Oh Mallorca...

Nothing better than being able to go from home in a city of 400,000 people,

to a small village on the Med,

(Es Camp de Mar if you're curious)

along windy back roads,

up into the mountains,

all in just a short bicycle trip (or 2).

Yes, you can see the Mediterranean in this picture.

Ride Report - Palma-Soller-Valldemosa

I left Palma under sunny January skies with the temperature in the 50s, heading toward the 60s.  I was off to ride the old road to Soller, a small town on the other side of the Tramuntana Mountains.  The ride north, out of the city, is a nice false flat road that continuously climbs (just a little) as it heads toward the mountains.

Mountains ahead

The tunnel that now takes road traffic from Palma to Soller was completed in the late 90's and cuts 7 miles and many, many turns off the old road over the top.  Bicycles, however, are not allowed in the tunnel so cyclists get to (or have to) take the old road over the top.

 The climb itself is a beautiful with a consistent gradient and tons of switchbacks.  There is almost zero traffic since most people pay the toll and take the tunnel, and the way the climb is built give plenty of opportunity to look back from whence you came.

 Excellent signage

 Look at that road...  With a better camera, you would be able to

see Palma and the Med through the 'V' on the left.

The road on the backside of the climb has plenty of switchbacks as well, but it is in a tighter valley with less straights and steeper drops.  This leads to something you see frequently on the mountain roads here in Mallorca during the 'rainy season', moss.  Many of the roads are so tight, and have so much tree cover that moss grows on the roads, mostly on the edges, but occasionally in the middle too.  This makes descending switchbacks a slower, more cautious affair than it would usually be.

 moss

 Looking down at Soller over an orange grove.

After dropping into Soller, the road starts to climb again almost immediately heading south along the coast toward Deia.  The entire road runs immediately along the coast so that you have the Med on one side, and the island on the other.  There are many small 'towns' along the road that would be hard to find on map.

 Town, Village, Hamlet...?

Narrow roads

After plenty of time getting to know the coast, the road heads inland again at Valldemossa for a long fast downhill run back to Palma.  A beautiful and climb-y ride that makes for a great day.

The New Bike!

After a couple months of trying to get my bike shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, Kelly gave up on me being around the house and bought me my 'engagement bike'.  Its like an engagement ring for guys, but waaaay better.  After scouting out some shops we ended up heading out to S'Arenal aka the Myrtle Beach of Mallorca.  It is a super touristy beach area but its popular with foreign cyclists and they have lots of used bikes.

 So we picked up this beauty for a steal of a deal.  Its a KTM, like the motorcycles, they sell bike shere in Europe too.  Its full carbon (actually my first full carbon road bike) with full Campy Record 10 speed.  It also has a Selle Italia SLR saddle, which is my foavorite and was a big selling point.

 When I bought the bike they also offered me a really good deal on some flyweight Campy Neutron wheels, which I took and have been glad I did on the long climbs here in the Tramuntana Mountains in Mallorca.

Stuff Cyclists Say...

The Levi Effect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvAnqH0J7eE&feature=player_embedded

First off, why would you lead off a trailer with that comment?  If it weren't for other people who were better, he would be the best rider from one country at one disciple at one time.  Well, yeah.  Isn't that true for about everyone?

Anyway...

We went and saw the Levi Effect last night after work.  There was a pretty good showing at the theatre, the usual combo of bike riders, shop folks, and a few significant others who were dragged along.  The movie begins talking about young Levi growing up in Montana and how he went from ski racing to bike riding.  There was a good combination of home video footage and live shots that kept it interesting

After going into his racing career, the movie made the inevitable (especially meow) turn to talking about doping.  Levi was pretty open about the whole gig and made some valid points.  Mainly, growing up you dream of being in Le Tour then, you get told that in order to achieve this dream you have to take this or do that.  He also says that everyone knows this and kinds of bands together in a brotherhood of doping.  Very interesting says I.  He does finish off with a 'I realized the error of my ways and quit 6 years ago.'  Sure, whatever, all in all its a pretty good firsthand account of what goes into being pro.

The movie finishes off with a look at Levi at the Tour of California and his Gran Fondo.  Levi talks about the importance of the ToC to him and the stage in 2011 where he got dropped by Chris Horner.  The funniest part of the movie is where he talks about breaking his leg in early 2012 after being hit by a  Basque driver in Spain. Apparently he punched the guy in the chest after deciding he was to old to be hit in the face.  Great stuff.  The movie finishes off with the creation of Levi's Gran Fondo and the ins and outs of that.

All in all I thought it was a good (4 outta 5) movie, especially for a movie about cycling.  At points it seems like a tourism add for Sonoma County and Bikemonkey, which gets old, but I'm guessing they put the money in so they get their names in lights.  The doping was interesting, but ended with the usual 'I did it but now Im reformed and support clean cycling and the next generation blah blah' which is getting old.  The movie does do a great job of talking about Levi as a person and what drives a cyclist and the career path that they follow and how it affects them.

All-in-all I would say it is well worth the watch!