The dirt roads of Sardinia by motorbike

Sardinia by motorbike as you have never seen it before, between Olbia, Tempio Pausania, Castelsardo, Lodè, between sea and mountains, on and off-road.

Ready to embark with my "little" and unstoppable CRF 250 Rally and Guido with his KTM 690, we meet Gianni Giorgi, founder of the GSSS Curve & Tornanti School of Motorcycling.

Content index

1. Tempio Pausania and Castelsardo
2. Lake Coghinas and Buddusò
3. Tepirola Park and Cala Liberotto
4. Siniscola and back

In all we are about twenty motorcyclists, well matched for age, ability and motorcycle, from the big GS, to african twin, to the more or less technical monos.

Day 1

Arrived at Olbia, we immediately do the first 150km of the day. Rain and heavy ground divert the maxis towards an asphalted path: it would be useless to get on dirt roads with heavy motorcycles in difficult conditions like today, having 4 days available to have fun off-road. For the mono instead the party begins: the track starts just outside Olbia and climbs on the surrounding hills Mount Pinu. They are only 800m above sea level but they are enough to widen the gaze to the sea almost to the Corsica beyond Strait of Bonifacio. A short passage on asphalt and then again immersed in the Mediterranean scrub and granite of the Mount Limbara to Tempio. The wet soil mixed with granite offers excellent grip. We find ourselves with the maxi for lunch at Li Tre Funtani restaurant, where the rain is an excellent excuse to enjoy lunch calmly (also for all the good things that come to us at the table).

After lunch we make a bit of the road with the maxi: the stretch is fast, but very wet, but even the less experienced travel without problems, also thanks to the advice on the field of the instructor (and tour leader). We are still divided, between asphalt, with a stop at the panoramic terrace overlooking the valley of the Moon, and between fast dirt roads behind Catelsard, climbing the ridge overlooking the sea towards the northern coast of Gallura. We arrive in the evening, atMonte Istolargiu farmhouse a Valledoria, and again the kitchen leaves us more than satisfied.

Day 2

Let's go back to the panorama where the maxi hadn't arrived, a show kissed by the light at last. Let's all start together today, between fast slopes under wind turbines, narrower sections among the granite and even some small ford between fields and pastures that amuses everyone, mono and maxi. We arrive at the northern slopes of Mount Sassu, where you can admire the great Coghinas lake and the wild natural world that surrounds it. Let's go back to Tempio Pausania always on land, to go up again to Monte Limbara, where the track cuts through the coniferous woods: beautiful!

We have lunch at Belvedere restaurant in Berchidda: from here you can observe the pine forests and the dirt roads that await us in the afternoon to complete the 180km tour of the second day. We arrive, tired but happy, atSanta Reparata Farm House di Buddusò where again the goodness of dinner is in tandem with the abundance of portions (plan a couple of weeks of diet when you return).

Day 3

We leave early in the direction Praise. The route goes from the sliding dirt roads in the cork oaks to the more mountainous slopes of the slopes of Punta Ololvicae before and You squeak then. On a couple of occasions the maxi are separated from the mono to allow them to venture into some more technical passage. Then again all together in the deep and suggestive characteristic gullies of the Tepilora park. We arrive again (strangely) hungry at the farm Sas Petras Latas, with a beautiful panoramic terrace (it is useless to repeat the diet on return).

In the afternoon we still enjoy some technical ups and downs, before arriving at the track which gradually becomes smoother as it approaches the coast. And it is still the rain of the previous days that gives us fords and infinite pools: all inside, like happy children when their mother did not see us! We then deviate by a collapsed bridge towards theQuattro Lune hotel in Cala Liberotto. The third day is 130 km, a little less than usual but very intense, that's okay.

Day 4

The last day takes us back to the north, first along the coast on sandy slopes between pine forests and the sea (in full season it would obviously not be allowed, for this October is a perfect month to do it). And back to the mountains again, there Sardegna is this too! Challenging climbs but accessible to all: we leave the woods to conquer a fire-fighting lookout post from which the view, on the plain of siniscola, surrounded by mountains and sea, satisfies every effort. After the lunch break a St. Anne of Lodè, the maxis begin to show signs of subsidence: the group thus jumps the dirt pitfalls of the heights, opting for a beautiful stretch of asphalt where to have fun, cutting woods and small villages among uninhabited and suggestive lands that only Sardinia can offer. The mono instead enjoy the last toughest passages to get all together on the last dirt roads of the countryside that bring us back to Olbia. Even today 140 km of high-level motorcycles!

We take off again, happy, tired and smiling, but it won't be the last time. Denis Inclined (our correspondent off).

Photo by Denis Propenso and GSSS Curve & Tornanti