Day 3 in Sardinia

I had planned out a shorter ride due to the strenuous start, and budgeted more time in the day to non-riding activities. Like all my cycling so far on this trip, I was greeted with a preposterously steep hill. This one was early in the ride and required me to dismount off the bike to catch my breath for a bit. Fortunately - no walking! The earlier start meant cooler temps, but just at the start as I still ended up going through a ridiculous 6 bottles for less than 40 miles of riding as it became sunnier and hot towards the end.

After the steep climb, I magically ended up in Nuoro through some back way passage, and then from there I was planning on proceeding to Monte Ortobene, about which Sardinian Nobel Prize laureate Grazia Deledda wrote about in her novel Old Man of the Mountain. I saw lots of mountain bikers heading down the hill, as well as many, many people hiking the hill. I knew from the course profile that the end of the climb was off road, so I figured that is why people were riding their mountain bikes. Maybe.

Once I got to the off-road section, I was barely managed to stay upright by staying on the sides away from the slightly washed out center section. Unfortunately, once I got to the top, I was greeted by the gate, and couldn’t ride the last 100 meters, which was flat and didn’t seem to overlook anything.

Fortunately, I checked the map and saw that another mile up the road, there was a beautiful lookout, so I added some climbing to the ride and was rewarded with an amazing overview of the surrounding valley.



After turning around and headed back down, I figured that it was time to look for lunch, even if it was a bit early. I went to the pedestrian area of Nuoro, and was told that the restaurant I had just looked up on Google was closed for another 30 minutes. I used the time to walk up and down the area, watch people hanging out in cafes, and buy some toothpaste at the pharmacy across the street. I even spotted a couple of Americans! I ordered meatballs and pasta for lunch, which was delicious and good for the ride home.


This cute dog wanted my lunch, but he was pretty limited by the leash.

On the ride home, I encountered another gate, this time on the gravel climb to Monte Gonare. So unfortunately, that was not to be, and it cut out about 1500 feet of climbing and 8 miles. It was nice to get back early!

Dinner was a bit funny because I remember looking for this restaurant for lunch in Nuoro last year, and was a bit surprised to find that it was inside a supermarket, and that it wasn’t that cheap for being inside a supermarket. Surprise - I revisited the same place for dinner. The food was good, but the atmosphere was pretty poor. I should have abandoned ship and driven back to the pedestrian area, but I was already there and enjoyed the meal while watching a soccer game on one of the many TVs blaring the game surrounding the dining area.


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