Mallorca 312

cougie

A rental might be fine for some nice day trips but not for riding 312km. Any aches and pains you have are sure to come out in a hire bike.

I've raced a lot abroad and I don't know anyone who had hired a bike there rather than take their own. It's child's play to pack and fly with a bike.

PinarelloPrince

cougie wrote:

A rental might be fine for some nice day trips but not for riding 312km. Any aches and pains you have are sure to come out in a hire bike.

I've raced a lot abroad and I don't know anyone who had hired a bike there rather than take their own. It's child's play to pack and fly with a bike.

Raced abroad? If that's the case then you must be a pro or ex-pro, in which case your demands will be very different to the OPs.

OnTheRopes

PinarelloPrince wrote:

cougie wrote:

A rental might be fine for some nice day trips but not for riding 312km. Any aches and pains you have are sure to come out in a hire bike.

I've raced a lot abroad and I don't know anyone who had hired a bike there rather than take their own. It's child's play to pack and fly with a bike.

Raced abroad? If that's the case then you must be a pro or ex-pro, in which case your demands will be very different to the OPs.

You certainly don't need to be pro or ex-pro to have raced abroad
While we are on the subject the 312 is not a race even if some may treat it as so

Killerclown

OnTheRopes wrote:

PinarelloPrince wrote:

cougie wrote:

A rental might be fine for some nice day trips but not for riding 312km. Any aches and pains you have are sure to come out in a hire bike.

I've raced a lot abroad and I don't know anyone who had hired a bike there rather than take their own. It's child's play to pack and fly with a bike.

Raced abroad? If that's the case then you must be a pro or ex-pro, in which case your demands will be very different to the OPs.

You certainly don't need to be pro or ex-pro to have raced abroad
While we are on the subject the 312 is not a race even if some may treat it as so

Quite, not a race, a Sportive.

cougie

Definitely racing. Definitely not Pro but the pros race as well. And no - not in sportives.

jimmurray

First time I did the 312 I did it on a hire bike which I picked up the night before and had no problems. Had much more hassle bringing my own bike when I did it again last year.

OnTheRopes

jimmurray wrote:

First time I did the 312 I did it on a hire bike which I picked up the night before and had no problems. Had much more hassle bringing my own bike when I did it again last year.

What sort of hassle? Ive taken a bike to Majorca many times and can't say Ive ever had a problem

jimmurray

Ok, remember this is for a single ride, albeit a long one.

First time, hire bike

1. Hand luggage no messing around at large item check in or retrieving bike at other end
2. Walk to hire shop night before event. They fit saddle, pedals and I set saddle height.
3. Do 312
4. Return bike next day

Second time, own bike

1. Pack bike in box
2. Need to take two cars to airport as one car not large enough for 4 + bike box
3. Wait to checkin bike box
4. On arrival, additional 45 minute wait for bike box to appear
5. Need to hire 'van' instead of car
6. Unpack box and build bike
7. Spend 1/2 hour trying to find a track pump at hotel
8. Do ride.
9. Pack bike in box
10. Wait over an hour at airport trying to checkin bike box
11. Unpack box and build bike at home

OnTheRopes

jimmurray wrote:

Ok, remember this is for a single ride, albeit a long one.

First time, hire bike

1. Hand luggage no messing around at large item check in or retrieving bike at other end
2. Walk to hire shop night before event. They fit saddle, pedals and I set saddle height.
3. Do 312
4. Return bike next day

Second time, own bike

1. Pack bike in box
2. Need to take two cars to airport as one car not large enough for 4 + bike box
3. Wait to checkin bike box
4. On arrival, additional 45 minute wait for bike box to appear
5. Need to hire 'van' instead of car
6. Unpack box and build bike
7. Spend 1/2 hour trying to find a track pump at hotel
8. Do ride.
9. Pack bike in box
10. Wait over an hour at airport trying to checkin bike box
11. Unpack box and build bike at home

Fair enough, and if you are only going to one ride then I can see your reasoning but there are plenty of potential negatives with a hire bike I could list.

1. You forget your bike setup measurements to tell the shop.
2. The shop are not ready for you so there is a long wait until they are ready
3. Another long wait while they do your setup
4. You could have been riding your bike by now
6. Bike not setup as you like it and you have to go back to be re setup
7. The saddle is uncomfortable and you have 312 kms ahead of you and the setup wasn't quite right and you have terrible back ache.


As for your negatives:
1. I quite like packing my bike and it doesn't take long really
2. Just use a large taxi
3. Never found it a hassle, no wait just have to go to oversized luggage check in.
4 Never waited more than 5 minutes at Palma and is on occasion there before I have my luggage off the carousel
5. Large Taxi
6. Enjoyable and doesn't take long and quicker than setting up a hire bike as you know its set up right.
7. Depends on your choice of hotel, you could always stick one in your bike box.
8. Do ride, or do yourself a favour stay for a week and do 7 rides.
9. Not so enjoyable as coming out but takes about 30 mins to an hour tops.
10. Never been a long wait for me and your not going anywhere anyway even if it is.
11.Not a big hassle

At the end of the day though its personal choice

jimmurray

The above is what I experienced and taking a taxi for a 190 mile round trip! Palma is extremely busy with bike boxes the weekend of the 312. Anyway back to the original point, doing 312 on a hire bike is eminently doable. I know, I did it and if doing the 312 again I'd go down the hire bike route.

OnTheRopes

jimmurray wrote:

The above is what I experienced and taking a taxi for a 190 mile round trip! Palma is extremely busy with bike boxes the weekend of the 312. Anyway back to the original point, doing 312 on a hire bike is eminently doable. I know, I did it and if doing the 312 again I'd go down the hire bike route.

I think from palma to Puerto Pollensa was £60 each way, so between four of you not too bad and less hassle than a hire car.
Yes its certainly doable on a hire bike, no argument from me there but eminently more enjoyable on your own if you have a nice bike.

isojet

Hi all I’m doing the Mallorca 312 this year and if I’m honest I’m already feeling the pressure, I’m hitting the 120 mile training mark at the moment and slowly increasing, I’m also training on Zwift for intensity, my weekly mileage is approximately 200 but that’s been as high as 350 a few times, my two big fears are #1 nutrition over this sort of distance is the key factor, if I push to hard for to long I’ll cramp out so it’s the fluid and carb intake I’m focusing on at the moment. #2 no real breaks for the duration, after 4 hours of cycling it’s nice to pull over and have a coffee and just chill for 20 minutes, not to be with that clock constantly ticking away, it’s going to be interesting that’s for sure.

mrb123

isojet wrote:

Hi all I’m doing the Mallorca 312 this year and if I’m honest I’m already feeling the pressure, I’m hitting the 120 mile training mark at the moment and slowly increasing, I’m also training on Zwift for intensity, my weekly mileage is approximately 200 but that’s been as high as 350 a few times, my two big fears are #1 nutrition over this sort of distance is the key factor, if I push to hard for to long I’ll cramp out so it’s the fluid and carb intake I’m focusing on at the moment. #2 no real breaks for the duration, after 4 hours of cycling it’s nice to pull over and have a coffee and just chill for 20 minutes, not to be with that clock constantly ticking away, it’s going to be interesting that’s for sure.

Sounds like you're doing well, you're certainly a bit ahead of me!

I've done a century and plenty on the turbo but the weather isn't exactly helping matters at the moment as far as the longer sessions are concerned.

Not planning to do much more than 150 in a single solo ride but might try to do back to back tons one weekend.

ric/rstsport

The training you'd need to do would vary dramatically depending on your fitness, your goals, and the time you have available, etc.

The answer to your query could be as simple as gradually upping the longest ride you do to maybe just over 160km, or it could be significantly more complex than that.

But to get a reasonable answer i need to ask a lot. however, are you doing this to just get round (no small feat) or to be one of the faster riders, or something in between? what's your current fitness like? how old are you?

ugo.santalucia

You can do 312 km, the question is whether you want to do them in 11 hours or in 16... if you want to go fast, then you need to do a lot of training, if you just want to finish, then make sure you can do 200 km, the rest will come no problem

mzm70

I did the 225km route last year, I'd class myself as an average club rider and didn't do any 100+ miles prior to it. While it was physically tough I found it mentally challenging. After the cutoff point I rode pretty much alone, there were less and less riders as you went on so it felt like a solo ride and the west/south west coast road is very undulating. In retrospect I really enjoyed it, so much so that I've entered again.
If you do the full 312 you'll leave the hotel in the dark and come back in the dark

mrb123

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You can do 312 km, the question is whether you want to do them in 11 hours or in 16... if you want to go fast, then you need to do a lot of training, if you just want to finish, then make sure you can do 200 km, the rest will come no problem

I think there's a 14 hour time limit for the long route so 16 hours isn't going to do it.

ugo.santalucia

MrB123 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You can do 312 km, the question is whether you want to do them in 11 hours or in 16... if you want to go fast, then you need to do a lot of training, if you just want to finish, then make sure you can do 200 km, the rest will come no problem

I think there's a 14 hour time limit for the long route so 16 hours isn't going to do it.

Quite strict, but I assume a lot of it is fast peloton riding... a bit different from the solo rides I normally do

ugo.santalucia

the only thing is that it is in April... I did a 300 last April and found it very long... whereas the one I did in June was very enjoyable... April is very early

https://www.strava.com/activities/1523141428

https://www.strava.com/activities/1628547523

mrb123

ugo.santalucia wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You can do 312 km, the question is whether you want to do them in 11 hours or in 16... if you want to go fast, then you need to do a lot of training, if you just want to finish, then make sure you can do 200 km, the rest will come no problem

I think there's a 14 hour time limit for the long route so 16 hours isn't going to do it.

Quite strict, but I assume a lot of it is fast peloton riding... a bit different from the solo rides I normally do

I agree it seems quite tight. I'm hoping for around 12 hours but it doesn't leave too much margin for error.

The difficult bit is knowing how much speed advantage the huge numbers out on the roads will make. There should in theory be some pretty flat, fast miles in there if you can get in decent bunches.

On the other hand, a big chunk of the route is hilly so there won't be a massive drafting advantage to be had during those miles. Plus there's always a bit of messing around at the feed stations which eats into your average speed.

In theory the prevailing wind should be helping for the second half but there's no guarantee of that of course.

ugo.santalucia

my theory is that you should never worry about going out of time, because half of the people in there will be slower than you and there's not enough room on the broomwagon for all of them...
bear in mind there might be people doing it for charity, dressed as bananas, there might be someone on a Brompton... if they reckon 14 hours is a good time limit, then you should be fine

isojet

Hi and thanks all for the responses, I'm going to stick to the power numbers and if i can get around with an average of over 16mph I'll be happy, and as far as the training goes just keep doing the big hilly rides and long days out. Thanks

sloppyschleckonds

isojet wrote:

Hi and thanks all for the responses, I'm going to stick to the power numbers and if i can get around with an average of over 16mph I'll be happy, and as far as the training goes just keep doing the big hilly rides and long days out. Thanks

Good plan, nothing worse than training hard for an event like this and someone passes you on a shopper wearing flip-flops

jimmurray

I've done the 312 twice; once the last time the route went through Palma and last year. Both times you've got the large pelotons until the first climb but you do need to keep your wits about you. Lots of nervy riding. Once you hit the mountains you basically pace your self and ride at what suits you. First time I did it, when you got through the mountains there were still quite large groups forming which helped. Last year I personally saw a lot less of this. Any groups were much smaller. Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of riders are doing the shortest route, may even be more than two longer rides together. I found the route from the 225 cutoff to Arta pretty soul destroying. Lots of crappy little lanes, continually changing direction and poor surfaces and holes. A lot of people had punctures on this part of the route. Feels as though it's been tagged on just to make up the distance. Once you get through Arta it gets better as the roads much better and you stand the chance of getting in a group, albeit not a large one.

itboffin

Be under no illusions no one is dressed as a banana and no half of them are not as slow as you, this is a seriously fast endurance event.

I've done it twice and averaged 17-18 mph with less than 30 mins stopped over an 11 hour day, there's a shed load of climbing all the way around even the bits that look flat on paper.

If you want an 11 hour ish time the huge peletons after the mountains are not for you, 200 km at 20 mph will push you into 12 or 13 hours unless you blitzed the mountains in which case you'll not want that.

We found two or four people prepared to ride our pace post climbs and even then they didn't still for more than a few miles.

I'm gutted we just missed out on a sub 11 but not enough to do it again, 300km is too far

mrb123

What's it like at the feed stops? It strikes me that they could be fairly chaotic with so many people doing the event and a mass start.

Is there plenty of decent food on offer and is it easy enough to get water?

Was planning to probably skip the first one but will need to stop after that for water and food.

okgo

They were pretty strict on the broom wagon last year.

I was untrained so did the 110 mile version, on a rental. Not all that difficult, though I wouldn't have fancied finishing in the dark, I was in the pub by then.

okgo

MrB123 wrote:

What's it like at the feed stops? It strikes me that they could be fairly chaotic with so many people doing the event and a mass start.

Is there plenty of decent food on offer and is it easy enough to get water?

Was planning to probably skip the first one but will need to stop after that for water and food.

They're pretty crap really, the first one has nothing at it apart from drink! We preferred to stop in a town on the route over the back of the mountains somewhere. Towards the end they have got more food in them, but they were nowhere near as good as the ones on Leige b Leige

They were busy, but people are so split after the first couple its not a problem really.

mrb123

Not long now until this comes around - can't wait!

Strong winds and rain forecast this weekend in Alcudia but the long range forecast for the weekend of the event looks promising.

Training has gone reasonably well - about 2000 miles for the year so far with 6 centuries, my longest being 150 miles. That's all been done solo and pretty much all in winter conditions so hopefully the miles will pass a little easier on the day.

Hope everyone else has got on ok. See you at the start!

ryan_w-2

If you break it down, it's really not that scary.

312km & 5,050m of climbing = 3x 104km & 1,683m of climbing.

I'd break it down like that since it's much easier mentally to visualise.

I did a ride in Spain last year which was 167km & 4,200m of climbing. I broke that down into chunks too. Being 89kg at the time, I needed all the positive motivation I could get!

On another note. You're all mad.