From Sassari to Orosei
3 August 2019
Originally, the end of my trip was supposed to be in Orosei, on the evening of the 3rd, for the first dinner with friends who had just arrived from Rome, during which we would also celebrate two birthdays. But my departure on the 31st would have left me very little time for my solo stages; for this reason I chose to set off immediately from Olbia with the serious risk of riding into the night on the disused Monti-Calangianus railway. Unfortunately, however, the heavy day of July 31st forced me to a stop on August 1st and the head start was lost. The result is that I found myself the morning of August 3rd in Nulvi with the problem of having to arrive that evening in Orosei, or miss the whole weekend with the friends. So I had two options: sacrifice Alghero and stop in Sassari and from there reach Nuoro by bus, or reach Alghero and set off again practically immediately to backtrack, with the risk of doing everything in a rush and badly.
The start
So, to make a long story short, when I got moving from Nulvi I didn’t have very clear ideas, so much so that I set off at a slightly silly hour: not early enough to think I could attempt to reach Alghero while saving the evening with the friends, nor late enough to rest a bit more by giving up the idea of reaching Alghero from the outset. At 8:00 I was on the road and I still had no idea what I would do, but one thing I knew: today no adventures, only quiet asphalt roads.
In this spirit I traveled some thirty km easily and without hiccups (apart from some disorientation inside the town of Nulvi) on the main road to Sassari: little traffic, reasonable up-and-down, a long climb at the end and then an endless long descent from the outskirts of Sassari to the center and the beautiful Cathedral.
And now?
Hm. First of all a nice coffee with a puff-pastry-and-cream pastry, then some considerations. Reaching Alghero just to plant the flag and then stress myself out to find a way to be in Orosei in the evening seemed to me a stupidly tiring thing that I had neither the desire nor the need for. So, I overturn the plans, I rename the trip and I find a way to reach Nuoro by bus and then do the fifty or so km by bike needed to reach Cala Liberotto. In this spirit I head, ambling through the center of Sassari, towards the regional ARST bus stop.
The bus
When I arrive, I find a booth with a young man as kind as he was confused. I ask him the time of the bus to Nuoro (11:45, and it was 11:15) and I point out to him that I’ll need a ticket for the bike. The young man rushes out of the booth in a hurry, he explains to me that he hasn’t the slightest idea how a bicycle is supposed to be charged, and that we have to ask the drivers. A dance of figures, ticket types, old fares, new fares begins between him and two drivers, while the departure time approaches. At a certain point I ask the young man to point out the stop from which the bus will leave (there are no electronic info boards, just numbers) and I’m roughly pointed in a direction that seems to me to coincide with a parked bus showing the destination Ittiri. Hm. I approach and ask the driver, who without opening the window points in front of him at an empty parking spot. I understand I have to wait for it and I sit nicely next to my bike. Time passes and a bus arrives to occupy the empty space. That’ll be it, I think. I approach and the driver points out to me that the bus to Nuoro leaves from the other side of the road much further down. Furious, I rush towards the parked bus, which, I discover, is no longer the one for Nuoro — which has in fact left shortly before. I go back enraged to the young man in the booth, who of course was claiming to have been crystal clear; I tell him where to go, I get back on the bike, and I return to the center to wait for the next bus at 14:00.
After a quick sandwich I go back to the bus stops and the booth with the intention of clearing up the still-unresolved ticket question. This time, though, thanks to a shift change, I find a slightly more prepared girl who knows exactly what tickets are needed and how much they cost, and who points out to me precisely where the departure for Nuoro is. When the bus arrives I explain the situation to the driver, who getting off shows me the horizontal luggage compartment where I can slip the bicycle in. A bit perplexed I tilt the bike and slide it into the luggage compartment, tying it down as best I can, but I’m a bit worried. The driver reassures me by explaining that we wouldn’t find any curves on the route. And we set off.
Naturally the exit from Sassari is a roller-coaster ride, but that was a given. I’m fairly tired and I decide to relax and enjoy the trip in the cool, also sleeping a bit. The road is quick and pleasant, and a couple of hours later we’re in Nuoro, where the thermometer reads 40°. In this infernal heat I set off, with the idea of reaching Orosei and then Cala Liberotto along the SS 129, a beautiful scenic road with little traffic because by now it’s been flanked by a new expressway.
The scenic road to the sea
The road is in fact very beautiful, generally downhill but with various non-demanding up-and-downs, apart from the strong hot wind which at some moments forces me to push even downhill! In fact very few cars and motorbikes go by, and with the most varied behaviors: some cheer me on, others wait for my signal to overtake, others honk at me and shave me by half a centimeter — you easily realize how this country is by now split between civilized and balanced people and uncivilized and resentful people. Nothing I didn’t already know, unfortunately.
After a few hours I finally arrive at my destination, worn out by a long final climb that I conclude panting because of the great heat and the 80 km overall I have in my legs.
The sea, finally.
In the following days I would finally stop for a few days to enjoy the famous dinner (at Su Gologone, a splendid place near Oliena) and a few days at the sea with the friends, which is what I am doing while I write — always accompanied by a small daily melancholy that I know will keep me company for a very long time.
Next stage on August 10th, when I’ll ride the entire coast to get back to Olbia, and from there home.
The stage
→ Sardegna_Tour_Tappa_3_bus_da_Sassari_a_Nuoro_e_bici_fino_a_Cala_Liberotto.gpx