This was going to be the big day - the most we had ever climbed in one go - 1500m over 35k. The profile above tells it all - first a climb up to Ota, then drop down to the bottom of Spelungha gorge. Up again, a little shallower part to Evisa then no prisoners before the Col de Vergio (1467m).
We saw our first, of many, semi-wild pigs foraging in the gutter of the road. The usual coffee stop stop in Evisa turned into the usual lunch. A short stop before the top to have our peaches - the Stoker dropped one when taking the bag out (of course it was my fault for not tying the top of the bag) and suddenly a docile family of pigs woke up and ran squealing towards us to scoff it up off the floor. I thought my toes were going to be nibbled but it seemed they only wanted peaches. So the up took us 5 hours in total, including lunch. But we were pleased we had managed a steady, albeit slow, pace and hadn't felt the desperation of the lung exploding Cornwall/Devon steep gradients.
A screaming run down to the lake (avoiding the pigs), where we took the flatter option of the main road rather than Kevin's undulated on tracks on the right side. More wizzing down through a gorge with tight narrow bends. And finally a little up to Col d'Ominanda (654m) before the end run into Corte.
Quick wash out of cycling gear, then as I had broken two pairs of glasses in Nice, we went out to find a pharmacy to buy some reading glasses. Very friendly service. We wandered up into the old town under the citadel, and had a meal in the square by the cathedral. It looked like rain, but we got back to the hotel before it started. The others who went out for a meal later weren't so luck with the rain. It sounded like it rained intermittently throughout the night, but then since you only hear the rain whenever it wakes you up, it might nor have been raining when we were asleep.
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