Well - here we are - another bike trip. Mallorca is a very scenic island that is about 60 miles N to S and 40 miles E to W but it seems much larger. It's mostly agricultural but is a huge tourist destination (10 million/yr), especially for those from cold countries, like Germany and England, whose citizens make up about 80% of visitors. Very Californian weather - huge history - everybody's been fighting over this paradise since Roman times. Right now it's Spanish, but they speak Mallorcana, which is a Catalan dialect. Like Barcelona.
So - the riders were mostly women. This is a good thing if you are a 71-year old guy, but further - it makes for a fun, less competitive, mellower bunch. More about that later, I'm sure. We stay in a town called Selva,almost middle of the island,1500 people,
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Next Day Ride Explained
Here is my GPS track showing the ride
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Mediterranean View
The first ride is thru Valdemossa, and the entire north coast of the island is a World Heritage site. In the photo we have finished the first climb and are seeing the Mediterranean, and are also looking down upon the second deepest canyon in Europe. That's why the wall. Valdemossa is still a long ways off.
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Beautiful Hills
Riding thru the mountains- about to descend to the sea!
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Road
17 km (10 mi) descent - great roads. Even in Spain they do infrastructure
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Bay Biew
Suddenly the Mediterranean comes into view!
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Llucalcari view
We ride 20 more K and DASH thru Valdemossa, which has more tourists than Disneyland and fewer parking spaces. Theme guides said, "don't even slow down!"
Rode on to a place called Bunyola where vans awaited. 20 min home to Selva
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2 Tired Dudes
We get pat Valdemossa and pile into theme vans - I meet a cycling God - Russ - the mechanic, who is also a metallurgist and materials specialist - oh boy! Engineering Talk!
I won't bore you but - 47 miles, 5440 feet climbed. Makes dinner seem almost imperative - but I will leave that too Chieko's food blog.
So - the riders were mostly women. This is a good thing if you are a 71-year old guy, but further - it makes for a fun, less competitive, mellower bunch. More about that later, I'm sure. We stay in a town called Selva,almost middle of the island,1500 people,
