Bob on BAC Majorca 2007

Store with the oranges


Rumor has it, if you pass through the hole your sex will change

The Ride - We got up this morning around 6:30 so that we would have time to eat and get our bags to the van by 8:00. I decided that I was tired of riding alone and would like to ride with a group today, so we hung around the hotel until everyone was ready. We finally left just before 8:00.

Even though the sky was clear, it was a little cool so I started out with arm warmers and a light-weight jacket. This lasted about 10 minutes when we started the first climb of the day. The rest of the ride was in short-sleeve jersey and shorts. Temperatures rose during the day to the mid-to-high 80's.

After the initial climb, we reached the coast. Because we were riding at 600-700 feet, we got gorgeous views of the Mediterranean for the rest of the ride. Our first stop was at a grocery store in Deia where I bought two delicious local oranges for .25 Euros. Our next stop was at a scenic lookout where we ran into several bus loads of English tourists along with their guides leading them around with their little flags.

Our third stop was in the town of Valldemossa. This is a very touristy town with souvenir shops and cafes. We stopped there because Alison said that the hot chocolate was "to die for". Because the season was getting warm, most cafes weren't serving hot chocolate. Marissa and Marty got to the town before we did, so Marissa scouted out the only cafe that served it. Needless to say, we all had some. I also had ham and cheese on a baguette to fortify me for the rest of the ride. It was only 10:30.

Port de Valldemossa from the top of the climb

I left the group at this point because I wanted to take an optional out-and-back to Port de Valldemossa. This proved to be a beautiful and difficult ride. It went down several switchbacks from 1400 feet to sea level and back. The town was very small and kind of a dissapointment but the scenery was gorgeous. The ride back to the top was difficult and very warm but very satisfying.

After reaching the top, I continued on to Bunyalbufar, our destination for the next two nights.

Google Earth

The Hotel - Our new hotel was the Hotel Mar I Vents. It was situated on the main (only) street in town and sat on a hill far above the sea. We had gorgeous views from our rooms and from the terraces. Bill and I had a large room with a balcony just above a lemon grove. The hotel had wifi but it was accessable only near the lobby. This was a family-run hotel with a matriarch in control of her sons and grandsons.

The Food - Breakfast was the same buffet as the day before.

For my mid-day lunch, I ate a tuna salad accompanied by a cerveza grande at a restaurant a few meters from the hotel.

Fish cooked Mallorcan style

Dinner was good. For starters, we had a choice of carrot soup or aubergine pudding. I chose the aubergine. It was cooked like a souffle and served cold. Very tasty. Our entree was a choice between fish cooked Mallorcan style or duck. I had the fish which was very good - moist and full of flavor. Dinner didn't start until 8:00 so we weren't in bed until 11:00. That was OK because breakfast didn't start until 8:00 the next morning..

Non-Cycling Activity - Happy hour was on the terrace in back of the hotel on the terrace overlooking the sea.

Because the wifi was free, I offered to let others in our group use my laptop to check their email, etc.

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