Majorca

daverow

Hey fellas,

Just wondering if anyone has had the pleasure of biking in the Balearics and, more specifically, Majorca?

I moved north last year after having spent the last 7 years in the SE with the warmer temperatures and smaller rainfall and, i must say, it's felt like winter ever since i moved!

I need some wamr weather mileage and I think the easiest way of doing that is to get myself out to these Spanish Islands. I'm off to do the Marmotte in July so could probably do with a dedicated week of training!!!

Any recommendations/opionions gratefully received.

Cheers

mrushton

Majorca has a lot of 'bang for buck' so to speak due to its varied terrain. I've stayed at Club Pollensa in Alcudia which was v.nice and Pollensa Park hotel in Puerto Pollensa gets good reviews. It's a big cycling area so bike hire is good out there (top end bikes with good kit).

www.ready2ride.co.uk was one I used. Barry was excellent. I've used other people (GPM10) and also done it on my own which can work out cheaper

If it's specific mtn training you want Vamos cycling in Andalucia can give you some long climbs that are more Marmotte like.. Had a great time with them last year but it was hard

Steve GT

I love Marjorca. If I could I would move there.
I also always stay in the Pollensa area and highly recommend it. As the previous poster has commented it is a big cycling area and I can recommend PROCYCLINGHIRE.COM in Port da'Pollensa as a place to hire bikes. Nice carbon road bikes in great condition. If you are looking to do a ride or 2 with some company then there is usually there a informal ride that starts a block away in front of Tolla's bar. Talk to the guys in Procyclehire about it.
I did the marmotte last year and spent a week there in mid May. I thought it helped a great deal.
This was my favourite route of the week.http://connect.garmin.com/activity/37522022

rogerthecat

Look here Mallorca.



:-)

Steve GT

I have used the hire shop on 4 occasions and never had any problem with the bikes provided.

Pokerface

I plan on moving there for next winter to train. Great place!

rogerthecat

I agree, routes which include, Soller, sa Calobra and even the Lluc monestry, looking south we have Randa, to name but one, and the lighthouse ride at the top of the island great stuff and something for all abilities.

Peter Harrison

rogerthecat wrote:

I agree, routes which include, Soller, sa Calobra and even the Lluc monestry, looking south we have Randa, to name but one, and the lighthouse ride at the top of the island great stuff and something for all abilities.

About 40 members of the Gosforth RC go to Club Pollentia each May great hotel plus excellent facilities and food. Ideal for the climbs in the NE of the Island or the cyclists Meca-Petra.
Bruce at pro Bike hire will look after you and if you are lucky you may get to ride with some of the GB team who often stay in Pollencia.

Leesykoi

Peter Harrison wrote:

rogerthecat wrote:

I agree, routes which include, Soller, sa Calobra and even the Lluc monestry, looking south we have Randa, to name but one, and the lighthouse ride at the top of the island great stuff and something for all abilities.

About 40 members of the Gosforth RC go to Club Pollentia each May great hotel plus excellent facilities and food. Ideal for the climbs in the NE of the Island or the cyclists Meca-Petra.
Bruce at pro Bike hire will look after you and if you are lucky you may get to ride with some of the GB team who often stay in Pollencia.

Hi Peter - i'm just down the road from you guys in North Gosforth (i fear not good enough to join Gosforth RC yet though). Staying at Club Pollentia 23rd April for a week, if you could recommend any routes or where i could look for some good routes to put on my Garmin i'd appreciate it. Apologies for hijacking the thread but this may benefit the OP as well . Cheers Lee.

Peter Harrison

Leesykoi wrote:

Peter Harrison wrote:

rogerthecat wrote:

I agree, routes which include, Soller, sa Calobra and even the Lluc monestry, looking south we have Randa, to name but one, and the lighthouse ride at the top of the island great stuff and something for all abilities.

About 40 members of the Gosforth RC go to Club Pollentia each May great hotel plus excellent facilities and food. Ideal for the climbs in the NE of the Island or the cyclists Meca-Petra.
Bruce at pro Bike hire will look after you and if you are lucky you may get to ride with some of the GB team who often stay in Pollencia.

Hi Peter - i'm just down the road from you guys in North Gosforth (i fear not good enough to join Gosforth RC yet though). Staying at Club Pollentia 23rd April for a week, if you could recommend any routes or where i could look for some good routes to put on my Garmin i'd appreciate it. Apologies for hijacking the thread but this may benefit the OP as well . Cheers Lee.

All the routes we use are embedded in my head and cannot be downloaded. The best thing to do is get a map of Mallorca(you can get one from Waterstones in town). Plan a few rides using the map before you get there. The beauty of Mallorca is that it's like Northumberland in that it has plenty of minor roads which are traffic free. The maps you can get need to be waterproof so that you can check as you ride. Each year we go we find new routes and rides - it's half the fun.
We arrive on the 29th so may see you there.

garetjax

I bought a map and did some of the routes highlighted in this blog.
http://www.globalspokes.com/Mallorca/ma ... routes.htm

Hired a top quality bike from here: http://www.procyclehire.com/

Best rides: out and back to the light house, up to the Lluc monastry and Sa Colobra.

Excellent, excellent place.

mrushton

The back roads thro' Petra to Arta are good and the Lluc climb to Soller and round the coast and back. It's just a great place that packs a lot of riding into a small area. Plus great coffee (and fantastic cakes - particularly in Arta)

FransJacques

Dave, call up GPM 10 to see if their April camp has room. They're expensive and bit too doting, the van is forever stopping to take someone's gilet or give someone a gel, but you'll get some miles in.

Next, why not go with a German group? They're tons of them out there and all the group leaders speak English. I spoke with many of them last week on the climbs and they're all super friendly. I do wear shots with the bum cut out of them so people tend to chat to me a lot but the Germans are nice. ;-)

Seriously, there's also a hotel run by ex-pro and all around bike lover Marcel Wust - google that.

The best option would be to call Club Pollentia, book a cheap Maris room for a week, call FutureTrans for your transfer (orange busses), and make friends with any of the groups at the hotel and ride with them, or buy the standard blue laminated biking map and do it yourself. It ain't rocket surgury for heaven's sake.

mrushton

Have done it myself a couple of times but do prefer the GPM thing. You get what you pay for and that's a support vehicle so you can concentrate on riding without being weighed down with kit and if you have a problem you aren't stuck. Mark and his team are a lot of fun. A decent map and a bit of nous means you can get all over the island. The Marcel Wust place is called Casa Ciclista Marcel Wust (according to his kit!)

Peter Harrison

mrushton wrote:

Have done it myself a couple of times but do prefer the GPM thing. You get what you pay for and that's a support vehicle so you can concentrate on riding without being weighed down with kit and if you have a problem you aren't stuck. Mark and his team are a lot of fun. A decent map and a bit of nous means you can get all over the island. The Marcel Wust place is called Casa Ciclista Marcel Wust (according to his kit!)

Club Pollentia is the best option - always groups going out from there.