Golgo - Cala Sisine

Wonderful mtb excursion in the rugged territory of Baunei.

We start from the Goloritzè Cooperative that served as our base camp, located on the Golgo plateau about 10 km from Baunei. We gently begin to climb westward up the Bacu Dolcolce, which initially has slight ups and downs and then ascends via a dirt road to the ss125 at Genna Salmene.

From here proceed along the Dorgali-Baunei asphalt road all the way to the entrance of the long Margine dirt road. The detour to the right is located at km 170 of the ss125.

The dirt road continues to climb, alternating short rips with fun ups and downs; we skirt a couple of springs, sometimes dry depending on the season, the entrance to the well-known Rifugio/Ovile Carta of the legendary Giampiero until we arrive at the highest point of the entire tour, exactly 930 meters above sea level.

On the right the splendid panorama of Bacu Errittili heralds us the beginning of a very enjoyable descent with gravelly hairpin bends at the end of which we arrive, exactly at km 28.6 at a crossroads: on the left we continue to Codula Luna, on the right we turn for Cala Sisine.

From here the surface changes decisively: forget the comfortable dirt roads and get to know live the paths of limestone pebbles typical of the Supramonte of Baunei. Here the rocks ring as our "fat" wheels pass, and the pedaling becomes slower, more technical and strenuous. The ride times get longer and if you find a sunny day the fatigue grows out of all proportion.

Shortly after, you arrive at the splendid sheepfold of Irove Longu, one of the most beautiful pinnacles of the Supramonte, thanks in part to the view that begins to peep out toward the sea of the Gulf of Orosei to the south.

Here begins the most fun phase of the entire hike: entering a forest of arbutus and cistus plants, we start an incredible downhill single track that in about 1.5 km leads to lose altitude for about 300 meters!

Coming out of the woods the view is nothing short of exceptional.... You find yourself in a path overlooking the sea and gives incredible views. Just enough time for some obligatory souvenir photos that we continue down steep and technical hairpin bends (those who don't feel up to it do them on foot) until we reach Cala Sisine for a well-deserved stop and a possible refreshing swim. We are at elevation 0 and to get to the arrival point we have 15 km and about 400 meters of ascent left. In fact, the final stage, while magnificent from a naturalistic point of view, going up along the Codula Sisine, has a couple of tears on cobblestones that exceed 15% gradient and that make themselves felt, also considering the distance already covered. The final stage presents countless ups and downs until returning after 53 km to the Golgo plateau.

Before returning to the Goloritzè Cooperative I recommend a visit to the beautiful little country church of San Pietro and its ancient cumbessìas and the splendid natural monument of Su Sterru, a karst chasm about 270 meters deep.

Some info:

1)definitely poor phone signal in 90% of the tour

2)if you decide to undertake the route in the hot weather, evaluate well the amount of water to take with you.