“Just keep pedalling!”

For the third day of our trip we tried to have an ‘easy’ day, to allow our legs to recover from the efforts of Sa Calobra the day before (you can read about that here) and to be fresher for what lay ahead the following day. So we thought a nice little spin along the coast road to Banyalbufar and back would be perfect. It was on the seven mile descent down to the town (on a road we would have to come back up) that we realised perhaps it wasn’t such an easy day after all! However spinning up the hills was the order of the day taking it, as the Italians would say ‘piano, piano’ (‘slowly, slowly’). Also then, not the best idea to give in to my competitive side and race other cyclists to the tops of climbs! 43 miles later and 4,600 ft of climbing done, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool.

Day four was the big one. I awoke with the slight apprehension of any big challenge or unknown new experience, but managed to force down some breakfast, that Karen kindly arranged for us to have early as we were slightly concerned about running out of daylight hours otherwise! Our destination for the day was Cap de Formentor, right on the North East tip of the island. Only a mere 98 miles/158 km to cover with just shy of 10,000 ft/3000 m of climbing. Gulp!

We rolled out of Soller just as the sun was creeping over the top of the mountains, basking the valley in a warm, glow. We had to repeat the first part of our route from two days ago, so it was back up Puig Major on the American Road; as it’s known to the locals. Matthew, the hotel manager, told us this was due to the Americans having built the road in the 1950’s after General Franco, made a deal with the US Government to sign over certain high peaks across the Spanish territory; Puig Major being one of them. Over the following few years the US military built the road, an encampment and a radar station on the highest peak of the mountain. I’m just really grateful they took in to account future cyclists and made such a joyous road to ride! My legs were hurting, they were screaming at me with knee niggles, muscle cramp and soreness. However, by mile two of the climb they seemed to have accepted their inevitable fate and settled down to work again, we were on our way and ticking off the miles……albeit very, very slowly! We reached the top only having seen a handful of cars and even fewer cyclists. The mountain was lovely and peaceful and such a cool temperature in the morning air. We dropped down past the lakes of Cuber and Gorg Blau, a route now feeling quite familiar to us and had our first stop at the OJ Shack at the junction to the Sa Calobra road by an ancient aqueduct. There were still very few people around so we enjoyed an espresso and absolutely divine piece of orange cake in relative peacefulness. With the road from Soller to Pollensa (the next large town) being so wild and remote, there were very few places offering refreshments, so this little hut with it’s coffees, fresh juice, cakes, energy bars and water was like an oasis in the desert. We were particularly pleased to see it on the way back!

From here, we were in uncharted territory for us and found ourselves on a stretch of road that resembled a fairground roller coaster, dipping and diving along through the centre of the mountains. With views of huge, rocky outcrops and the blue sea in the distance. It was at around this point we started to have company on the road, there were hundreds of cyclists coming the other way, no doubt having started from Port de Pollensa and heading for Sa Calobra. Just as I was thinking how well it was going and how enjoyable the ride was, the dreaded words were uttered by my cycling partner….”I’ve got a puncture.” So we pulled over in the bottom of a dip for him to fix it. Which would have been OK if we could get the wheel off! Realising now, that we didn’t have the right size allen key with us, we had to flag down some passing cyclists. Luckily, something that was relatively easy with these numbers on the roads. So we shouted to an approaching group who screeched to a halt on the fast descent and came to our rescue. It was a group of six ladies, all from Finland, who were heading to Sa Calobra. Amazingly one of them had the correct size allen key so the pressure was on for the quickest inner tube change possible to keep them waiting the least amount of time. They were lovely though and it was so nice to have a chat. The sheer number of female cyclists out here is incredible and so good to see.

By now the sky had clouded over and the few spits of rain threatened a downpour. However, thankfully it changed it’s mind and stayed cloudy, but dry. An absolute blessing as we then had a 10 mile descent down from the mountains to Port de Pollensa. It went on and on and we passed even more cyclists all with differing degrees of pain etched on their faces as they grinded their way up. As the gradient levelled off and we hit the flat, straight road to the coast we both looked at each other and said “that’s a hell of a climb back up!” The knot of anticipation tightened a little further. But for now we had our sights set on Cap de Formentor. Another road built by Antonio Parietti in 1925 to showcase the beauty of the island. He almost did too good a job as it was very, very busy! It begins with a mile and a half climb up to a headland where there’s a (some what questionably shaped) monument to the road designer himself, before pitching down, round a few hair pin bends then right along the cliff face offering stunning views of the rest of the peninsula. This section was chaos when we reached it, buses meeting cars on hairpins and stationary traffic backed up the road. I managed to squeeze round the front of a bus and escape the mayhem. We then started the Cap de Formentor climb itself, starting gradually in a lovely, cool forest before ramping up, through a tunnel and emerging to beautifully, dramatic views of the cove below. We’d just rounded the corner and unfortunately faced a queue of traffic who’s progress had been halted by a barrier and road closed sign. There’d been a landslide in the recent rains so we forced to turn round. A slight shame but we’d still seen some gorgeous views.

After a bite to eat we started to make our way back, luckily there was now a slight tail wind to push us along the flat, straight road to the bottom of the climb. It’s quite a demoralising thing when your little cycling computer beeps at you cheerily to inform you there’s a climb starting….distance to the top 10.3 miles. Average of 6%. So heads down we slowly pedalled away in our own little worlds of pain. The sun had timed it’s reappearance perfectly so we also had the heat to contend with. I soon got in to a rhythm and the time passed quickly. Someone asked me what I think about whilst pedalling and I couldn’t really answer. On climbs like this I find myself in a trance-like state, just focused on the few metres of road ahead and the rhythmic turning of the pedals, a passing cyclist shouting ‘hola’ will snap me out of it before remembering to take in the view, flick up a couple of gears, get out of the saddle for a pedal stroke or two, then settle back down to do it all over again. It’s an amazing way to switch off and it’s surprising how quickly the distance to the top counts down. Weirdly, though I swear I heard the duck again! At one point on the climb all was peaceful except for the intermittent quacking. (Even more bizarre, that evening we were sat in Port de Soller on a bench when one, lone duck waddled past!! I’m not even joking, photographic evidence is below.) By the end of the 10 miles we were definitely feeling weary but also good, we’d broken the back of it and after riding the ‘roller coaster road’ for a few miles we were back at the OJ shack. Now much busier, we grabbed more water and a chocolate bar before tackling the last section. The end was in sight, we only had the familiar three mile climb left before the wonderful descent home. By now we were quite uncomfortable in the saddle and the legs were certainly starting to object so I had to turn to the power of music to help me conquer the last col. I never listen to music whilst cycling but for those last three miles I had one ear bud in and it made all the difference. The sections of 10% seemed more bearable and as it eased towards the top we increased pace due to the desperate need for it to be over. We’d done it! The climbing was complete. We took on some water, had a celebratory photo and then enjoyed the wonderful, winding descent; whizzing down the hillside, through forests dappled with the afternoon sun and enjoying views of Soller far below. A beer was very much called for so we went straight to Soller main square for some much needed re-hydration. 92 miles and 9,7000 ft of climbing….the toughest day in the saddle for a while. But every pedal stroke was worth it.

Over the last four days we’ve cycled 214 miles and 24,500 ft of climbing. With rain forecast for our last two days I think we’ll hang up our cycling shoes and relax for the rest of the holiday……..Or perhaps we’ll tackle that wonderful hike I was just reading about!

Links:

Day 3 Strava Route – Click here.

Day 4 Strava Route – Click here.

Just Giving Page – Click here.