It's also the first time that I've taken my bike abroad and even though I had hired a great Polaris hard case bike box, I was still feeling a bit nervous seeing the baggage handlers at Bristol airport load it onto the plane.
I needn't have worried though as it arrived safely and after a short transfer to our hotel I was able to reassemble the bike in the luxurious basement bike garage at our accommodation in Puerto Pollensa. Having never been to Mallorca before I was somewhat prepared for the number of cyclists out and about, but even so the sheer number of people out riding was incredible. It as brilliant to see so many riders of all shapes and sizes eating up the miles on the marblelike roads. I've not mentioned that my Dad was joining me on the trip (as was my Mum and wife, both suffering cycling widows) and he was possibly more excited than me about the week's cycling that was planned.
It doesn't really get much better than cycling in warm weather, on quiet roads with fantastic views and Mallorca certainly delivered on all those fronts. Our first ride took us up in the far north-east of the island towards the Formentor Lighthouse, which became operational in 1863 and is now a popular destination for thousands of cyclists who take the winding road from Puerto Pollensa up to the headland. I was interested to read, after getting back from holiday, that the road was designed by the same engineer who built the Sa Calobra road (which I'll talk about in a bit). I'm not at all surprised because they both seemed to defy logic at times as the road clings to the edge of the cliffs. We had set out early in the morning to avoid any potential tourist cars, which was a success as we only saw about three, but we still had to contend with plenty of hungry goats that had a habit of wandering nonchalantly across the road whenever a tasty descent lay ahead. Despite the ruminant obstructions I was still able to enjoy the views back across the bays of Pollensa and Alcudia at the top of the first climb before we dropped down into a forest that had an incredible early morning fresh scent of pine that was a dream to ride through. The road ends at Cap de Formentor with the solar powered lighthouse also home to a rather pricey cafe, but again the views didn't disappoint and for the first ride of the holiday it left us with some big smiles and wondering how we could top such a great first day.
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The quality of routes never really let up all week, in fact it just got better and better with a gruelling but stunning ride down to Sa Calobra. I've read about this road being described as like someone throwing spaghetti against a cliff and that's pretty damn accurate, it's even got a 360 degree bend in it. It's the only road in and out of the small village at the bottom and it was a pretty relentless climb back up in the rising heat of the day. It didn't help that I ran out of water about 3/4 of the way up the climb. At least there was a cafe at the top to grab a coke in and the owner gives all the cyclists half an orange as well which was pretty awesome.
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My Dad introduced me to a great 3rd party program for Strava called Relive which lets you re-watch your rides from a flyover map that overlays your ride data and I've included the Sa Calobra ride below. It's a great add-on for Strava and we'll definitely be using it for the ride in September.
The week as a whole has really invigorated my cycling as a recent combination of being too busy and getting stuck in a rut of training has left me a bit low on ambition. I'm definitely topped up now though and with the summer nearly here in the UK, there's only just over 3 months until we leave to cycle across France. Our ferry is booked so there's no turning back now and there's no doubt in my mind that there's plenty of miles to get in the tank between now and the 9th September, but this short holiday has left me excited for the training ahead.
As a post-script to the holiday, which is equally exciting for me, my wife Emma has now decided that being a cycling widow is too much and she's decided to get a bike herself. She's thrown herself into the deep end straight away and has already bought a bike, and a load of clothing within 3 days of getting back so she's going full gas! It's pretty exciting for me and I'm really looking forward to spending some time together on the local routes to Bristol. Until then though, here's one more Relive video from Mallorca. This loop took us through some lovely small villages before an amazing climb up the Coll de sa Batalla, a 7.9km climb at an a average 5% gradient. Not too extreme but loads of hairpins, pine forests and stunning views - I could cycle this climb every day and never get bored I reckon. It included a short stop at Lluc Monastery which is located right in the middle of the Sierra de Tramuntana, a good place for a quick cortado before the ridiculously quick descent back to Pollensa and a swim in sea.
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