Lluc monastery and some hills

We broke into two groups today and our group rode to the monastery at Lluc (“Yook”). This monastery is the spiritual center of Mallorca and has been a place of pilgrimage for over 800 years. It houses a statue of the Virgin which was found in a cave by an Arab shepherd boy who converted to Christianity. The monks built a chapel to house the statue and the monastery is constructed around that original building. These pics show the original church and one of the modern buildings. The view of the valley (pic below) from the monastery was awesome.

We had another perfect day for the ride today. A beautiful ride up the coast to Porto Pollentia and then inland on a familiar road to Pollenca. The sign indicated 20km (12 mi) to Lluc. At the 5km marker there was another sign informing us of a 7.7km (4.6 mi) hill with a 5.5% grade! Once we finished that climb, the rest was rolling uphill with a 2km (1.2 mi) descent to the monastery where we had lunch. The pics show the road to Lluc and the summit marking at Coll de Femenia. We spent about an hour touring this still active monastery and then began a 2km ascent up to Coll de sa Bataia which set us up for a glorious, but very steep, 6km (3.6 mi) descent to Caimari. We think it’s good to have the climb at the beginning of the ride and the downhill on the way home! And after yesterday’s taxi and bus rides, our legs were really in shape for this one. Here we are together at the monastery at Lluc.

After a short ride to Selva, we picked up a bicycle route to Campanet. Though narrow, these side roads are absolutely perfect for cycling. This route was 4.8km (2.9 mi) and we only saw a few cars. The roads pass farms and have the stone walls at the sides with livestock in the fields. Groves of olive trees were abundant today, as well as many fields full of sheep and goats. By this time we needed an excuse to use the facilities, so a coffee stop was in order and the café con leche was a great refresher for Ken and Dana. The pics below show the town square in Campanet and Dana enjoying her coffee and Kathie her Coke. Campanet is in the central valley of Mallorca with the Serra de Tramuntana Mountains to the north and the main highway across the island runs through this valley.

We rode just a few km to Buger, another 4km to the north side of Sa Pobla and picked up the main highway back to Alcudia.

Stats for today: 49 miles and 2452 feet of climbing