Our first day of bike touring. We departed earlyish to miss Ajaccio traffic. Ha! This tactic proved completely unsuccessful…the first hour on the bikes was a daunting drag along the sexily-named D81 – the only route out of town. Chockers with cars, minivans and trucks tearring about…throw in the mix the old roundabouts going opposite to the usual direction, adding to the challenge of it all. Look left!

We had to stop at industrial Ajaccio’s version of the greasy spoon so as to satisfy our  need for caffeine, and needless to say, the experience was unlike any other. The coffee required sugar. I’ll say no more.

Anyways, before too long we were out into the countryside and headed up, and up, and up (did I mention UP) for about, oh…an hour or two, or so. The mood and the will was strong, so no complaints were heard, and upon reaching the Chapel Saint Cyr in Appietto (a mighty 400 metres above sea-level) we stopped for some salty fare aquired from the Ajaccio markets the day prior. Mmmmmmm.