Day 1 from my cycling trip in Mallorca, Spain. Incredibly fun day, 75 miles of riding through countrysides, old towns, and ocean views. To say Mallorca is a cycling Mecca would be an understatement. Must be 20K bikers here from professionals to weekend warriors and families. Stopped for lunch in a small town and there must have been 500 people and a few million dollars worth of bikes. No idea where we are going tomorrow but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun!
Cycling Day 2 in Mallorca did not disappoint! 60 miles. Two climbs including Sa Colabra - 10K, 7% grade, 26 hairpin turns. 6,000 feet of climbing. So we climb Coll del Reis, descend Sa Colabra to the ocean, and then flip it and come home. I'm a pretty good climber, descending those hairpin turns, not so much!
Cycling in Mallorca - Day 2 - Part 2
Halfway up the big hill, some guy takes thousands of pictures every day hoping some tourist will buy a photo to commemorate their epic vacation. Scrolling through hundreds of photos to find mine I notice a common theme. Top-end expensive bikes; disk brakes, electronic shifting. Expensive helmets, sunglasses, shoes. Matching kits including vests and socks. And then, $2 mismatched water bottles, multiple years old, probably a trophy from a long-ago race or possibly found somewhere along the way. Calling all entrepreneurs - there has to be a niche market for high-margin, color-coordinated water bottles!
Mallorca Cycling - Day 3. One coffee, one coke, and two pastries. Today was 70 miles of mostly flat countryside roads. When I say roads, I mostly mean farm routes that are 10 feet wide, cyclists riding two wide, cars coming from both directions and I’m pedaling around blind corners at 20-25mph. Slightly outside my comfort zone. A couple of us decided to leave the guides and add on a few extra miles. Patrick loaded up a route on his bike computer; “go straight onto unnamed road. In 200 meters turn left onto an unnamed road. In 2 kilometers take the second exit onto route to [insert name of town here]. “ There are no named roads on this entire island that I am aware of! At lunch, I saw some guy delivering an Amazon package. I am confident they are allocated hazard pay to locate businesses and residential addresses!
Mallorca Cycling Day 4 -
You may be shocked to find out that I went for a ride, stopped for coffee, rode some more, then stopped for coffee and cake before heading home. 
.
. Mallorca has been an incredibly fun place to hang out for a week and ride a bike.
Not sure there are any big cities but there are plenty of small towns and today we rode through a lot of them.
Today’s ride was around 85 miles and 4,300 feet of climbing. Not too bad for one day, but lots for the week so far; about 300 miles, 17 hours, and averaging 210-220W, which is a pretty good effort for an old guy like me!
I’ve been told the best cake shop in Mallorca is in Santa Maria so we rode 40 miles out to see if that was true. It was! This whole European thing about riding around, stopping for a coffee, then stopping an hour or two later for a coffee and pastry or cake really needs to come to the States. I’d ride outside every weekend if I could recreate this experience.
Still have fun riding my bike and getting better every time. Today’s lessons on pace lines were awesome. I need a bunch of people out in CA to ride with me and yell every time I make a mistake. I’ll be a pro in no time!
Our little town is a huge Bradley Wiggins town. One bike shop had a whole wall of photos of him. Tonight’s restaurant had his record-setting TT bike hanging up in the restaurant. Very cool!
Tomorrow is a rest day - and it’s supposed to rain all day, so back at it again on Friday!
Mallorca Cycling - Day 5. Rest day today in preparation for a big final push tomorrow. Wandered through town to see the sites with all my newfound internet friends and off to dinner at a fun local restaurant. The great thing about going to dinner with someone who has been to Mallorca on this trip 10 times is that you get to wear Roman armor. Thanks, Scott Alexander for the invite!
Mallorca Cycling - Day 5.
Well, that’s a wrap - the long last ride for the week was a great way to finish up.
105 miles with enough hills to make me officially tired by the end.
Halfway up one of the first climbs, I managed to snap my chain for the first time in my life. Luckily the coffee shop was at the bottom so I just coasted down and with the help of two teammates, they managed to get me rolling again. Forever grateful! My first purchase, after a new chain, is a chain tool, which I’ll probably never need again, but it will provide peace of mind until the end of time!
Summary
Day 1 - 73 miles - 1800 ft - 216W - 3:47 hours
Day 2 - 60 miles - 6100 ft - 217W - 4:07 hours
Day 3 - 73 miles - 1900 ft - 207W - 3:55 hours
Day 4 - 86 miles - 4100 ft - 222W - 5:01 hours
Day 5 - 106 miles - 3900 ft - 209W - 5:45 hours
Pretty good week for me!
Ended the day with a fun pizza dinner and then off to the local pub for a final drink and a chance to say goodbye to newfound friends and the awesome tour guides who all made this so much fun.
Hope to be back again!
