Well, this was not what we had in mind when Darren and I decided to organize our second club cycling week in Mallorca (6.-13. March). Instead of sitting in the plazas enjoying café con leché we cycled through winter wonderland. In fact, we were witness to an historic event as this was the first time in living memory that it had snowed in Puerto Pollenca, our base in the northwest of the island.
Remarkably, the local authorities coped much better than our “experts” in Yorkshire and even minor mountain roads were cleared within a day after heavy snowfalls. Because it was too cold to hang around we did mainly one thing – cycling – and managed to clock up about 620 km during the week.
As the highlight, we did the grand tour of the Tramuntana mountains (Pollenca-Orient-Bunyola-Col de Soller-Puig Major-Lluc-Pollenca, 145 km with a total ascent of 3500 m), and, due to the weather conditions, undisturbed by buses and lower forms of life, also known as tourists. An additional highlight was the Sa Calobra tour with its famous 11km hairpin road, leading down (and up again!) from (snowy) mountains to the beach. Looking ahead to next year, the weather will inevitably be brilliant.
Klaus