Col d'Arbitro
This little pass is not marked on any map I have seen. But a
sign points to it in Pont de Castirla. The Michelin 1:150000
map refers to it as Croce d'Arbitro - and yes there is a
cross on top.
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1.(280m,km00.0)
START-END SOUTH: jct N193 - D84, north of Corte
2.(350m,06.0km) Ponte Castirla: profile turns right
from D84 onto D18
3.(650m,12.3km) TOP: Col d'Arbitro
4.(225m,22.8km)START-END NORTH: jct N193 - D84, south
of Ponte Leccia
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 Approaches
From South. This is one of those roads
that just seem like the perfect bike path, but you have to
expect a car behind every corner, because if you don't - that
will just be the corner that has a car behind it. In a
conversation the night before I asked the woman whose room I
rented, if driving on these roads is not very difficult. She
answered: "it really develops your reflexes". I think
the same can be said for biking. 99.999 percent it is so
peaceful you could smoke a peace pipe. But those .0001 percent
really develop your reflexes.
After beginnning the never ending sinusoidal meanderings upwards
through the forest, the first clearing shows off a small
stone arch bridge, in the background the Aigles de Popolasca, a
comb shaped limestone ridge that crests above everything like a
coin stuck in the ground.
After a while the meanderings end at a T. The intersection turns
out to be the top. Actually 4 roads meet at the pass. One goes
higher, but according to the map dead ends. The other two lead
to points north and south on busy N193. A high snow covered
ridge to the north makes a great background for telephoto
pictures.
From North. The two separate ways
to get N193 are very practical, since riding on N193 is not a
pleasant experience, and this makes a great alternative. My
route lead north, so I took D18 through Poplasca. The surprise
on this route was the village by this name, with the old
decaying church steeple apparently competing with the aguiles
above in pointing the way up.
A Day on a Tour with this point as Intermediate
Summit is on page: Col de
Bigorno
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