Mallorca
I am leaving today for a week of cycling in Mallorca. I hope to post daily blogs of my trip. Mallorca is a famous destination for cycling with many professional teams having camps here during the off season just because of the great climbing and moderate temperatures.
The photo above was taken in 2017 when I visited Mallorca with my wife and younger daughter. On that trip, we stayed in Palma, but I went out for several long bike rides including the day I photographed this panorama. This particular ride was a monster at 103 miles with over 12,000 feet of climbing. I have climbed over 12,000 feet one other time in my life at a climbing camp in the Santa Monica mountains in CA also in 2017. I am not in the shape I was in 2017, so none of my rides will be quite so ambitious. I think the longest ride planned for this week is about 70 miles and 8000 feet which is still a very tough day.
My last trip to Mallorca was also the one other time that I have had a serious bike crash. I was descending and came around a blind switchback to discover a stopped car. I braked a bit too hard on my front brakes and as I slowed, I locked the front wheel and went over the handlebars. The result was a trip to the ER, a broken tooth, fractured elbow and wrist, some road rash and some bruising. Consequently, my mantra for this trip is “NO TRIPS TO THE ER!!!” 👍
Assuming all goes according to plans, my next post will be from Mallorca. Cheers everyone!