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A weeklong tour in the Disneyland of cycling - Mallorca On a recent trip to Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean I rediscovered why this is by far the best place to ride a bike in Europe. The island offers a unique combination of very quiet, narrow back roads, extremely beautiful scenery in the Tramuntana mountains with rugged peaks of up to 5000ft and sheer drops to the ocean. The island is full of history and has quite a story to tell. Romans, Pirates, Arabs and for the last couple of centuries the Spanish have left their mark here. My trip started in Palma de Mallorca, which is the gateway to the island. I spent a few days roaming the old city with its narrow pathways and alleys and it is easy to get lost in this wonderful world of small shops, intriguing architecture and stone walls. Eventually though you get drawn to the cathedral, La Seu, or the Cathedral of Light. You will be quick to find out that it is Spain’s second largest cathedral and it took 300 years to build it. What makes it really special though are the unique effects of light created by sunlight filtered through colourful stained glass windows. It creates amazing, rainbow like and ever changing light effects on walls and pillars, a stark contrast to the otherwise dark interior. Eventually though it was time to get out of the city. We were here to discover the islands beautiful interior and mountains by road bike. The first 2 days we were based in a typical Finca, an old farmhouse turned small hotel, near the town of Esporles, in the foothills of the Sierra Tramuntana. Since we had arrived from North America only 2 days earlier we started with an easy short day and climbed up to the village of Valdemossa. It’s claim to fame is the Cartuja, an old monastery, in which Fredric Chopain spent a year with his partner George Sand. She describes their stay on the Island vividly in the book “Winter on Majorca”. We spent a bit of time roaming the cobble stone streets and then had a coffee on the plaza in front of the monastery. Here it was, that we discovered that coffee is something else here on Mallorca. As drip coffee is unknown, they use espresso machines even for normal coffee. A café con leche is heavenly, and I am not even a coffee aficionado. We ended the day with an inspiring decent on winding roads back to Esporlas. For our second day we had planned the biggest ride of the trip. The theory was that we could do this aspiring ride over and across the Southern Sierra Tramuntana and it’s 5 Cols (passes) only with fresh legs and not at the end of our stay. So we set out early and finished the Coll de Esporlas and the climb to Galilea early in the day. The roads were inspiring to ride, narrow, winding and endless switchbacks. As a result the grades were very moderate and the downhills very exhilarating. In Capdella we had a welcome delay by a bike race. Roads were closed for a seniors race and we were able to witness how deeply cycling is part of Spanish culture. Once we made it over the Coll de Gremola we got to enjoy the most scenic stretch of the day. The road hugs steep mountains on one side and cliffs fall away to the sea on the other. Every corner promises new dramatic sights. In Banyalbufar we fuelled up on caffeine and pizza to energize for the last climb of the day, the long ascent over the Col de Claret. From there it was not to long to the artists village of Deia. From our fantastic hotel, La Residencia (listed in “100 places to stay in a lifetime”, we enjoyed great views of the ancient village on the hillside and the dark blue Mediterranean below. A tapa feast in a rustic Bodega capped this amazing day. For our third day our plan was to ride through the Northern Sierra. We left in glorious sunshine and enjoyed a fast, winding descent to the mountain ringed harbor of Porto Soller. A short climb took us to the lighthouse to gorge on the aerial view of the lighthouse. Then the first of two substantial climbs of the day awaited. The 30 switchbacks of the Coll de Soller reminded us, that we had left a lot of strength on the roads yesterday. But by the time we started descending all the hard work was forgotten. As I cruised downward from switchback to switchback, I had to think, that if Disney had to invent a road bike ride, they would copy the roads of Mallorca and it’s Colls. In Bunyola we had a hard time finding the miniscule turnoff for the mountain road to Orient. The turnoff looked tiny like someone’s driveway. As a result there was no traffic at all on this one lane road take took us deep into the mountains and over the tough climb of Coll de Horno. On the other side we found another inspiring cruise down to Orient, where we had more coffees and pizzas. By the time we left, dark clouds were billowing up behind the towering table mountains of the Sierra Tramuntana. Luckily our road turned away from the clouds and we outraced the rain on our decent to Alaro. From here it was a fast ride and a tight race with the rain clouds to our Finca at Monnaber. The next morning loomed dark and grey. Luckily this was supposed to be our rest day. Rest day means no climbing but some fast and easy riding into the interior of the island. Every Wednesday they have a market in Sineu in the center of the island. You can buy everything from donkeys to silver ware, and it is quite the scene to observe the colourful event in the narrow walkways and on the plazas around the old church. Tourist crowds take away a bit from the experience, but with a little imagination it is easy to see yourself in a medieval market place. We had gotten wet on our way here and warmed our inner beings with some bratwurst and you guessed it, coffees. As we left Sineu some of us decided to take the long way to our next hotel and climb up to the Monastery at Bonany. Just as we made it to the top the sun started to make a comeback and we enjoyed some sweeping views in all directions from this hilltop in the center of Majorca. In the morning the weather did not look promising but our “local” forecaster had promised no more rain for the day. So we headed out for an in-and-out ride to the lighthouse at Cap Formentor. The road to the lighthouse passes some incredibly rugged cliffs and can easily be counted among the most scenic roads world wide. Just as we startet the first climb some of the blackest cloudes I have ever seen appeared in front of us. Turning around was an easy decision and we raced back to Porto Pollenca. Just as we had selected our seats in a small cafeteria the heavy downpour began and lasted 2 or 3 café con leches… As quickly as it had started the sun came out again and we started our second attempt for Formentor. We had just topped out on the first climbed and enjoyed the incredible views from the Mirador de la Nao as more dark clouds appeared. Not ready to give in we decided to keep going and descended deeper into the Peninsula. We were near famous Hotel Formentor when the next downpour started and we raced for the entrance. This hotel was a meeting place for political prominence before World War 2 and a gathering place for movie stars after. While waiting out the rain, we found out who had stayed here in it's colorful past. The more notable persons were Winston Churchill and the “who is who” of post war Hollywood. We had lots of time to find out as the rains got more and more intense. Looking out of the window the usually brown and parched hills reminded me of the rainforests around my hometown in the Pacific Northwest. The low clouds and mist rising out of the forests told me that today we would not escape the rain. We waited and had more coffees and lots of time to share stories. Eventually the rains got a bit softer and it looked a bit lighter and some of us decided to make a run for our hotel before going crazy on caffeine. Our spirits got lifted by a driver who told us, it did not rain on the other side of the mountain. Thankfully we had to start with a climb so we warmed up soon and did make it to the hotel eventually, very wet, but warm. And the driver was right. – it stopped raining about 100 yards from our hotel and we were rewarded with an incredible rainbow over the Bay of Alcudia. The next morning we awoke to a howling wind and some of us were in no mood to get wet again. So it took some persuasion to convince the crew, that the wind was going to blow all the clouds away. This time I did the forecasting myself, and much to my relief I was right at the end of the day. We did get to see Cap Formentor from it’s very best side and had a spectacular day in the saddle. Our last day of riding took us into the mountains again. One last time we mustered all strength to cross the Northern Sierra. A fast ride with a strong tailwind led us on small country lanes into the foothills, then we ascended Coll de Sa Bataia. We enjoyed fantastic views into some of Majorca’s wild canyons. Those who were tired from the climb headed straight down to the monastery at Lluc for a hearty lunch. The rest of us kept climbing for a bit and then descended on a wild road into the canyon at Sa Calobra. This road is the Majorquin road builders master show piece. In over 40 switchbacks the road drops 2400ft over 7 miles down to the ocean. The downhill was heavenly, the uphill on our way back equalled slaying a dragon. This climb used to be one of Lance Armstrongs and other cycling greats spring training rides and it is now a measuring stick for cyclists from all over Europe. With elation I topped out after 45 minutes and then enjoyed the fast descent back to Pollenca past the strangest rock formations. You guessed it, another coffee at the plaza at the base of the 365 stairs up Calvary Hill provided the fuel for the last miles back to our beach hotel. The satisfaction of a great week of cycling settled in and I was ready to pack in the cycling stuff for the season. Back in the wet Northwest winter was waiting but I had enough great cycling memories and screen saver shots to get me through till next spring. This trip can be booked as described with Rocky Mountain Cycle Tours. www.rockymountaincycle.com 1-800-661 Bike(2453) Bicycle tours in the Canadian Rockies, Banff, Spain, Germany and world wide
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