Family holiday in Majorca - bit of sneaky cycling as well. *advice required*

matt-h

I'm off to Majorca the 2nd September for a week with the family
We are staying in
Club Del Sol Aparthotel
Carretera Puerto Pollensa, Alcudia km 62.3, 07470, Puerto Pollensa, Spain971868300

I have a pass to cycle for a few hours for 3 mornings but looking at the maps, it seems the climbs such as Puig Major and Sa Calobra are 4hrs ride away.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can keep the peace with the family but also get to enjoy some great cycling while i'm there.
i would rather head out very early doors and if you have advice regarding suitable clothing provisions for that time, it would be appreciated.
I've also not chosen bike hire yet - happy to receive recommendations

Thanks

matt

mrb123

A loop climbing the Col de sa Batalla and then passing Lluc to descend the Col de Femenia is a superb circuit for a shorter outing.

Also the ride out to the lighthouse on the Cap de Formentor is absolutely stunning.

We've hired bikes from Bikehead and Pro Cycle Hire and had no problems with either.

I wouldn't worry too much about clothing. In September it will still be very warm so shorts and a short sleeved jersey will be fine unless you're starting super early.

matt-h

Thanks MrB.
i'm wondering if im better off joining a shop ride out for 1 whole day rather than trying to get little amounts over 3 days.

mrb123

Nice to get 3 separate rides if you can. That way you can sample the rides in different directions - maybe the two suggested above and then a ride South down the coast.

You need to think about the practicalities though if you're hiring a bike. If you can ride on 3 consecutive days then great, hire a bike for those three days. If you'd have to spread the rides over the week then you'll end up paying for a lot of hire time that you're not using.

If you end up doing one full day then you can easily fit in most of the biggest and best climbs into a single route if you're happy to do big miles. On the other hand, you'll be out in the main heat of the day, which you could avoid by doing several morning sessions.

craigus89

Sa Calobra and Puig are good climbs but by no means the best in my opinion. Wife and I did the route suggested above last summer and I enjoyed it far more than my Puig/Sa Calobra rides that I did when staying in Soller.

Sa colbra is no fun unless you are there early doors due to traffic.

From Puerto Pollensa you can do a clockwise loop of about 100 miles going over the old pass to Soller that avoids the tunnel, then climbing Puig, down Sa Calobra and back up then roll back down Femenia to Pollensa again.

matt-h

Great tips - thanks.
I may look into renting a car for a week anyway. That would make accessing the climbs a lot easier

twotoebenny

As mentioned above, Campanet Valley road to Selva, up Sa Batalle down Femenia great wee run I do often to get me back to the wife and kids

Not sure if the link works below as I'm a Luddite.

https://www.strava.com/activities/664033219

matt-h

TwoToeBenny wrote:

As mentioned above, Campanet Valley road to Selva, up Sa Batalle down Femenia feat wee run I do,often to get me back to the wife and kids

Not sure if the link works below as I'm a Luddite.

https://www.strava.com/activities/664033219

That works a treat.
Thanks very much

Matt

FELTZ95

I'm just back from doing exactly what you are proposing. I stayed at Hotel Duva and set my alarm so I could be on the bike by 7am at the latest. I hired a pinarello from https://www.pinarelloexperience.com/ who were absolutely fantastic and I would highly recommend. I did the famous lighthouse route but added on going round the bay to Alcudia, then to old pollensa and back to hotel. Second day I did Campanet Valley road to Selva, up Sa Batalle down Femenia as already suggested, which turned out to be my favourite ride ever! Even with a coffee stop at Tolos I was back with the family by 10.30 at the latest

crescent

Cap de Formentor (the lighthouse route) is comfortably doable in 2-3hrs from Porto Pollensa and is a lovely route with a couple of decent climbs. A run over to Lluc, or at least to the top of Col de Femenie and back is also only 2-3 hrs from PdP. I did both of these when I was there in May, leaving my hotel at 6.45 and back for breakfast with the family by about 9 - 9.30. Sa Calobra is about a 60mile round trip from PdP so 4-5 hrs with a fair bit of climbing - well worth the trip if you can get a longer pass, definitely worth doing it early in the morning to avoid the buses that will clog up the road from about 10am onwards. I hired my bike from Pollensa Cycling, based in PdP itself - a very nice Kuota Carbon frame bike with 11 speed Ultegra and the usual tools, tubes etc and a goody bag with bidon, energy products etc - I've used them twice now and can highly recommend them.
You will enjoy it wherever you get to, Mallorca is the dog's for cycling.

durhamwasp

Definitely do Cap de Formentor, beautiful ride and apparently its now been re tarmac'd the whole way! You can get there and back in about 3hrs I would say.

Then you might be better off taking a whole day to do 1 day of riding Sa Calobra and Puig, rather than taking 2 mornings to do 2 rides. We did Sa Calobra from Alcudia and came back down the Battala, therefore didn't do Puig (we did that a separate ride) and it took around 7hrs in total.

markhewitt1978

As said Cap de Formentor has to be nailed on, lovely ride with some challenging hills but not too far away, easy to get to from where you are in Port de Pollenca.

Could you get the bike into the car? What I did was drive with the wife and kid to the bottom of Sa Calobra and left them on the beach while I did the climb and descended the other side.

Don't ignore the interior either, not quite as interesting as the mountains but still challenging. You can ride down to Sineu and back up to Inca then there's some nice roads shadowing the motorway on the way back.

crescent

durhamwasp wrote:

Definitely do Cap de Formentor, beautiful ride and apparently its now been re tarmac'd the whole way!l.

I can confirm it has been resurfaced in the last few years, beautifully smooth, undulating, scenic roads. Only the last 100m or so at the lighthouse itself is in poor condition, but no big deal. You even get a nice tunnel thrown in as well. A must do.

markhewitt1978

If I could only ride one cycle route for ever more Cap de Formentor would be it.

matt-h

Thanks guys, if you have Garmin or Strava routes to upload, that would be most helpful. i'm keen no miss anything.
Plans are 3 hours day 1, upto 8hrs day 2, 3 hours day 3

markhewitt1978

matt-h wrote:

Thanks guys, if you have Garmin or Strava routes to upload, that would be most helpful. i'm keen no miss anything.
Plans are 3 hours day 1, upto 8hrs day 2, 3 hours day 3

At a rough guess
1: Cap de Formentor - leisurely cake stop at the lighthouse.
2: Follow Ma-10 up the Puig Major then down to Port Soller then climb Col de Soller (Ma-11a) over to Bunyola then back to Port de Pollenca via the roads shadowing the motorway
3: You'll be dead after day 2 so a leisurely ride South following the coast.

pblakeney

markhewitt1978 wrote:

matt-h wrote:

Thanks guys, if you have Garmin or Strava routes to upload, that would be most helpful. i'm keen no miss anything.
Plans are 3 hours day 1, upto 8hrs day 2, 3 hours day 3

At a rough guess
1: Cap de Formentor - leisurely cake stop at the lighthouse.
2: Follow Ma-10 up the Puig Major then down to Port Soller then climb Col de Soller (Ma-11a) over to Bunyola then back to Port de Pollenca via the roads shadowing the motorway
3: You'll be dead after day 2 so a leisurely ride South following the coast.

1. Very definitely the Cap.
2a option.
Into Bunyola, lunch/cafe stop, turn left and go back via the Orient.
3. Victoria following the coast east from old Alcudia with a lunch stop at Restaurante Mirador de la Victoria if you have the funds, or back towards town if on a budget. Beware. It is only a short climb but very nippy.

durhamwasp

matt-h wrote:

Thanks guys, if you have Garmin or Strava routes to upload, that would be most helpful. i'm keen no miss anything.
Plans are 3 hours day 1, upto 8hrs day 2, 3 hours day 3

https://snookcycling.wordpress.com/mallorca/

Routes descriptions and Strava links on there

matt-h

Thanks very much. Really looking forward to it

bernithebiker

How's it going? Sounds like it's very hot! 35'C ish.

matt-h

It was awesome!!!
The Cap Formentor ride was incredible and the climb up Sa Colobra in 37deg was a killer.

The roads!!! oh my, the roads. All in great condition and such a joy to be on the bike

I'll definitely be going back at least once next year.
The family had a great time as well

4kicks

My team did a local circuit race in 38 degree weather last Saturday. I binned it early doors!