This was a great days cycling. The climbs were just as long ,but we’d got a kind of “grind it out” rhythm going. We’d also seen two other groups of cycle tourers following the same route, a German quartet and a Swiss couple. We definitely weren’t in competition, oh no, perish the thought, but a certain motivation to keep going and not be overtaken seemed to have crept into our ascending.

The difference today was that the descents were longer and straighter,meaning it was easier to let the bikes go and make the most of the reward after the climb-on one stretch I freewheeled for over three miles

A practical problem we faced was making sure we had enough food and crucially, water. We would typically get through three litres each before lunch, and Sardinia was no different to other places in its lack of places to get even the most basic of supplies once out on the road.

We had seen the tiny village of Santa Caterina di Pittinuri on the map-twenty miles in, it was at todays halfway point and we hoped we might find at least a water fountain . What we didn’t expect was to stumble into what looked like the set for a Gina Lollobrigida film

Tucked away down a little track was a stunning cove. A couple of fishing boats bobbed on the waves and someone tanned and slim was paddle boarding languidly across the bay. The short stony beach was sprinkled with a few umbrellas and a couple of IMIS (see yesterday!) were unloading a small boat onto the slipway .

The sea and the sky seemed to merge in an unbroken palette of deep blue with only the reflected sunlight flashing on the waves to mark one from the other

Facing the beach were some haphazardly placed plastic tables and chairs . The smell of garlic and herbs was drifting out of the small restaurant and the low chatter was punctuated by the noise of a wine bottle in ice bucket. A man emerged from the sea and playfully shook water onto his wife -although what she probably actually said was “don’t bloody get me bloody wet you bloody idiot” it (of course) all sounded so much better in Italian.

Fearing for our progress if we’d followed the crowd and fuelled up on grilled freshly caught lobster washed down with a crisp dry white, we had something more carby (and boring) to eat and reluctantly pressed on.

The next twenty miles saw us pedalling into Camping Spinnaker at Torregrande -this turned out to be a superb location,a minute from the sea and an ideal place to have a rest day the following day . The campsite was rammed, and ticked all the boxes, including a full programme of Europop karaoke. A particular favourite was the classic “ uno,due,tre….quattro” sang (ie shouted) to the tune of ….well no tune at all. Nor were there any other lyrics. Sadly it became my uphill cycling earworm and took days to purge from my memory!

I had my first swim in the Med here (glam) and also cleaned and checked and fettled with my bike in the outdoor showers (not glam).

Our next days cycling was therefore Wednesday ,heading inland (and away from the mountains ) for the spa town of Sardera.