Spanish Holiday: Day 4

Day 4 : Cycling Mallorca 

Woke this morning with sore legs, but a positive attitude.  The temperatures here in the mountains had moderated making riding much more comfortable.  

Getting ready to set out in the morning

We reviewed the days climbs and decided  to use the shuttle for the last 6 miles of the morning ride.  I do believe that I have finally matured, realizing that there is no shame in the shuttle.  The final 6 miles included 2 hills, one of which was a massive 800 foot climb over a little more than a mile, and the other a 500 foot climb over the same distance.  The 4 climbs that we did do totalled to around 2500 feet which we thought was pretty respectable. The descents were almost as exhausting but much better than yesterday's.

The ride took us along the coast rode ( not exactly on the coast, more like 1000 feet above the coast) following the northwestern coast of the island with stunning views. It reminded us of riding in Corsica.

 The sea breezes were wonderful with the temperature dropping about ten degrees at times.  Very refreshing. 

During the Moorish occupation, the Moors built a series of 60 watchtowers across the island, used as signal towers for protection from invaders.  We stopped at one of the best preserved towers that was at the zenith of one of our harder climbs.  

The next climb ended at a coffee shop that hung out on a cliff overlooking the Med.  The water was an amazing shade of blue and so clear that from our 1000 foot vantage point we could see the seabed quite distinctly.

After returning to the hotel and  much needed showers (even Jeri was sweating), we walked into the town of Valldemossa. It is a cute, Mediterranean hill town, whose two most famous residents were Fredric Chopin and George Sands.  It now is home to a slew of restaurants and shops.  

We had an early dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant with a great view of the valley below. We followed this with gelato (missed 2 days, will have to catch up :)) and a downhill walk to the hotel.  

Even got to Facetime with Gabby for her 5 month birthday.

Tomorrow may be the hardest day yet with a  34 mile ride with 4300 feet of elevation gain!  Shuttle may get a work out.

Spanish Holiday: Day 3

 Day 3: Cycling Mallorca

We woke today to a threat of thundershowers, but much cooler temps (mid 80°s),  

The morning ride without the heat (and only a few sprinkles) was beautiful, but the hills were exhausting; the final climb was about 1,000 feet in only 4 miles.  To add to the difficulty of the climb to our lunch spot, we had to climb another 200 feet on a very narrow road/path with very sharp switchbacks and  7%-11% grades. The scenery along the route, though, was pretty spectacular, riding through groves of olives, almonds, a figs, past old windmills, and terraced farms (a technique introduced by the Moors when they occupied Spain).

After a well deserved lunch we started back out on the road for another ride to our hotel for the next 2 nights. The ride started with yet another climb with multiple switchbacks (code for STEEP) followed by an 8 mile descent with what seemed to be 100 hairpin turns.  Riding down was almost as tiring as riding up!

The last 4 miles of the afternoon ride were straight up and with the sun back out and the humidity  up again, Jeri was bordering on heat exhaustion (and I was bordering on plain old exhaustion) and I convinced her that there was no shame in not completing the ride. We were going to have  one of the guides, Selu, drive us to the hotel, but the van he had didn't accommodate the tandem.  So, instead of having them have to bring another vehicle, I suggested that perhaps Carlos, our guide, may want to ride it back with me.  He had never been on a tandem and thought it might be fun.  He found out that it was a lot more work than it looked.  We climbed the 4 mile hill with some exertion, and then turned into the road to the hotel.  All these hotels are situated at the top of mountains and the Valldemossa is no exception.  We started climbing and got about 3/4 of the way up, and my body gave out.  I decided to abort the mission and get a ride up the rest of the way.  Carlos was ecstatic.  He said that riding the tandem was in his top 5 hardest things he has done with Backroads!  I'm sure he told me this to assuage my machismo, but it worked.

Once the van brought us up the hill, the hotel entrance was still a 4-story climb on legs that felt like jelly. A dip in the pool was a perfect end. 

The hotel is gorgeous, and the views spectacular. The hotel is in the highest town in Mallorca, Valldemossa, at around 1500'. It is surrounded by terraced olive orchards.

Tonight we have a Spanish guitar concert followed by dinner under the stars.

Spanish Holiday Day 2

 Day2: Cycling from Palma

This morning we began our 6-day bike trip with Backroads.  Heading out of the hotel after breakfast, we met up with another couple who was obviously also cycling this morning.Turns out, she is a pediatric dentist from Iowa (will have to pick her brain about the Ragbrae).  Met up with the rest of the group (about 24) and our leaders, Carlos and Borja, then off to the beginning of the ride.  

We had a new evil to contend with today, HEAT (and humidity).  We were starting the ride in the early afternoon, the worst possible time, with the sun blazing, no wind, no clouds, and 97°! The ride wasn't far and wasn't to hilly, but the heat killed us.  Jeri said it was the worst she ever felt after riding.  

We kept stopping to pour water over us.  One other issue that we had, was about a mile in, my left pedal came off, mid-cycling stroke.  All of a sudden, my foot was pedaling in midair!  Somehow, when the bike was built, they must have switched crank arms and now the left pedal was on the right, and vice versa.  Carlos retightened the pedal with a long wrench (hopefully, I will be abel to get them off at the end of the trip) and they seem to be ok for now.

By the time we got to the hotel (which was at the worst hill of the day) we were cooked.  Jeri even went for a swim.

Spanish Holiday

 Day 1:  Arrival on the island of Majorca

We are giving it (traveling) another try.  So far, 24 hours into our trip, everything has been spectacular.  Perfect flying weather, on time flights, and beautiful weather on arrival. The only snag was when we had to wait about an hour for our luggage.  Apple tags are great devices for peace of mind.  We were able to see the luggage board the plane in Madrid and land in Palma, Mallorca.  But, the wait was worth it since we left the airport with our luggage.  

Majorca (or Mallorca) and its sister island, Minorca are the 2 major islands of the Balearic Island group located in the southern region of the Mediterranean. off the eastern coast of Spain. Mallorca is a favorite spot for professional cyclists to train, especially for mountain stages of major races like the Tour de France.  So, obviously, Jeri and I had to come here to see what all the fuss was about.  

We got to our hotel before check-in, and were starving, so we left our luggage at the hotel and went to find something to eat.  The hotel clerk recommended a place for paella around the corner from the hotel that was phenomenal.  I see a paella pan in our future.

After this late lunch/early dinner, we were finally able to check-in, and SHOWER. This rejuvenated us so much that we decided to take a walk along the waterfront. The hotel is just up the street from the water and a very active harbor This the view from our room).

The waterfront  is dominated by the imposing la Seu Cathedral

a series of old windmills

  

and an old fortress (now a museum)

Walking back to the hotel we found a bunch of alleys that have been into street art.

Even stopped for a little gelato before getting back to the hotel, pretty exhausted. Not much sleep in steerage on the way over.

Tomorrow we meet our cycling group and began our ride through Mallorca.

Scandinavia and the Baltics Post Script

 We are sitting in Heathrow on our way home, sadly, with never unpacking our tandem.  As suspected, my positive test precluded  my boarding the ship and participating in the trip.  Jeri seemed to get very brief and happily mild symptoms (I guess this is payback for me not getting but a scratch in our Munich accident). I was also pretty lucky, about a day of feeling really crappy and then pretty rapid improvement. Still mild URI symptoms, but nothing bad. We are both getting tired of wearing N95's 24/7.

Molly and Dave were both negative (I think Molly was praying for a positive test to get her out of having to cycle) and have carried on without us.  We feel terrible(on oh so many levels) that we talked them into this trip and now we aren't there to be with them.

The Tour , at least for us, was a bust.  The only rain we had began about 4:30 in the afternoon and the first riders went out at 5. Throughout the time trial, it rained pretty steadily. Dave and Molly were able to see some until the rain started coming down heavily. 

These are some photos that Dave took.

Well, this is still better than our last trip.  Signing off