May 16, 2022
Soller to Puerto Pollença
Bring on the Hills
Our plan is unfolding and today is the day we can pick up our rental bikes from Soller. It might seem odd to rent from a town that is 65k away, but we will be staying there for the second week in Mallorca. When it's time to leave Mallorca, we can just drop them off in town. Soller is not exactly easy to get to, so instead of a long bus ride we opted to have Tomas come and drive us there. He was scheduled for 8:45am.
First things first, though. The Eolo breakfast buffet never disappoints, so we began with breaky out on the patio. We have the place to ourselves. We were all lubed up with sunscreen, I had a stash of hazelnuts, dates and pepitas in my pocket, and the water bottles were topped up with water.
Tomas showed up in his taxi right on time. It was a 1 hr drive to Soller, which is nestled in the mountains. The old highway snakes between two towering mountains and back in the 1997 they decided to build a tunnel right through the mountain, so that's how you get to Soller these days. It's brilliant, because now the snakefest is a cycist's delight!
The town of Soller is nothing like I expected. It is a maze of narrow streets and interesting buildings. I am so looking forward to spending time here. Tomas followed his gps to find Tramuntana Tours and when he departed he said he would need it to get out! We thanked him and said our buen dias (or should that have been adios?).
The bikes were waiting for us, but we first had to install our own saddles and mount our WAHOO Element cycle computers. The shop's mechanics work at their other location a few kms away, so David got to work. Normally, this is pretty straightforward, but his bike had a strange split seatpost. It took a few minutes but he figured it out and got our seats mounted, properly aligned and adjusted for height.
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Then we were off. We asked for the best way out of town and it went something like this: left out of the store, keep going till you cross the tracks, the first right after that, next left, next right, another left and when you get to the main road, turn left and go down the hill, then at the second roundabout turn right. Got that? Neither did I!
We made one quick stop to adjust seat height and then we carried on and found ourselves on the main road. It was counter-intuitive to turn left so we pulled up to a bar and asked one of the patrons. He confirmed the direction and looked suitably impressed at what were about to do.
So began our ascent of Piug Major, the name of the hill we were about to head up. It took us about 90 minutes of climbing to make it to the summit and it did not disappoint. The road was in excellent condition. Much of the climb was through pine forests with scrubby rocky terrain and goats. Yes, here the most dangerous thing to come across on a bike is a goat. We were smitten by them...they're so cute, especially the kids. In reality, they were quite car smart and there was fencing and dry stone walls to remind them to stay off the road. Funny enough, I smelled goat cheese wafting in the air whenever we passed through an especially goat-y section.
We both loved the ascent. Most people reading this won't understand the attraction of working this hard on a vacation. I am lousy at persuation and that is neither here nor there. But I will say that seeking the sweet spot, that moment of bliss, in whatever it is you love, sort of describes it. It ticks so many boxes for me and on a physical level, getting to the top of a climb on my own steam is immensely satisfying. It is not about speed; it's about maintaining a steady state as much as possible. The downhills are a blast, requiring physical strength and balance, especially on tight left-turning hairpins (I am right handed). Catching a few g's on the corners is always a bonus, but is only possible on gentle curves. On hairpins, it's about finding and holding the line that allows a perfect execution. It's a real drag when cars steal that opportunity from us.
Flora and Fauna
Along the way, I am always on the lookout for flowers. I'm not sure what this white flower is but they lined the roadsides. I actually passed by several other flowers that I so wish I had stopped for. Among them were pink rock roses and small white roses. The ones I really wanted though, were a white arum lily (I think) and an orchid.
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Along the entire route today the birds were singing their hearts out. I pulled out the Merlin app on one of my breaks and recorded their tunes for a minute or so. Merlin identified Common Wood pigeon, European greenfinch, Eurasian blackbird, and Common chaffinch. The song of the pigeon is a familiar one and it always reminds me of France. The others were new songs to me.
Tunnel = Thrill
Any dyed in the wool cycle tourist can regale you with stories of the tunnels they have ridden through. These experiences tend to stay with you, especially those back in the day before tunnels were lit. Our route today includes a nice long uphill tunnel. We put our lights on for this.
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1 year ago
The road crosses the high mountains where the terrain was undulating up and down. We passed two reservoirs: Gorge Blau and Embassamente de Cuber.
The downhill sections were really fun. Cars can't travel too quickly on these twisty downhill roads, so we take the lane and let the bike flow. Having said that, sometimes the drivers are over cautious and won't overtake us even when we make opportunities for them. So, I re-take the lane when this happens. Eventually, after several missed opportunites they are on their way.
By this point, we had drunk our two bootles of water and were conserving the final few sips so were happy to stop for a drink at a roadside stand, then it was downhill for lunch at the LLuc Monastery.
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I have read about the Mallorcan ham and cheese on stoneground bread which they are rather famous for: the pa ambol. It was on the menu at the monastery so we shared one order. There were 5 pieces so we were glad we didn't order two. This cafe is sort of famous for its cakes so we had a slice of lemon cake, as well. Divine.
The rest of the route was downhill and as it approached Pollensa, it gradually it flattened out. We smoked this section, freight-training it and taking turns on the lead. Soon, we were bee-lining the main road back to PP.
The bar right next to our hotel serves draft artisan beer, so we stopped for well deserved IPA's. Our waiter from a couple of nights ago dropped by our table say hello.
We went for a simple dinner of pizza at the Eolo tonight as we wanted to check in with our Zoom fitness family at 7:15. We have a zoom coffee chat every Monday after class, so we surprised them by dropping in from the pier across from us. Hi guys... it was so fun to see you again.
Elevation gain 1391 metres
Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 99 km (61 miles)
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1 year ago
1 year ago