Cycling guide in Majorca, yay, nay?

ugo.santalucia

I might have been offered a 5 week job as cycling guide in Majorca in spring... pay is not great, but it's all inclusive, so basically I don't have to spend a penny to live there.
As far as I know, there is nothing preventing me from doing it during the annual leave of my day to day job, I suppose I will need to declare the income with HMRC or something... I haven't asked about insurance yet, but I assume I would be covered.
Looks like full on, basically work every day unless you ask for a day off... so realistically 6 days a week out there cycling up and down Sa Calobra...

Good idea? Bad idea? Once a lifetime opportunity?

pblakeney

Biggest issue from what I've seen is dealing with numpty cyclists and group dynamics.
Some wanting to go fast, some can't cope. In an ideal world it'd be great.

thistle_

I dunno, you'd have to put up with idiots like me crashing and needing first aid and escorting back to the hotel

Sa Colabra was pretty quiet when I went but I imagine it's a nightmare in the summer.
If you're being someone's b!tch guide then you might not get a choice over where you get to ride?
Are you expected to prep the bikes at the start of the day and sort them out afterwards?

ugo.santalucia

thistle_ said:

I dunno, you'd have to put up with idiots like me crashing and needing first aid and escorting back to the hotel

Sa Colabra was pretty quiet when I went but I imagine it's a nightmare in the summer.
If you're being someone's b!tch guide then you might not get a choice over where you get to ride?
Are you expected to prep the bikes at the start of the day and sort them out afterwards?

Yes, I fully expect it to be a hassle at times and yes, the guide does a bit of everything including some mechanical work if the mechanics have too much to do.
I have to look at the alternative... spending a lot of money for a month long holiday or spend the same time cycling in the Midlands and doing Tuesday night time trials...

I guess it's something different to do and could be fun

crescent

Sounds like a very interesting opportunity. My concern would be turning my recreation/hobby into a job where I am doing it at someone else's behest. Having said that, it's cycling for a month in Mallorca.How bad can it be?

ugo.santalucia

crescent said:

Sounds like a very interesting opportunity. My concern would be turning my recreation/hobby into a job where I am doing it at someone else's behest. Having said that, it's cycling for a month in Mallorca.How bad can it be?

My thought exactly... worst case scenario is that I don't enjoy it and I don't go back for more or even worse I leave early if things get really bad.
I see it as a foot in the door... if I enjoy it, I could reduce my contract and spend more time doing something similar in the future, provided we can afford it. It seems to be fairly sustainable, age wise, as long as health serves me well... they have guides who are well into their retirement age

daniel_b

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity, as long as you can negotiate the leave with your employer.

No cost to you, well apart from using your holiday up I guess (Could you negotiate some of it as unpaid leave?), but your fitness, I would imagine, would increase significantly across those 5 weeks, and the chances are you are likely to meet some nice people along the way.

If it's not difficult to achieve, I'd definitely say go for it.

I've never been solo or on an organised trip, but know a lot of people local to me go regularly.
I assume you'll be working for one of those organisers - from what they told me, there will be perhaps 6 or so routes/speeds setup each morning, and then depending on how the rider they feel, they mosey over to that group.

Munsford0

What are you waiting for? Sign up immediately!

ugo.santalucia

daniel_b said:

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity, as long as you can negotiate the leave with your employer.

No cost to you, well apart from using your holiday up I guess (Could you negotiate some of it as unpaid leave?), but your fitness, I would imagine, would increase significantly across those 5 weeks, and the chances are you are likely to meet some nice people along the way.

If it's not difficult to achieve, I'd definitely say go for it.

I've never been solo or on an organised trip, but know a lot of people local to me go regularly.
I assume you'll be working for one of those organisers - from what they told me, there will be perhaps 6 or so routes/speeds setup each morning, and then depending on how the rider they feel, they mosey over to that group.

Yes, one of the big organisers and yes, that's how it works.

Annual leave: I need to use some carried over days in March or lose them anyway, plus I need to take a lot of April... surprisingly, that leaves me with another 90 hours to use by the end of September... so I could have another 2 week + holiday in the summer.
Not keen on taking unpaid leave, the guide job doesn't pay well enough.

drhaggis

When would that be? Majorca last summer was stupidly hot, with even sea water temperature hitting the low 30's.

Talking about HMRC, there's also the little matter of Agencia Tributaria, who might take exception of you earing money for something you're doing in Spain. On the positive, there's a dual taxation agreement between the UK & Spain since 2013 so, provided you do the paperwork right, you'll be OK and not pay double tax. Negative point is you may be asked to do self assessments for a long long time.

ugo.santalucia

drhaggis said:

When would that be? Majorca last summer was stupidly hot, with even sea water temperature hitting the low 30's.

Talking about HMRC, there's also the little matter of Agencia Tributaria, who might take exception of you earing money for something you're doing in Spain. On the positive, there's a dual taxation agreement between the UK & Spain since 2013 so, provided you do the paperwork right, you'll be OK and not pay double tax. Negative point is you may be asked to do self assessments for a long long time.

March/April...

Mmmh, yeah, tax, what a ball ache

thistle_

drhaggis said:

When would that be? Majorca last summer was stupidly hot, with even sea water temperature hitting the low 30's.

The autumn was also stupidly hot, 32 degrees at the end of October when I went.

ugo.santalucia

One of my reservations is my fitness... I have big power numbers for my age, but I haven't cycled long distance in ages... longest ride this year was a mere 50 miles... so the idea that I can just walk out of hibernation in late March and do 80 miles day after day seems a bit unlikely... obviously good roads and good weather help, but I might well be done after 3 days...

super_davo

I've got a friend that does it, been doing it for a long while and has even set up his own company.

What you get out of it depends on your cycling goals, and how much you enjoy being ride leader. And being ride leader is the key part of it... you'll have to keep some semblance of order whilst people half wheel each other on the front, simultaneously nursing along those that have clearly overestimated their fitness, you have to keep going day in day out, you have to be cheery when the company isn't and you've done the same thing for the last 30 days on the trot, keep calm when a road is closed and you can't follow your pre-programmed route or there is yet another mechanical.

That's the work bit, but on the flip side, you get loads of good cycling on great roads, different riders coming & going, and for the most part be on holiday for 6 weeks.

As for fitness... it will be great base miles and you'll be as strong as an ox just from the amount of time doing it, but you will have to ride well within yourself because you need to do it day in, day out; it isn't a good idea to smash it up any of the climbs.

Given all of that... I would snap it up. It's six weeks, it's an experience, who knows who you'll meet and where it will lead.

pblakeney

super_davo said:

...

Given all of that... I would snap it up. It's six weeks, it's an experience, who knows who you'll meet and where it will lead.

This.
The biggest regrets are missed opportunities, not those that disappointed.

joeyhalloran

6 weeks is certainly manageable, even if you don't really enjoy it you can stick it out and then you'll now. If you end up loving it, maybe it becomes a nice annual thing?

I'd say the enjoyment comes from the people, if you're a "people" person and like chatting with new people then it'll work well. If you're an introvert who just wants to crank out some miles in the sun it's probably not great.

drhaggis

ugo.santalucia said:

drhaggis said:

When would that be? Majorca last summer was stupidly hot, with even sea water temperature hitting the low 30's.

Talking about HMRC, there's also the little matter of Agencia Tributaria, who might take exception of you earing money for something you're doing in Spain. On the positive, there's a dual taxation agreement between the UK & Spain since 2013 so, provided you do the paperwork right, you'll be OK and not pay double tax. Negative point is you may be asked to do self assessments for a long long time.

March/April...

Mmmh, yeah, tax, what a ball ache

Early spring should be lovely down there! Your biggest problem would be hiding the shock from seeing people in jackets and warm tights!

Regarding shape, if you have the top end, surely it'll take 1 month of training here to get back to endurance shape? I take you used to do audaces, right?

Dorset_Boy

Definitely go for it.
You'll meet some great people and a handful of Tw@ts, but that's the nature of people on holiday.
I did 5 ski seasons for chalet companies back in the day, and it was the best 5 years of my life, even if at times having to ski with shite skiers was a pain, but the good and great days will outweigh the bad.
If you don't give it a go, you'll always have a regret.

orraloon

And tax self assessments are (dodger666 stylee) easy, is what you want to declare. 😉

MidlandsGrimpeur2

Personally I would say go for it, sounds like a genuine once in a lifetime thing. I always ask a basic question with things like that, "If I don't do it, will I regret it?" That always confirms things in my mind.

As you highlighted Ugo, the fitness and overall physical aspect would be my one caveat. It's not just the riding to cope with, having done these things as a participant and chatting with guides, you will be up at dawn, doing a lot of prep, riding and bed late. Realistically it is 16-17 hour days. Plus you have to be there to keep punters happy and cater to their whims. Also, if you have some moaning git, could you handle the aggravation?

I'd still go for it though, think you would get a lot from the experience.

ugo.santalucia

Can I live with the regret? Probably, because I can't see it becoming viable at any point in the future. Basically working 90 hours a week and essentially being paid in kind... I could only ever do it for a few weeks, it's never going to work as a "second job" of some sort.
There is also the wife issue...

ugo.santalucia

I think I’ll get back to them with my reservations… I simply can’t ride 500 miles a week and all the rest. I am sure I can lead 50 miles rides day in day out… to be honest I wasn’t expecting people who want to ride 100 miles to need a guide… I thought guides were for beginners

First.Aspect

Won't the longer rides be broken up with lots of stops? And wouldn't they circulate the routes and lengths of rides the guides do?

ugo.santalucia

First.Aspect said:

Won't the longer rides be broken up with lots of stops? And wouldn't they circulate the routes and lengths of rides the guides do?

A hundred miles is a hundred miles, we can fit three cafe stops, but it’s still 6 hours in the saddle… normally I wouldn’t go out for another one the following day. A big week riding in Italy for me is 300-350 miles… I can’t do more than that on a hilly terrain.

First.Aspect

You should do it if you possibly can, but accept it will never make you a decent living. Even for the shop owners it seems to me to be mostly a lifestyle choice.

I'm sure there used to be a guy on here living on Tenerrife and doing this sort of thing. Also a chemist. Suggesting that careers in chemistry aren't all that appealing. Anyhow, he tried selling cable housing with TiO2 lining for a while, suggesting that he needed extra cash Then vanished, suggesting he got a proper job.

super_davo

When I've done Majorca trips the longer rides can have 2 or 3 coffee stops! You've got all day, suns out, no family to get back to, you can take your time... And this happens even with the fastest groups, it's just a bit more intense between coffee stops!
'Guides' aren't just for beginners, they show you round the island, get tables at the cafe, keep a group of people that may not know each other at the start together. In my experience a lot of the clientele are somewhat older, definitely not all beginners.

drhaggis

This cafe thing is a totally British thing. I never do coffee stops when I ride in Spain. Well, except once that I had bonked and I seriously needed the extra calories.

pblakeney

ugo.santalucia said:

First.Aspect said:

Won't the longer rides be broken up with lots of stops? And wouldn't they circulate the routes and lengths of rides the guides do?

A hundred miles is a hundred miles, we can fit three cafe stops, but it’s still 6 hours in the saddle… normally I wouldn’t go out for another one the following day. A big week riding in Italy for me is 300-350 miles… I can’t do more than that on a hilly terrain.

6 hours? Hah! When I did 100 miles round the coast to Valdemossa & back via the Orient I took 7-1/2 hours. Anyone doing it in 6 hours doesn't need a guide. I didn't.

ugo.santalucia

pblakeney said:

ugo.santalucia said:

First.Aspect said:

Won't the longer rides be broken up with lots of stops? And wouldn't they circulate the routes and lengths of rides the guides do?

A hundred miles is a hundred miles, we can fit three cafe stops, but it’s still 6 hours in the saddle… normally I wouldn’t go out for another one the following day. A big week riding in Italy for me is 300-350 miles… I can’t do more than that on a hilly terrain.

6 hours? Hah! When I did 100 miles round the coast to Valdemossa & back via the Orient I took 7-1/2 hours. Anyone doing it in 6 hours doesn't need a guide. I didn't.

Agree, but apparently they have groups who want to do 100 miles at 19 mph or so… I also don’t get why they need a guide in the days of Garmin, but…

kingstongraham

ugo.santalucia said:

pblakeney said:

ugo.santalucia said:

First.Aspect said:

Won't the longer rides be broken up with lots of stops? And wouldn't they circulate the routes and lengths of rides the guides do?

A hundred miles is a hundred miles, we can fit three cafe stops, but it’s still 6 hours in the saddle… normally I wouldn’t go out for another one the following day. A big week riding in Italy for me is 300-350 miles… I can’t do more than that on a hilly terrain.

6 hours? Hah! When I did 100 miles round the coast to Valdemossa & back via the Orient I took 7-1/2 hours. Anyone doing it in 6 hours doesn't need a guide. I didn't.

Agree, but apparently they have groups who want to do 100 miles at 19 mph or so… I also don’t get why they need a guide in the days of Garmin, but…

They want someone to draft behind when they get tired.

In that circumstance I'd want someone with a van, not another bike rider.

super_davo

From a punters perspective you go on one of these trips to ride in a group, to draft and chat etc.

You may be able to navigate with a Garmin. You may have a group of friends of equal ability all able to go at the same time.

If not... then this is a way to meet new people who all want to do the same thing you do, grading the rides by fitness. And it makes it way easier not having to worry about logistics and just riding (my friends company bigs up the "live a week like a pro cyclist" angle).

Some may baulk at the costs of this sort of package but lots of people pay for it.