Spring cycling

Getting your rear wheel stuck in a tram rail in Sollér, that’s Mallorca.

Diary

daily stats: 65 km, +1931 m, -1452 m
sleeping: nearby Lluc monastery
very slow morning because bike rental opens only at 10:00
can’t use my payment card for the reservation
- the cause was limit on internet payments that the rental used
- phoned the bank to adjust the limit
- the rest went smoothly
ad hoc changing to cycling clothes in a park and learning how to handle the road bicycle (especially gear down)
well-marked cycling path got me out of the city
meeting the first cyclists, they’re obvious pros
lunch in Sollér, the main square is full of people, the waiters have to watch out for the tram and the tram passengers are litteraly few decimeters above my plate
the main climb of the day/trip to the tunnel Son Torrella
- the continuous flow of cyclists is like a race, I can beat only a German retired couple
- quick pass around the lakes and dams on the top
- downhill is quite chilly
no energy and time to descent to (and ascent from) Sa Calobra
arrival to Lluc monastery, it is emptier than I expected (later people come out, they are accomodated there)

daily stats: 113 km, +769 m, -1091 m
sleeping: fields near Porreres
surprised by pain of outer calves and my posterior after getting up (~8:00)
descent to Inca (visiting patieseria, refiling water)
journey to Manacor
- flat terrain but windy (hooked a pro upon arrival to Manacor)
- every pothole hurts (my butt)
poorer/unreconstructed suburbs of Manacor got me to the historical center with narrow streets
- smaller towns ~ less Germans, more minorities ?
big road to Portocristo, big traffic
afternoon break and relax (drying sleeping bag) by the sea in Portocristo (~1 hour)
road to Felinatx (along sea) is surprisingly hilly
necessary shopping due to minerals (salt) deficiency
evening ride is easier, harder looking for a sleeping place (many lands are private)

daily stats: 116 km, +954 m, -1104 m
sleeping: Palma, hostel
early wake up (7:15), early depart to Puig de Randa (8:15, summit 9:30)
- I was not the first (tires of cyclists at Mallorca make humming sound even at climb)
quick downhill to Llucmajor, returing in a group of cyclist who headed to Puig de Randa, I continued to Algaida
Algaida–Santa Maria was the quickest part (tail wind + energy)
- Santa Maria is crowded cycling crossroad
- continued to Bunyoala with same pace but then had to refill fuel (trembling members)
repeated climb to Coll du Sollér (the training paid off, I outpaced a cyclist)
tiring downhill/flat arrival to Palma
sugar refill at the coast and because I still had the time before returning the bike a cycled the coastal cycling path
- tourist hell (hotels, beaches, shops)
- unexperienced e-bikes riders in narrow turns

daily stats: 5 km, +342 m, -342 m (walking), 1500 km by airliner, 8 km (city walking)
sleeping: buses Vienna–Brno–Prague
no particular plan for the day
ad hoc trip to Pollença
- climb to Puig de Maria
- the path so crowded I had no privacy to pee
weather turned bad just when I was leaving Pollença
I looked for a bakery at the airport so I had to walk against the crowds in the corridors, it felt unconsciously a bit uneasy

for quick security check, get ahead of the crowds from the airport train
low-cost baggage and travelling light
~25 minutes from landing to bus stand in Vienna (when everything goes smooth)
cycling path(s) in Palma
- distinctive red color (the road)
- sometimes the track goes in opposite of traffic (left side)
- complicated turning left (you have to cross path of cars going in parallel with you)
abundant infrastructure for road cyclists everywhere

Slovak girl who travels alone and rents a car (flight neighbor)
group of Moravian cyclist (~50 years old) on the plane
Spaniards
- they wear apparently winter clothes at ~12°C
contrasts
- a tourist girl with black lipstick and unshaved legs vs road cyclists with shaved legs
bike mechanic girl doing maintenance of a bike (changing chain?) in gloves (cf a mechanic guy with dirty hands in Czech workshops), clean and professional
artists accomodated in Randa
no fat old people
kitchen in restaurant opens at 19:30
Max Hürzeler
cyclist stratification
- 0–50 m: tourists, e-bikes, city bikes
- 50–150 m: hobby cyclists, families
- 150–1000 m: true road cyclists
many sunburnt faces on the plane back

day 00
- bought iron reserve in the evening
- pizza Mallorquina on day 00
day 01
- breakfast in hostel
- lunch in Sollér (pasta, feeling full)
- dinner and desert at Lluc (overfilling continues)
day 02
- few candies as a breakfast
- empanada as a snack
- lunch in Manacor (pasta)
- snack in Felinatx
- dinner at camp (1/2 baguette, 130 g fuet)
day 03
- breakfast: sweet pastry + 3 Kinder sticks
- during day: 1/2 baguette, 30 g fuet, sweet pastry, burger bread (iron reserve)
- dinner: pizza + ice cream

condensed water under raincoat moistened sleeping bag (no dew)
punctured my sleeping mat on a stub/stick/straw
Specialized Tarmac 2017
- 56 cm
- gears: crankset 50/34, cassette 11–28 (11-speed), i.e. ratio from 1.2 to 4.5
- Ultegra set

buffers for transfers (2.5 hours outbound was enough, 0.5 hour inbound did not suffice)
account for low-cost airline delays,
train delays, buffer for transfers
Wien Hauptbahnhof is closed between 1:30 and 4:00 (and no trains in that window)
trip joy depends on number of participants (I’s remark: the dependency is function of time (duration) too)

it is possible to do the shopping alone in small groceries
it is possible to do the cycling vacation with lightly sore throat
it is possible to go to number 2 when cycling alone
training tips
- at 5% climb, interleave 5 minutes light gear and 5 minutes off-seat pedalling
riding with backpack bruises where vertebrae are bulging
prepare program for a day if departure is in the evening