Majorca



Wednesday 6th April to 13 April ... another fantastic trip in the sun drenched isle of Majorca,

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​Majorca 2011 by Martin Pingel



I think the Club had been to Majorca on 5 previous occasions and so, although I wanted to go again, I wasn’t sure if the club had grown tired of the place.   I was pleasantly surprised when the club approved the trip at the AGM and pleased at the final number of 15 participants, vindicating the decision.

My first trip to Majorca was to the NE corner of the island and then we’d had 2 years down in the SE which, although were very picturesque and beautiful places, were generally in the flattest areas of the island.  This time I decided we’d go to an area that Spokes had been to before and sample some of the mountainous terrain on offer.  Port Pollensa, which lies on the coast at the north end of the Tramontana range of mountains, was to be our base.

The Tramontana range of mountains runs the full length of the island along the NW coast and at its highest point, of almost 1500m, is higher than anything in the UK.   So I knew we were in for some interesting rides.



Unbelievably we all arrived on the Wednesday without any dramas despite arriving on three different flights from three different departure airports.  Well almost without drama as Martin Steer got a bit lost, with his policeman friend Isaac, in their hire car, and did a number of circuits of Port Pollensa before eventually finding our hotel.  Only damage was falling behind on the drinking quota but that was soon remedied!!

Hotel was what they call an aparthotel – we all had a one bedroom apartment, which could sleep 4, although generally each apartment was shared by 2.  Each apartment comprised a bathroom, kitchen/dining room and a balcony.  The apartments were in blocks three storeys high and arranged around the pool area and hotel complex which had a bar and restaurant.  It proved to be an ideal arrangement for us and the staff at the hotel couldn’t have been more helpful or cheerful.  They’d even set aside 2 empty apartments for us to keep our bikes in.

The bikes arrived the next day at 9am courtesy of Hannes and Velosport Majorca.  We all had lightweight road bikes equipped with top range Ultegra groupsets, triple chainsets and some very nice Mavic wheels.  Some had drop handle bars whilst others opted for straight bars – they were all up to the usual high standard and apart from a couple of punctures they all worked really well.



I’d pre-planned a number of rides of varying distances and severity before the event so it was just a matter of deciding which route we’d go on the night before.  Generally we would do a ride out into the flat lands one day and then go for a more mountainous route the next.

The routes were designed so that there were various options during the ride for cutting it short or extending it depending on how the day went or how you were feeling.  There was always the compulsory mid morning café stops and long relaxed lunches.  The emphasis was on flexibility and choice and I like to think that it went as well as could be expected when you consider there were 15 individuals all of different abilities.
Ports Pollensa was a really pretty place, lots of restaurants, with a lovely sea front and harbour.  The place had a nice buzz about it, but wasn’t rowdy and proved to be ideal if not idyllic.

As any of you will know the socialising part of a Spokes event is as important as the cycling, so eating out in the evening is a major part of the holiday.  There were so many different places to eat that you could probably dine out for a month and not go to the same place twice!  

I’d guess that eating out cost  was equivalent to UK prices, so not particularly cheap, although we did have one very good 3 course meal at the hotel for a mere 10 Euros.  Beer at the hotel was acceptable at around 3.50 Euros a pint so that kept most of us beer swilling blokes happy!



The riding – well most rode everyday and averaged around 50 miles for the six days we had the bikes but it varied quite a bit amongst the group.  Clare went off walking on one day and Carl could be seen jogging around the town at various times.

One particular ride down to a place called Sa Colobra caught the imagination of those who hadn’t done any mountain cycling before.  The descent, on a snake like road, was 9.5km and dropped 2200ft  to the coast .

Just before beginning our descent to Sa Colobra I looked at Judith, who was looking somewhat anxious and I offered her a way out by asking if she’d like to wait at the top for us to go down and return.  Her reply typified the spirit of the group “get lost” she said “I’m going to enjoy the razz down even if I’ve gotta walk all the way back up”!!

We all whizzed (or razzed as Judith would have it!) down enjoying the speed and arriving at the bottom after what seemed like an age of descending.  As we congregated at the bottom we looked at each other with that “what the hell have we done” look on our faces in the knowledge that there was only one way out of this place – and that was UP!!!

After some serious carbo loading (I’m sure Dave had a pint!!) we set off at exactly the wrong time of the day!!  The roads had gone eerily quiet as the sensible cyclists were having a siesta whilst us Brits decided to torture ourselves back up 9.5km and 2200ft in what was like a furnace, blistering heat and not a breath of wind!

Martin Steer went off like Alberto Contador being chased by the drug control and wasn’t seen until the top!  Others went up at a more leisurely pace trying not to overheat or blow up!  It was certainly an epic climb and one which gave those that hadn’t done anything like it before both a sense of elation and the realisation that they could do more than they originally believed.   Finally we all cruised 14km downhill to Port Pollensa with that lovely serene feeling of contentment.

Martin Steer liked it so much he went back the next day and did it all over again – on his own much to his disgust at me chickening out at the 11th hour – sorry Martin.

Another highlight was a “very” relaxed lunch in a place called Petra, a small town out in the flatlands.  The town square was completely packed out with bikes and every café was buzzing with cyclists.  Our lunch turned out to be a little longer than bargained for at 1½ hrs, but what the hell, we were on holiday, it was a gloriously hot day and what better way to pass a couple of hours than watch good looking young girls (and guys) in Lycra whilst sipping cold drinks.  Dave Smith particularly enjoyed this lunch!!

On our final day we decided to do a shorter ride but one that offered some spectacular scenery and interesting roads.  It was the road out to the lighthouse at Cap de Formentor and at only a 40km ride it didn’t disappoint.  The road was one of the most interesting I’ve ridden on, in that although you knew generally the direction you were going the road twisted and turned this way and that way, doubling back on itself, rounding bluffs with vertical cliffs dropping straight into the sea 1000ft below  and even going through a tunnel.  Amazing route and as you can imagine packed with cyclists.

So the six days of cycling came to an end far too quickly for most.  The weather had been perfect all week and contributed to making the whole trip one of the best Majorcan holidays I’ve had.

The final meal included the usual after dinner skills of Glen who has a very relaxed and humorous way of delivering a speech – brilliant.  I’d like to thank everyone for buying me a rather nice bottle of whiskey (all gone now) for going on holiday with them!

Those on the trip were Dave Smith, Justin Mackie, Julie Williams, Rosemary Williams, Glen Dermody, Clare Johnson, Rachel Jones, Graham  Davies, Martin Steer, Isaac van den Hoff, Denise and Gareth Thomas, Carl Colwill, Judith and me.

I’ve organised this one for the last two years so the question is would I do it again if accepted by Spokes?   Well given the way it all worked out and particularly the great atmosphere that existed amongst the group – yes, I would as it was a pleasure being around friends in such a beautiful setting having fun.

See you next year?