To Alaró

March 5, 2024

Rachael and I are both apprehensive about how today’s ride to Alaró will go. There’s not much to it either distance or contour-wise, but under the circumstances I’ve redrawn it several times, testing out alternatives to find the least challenging one available. The original idea, through Inca - 18 miles, a thousand feet of elevation gain - was simple enough but included enough of a climb that it made me uncertain. The route I settle on cuts that back by about two miles and a couple hundred feet of climbing, which feels much better.

So the ride is as easy as it can be made, but we’re helped out too by the weather. It’s good that we extended our stay in Sineu by an extra day to give us more time to get some strength back, but it’s worked out well for the weather too. It’s sunny, nearly sixty degrees already and nearly windless when we pack up to leave our hotel about 10:30.

Still though, we’re both apprehensive; and there’s even talk of finding a taxi if we decide it’s too much. We’ve been gradually improving for three days straight but we’re nowhere near at normal strength or energy yet. And when Rachael gets up this morning she feels light-headed and a little dizzy at first, which makes her anxious about the idea of being on the bike. So we leave with the idea that we’ll just test things out and leave open what we’ll do until we get a feel for it.

As we’re loading up the bikes we enjoy a conversation with a pair of fellow guests having breakfast. They’re a pleasant pair, two women from Munich who have been ditching their spouses each spring for the past twenty years to come down to Mallorca for a couple of weeks of sun and hiking. We exchange the essentials about what we’re all doing down here, lavish praise on Mallorca (even though we’re yet to see much of it ourselves), and then after sharing some appalled discussion about the death spiral our country has fallen into we take our leave and bike west through the middle of town.

Leaving Son Cleda, our home in Sineu. A very nice place in a perfect location. If we ever return, we’d stay here again.

The ride starts out easily as we follow MA-3011, the main road to Palma, for the first four miles. After a slight climb crossing the crest of Sineu’s small hill we gradually drop for a few miles before bottoming out. After that it’s a very gradual climb most of the rest of the way. The 3011 isn’t the most relaxing ride, but there’s a steady shoulder the whole way and the modest amount of traffic is invariably respectful and gives us plenty of space.

Looking back toward Sineu, shortly before we leave the highway.

Leaving the 3011, we turn north and toward the Tramuntana. The ride quality improves significantly as we lose nearly all of the cars and start seeing an abundance of bikes. After a couple of miles on a smaller highway we leave the numbered road network and follow small, unstriped lanes for the last ten miles. It’s a beautiful ride, with the dramatic formations rising above Alaró drawing us in and uplifting pastoral scenes to our sides. Along the way we pass through three smaller villages, each attractive and interesting enough in their own right.

And our health slows us down but doesn’t ruin the ride for us. We definitely take it easy, probably averaging 9 or 10 mph when we’re not coasting downhill. It really helps that the weather is so fine, although we pick up a bit of headwind on the last few miles before town. Sixteen easy miles isn’t much, but for today at least it’s enough and we’re happy to see Alaró when it comes into view.

For the last seven or eight miles we bike straight at that inspiring formation ahead.

We experience a surprising variety of conditions for such a short ride.

The views just keep improving, both ahead and surrounding us. We bike past beautiful pastoral scenes of orchards in bloom, sheep and goats, and fields yellow with canola and oxalis.

There’s very little traffic to watch out for on these roads. silently approaching bikes are probably the biggest threat.

Nearing Alaró, just a mile or two ahead beneath the nearest craggy hills.

On a Friday Night, by Jasmin Williams

We arrive in Alaró around 12:30. With our room not available for another hour and a half we do the obvious thing and cruise through the heart of town looking for a spot to stop for lunch. It’s a small town, and it doesn’t take long to find the obvious spot when we come to a square filled with tables and the perimeter lined with bicycles. We grab our own table and sit down, happy that it’s warm and still enough to feel comfortable dining outside. While we wait for a menu to appear we look around at the appealing scene. The square itself is clean and attractive, with some sort of religious structure rising above one end - it’s worth coming back for a few photos before we leave. There’s a steady stream of bikers entering and leaving the square, nearly all of them on classy carbon fiber rental bikes from the looks of it. I’m sure that must be the normal approach here - fly in to Palma for a few week stay and rent a bike from one of the many outlets around.

From the appearance of it, nearly everyone here arrives by bike.

The light’s not the best for this statue or monument at the far end of the square. If I felt more energetic I’d walk over for a better look, but there’s time for it in the days ahead.

We jump the gun and bike to our hotel a bit early, finding it still dark when we arrive at 1:48. It’s breezy and in the shade here so we bike back to a patch of sun and wait a bit longer before trying again. At 2:02 it’s still dark, and Rachael is just starting to look for a phone number when the door suddenly opens and our host welcomes us in.

Space is provided for our bikes, our documents are checked and we’re shown to our room, and an hour later she leaves again, not to be seen again until the next morning. It’s still early in the season, and we’ve got the place nearly to ourselves again. We’ll be here for four nights.

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Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 67 miles (108 km)

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Steve Miller/GrampiesWe knew you guys were ok because we have been exchanging routing information on our blog comments, but we are sure happy to see a new post that confirms your (relative) ok ness in the real world. Get better, sooner rather than later, and then the fun can begin.
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2 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThanks, Steve. We’re working on it but aren’t out of the woods yet. We’re getting bored with this theme and ready for something new.
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2 months ago