Climbing Tips for Majorca

Tjgoodhew

I am off to Majorca on Sunday and have two days of cycling booked from the South East of the island. I am staying in Cala D'Or and have hired a Canyon so looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about with these bikes.

I have two routes planned. The first is going north along the coast and then inland. Nothing too tricky and a few gradual climbs over 70 miles.

The second route is a bit more tricky and I am planning to climb San Salvador and La Randa.

The thing is I have very little climbing experience as there just arent the hills around me. I am comfortable riding the short hills close to home but nothing in comparison to the these two. The gradient doesnt look too bad but riding 6% over 3 miles is a lot different to riding 10% for 0.2 miles !!!

Any advice on what to expect and any tips on how to tackle them and should I have any concerns ??

rc856

Is your general fitness/climbing ok?
If so, with the correct gearing, you'll be fine.
The longest day we had was 85 miles with 8,500ft of climbing...climbing the Soler amongst others.
Sa Calobra was the hardest...the others were just long but we just got into a tempo and paced ourselves.

You'll love it. Great place.

markhewitt1978

I managed it with little training. Just take your time and stop and have a rest.

I would appreciate feedback on the Canyon place as I'm wanting to hire from there later in the year but not sure what bike to get and getting info out of them is like pulling teeth.

curto80

Hello. I'm in a lovely hotel in Cala D'or right now. I have a canyon aeroad on my balcony and am climbing Salvador tomorrow. Needless to say I'll report back..,

curto80

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I managed it with little training. Just take your time and stop and have a rest.

I would appreciate feedback on the Canyon place as I'm wanting to hire from there later in the year but not sure what bike to get and getting info out of them is like pulling teeth.

What do you need to know mate?

Tjgoodhew

Curto80 wrote:

Hello. I'm in a lovely hotel in Cala D'or right now. I have a canyon aeroad on my balcony and am climbing Salvador tomorrow. Needless to say I'll report back..,

Good luck with it and feedback would be appreciated.

Whats the weather like at the moment ? From what i can make out from various sites its currently low 20's and sunny

Bar Shaker

The best training for climbing is climbing. Get yourself out there and hit the hills.

My missus is out there at the moment and the sun is shinning!! Other than the end of the lighthouse road, she says the roads are smooth and quiet.

Enjoy.

markhewitt1978

Curto80 wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I managed it with little training. Just take your time and stop and have a rest.

I would appreciate feedback on the Canyon place as I'm wanting to hire from there later in the year but not sure what bike to get and getting info out of them is like pulling teeth.

What do you need to know mate?

If they are any good. And what sort of bikes they have to hire there.

Tjgoodhew

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Curto80 wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I managed it with little training. Just take your time and stop and have a rest.

I would appreciate feedback on the Canyon place as I'm wanting to hire from there later in the year but not sure what bike to get and getting info out of them is like pulling teeth.

What do you need to know mate?

If they are any good. And what sort of bikes they have to hire there.

I have booked an Aeroad 9.0 with Sram Red and a CF SLX 8.0 with Ui2. But i have no idea what wheels or finishing kit will be on them.

All I did was email and say I wanted an Aeroad and a CF SLX for one day each and my only other stipulation was I didn't want mechanical Shimano as I wanted to try out other gearing systems and thats what they came back with

curto80

Did a 70km route this morning taking in Salvador monastery. Apologies I can't comment on longer routes but I'm on the comeback trail after surgery recently so keeping it sensible.

Firstly the bike; hired a Canyon aeroad 9.0 team with Campy record and Mavic cosmic slrs. Took me a few km of riding and adjusting to get it set up right but after that I was away and it's a beautiful bike. Climbs well, is fast on the flats and is comfy. All good. I've known friendlier bike hire places by the way, they were a bit humourless in the canyon place but it didn't really bother me.

The weather today was warm (23 degrees) and breezy. Bit of cloud around but mainly sunny. Nice day for cycling.

Route was as follows Cala D'or to Salvador, Salvador up to Manacor, Manacor down to Calles de Mallorca, then back to Cala D'or along the PMV 4014.

First bit up to Felanitx/Salvador was a bit of a slog. It seems flat enough in a taxi but is deceptively undulating when you're cycling into a headwind. Road is narrow in places but I immediately noticed that drivers hang back until safe to pass so no problems. After about half way you start to get views of the monastery which was good motivation.

Got to the bottom of the climb up to salvador not really knowing what to expect. The hardest part is the first 500 metres but once you hit the switchbacks it's absolutely fine. The canyon is under 7kg and I appreciated the low weight. Just a steady spin up for me, was a lot easier than I was expecting and the top comes up on you quicker than you think. The gradient was pretty steady all the way up which helped. Views from the top were amazing and well worth it. I could see pretty much my whole route from the top.

I got stuck behind the cafe delivery truck on the way down which slowed me up a bit but to be honest my descending skills need some work. Can imagine it being a lot of fun for the skilled rider.

Next bit up to Manacor was a little bit of a slog with a tricky cross/head wind that meant riding a bike with deep rimmed wheels required a bit of concentration. This was my least favourite section of the ride but I really noticed the difference between riding here compared to England in terms of the respect you get from the road users. I wouldn't advise any complaceny cos you never know, but I only had one close pass and that was from a tourist bus. This was the equivalent of an English A road and I go out of way to avoid those, but this was fine and I never felt unsafe.

Back round from Manacor to Cala a D'or was lovely. Fast, mainly downhill with a tailwind and some lovely scenery through varied landscapes, really enjoyed it.

That's about it really. 70km took me about 3 hours due to a combination of a slow start, the cat 2 climb and generally trying not to hammer it too much as I get used to being on the bike again. But overall loved it.

Not decided what to do tomorrow but maybe either Randa or possibly Colonia de Sant Jordi

Tjgoodhew

Thanks for the review. Sounds great and made me even more excited about my trip
now if you could do La Randa tomorrow nd let me know how that is that would be great

markhewitt1978

Great ride report! Looking forward do spending a week in Cala d'Or at the end of the year and that's one of the rides on my list!

smiley_boy2501

I'm heading to the SW of the island on Wednesday for a week! The GF is coming for a few days in the middle so i have a forced break. Been before and went for one ride but looking forward to several sunny days out on the bike. Unfortunately my carbon frame just cracked around the seatpost so I'm taking my 10yo Kinesis Racelight frame with a much higher spec than it deserves built up around it.

milton50

Tjgoodhew wrote:

Any advice on what to expect and any tips on how to tackle them and should I have any concerns ??

3 miles at 6% isn't too difficult for someone who already cycles and is in reasonable condition, so I wouldn't worry.

The best piece of advice for people who haven't ridden that length of climb before is find a rhythm at the bottom of the climb and ease into it. Too many people have a burst of adrenaline (or ego ) and begin the climb at a speed they can't maintain.

Good luck.

RideOnTime

Menorca has some good climbs too.

itboffin

I'd recommend the Mallorca classic sportive route, i think its about 77 miles and takes in almost all of the cols, its really tough going from Pollenca to the Major
http://connect.garmin.com/course/2970906

then there's this nice 100 miles route with 60/40 mountain/flat
http://connect.garmin.com/course/2970943

north to south across the bumps 73 miles, with a 22 MILE climb :shock:
http://connect.garmin.com/course/2970960

and the tour de alcudia, more flat than climbing but 106 miles
http://connect.garmin.com/course/2970951

i'm there again next week these will be my four days of riding 8)

markhewitt1978

I was thinking of a circular route starting from Cala d'or, across country to climb over to Soller, then climb up the Major and down to Pollenca, then back down to Cala d'or. Should be 130 miles with two big climbs. Doable in a full day.

I don't know what the cross country bit from Cala d'or to the base of the Soller climb will be like. Strava seems to suggest apart from the climbs in and out of Soller it's all pretty flat.