Sardinia Tour 2019: Last stage Magomadas - Porto Torres

And here we are at the story of the last stage of this exciting journey by Giorgio, Lorenzo and Tom. The guys truly deserve all the compliments they got in their Facebook posts. Thanks to Lorenzo who did a great job of writing and preparing the photos to be able to tell you the best of the stages of this journey.

by Lorenzo Spanò

Last night I rested really well, maybe I still had the tasting of Luciano's wines in my body, I wake up very early anyway, immediately a look at the sky, gray but it doesn't rain, I try to feel the outside temperature, cold!

We are in May and in Sardinia, in Turin there are thunderstorms, but the temperature is milder. We get ready, we are not in the hotel, we try to leave everything in order, Mavi and Renato are waiting for us for breakfast, making us taste different types of jams made by them, all very good, but the persimmon one would have finished it all, very good.

I noticed how they manage to put people at ease, it is not the merit of many. It's time to move, Renato will accompany us for a long stretch of road, a little bit of sun a photo, we say goodbye to Mavi and then off to the last goalş

We quickly go down to Bosa Marina, we cross it, there are few people, many of these houses are only open in the summer. Renato anticipates us and prepares us to face the roughness of the road which are many, he knows the territory and describes every ravine to me, from the Silversmith Tower to the natural inlets.

We arrive in an area where Griffins nest and are present, he tells me that in this weather it is easy to see them in flight. A few minutes pass and here is a couple above us, they are huge, they have a wingspan of about two meters.

I observe them and try to photograph them, not even a stroke of the wings, they remain suspended, exploiting the currents, nature fascinates me and this seems to be perfect.

Pedaling Renato manages to describe some types of plants and their ancient use. We arrive at the highest point, from there on downhill, and subsequently gentle ups and downs that will take us to Alghero.

We say goodbye to Renato, he will return to Magomadas, the next few kilometers make me feel an orphan of his knowledge. In the distance the view of Capo Caccia becomes clearer, here is Alghero, it is 12 pm, in full schedule.

It was many years that I had not passed through Alghero, always beautiful, in my opinion still improved, let's take a tour of its pretty alleys.  

Today they celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the park's birth, the town is all decorated in the streets colored cages are suspended open as a symbol of freedom.  

These are important moments and there is a lot of participation. We stop to eat a sandwich and a slice of pizza in a focacceria, all good. Then a subsequent stop for a coffee and we head to Porto Torres, still 38 km and our Tour in Sardinia will be concluded, the first 20 km we face for the last time our travel companion, "The cold wind of Mistral.

Despite pedaling against the wind and with continuous gentle ups and downs, we are cold. Finally we overcome the limits of Monte Casteddu which separates the area of Santa Maria la Palma and the road we are traveling on. Now the Mistral is blowing behind us, the last 18 km were a sprint.

Here is Porto Torres, it is 2.30 pm we have a drink, I call Antonio and Grazia, friends who have moved here to Porto Torres, they are out for a commitment, I write to Grazia and we postpone the embrace to this summer. The phone rings, it's Renato, he asks me how she went, I reassure him, another gesture of attention that made me really happy.

We take a quick photo tour of the Church of San Gavino, buy sweets and food to take home and head towards the port. It is 5.30 pm the boarding operations begin at 6.30 pm, we look for shelter, The wind is really cold, I begin to tremble and I can't wait to be indoors and under a hot shower. Let's look at the forecasts tomorrow in Genoa a heavy rain and a cold north wind in Turin.

It is right to analyze this experience in Sardinia, Giorgio's program was broadly respected, the few changes to the route were made due to the adversity of the weather, we visited beautiful territories, some certainly to be reviewed with longer stopsş

Now let's go back to our daily life, we took a little space, we pedaled, we felt the air on our faces, perhaps too much, but this is our passion, we go up and down always looking at new goals. Now we enjoy our families. A couple of days and we will miss the Mistral too.

Reflections and thoughts of my travel companions:

TOM - It was beautiful, we will always carry this journey in our hearts. " TANTA ROBA".

GIORGIO - The passion for cycle-trips has been inherent in me for a long time, the first trip in 2013 to remember a dear friend who left us too soon during a mountain excursion, il cammino di Santiago de Compostela. Since then I have experienced seven wonderful cycle trips, the last one in the company of Tom and Lorenzo who through his posts manages to convey the spirit and emotions felt, which I have never done, always keeping them to myself, but thanks to reading his posts I feel the desire to try in the future. A special thanks to Tom and Lorenzo who shared this journey with me and to all the people we met on our tour, I will always carry them in my heart.