Mallorca - seems a nice place, clean and pretty (muy bonita) at this time of year. Rides into the countryside reveal orange and lemon groves in fruit and almond blossom on the trees. The views over the coast are beautiful and hidden valleys reveal terraced fields and orchards.
Mallorca seems to be a cycling mecca with a lot of pro teams training at
this time of the year. We have watched some of the Vuelta de Mallorca which is a pro warm up race but the competitors pass through so quickly that I am not sure if it is a viable spectator sport - others will probably differ on this point.
I have done some big rides - yesterday´s to the mountain at soller was a
75 mile epic (for me) with a ride to the top of an 700 metre rise up through 30 hairpin bends and then down again with similar obstacles but at speed. Today, I went for some sollitude with a 60 mile coastal ride which was all in the moutains with some killing climbs. The roads are very good and drivers are extremely considerate, unlike the uk.
I have had a few technical failures with a rear mech gear cable seizing up
- luckily there is no shortage team mechanics but I had to bike for a whole
afternoon on only 2 gears which was more arduous than the usual 18! and yesterday a chainlink fell apart and we had to take it out and rejoin the chain - but all was well and I have learnt how to repair those parts for future reference. Chris was my saviour and admits to a misspent youth unpicking bike parts - thanks Chris
The hotel is fine, but quite plain. The main occupants are a succession of
german coach trips. We have had a couple of evenings in the hotel and have been treated to bingo and a quiz night - this confirmed stereotypes for both english and germans and england came second at the quiz which was predictable I suppose.
Well, that is all for now and I am looking forward to getting home tomorrow and resting my muscles - so that I can get out on Saturday. Most of all a big thankyou to Monty for his flexible planning and encouragement.
