INZAIN Cycling Adventures

Mallorca – Spring – Road cycling?

No, not at all, Mallorca has many awesome dirt roads to discover, and we did!

But all from the beginning. Originally we were 26 people who were going to Alaró, a small village at the foot of Orient. We have done this for several years, we live fantastically in our own mansion with a pool, yoga room, own wine cellar and a wonderful garden. Our hostess pampers us, we ride bikes, eat well and enjoy life with wine tastings and tapas in addition to all the awesome tours.

This year there were seven of us, so Can Fressa's now 1,100 square meter living space was sparsely inhabited, to say the least.

When everyone has gathered and done their check-out ride, we meet our Guide, Martin for the first gravel round. Mixed asphalt, nice gravel road and then some sections with single track. It's Mallorca, so of course we gained some altitude as well. Luckily, he had time for both lunch and coffee on the roughly 73km and 730m. The worst hill had a 20% slope, so even if the number of meters is not scary, it still stings, when most of it is quite steep. Good training.

The temperature rises, and it's like a hot summer day, it feels magical to take off your winter clothes, ride a bike with bare legs and arms. Martin takes good care of us, even helps when one of us gets punked (Guess slang or TL 🙂 ).

We have jointly decided that we eat in our bubble, we have the whole house to ourselves, so we cook ourselves, or order food that is delivered directly to the house. A nice way to socialize

The next day, we decide to take Dan up on ses Rote's offer to come to their place after the bike ride, try their own wines, look at their awesome horses and eat some cheese. Very nice and educational about how wine is made and the taste is designed, we also got orange wine, something that was new to me. Dan and his Swedish wife Ellie have lived in Mallorca for a number of years to give their daughters the best possible upbringing, wise choice.

The next day we decide to try a gravel ride given to us by Dan, but on our own. It turns out to be an incredibly nice trip with a large proportion of gravel and lovely roads.

Dusty roads, avenues and old riverbeds mix with cool groves and small hills. The miles roll by easily and for me this turns out to be one of my best days on the island.

The trip will be about 10 miles and 850 meters in height. We have time for lunch and coffee.

In the evening, Hot Zucchini stew is prepared and I introduce the gang to the glorious game liar, or lur as it is called at LiTH and KTH. Oddly enough, I also win :).

The wine that Helga, our hostess, conjures up from Sa Portassa, our own wine cellar is actually top class, we have a rudely good time here on the paradise island.

Mallorca also has asphalt and now is the time to try such a trip. We have decided to cycle Lluc hill or col de Batalla and then on to Puerto Pollenca, for lunch and then home via smaller back roads that I scouted on another occasion. The climb up to "Tankstette", the place at the top, is a favorite, nice serpentines and some shade paired with a great view and then a "false flat" after 2/3 so you can rest for a minute.

Soon it will be a great downhill to Pollenca via col de Femenia, but first a coffee and a few small hills to the top. This descent is really fun with nice switchbacks and real views, then a long slog to Puerto Pollenca, for a better lunch by the sea.

For me, however, the best part begins with the day now, following these small roads that Mallorca is full of, no cars, endless stone-walled courtyards, flower scents and pure enjoyment.

In the evening, we get lightly grilled tuna with chili salads of various kinds and then crème brulé, life could be worse.

Parc de Llevant

In the North-East of Mallorca is the Llevant National Park, it is a completely new part for me and I was excited to see what it could offer. We had created a route starting at the park's parking lot and arranged to transport us and our bikes there. It's a bit chilly in the air but the first climb solves the heat. Then our journey towards the sea begins. It's probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen from a bicycle saddle.
We all lost our breath a little.

Many parts down were quite steep and those with narrow tires sometimes chose to go down, I had my 52mm MTB tires and found grip. The road winds down but all the time we see the sea and the mountains in front of us.

Once down on the beach, we wish we had brought a small lunch bag with us, but we take in the sound and the views before the arduous journey back begins.

There are a lot of tough sections with technical gravel and also some steep sections, mostly 22%. My garmin Climb Pro function picked up a color I have not seen before, black! But we got up. It took about three hours for 18km, something of a record in itself. Being able to roll down to Arta on tarmac was quite nice, as was a pasta lunch in the square.

The next part of the trip will be down to Manacor and we chose to try Vias Verde, an old railway embankment of three miles that has been converted into a dirt road, all the stations are still there and the whole thing is quite fun and a bit odd because it is so modern. Why were the rails removed? At least it was lucky for us.

When we arrived at Manacor we felt that was enough for today, and conveniently enough there are trains in Mallorca. Of course, bicycles are welcome, it is a civilized country after all...

In the evening, Helga has arranged wine tasting and Tapas, fantastically nice and delicious. I myself was taught that you should perhaps use the spittoon sometimes, there were many glasses of wine. We also came to the conclusion that we need gang names, so Shiny Rider, Shady Riser, Slack Blatter, Dark Klingon, Ghost Rider and best of all Dirk Diggler were born.

On the final day, some chose a mountain ride with col de Soller and Puig Major (aka Piggen) while others took a gentler gravel ride on the flat, before it was time to pack up the bikes, clean out the fridge and start looking forward to the next trip here, as luck would have it will already be in October, then we will also take the opportunity to test Gravel on Menorca and Martin has some new surprises, don't miss it.