Every two months I write about my favourite ride. It’s my way of re-living the best routes I’ve been on and I hope you might enjoy it too (both virtually or literally!). If I have the Strava route, I’ll pop in a link - otherwise, please take the description as a general guide of the route!
Mallorca, Mallorca - it’s so glorious, I had to say it twice.
Where do I begin? I guess at the start of what has become a great love for a wonderful island.
I touched down in lovely Mallorca for the first time in May 2019. You know that lovely feeling when the plane doors open and you breathe in warm "holiday" air? Yup. That. And the feeling that you have a week of cycling in warm weather on beautiful roads with gorgeous scenery ahead of you. Some of my pals were doing the Mallorca 312, but the rest of us happily toured around seeing the sites. Drinking too much coffee. Enjoying delicious local foods. Cycling furiously. Drinking the very tasty Mallorcan wines. Time passed too fast and it was time to return home but my head was already full of plans to revisit in 2020.
We had booked flights and our hotel and were ready to head off in May 2020 but Covid came along earlier that year and put an end to any plans for travelling abroad that year at all. So, we cycled at home and appreciated how much having a sport like this during Covid times really kept us all together as a group of friends.
Finally, in 2021, it was confirmed - it was time to venture to Mallorca again. Three of us landed in to lovely Palma and headed for Pollensa for a wonderful week of cycling all over the island - from the gorgeous road out to Cap de Formentor lighthouse, to the inland by roads near Inca, on to climb some of the Cols on the island (Coll deis Reis being a personal favourite on the way to Sa Calobra) to enjoying tasty fresh seafood at a favourite restaurant by the coast near Son Serra de Marina. When the road cycling ended, two of us ventured back to Palma to train at the indoor velodrome for a few days with our own private coach - excitement and fear levels were high but we had a lovely time. I’d highly recommend checking it out if you can!
Roll on 2022 and we were heading back to Mallorca again.
This time with a big gang of pals. Some of us went out early and had a few days cycling in the velodrome again. Some arrived a few days later. We spent some magnificent days climbing the hills in new parts of the island. Discovering new roads we hadn't cycled before. New tiny coffee shops in tiny towns with such lovely locals who would chat away to us as if we were old friends. At the end of the day we would gather in a nearby bike shop/bar to watch the Giro on a big screen and cheer and toast the amazing riders on the screens and talk about cycling some more. But holidays do come to an end like all good things and we packed up our bikes and bags and headed for home. Whilst secretly planning the next trip back to our favourite island......
Oh hi 2023.
We think we might just visit Mallorca again! This time with a little twist. Not only were we going back to do a ferocious amount of road cycling, but this time, we got to work with an amazing local photographer and model, and our latest line of women's cycling clothing was photographed in some beautiful locations for our wonderful new website. Thanks to a friend who is fairly awesome with Google maps, we discovered more new terrain on the island and even when you get lost, you'll never be too far off the beaten track. 12 days flew past and again, we were packing our (excessively large) suitcases and saying goodbye to some new friends that we had made during the trip.
Holidays to Mallorca (and other iconic cycling destinations) with your cycling friends are very special. Travelling together on planes and out biking, you form tight friendships because you are nearly living in each others pockets all day every day. You look out for your friends on and off the road. You help each other with punctures and mechanicals. You eat and drink together. You hang out on the beach for a swim together after cycling all day together. You read each other's books when you've finished your own. You try each other's fancy cocktails that you ordered and had no idea what they were going to be like. We've celebrated milestone birthdays in beautiful restaurants. All together. And I'm happy to say that we'll be going back next year to the beautiful island that is Mallorca.......
If you’d like to plan your own trip to Mallorca, I’m more than happy to share my details - drop me a message here and I’d be happy to help.
