Majorca

georgee

Am thinkin of staying thursday till monday, self catering with space to store bikes, flying to palma with sleazy jet.

Any thoughts on accomodation?

Wallace1492

My thought is lucky b4st4rd!!!!

mrushton

Rent an apartment?

Palma is not great, you need to be out to the East,North or South East of the island. Great place to cycle tho'.

ProfPing

Good locations for moutainous regions are

Pollensa
Port De Pollensa
Cala San Vincente (I have stayed here)

The recent credit crunch has taken it's toll on the the above towns but there really is some CRACKING cycling to be had in this area.


Especially Pollensa to Sa Colabra

iclestu

I might be heading to Majorca shortly for a few days.

I wouldnt mind hiring a bike and doing a bit of cycling when i am out there. Just short 1/2 day trips and the like. Do any of you guys have any maps/navigation aids you'd recommend?

I generally dont stray too far from know routes here without the local OS Landranger map, which seems ideal for the distances I cover & the contour lines and detail is just phenomonal. I am guessing it would be too much to hope for a balearic equivalent!?

Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread with this related query Georgee?

lloyd_bower

iclestu wrote:

I might be heading to Majorca shortly for a few days.

I wouldnt mind hiring a bike and doing a bit of cycling when i am out there. Just short 1/2 day trips and the like. Do any of you guys have any maps/navigation aids you'd recommend?

I generally dont stray too far from know routes here without the local OS Landranger map, which seems ideal for the distances I cover & the contour lines and detail is just phenomonal. I am guessing it would be too much to hope for a balearic equivalent!?

Hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread with this related query Georgee?

The AA Map of Mallorca is actually good for cycling, it's 1:75,000 is actually a copy of German one I think. The best riding is in the west and north west, if you like climbing try the Sa Calabra climb.

Out of peak season accomm shouldn't be a problem, there's better places to stay than the main tourist resorts in the south and east. If you've time it's well worth doing a circuit of the Island.

CumbrianMan

This is a quality cycle map of Majorca, if you can get it in this country.

http://www.esterbauer.com/db_rtb_detail ... e=RK-MALLO

It's cheap enough to order straight from website.

bof

Just back from a family holiday in Palma and Puerto Pollensa and took bikes on EasyJet. Palma DOES have good cycling to the north and west in the hills -a few km in from the coast it is empty rural climbing roads.

It will be easy to find "ApartHotels" with bike storage. We did in P. Pollensa. Their late season has been quite good, talking to someone there, but where we stayed (Duva in P. Pollensa) was only half full.

It has been their hottest ever summer and we had a few days where even the thought of cycling wore you out, so it may be a case of getting up early.

What really struck me was the correct and polite local driving.

The tourist office have a good set of circular routes with road signs

My son and I cycled Palma to P Pollensa while my wife drove the bags in a tiny hire car. We didn't fancy having to cycle back and pack the bags and then spend hours stewing in our own sweat, so returned with car and cab. I plan on putting the route on bikely as apart from a grotty 3-4km by the airport it was quiet and scenic.

The cab driver who took me and the bags back to the airport from P Pollensa is a cyclist and she recommended www.meamsitorn.com as a new and better hire place starting next year. The taxi cost is E70 plus 6 per bike bag one way.

spartacuscp

I stay in port soller.There is bike hire in the town at 80 euro for 5 days or try velo sport (A great german bloke who will deliver and pick up a bike anywhere on the island)
I have been 3 times and use owners direct . com for accomodation .where as it suggests cuts out the middle man . some great apartments out there and all over europe etc.
An internet search for the bike hire in port soller will spit it out . It begins with" T" , Tacuma tours or something.
Ride out from port soller up the "puig major" the big hill and onto sa colabra? , which is the best road ride i have experienced. The bike hire sells maps and there are not that many roads to worry about getting lost anyway. Just stay off the main routes. Try going towards Deia and looping back over the soller tunnel route.
Cycling over there for a week or so is only limited by your time and leg strength.
Enjoy it.

TheStone

Would anyone recommend Inca, Soller or Port de Soller or is it better to head over
to Pollenca, Port de Pollenca.

Heading over for a quick weekend. Was gonna stay in Parma, but probably better
to be away from there for the cycling. Suggesting Soller and Inca as it's closer to
the airport to save time and some cost.

ta

Solis

If you are looking for climbs then on the face of it no reason not to opt for Sollier/Pt Sollier as if staying in the Pollenca region this is where you would likely be heading to, so same route in reverse. That said its straight into the mountains from Sollier and little option of flat routes. Would avoid Inca unless you know the back roads.

All in all I would suggest Pollenca or PPollenca, more route options (Formentor for example) and better choice of terrain, plus a decent bike shop! Just be aware at this time of year all the above will be very quiet with little open. If it was me, of the above I would head for Pollenca town.

bigjim

I ususually stay in Can Pastilla. Nice town and near the airport, plenty of great bike routes and hire shops if needed. It is only a couple of miles from the airport so you can cycle it if needed. Also you can easy ride into Palma using the superb seafront cycle path. Mallorca is a bit dead at night in the winter, so a ride into Palma for a couple of drinks and a lovely ride back along the front at 1am ish is great. Not a big fan of self catering as I like to pile into the food at a hotel and there is always someone to chat to. looking to set off there myself anytime now but flights from Manchester to the island have been curtailed this winter. Evidently the hoteliers are very angry at the way the airlines have limited flights.

brynjames

And don't forget about compulsory helmet outside towns as Mallorca cops have been known to confiscate front wheel of guy who unable to pay the on-the-spot fine!

--
Bryn

bigjim

And don't forget about compulsory helmet outside towns as Mallorca cops have been known to confiscate front wheel of guy who unable to pay the on-the-spot fine!

Never known that to be enforced as there are so many exceptions to that rule. If it is hot or you are riding uphill etc. They must have a warehouse full of wheels the number of tourists on hired bikes outside the towns. The spanish never seem to wear them on their MTBs.

TheStone

Have booked in Can Pastilla. Gives the option of going into Palma and there's a train that
goes across to the mountains.

What's the quality of the roads like in Feb? Do I stick with the winter 'bombproof' tyres
(Schwalbe Durano Plus), or put the quicker Michelin Pro3 on?

Any route or other advice welcome. I'm over there for 5 days - should be riding at least
4 of them, but 2 might be short.

Have helmet. I'll keep an eye on the weather, but hoping it'll be shorts?

bigjim

Place will be packed with cyclists. I'm trying to get out there this month. Use fastest slimmest tyres. Roads are superb. It is not the UK. Easy to ride into Palma fron can pastilla along the cycle path at the front. You can also ride the other way through Arenal till you reach the end of the cycle path. Carry on up the hill, bear left at the end to roundabout which will take you onto the main coast road towards Luc Mayor [cycle path all the way]. On the left of this road are some superb bike routes along quiet lanes. It's like 1950s UK but you won't remember that. The tourist shop near the cathedral in Palma or the one on the front near Arenal have the free maps showing these routes. Every village has a square where you will see groups of cyclists [mostly german] hanging out enjoying coffee and cake and hopefully sun.
I'm getting jealous now.
Jim

TheStone

Cheers for the info. Putting the routes together now, do these look ok or are there other
parts of the island I should look at?

These are the 2 main days, with a day in between to rest or potter about into Palma.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Mallorca-Day2
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Mallorca-Day4

And then 2 optional shorter rides, depending on having time after/before flights
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Mallorca-Day1
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Mallorca-Day5

ta

bigjim

Those routes, the first two at least are on main A roads. They are more mileage than I would do in a day. Heading out towards Pollenca it can get very hill with some hard climbs so make sure you are fit enough to get back. I stay around the 100K mark as I like to stop and admire the scenery or stop for village breaks. They are fast routes though and perfectly do able depending on your fitness level. The main roads have a clearly marked hard shoulder/bike lane but this narrows in places with a fair old drop into deep drainage ditches on one side so you need to stay alert. Although quieter than the UK they carry a fair amount of traffic. Not particularly dangerous, just can get irritating with quite a lot of tipper trucks. The Majorcans have more respect for cyclists than in the UK though. I got lost cycling though Palma city, and I know it quite well. It is hellishly busy and the signposting is appalling so I avoid any route through it.
Personally I use a michelin map and plan my routes on a daily basis and stay away from the main roads as much as poss. The side roads {camis] are superb. They are quiet, well surfaced and you can keep to a fair old speed. if you wish. The pro teams use them as well as the A roads so they must be good. I actually ended up in the middle of a peleton with the Shimano team once for about 1/2 mile. Then they dropped me. Scary.