Majorca, I love it.
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, and the OP will be on honeymoon, so I'd say even less likely!!
I went to Halifax to get a cricket bat hand made for my honymoon !!
We are not together now , but that had nothing to do with it !!!
regards
ILG0 -
Have persuaded OH to book 10 days in Puerto Pollensa next July. :-) Thanks for all the great info on here. Early starts and some epic riding coming up. Something to look forward to through the dark winter.MTB: Self-built Santa Cruz Highball Alloy 10 Spd Deore.
Winter: Emmelle 1980's Reynolds Steel retro
Summer: Specialized Secteur Elite w. upgrades.
Commuter: Fausto Coppi San Remo0 -
Have persuaded OH to book 10 days in Puerto Pollensa next July. :-) Thanks for all the great info on here. Early starts and some epic riding coming up. Something to look forward to through the dark winter.
We were in Majorca in July this year. It was 38 to 40'C in the daytime, and 30'C at 8am.......!0 -
Ouch, I love Mallorca but that would be far too much for me! I start to struggle at about 25C!
I've been three times in late April - early May, and once in early October. All were nice but I did prefer the October weather overall. Went once in July and I remember suffering in the heat quite a bit, back in 1994 when cars didn't have air con!0 -
well, its 24 degrees all this week here!
Also agree La Corbata/Sa Colobra is a PITA to do it after 12am, which is why one of the hotels in the Selva area works really well, there is one near me which is a "cycling hostel", as you can be down & up before 12 then head on to do col de Monnaber (which everyone calls wrongly Puig Major) and always be ahead of the traffic and, just as importantly, the 3 1/2 gazillion other cyclists who leave the North coast resorts at 9am..
The Selva /Lluc/Soller/Bunyola /Orient/ Lloseta loop is one of my real favorites.Fitter....healthier....more productive.....0 -
Have persuaded OH to book 10 days in Puerto Pollensa next July. :-) Thanks for all the great info on here. Early starts and some epic riding coming up. Something to look forward to through the dark winter.
We were in Majorca in July this year. It was 38 to 40'C in the daytime, and 30'C at 8am.......!
:-) Lived in Barcelona for 2 years so am familiar with the issues. Quite happy to do dawn starts and be back by mid-morning. I'm very good at having a siesta 8)MTB: Self-built Santa Cruz Highball Alloy 10 Spd Deore.
Winter: Emmelle 1980's Reynolds Steel retro
Summer: Specialized Secteur Elite w. upgrades.
Commuter: Fausto Coppi San Remo0 -
Anyone got any recommendations for villas in Soller? Have stayed in polenca in the past but fancy something different next year. Will be 6 of us so need something fairly big.
Cheers0 -
Anyone got any recommendations for villas in Soller? Have stayed in polenca in the past but fancy something different next year. Will be 6 of us so need something fairly big.
Cheers
Hi
We have personal experience of a villa called Ca Na Menga that some friends stayed at this year, it has 4 bedrooms and is about 2km outside Sóller - it is easily found on booking.com and I think Owners direct.
Hope you have a great stay.0 -
Any hotel recommendations for a stay in Port de Soller? I've struggled to find anything where it says they'll let you bring bike in the room or have a basement or something to lock them in. Preferably within walking distance to a decent bike hire place and somewhere to eat.
A group of us stayed in Puerto Pollensa (Daina apartments - can recommend them, as well as Pollensa Cycling) earlier this year and really enjoyed it. We may want to change it up a bit next year with different climbs/routes we didn't get to do.
Any help is appreciated!
Port Sóller is amazing. Great range of hotels and restaurants. Bike rental you are well catered for as Tramuntana Tours are first rate - the only place to regularly get 10/10 on our survey.
I have personal experience of 3 hotels there, having stayed at these, all are good: Hotel Eden. Hotel Esplendido and Hotel Marina. It is possible to lock the bikes up at all 3.
You may also be interested in the Mallorca Cycle Shuttle http://www.mallorcacycleshuttle.com if you choose to stay in Port Pollenca again, it runs daily from Port Pollenca to other areas of the island such as Andratx in the spring and autumn, dropping cyclists and their bikes off to cycle back.
Hope you have a great time.0 -
Nice one mate, thanks a lot.0
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markhewitt1978 wrote:Just how do-able are Puig Major and Sa Calobra in 1 ride?
As I said earlier in the thread, will be staying in Soller next year for honeymoon and looks like I only have 1 day to ride (easy now...). I really wanted to tick off both climbs but I have a nagging voice in the back of my head thinking it might be too much. Plan was ride out of Soller straight up Major, across and down Calobra then return back retracing my steps. Route looks about 40-50 miles with about 11,000 ft climbing.
My fitness isn't really an issue, but I have no experience of BIG climbs riding in Northumberland. Biggest hill I hit is about 600ft. Usual rides are 60 miles with between 2-4,500ft climbing.
I might be worrying about nothing, but would riding both in a morning be biting off more than I can chew?
Although it's easier said than done, if you were to start at Sa Calobra then ride to the top, and then carry on riding up to the top of the Puig Major (i.e. the tunnel) then back down into Soller, then it's absolutely more than doable.
The problem is the way Sa Calobra is situated starting in Soller means you'd have to climb the Puig Major first, then descend all the way into Sa Calobra, then turn around and do the climb back up from sea level again. So you're basically doing the entire ascent of the Puig Major twice.
Only you can say if you're up to doing that! Personally I've done Puig Major and I've done Sa Calobra, on seperate rides, Puig Major was Port de Pollenca to Soller then get picked up. With Sa Calobra I got dropped off at the bottom, rode up and over and down the other side to Selva where I got picked up.
Having thought about it some more, if you have all day. spend a good while in Sa Calobra for lunch, then do the ride back, it is more than doable - Sa Calobra is a tourist trap mind, be prepared to be fleeced rotten.
Perhaps get thyself to the Pennines? If you can ride up over Waskerley to Stanhope then over Chapel Fell and back over Bollihope common then Mallorca will be a mere nothing
11,000 ft of climbing sounds a lot but it's not like climbing in the UK where the gradient goes from 5-20% and back again on a regular basis, it's all a nice steady grade, so before long you've climbed a virtual cliff face without really noticing.
Cheers for this. Had the car this weekend so parked up at Derwent Reservoir and rode down to Stanope, over Chapel Fell, back via Bollihop and then up Crawleyside. Massively envious of those who have this on their doorstep, the route was amazing and will be back soon. Can't wait to get over to Mallorca now!0 -
Im going in sept. Cant wait.
Sayed in a villa in the Son Vida last year (early June) and it was great. Did the Col de sa Creu/Ma-1043 climb every morning which was a lovely little route. Shame that it got too hot for me mid morning so I had to do all my cycling at 6am while it was nice and cool.
Saying in pollenca this year but yet to get any routes sorted.0 -
kiteloopy wrote:Im going in sept. Cant wait.
Sayed in a villa in the Son Vida last year (early June) and it was great. Did the Col de sa Creu/Ma-1043 climb every morning which was a lovely little route. Shame that it got too hot for me mid morning so I had to do all my cycling at 6am while it was nice and cool.
Saying in pollenca this year but yet to get any routes sorted.
I know the Coll de sa Creu well as I have cycled more in the south west than the more popular north.
We always drive up to the north a couple of times during our 4 day break and this year it was just so busy up there, cars desperate to get by long lines of cyclists crawlig up towards Sa Calobra.
If anyone has the chance or transport I urge you to try the south west, the road from Soller to Deia to Andrax is better than the Cap de Formentor lighthouse run and the small roads round Calvia, Galilea, Puigpunyent and Esporles and blissfully queit in comparison.25th August 2013 12hrs 37mins 52.3 seconds 238km 5500mtrs FYRM Never again.0 -
Galatzo wrote:kiteloopy wrote:Im going in sept. Cant wait.
Sayed in a villa in the Son Vida last year (early June) and it was great. Did the Col de sa Creu/Ma-1043 climb every morning which was a lovely little route. Shame that it got too hot for me mid morning so I had to do all my cycling at 6am while it was nice and cool.
Saying in pollenca this year but yet to get any routes sorted.
I know the Coll de sa Creu well as I have cycled more in the south west than the more popular north.
We always drive up to the north a couple of times during our 4 day break and this year it was just so busy up there, cars desperate to get by long lines of cyclists crawlig up towards Sa Calobra.
If anyone has the chance or transport I urge you to try the south west, the road from Soller to Deia to Andrax is better than the Cap de Formentor lighthouse run and the small roads round Calvia, Galilea, Puigpunyent and Esporles and blissfully queit in comparison.
Exactly. This is why Cyclespeed is based in Palma.0 -
Any route links chaps? I wouldn't mind trying some new loops other than my usual bash into the mountains.0
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Galatzo wrote:I know the Coll de sa Creu well as I have cycled more in the south west than the more popular north.
We always drive up to the north a couple of times during our 4 day break and this year it was just so busy up there, cars desperate to get by long lines of cyclists crawlig up towards Sa Calobra.
If anyone has the chance or transport I urge you to try the south west, the road from Soller to Deia to Andrax is better than the Cap de Formentor lighthouse run and the small roads round Calvia, Galilea, Puigpunyent and Esporles and blissfully queit in comparison.
I only saw 3-4 cyclists in my rides. Admittedly it was very early starts and on weekdays, but if isolation is what you want then my experience seems to fit the bill.
Plus I found Palma a lovely place to be.0 -
Hi Chaps and Chapesses,
I visited Majorca for 5 days and 4 nights at the end of April this year and did 3 days full riding and a half day on arrival day.
Firstly, thanks to all the contributions in this thread... I took on most peoples recommendations to get the most bang for my buck whilst I was over there. As a result I had an absolutely fantastic time, didn't feel like I had missed out on anything and had no issues whilst I was over there (other than the return airport transfer not turning up! :roll: )
So as a thank you, I thought I would share my experience and further add to this fantastic list of recommendations.
This was my first time in Majorca and I wanted to be in the mix with the crowds of other cyclists and really get involved with the highlights of the mountain region. If, no, WHEN I return then I may look at taking the quieter routes but I didn't have any issues with the hordes of other cyclists on the road; that's why I went!
So, I went with 1 friend who is fit but not a Club Cyclist and doesn't ride that much so I was wary of this when route planning... that aside, he's always up for a challenge so was happy to take on Day 2
Hotel: Apart Hotel Playa Mar & Spa - http://www.marhotels.com/hotel-aparthot ... llorca.htm
Situated at the foot of Cap Formentor in Puerto Pollensa, a great location with a small walk into the main town. Rooms were great, staff friendly and they had no problem with us keeping bikes in the room. Sports massages were available but we weren't interested.
Bikes: Rented from the Pinarello Experience shop. We just went for the bottom spec Razha which was more than enough bike for the trip. They swapped out saddles, stems, pedals, Garmin mounts and adjusted anything we asked them to. Staff were great and couldn't do enough to make sure you were happy with your bike and fit. Bikes came with a saddle bag containing a couple of tubes, levers and pump.
I would recommend taking any energy Gels/Bars etc that you like over there with you as I couldn't find any brands that I had heard of and it was all quite expensive. Just finding a couple of large waters bottles on day 1 proved to be a faff but eventually purchased after visiting Go2Cycling just round the corner from the Pinarello shop.
Disclaimer - Feel free to use any of these routes for yourself, however, they were plotted on Garmin Connect and as hard as I tried it still managed to sneak in a couple of minor off road sections and attempted to take us down the wrong way of every single one way street that we came across. With a bit of common sense we diverted when needed and didnt get lost once.
Day 1 - Cap Formentor (Lighthouse)
https://www.strava.com/activities/553454164
Strava ride title refers to the cycling totty which was hard to ignore :P
A great ride to do on day 1 just to get used to the roads etc. Somebody mentioned doing the extra summit on the way back - I did and didn't regret it. Only issue with the last climb was the surface was pretty poor, still acceptable in UK terms though.
Day 2 - Most of the mountain summits
https://www.strava.com/activities/554556151
This was the big one. We tried to hit as many big climbs as we could with the mentality that if we were struggling before the Puig Major descent then we would just turn back. Once we had descended into Soller though, the only way back to Pollensa was to climb another mountain.
As you can see we did 108 miles and was out the entire day. Best day on the bike I have ever done.
Coll De Femenia, Sa Calobra, Puig Major, Coll De Soller, Coll D'Honor and Coll De Sa Batalla all done in a day.
The descent into Soller from the top of Puig Major (the tunnel) was absolutely stunning; it was the absolute highlight of the trip. The descent from Lluc to Pollensa was also fantastic but we were tired by the time we got to it and it just didn't seem as fun. I'm sure thats to do with our mentality at the time.
Some people said it on here already... if you want a good run at the Sa Calobra descent then you must get there before midday! I arrived at the top by about 1230 I got held up by two coaches near the top which was frustrating but a group that went down at about 1330 only averaged 8mph all the way to the bottom due to the amount of traffic.
Day 3 - San Salvador Monestry
https://www.strava.com/activities/555617917
The route out and the climb itself were fantastic, the ride home however was dull and I would recommend looking for alternative routes rather than Manorca to get back to Pollensa. The roads were fine, they were just very straight and flat, which I got a bit bored of after the day before!
We stopped at a square of Cafe's in Petra which had what seemed like every cyclist in the region having coffee and food... a great experience and I would highly recommend it - so long as you like to people watch.
Day 4 - Final Day - Alcudia
https://www.strava.com/activities/556428798
My friend was feeling the strain of the previous days rides so we opted for an easy ride and I tagged on a cheeky Cap Formentor ascent at the end.
The destination was just the other side of Alcudia on the other side of the Bay from Pollensa. If you want a easy day then I would recommend this, very picturesque and Alcudia itself is a great place to stop and watch the world go by.
I will say that I was a tad naive with the weather, I made the assumption that it would be sunshine and clear skies the whole time. It wasn't. We were however extremely lucky in the fact that it seemed to rain everywhere we weren't, and by the time we got to where it had rained, it had all dried up. Very lucky indeed. Just something for you to consider and prepare for. You don't want to be doing any of those big descents in the rain! Temperature wise, in the mornings I didnt need Arm Warmers but would have been comfier with them but by 10ish its was perfectly warm enough (around 21 degrees). ANy hotter and getting hold of enough liquid would have been a struggle.
On another note, we drank the tap water and from some public water fountains and had no issues... is it just a myth that you aren't supposed to?0 -
Excellent write up, full of useful stuff.
I drink all the water around the island, never had any issues.
The only thing I'd disagree with is the 'didn't miss out on anything part'. The coast road from Andratx to Soller is spectacular and such a great ride that it should be on every Majorca cyclist's list. And there are a multitude of great climbs in the South too.
Oh, and if you like totty (who doesn't?) you should check out Palma in the evening.....!0 -
Nice report, sounds like you had a fantastic time. And you have indeed covered the big ones on the island, obviously there's more to see, you could be going for years and still have more, but that's what the next trip is for right
The descent from the Puig Major is brilliant isn't it! I wasn't expecting it really and had an absolute blast as I'd never done a descent like that where it just goes on and on and on! I still need to ride up it at some point despite visiting Mallorca twice more since then I still haven't. That and the Col de Soller (over the tunnel) is on my list; the last couple of times my rides have been a couple of hours max fitted into a family holiday - I do really need to arrange a proper cycling trip!
The ride from San Salvador to Pollenca can be a bit boring, and yes I wouldn't go through Manacor, that's the car route basically. But even the prettier route where you head directly to Petra over the smaller roads does start to wear after you've done it a couple of times. - We've often stayed in Cala d'Or and that's the route to the mountains both in the car and on the bike.
I've had mixed experiences with the water in Mallorca, most places it's been fine but the last hotel we were at in Cala d'Or it pretty much tasted like seawater
. Was fine for washing but not for drinking! I'm sure it was safe enough however. 0 -
Go in January. I was there for a month this year and it rained once during the day for a few hours throughout my whole stay! I was in shorts and short sleeve jersey the whole time. Sometimes with arm warmers and a Gilet if I was going easy.
Barely saw any other cyclists apart from all the pro teams which made it even better. Having been in March/April and June, the massive amount of cyclists did my head it to be honest.0 -
AK_jnr wrote:Go in January. I was there for a month this year and it rained once during the day for a few hours throughout my whole stay! I was in shorts and short sleeve jersey the whole time. Sometimes with arm warmers and a Gilet if I was going easy.
Barely saw any other cyclists apart from all the pro teams which made it even better. Having been in March/April and June, the massive amount of cyclists did my head it to be honest.
Aye but at the same time it's often below freezing and snowing at the top of the Puig in January. I do wonder about perhaps late Feb/early March being a good time to go, cheapish flights I would expect.
How did you find the hotels and restaurants etc at that time of year? I would have expected them to be mostly closed.0 -
I rented a private apartment and all the restaurants I was interested in were open. Obviously the thousands of 'Dakota Steak houses', chinese places etc were closed though.
Alcudia is a sh1t whole during the season in my opinion with all the brits walking around with no tops on so it was lovely riding or driving through with none of the SPAR's or arcade things open.
Only a few hotels were open and most were having refurbs ready for the new season.
I barely noticed a temp drop when up in the mountains, but then I suppose none of the descents are long.
Nerja in March up at 5000ft was a bit different though.0 -
It was a very mild and dry winter in Majorca this year. By contrast, the spring was cool and rainy.
Think you got lucky with the weather this January, it's not always like that!
Why stay in a 'sh1t hole' though, especially a very dead one?
Much better off down Sarf surely where Palma and surroundings are always lively?0 -
I didnt stay there. Lol.0
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Nah but he's right about Alcudia, I didn't much like riding there. Port de Pollenca was fine.
I did happen to think that staying in Palma was probably the best bet in the likes of January, as people actually live there!0 -
Oh yeah I love Port de Pollenca. I love the walk from the Marina along the sea front towards Formentor way. Amazing Villas that make me seriously jealous.
I only ventured south to watch Mallorca or for the final stage of the cycling so its somewhere I definitely need to explore more next year.
I got lucky with the speed cameras as well. Stupidly I didnt realise there were any until 2 weeks in. Thankfully I never got popped. Well apart from the parking ticket outside Mallorcas stadium.0 -
Just booked up to go in July
Anyone know what the weather will be like?
Will I need arm warmers/ gilet or just take a couple of long sleeve jerseys?I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0 -
SloppySchleckonds wrote:Just booked up to go in July
Good!SloppySchleckonds wrote:Anyone know what the weather will be like?
Very hot.SloppySchleckonds wrote:Will I need arm warmers/ gilet or just take a couple of long sleeve jerseys?
are you joking?!
(Where u staying?)0 -
SloppySchleckonds wrote:Just booked up to go in July
Have lots of funAnyone know what the weather will be like?
Hot hot hot. At the moment it's hitting 28-30C in the shade. Not ideal cycling weather for sure.Will I need arm warmers/ gilet or just take a couple of long sleeve jerseys?
What? Time time of year it barely dips below 20C in the middle of the night. You won't need anything of the sort. In fact I would advise either riding in the very early morning or late evening to avoid the daytime heat. Even setting out at 5am you won't need any arm warmers or anything like that.0 -
January is the best month i found when living there as its so much quieter just us locals. Blue sky 14-17 degrees. Chilly at night but still fine. You wont really have snow that time of year thats auite often end feb but its usually nice all way up to xmas and then when the cycling season hits is quite of then the worse times in chunks of rain. Summer doesnt really get going until mid may sometimes june0
