no problem. I didn’t clip into the pedals for most of the trip because I wanted to be able to get my feet down quickly if anything happened because of the wet road. I noticed that my legs were getting tired, and then I clipped into the pedals, and BOOM off I went!! With about 10 miles to go to Porto Vecchio, I was passed by a husband and wife cycling team (I’m assuming) as I came out of a water break. They passed me going pretty quickly, but I caught up with them, and just coasted on their tail for almost the whole way to Porto Vecchio. The ten miles went by wonderfully quickly.

Finding the hotel in Porto Vecchio was not so easy. First of all, the old town is WAAAAY up on a hill. I started to cycle up one really steep street and almost went over backward. So, I walked the bike up the rest of the way. After a couple of consultations with the map in The Rough Guide, I found the general direction to the hotel. I got there at just about noon. Fortunately, I got to check in right away. I paid for tonight and for the night of the 6^th when I return here to catch a bus for Bastia. I wanted to take the bike up to the room on the 3^rd floor, so I asked if there was an elevator. There was. However, it is barely big enough for one adult. The bike didn’t fit. If it did, it would be going up by itself. So, I carried it up three flights of stairs. Good thing it’s so light. Boy, did the shower feel good!!! A hot shower after a damp ride.

Out and about into the Old City. Small streets and alleyways. Pretty neat stuff. Just trying to relax. The sun has been out almost continuously since I arrived here. Good stuff all around. I’ve wandered down here to the port to the Tropicana Bar where I am writing this entry. There seem to be a million beautiful sailboats here in the harbor. Wow.

Tomorrow I head about 30km to Bonifacio and the southernmost point of this ride. I stay Saturday night and Sunday night at the Roy d’Aragon Hotel there and then return the 30km here to Porto Vecchio. Anyway…that’s the plan. Here’s hoping.