Mountains of the northern peninsula

Today we rode north on the Formentor peninsula. We started with a nice gentle ride out of Alcudia up the coast and then began .nothing else but climbs and descents,. Rugged coastline and rocky peaks dominated the views today. We saw wild goats on the mountains and went through the Mont Fumat tunnel.




The end destination was the lighthouse on Cap de Formentor where we stopped for beverage and snacks, and a much needed rest. The route back retraced most of our journey there, and the descents turned into climbs and vice versa. The climbs were long and continuous with no relief, but worth the effort for the views we had.

On the return, we rode inland to Pollenca (“Po” yent sa). Founded by the Romans, the town retains much of it’s old world charm, including narrow alleyways and immaculate door fronts to homes on each street. The pride of the town is the Via Crucis, (Way of the Cross) which leads to El Calvari Chapel standing on the top of the hill. 365 steps take you up to the chapel. (We didn’t have the legs left to climb the steps shown in the pic on the right). Below is a pic of the group taking a break in Pollenca.

We capped the day after dinner with a nice walk on the beach and tomorrow we are planning to head inland for a gentler, but perhaps longer ride.



Stats for today: 42 miles, 2834 feet of climbing

Beautiful scenery and weather

Today’s ride was 50 miles through gently rolling countryside, with great scenery. Each small village had its own unique character. We made a coffee stop in Petra, at about the half way point. Petra is the birthplace of Juniperro Serra, a Franciscan monk born in 1713, who traveled to America and Mexico. He founded missions in California, some of which were the beginnings of San Diego, Santa Barbara, Los Angels and San Franciso. The village square was full of bikes. And every imaginable color of spandex.

Stone walls dominated the roadside, All were hand stacked and gated houses and farms were out of sight far beyond the gates. Wildflowers were everywhere, and the bright red poppies really caught our eye. Scents of Jasmine filled the air and we passed trees laden with oranges and field of onions, potatoes,and artichokes. Bells clanged as the sheep moved around the pastures and through the thickets.


Stats for today: 47 miles, 1356 feet of climbing

Relatively uneventful journey and we are here

After a ground delay in Philadelphia for a thunderstorm, we took our nite flight over the Atlantic to Barcelona, landing only about 20 minutes late to our original schedule. Then,the fun began....
We had a very limited amount of time to enter Spain, collect our checked luggage and check in for our flight to Mallorca. It was time compressed, but we made the flight and also got our luggage when we arrived in Palma, Mallorca. A short bus trip across the island to Alcudia got us to our hotel and we are here for the night. Tired, but at least in the place where we will be for the next 9 days.

The hotel is very nice and we have a "half pension", which means we get full breakfast and dinner each day included at a very reasonable surcharge. Here are pics of the hotel and the beach right at the end of the block.

Tomorrow is bike fitting day, we get our rentals at 8:00 am and then a quick breakfast and out for our first ride to Petra. This is a popular first day ride of only about 40 miles and relatively flat.

Getting ready and hoping for a calm volcano!

We are planning to travel to Alcudia, Mallorca to bike with a group of friends from Rochester. Mallorca is in middle of the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain. It's an independent republic, but part of Spain.

We have had our ups and downs this week with the uncertainties of travel due to the volcano eruption in Iceland. We plan to fly to Barcelona on the 22nd and so far, it's a go. We take a short hop over to Mallorca on the 23rd and get our bikes on Saturday.