Menorca

crescent

I'm heading to Menorca in June and intend to nip out for a couple of hours each morning before returning for family duties. I will be staying near Mahon (Es Castell) so, ideally, looking for a few runs of around 20-30 miles towards that end of the island. Does anyone have any suggestions please? I have done a few searches on here but there seems to be surprisingly little info about Menorca. I messed around with MapMyRide and could create a few routes if necessary but just wondered if there were any hidden gems that I should try and incorporate. I have been to Menorca several times but never stayed in this part of the island before and it is essential that I am out and back in a couple of hours, hence the 20-30 mile limit.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Cheers

Solis

If you google Tour of Menorca sportive may give you a few ideas.

crescent

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I'm not expecting as many options as Mallorca but I'm sure I won't be bored.

Cheers

markhewitt1978

I did a thread on here recently about Menorca so might be some stuff in there. We decided to go to Mallorca instead.

crescent

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I did a thread on here recently about Menorca so might be some stuff in there. We decided to go to Mallorca instead.

Thanks. I've had a look for it but can't find it. Any chance you could point me in the right direction? Cheers

markhewitt1978

viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=13012771

crescent

Cheers mate

crescent

Just back from Menorca and thought I would post up my cycling experience in case it is useful to anyone heading over there in the coming weeks / months. I certainly had a few questions before I went and in particular how it would compare to Mallorca.
I stayed near Mahon and there are at least three bike hire places that I saw when I was there : BikeMenorca, Velosjoan and Tramontana, all located in Mahon itself. I had originally intended to use Bike Menorca but just happened to pass Tramontana on the first day of our holiday and decided to see if they had anything available. They rented me a Merida Scultura with 105 for €65 for three days. There is a €100 deposit (cash only) required which will be returned when the bike is handed back undamaged. You need your passport and hotel details etc when collecting your bike. It also came with the standard kit of tube, tools and pump and was a very nice bike indeed. The guys in the shop were very helpful and a helmet and a cable lock were also thrown in for that price.
Website is here http://www.ciclostramontana.com/en/
As far as routes go, I had intended to make some up for my Garmin but to be honest I had kind of given up on riding at all while I was there due to a combination of a cold and a slight injury just before we left, so I didn't bother. Because I didn't want to get lost I was limited to main roads which, although in very good nick, were pretty busy and not the kind of road I would normally aim to ride on. A bit of planning and I could have stayed on the quieter roads which were still in very good condition for the most part, certainly good enough for a road bike. The main roads aren't officially motorways and in that respect cyclists can use them, but they are very similar to motorways in terms of speeds and traffic volume and not for the faint hearted. I used one once but bottled it as I was on my own, I may have persevered if I had been in a group though. All the roads have on their right hand side a lined off section which seems to act as a cycle lane although I didn't see anything officially saying so. The smaller roads were absolutely fine and again the lined off area at the side felt like a fairly safe place to be. The motorists I encountered seemed courteous and "bike tolerant" too. In and around Mahon itself there are designated cycle lanes everywhere and these were excellent, smooth sections of red tarmac that run parallel to many of the roads in the city. I actually spent quite a lot of time cycling around Mahon as I found it such a nice place. Again, not something I would normally do, I would tend to head out into the countryside, but thoroughly enjoyed a bit of urban touring.
The island's main road is like the "spine" and smaller roads lead off to the various coastal resorts so it is difficult to plan a circuitous route or a coastline route as there isn't really the means to do this. Again, had I known I was definitely going to hire a bike I would have done some homework beforehand.
If you go expecting Mallorca you will be disappointed but the road surfaces are good, there are plenty of scenic routes (if you spend a bit of time planning them or have a detailed map), good quality bikes are available and what's not to like about cycling in the sun and working on your tan lines.
Hope this is of use to someone