Bob on BAC Majorca 2007

Sa Rapita


Monastery Cat


View from the Monastery

The Hotel - We are at the Hotel Delta for another night.

The Food - Breakfast was in the same restaurant. I stoked up on protein because of the long ride that was planned. The bicycling package gave us lunches of a mini-baguette with cheese, three figs and an orange. It was not much for a long ride, but I could stop along the route for more. Dinner was in the same restaurant in the hotel. The choice varied slightly. I had a non-seafood paella made with noodles instead of rice. It was not too bad - lots of salty sausage in it.

Non-Cycling Activity - We were up at 6:30. Before breakfast, Bill went to get his rental bicycle squared away while I used the pay-PC to check my email. Our Happy Hour/Group Meeting began at 6 with an agenda of normal administrivia.

The Ride - Our first day of riding was a counter-clockwise loop from the hotel with an optional climb to Monestir de Sant Salvador. I left the hotel a little after 9 and rode with George and Dorlene Root for the first few miles. Their pace slacked off after awhile so I began riding by myself. The first part of the ride was fairly flat. The route was slightly inland along lightly traveled roads with good pavement. The weather started in the high 60's and eventually got up to the mid 70's. It was partly cloudy with moderate winds (at least they were moderate as tail-winds).

After about 12km, I took an optional turnoff to Cap Blanc - a lighthouse about 1 km down a side road. The trail to the lighthouse was fenced off, so I turned around and joined the designated route. We dropped down to the coast for a bit at Sa Rapita and rode past crashing Mediterrainian waves. Then we turned inland again. Not many roads in Mallorca follow the coast. I intercepted other BAC cyclists on the way into Campos and several dozen non-BAC cyclists throughout the ride. Mallorca is a haven for cyclists.

After Campos, I took the optional ride extension. I was now totally on my own because no one else in our group was ready to climb. It turned out to be a moderate climb of about 1200 feet over 3.5 miles to a monastery called Monestir de Sant Salvador. The monastery turned out to be a tourist destination including a bar/cafe. It also had several framed cycling jerseys and pictures of a local cyclist who won races in the 1940's. The views from the monastery were spectacular. You could see a panarama of almost the entire island. It was worth the climb for me and several other cyclists that I saw there.

The rest of the ride was working my way back to the hotel along mostly lightly traveled roads. I had eaten my cyclist's lunch on the side of the road before the climb, so I was ready for a snack when I got to Porreres. I stopped at a cafe and had cafe con leche and a croissant. Because this extended route met back up with the shorter route, I caught up with Marissa and Marty going back to the hotel.

Today's ride was very nice. There were lots of wild flowers, sheared sheep and fig trees. Auto drivers were very courtious and waited to pass until the road was clear. My GPS worked flawlessly and helped tremendously in following the route.

Final stats: