Right then, it’s Sunday night, work is grinding me down a bit, my poisonous ex has stolen my cat and I need something to look forward to. Got two weeks lazy-whinging-bastard-teacher holidays coming up at the beginning of April so I’m fancying a wee trip to Majorca to ride. My knowledge extends to fact that it’s relatively cheap to get to Palma from GLA or EDI but I have no idea about the best base.

Traveling alone, prefer to hire a bike out there rather than take my own.

Any recommendations, tips, advice gratefully received re. best places to stay, eat, routes to ride, bike hire etc.

Cheers,
SC

Puerto Pollensa
Hotel Duva or Pollensamar Apartments or Hotel Daina (book through Alpharooms)
Bike here from here – https://www.procyclehire.com
Oh and Marina Cafe for the p’amboli

Enjoy!

edit – and visit Tollo’s to see a load of Wiggins memorabilia including the bike he finished the 2012 TdF on

and plenty of route details here – http://mallorcacycling.co.uk/category/mallorca-cycle-routes/

+1 for being based in Puerto Pollensa. We’re off on the 13th of April for a week staying in the Pollenca Park with Jet2. For a different option on bike hire try http://www.mallorcabikehire.com which is also based in Puerto Pollenca Availability may be limited during the Easter hols. If you want to tag along on a few rides, we’re a group of 9, you’re welcome.It’s my 8th trip to the island.Drop me an email.

Cheers Geoff.

Just having a look at Alpharooms…

pistonbroke,

Thanks for kind offer. Unfortunately my hols run from 29th March to 13th April so you’ll be arriving just as I get ready to go back to work!

Which leads to a supplementary question… are the first two weeks in April a good time to go cycling there, weather-wise?

are the first two weeks in April a good time to go cycling there, weather-wise?

yes

And…

What about transfers to Puerto Pollenca from Palma?

Do hire bikes have the brakes the “correct” way round?

What about transfers to Puerto Pollenca from Palma?

I’ve only ever used a hire car, which has always been very cheap.
There is a bus which connects PP with the airport, but you might have to change in Palma

Do hire bikes have the brakes the “correct” way round?

You can usually specify how you want them setup.

my poisonous ex has stolen my cat

Chin up pal, mine stole my hoose.

Yup. Perspective and all that.

Still got me ‘elf!

Bus no 1 from airport to palma (15 mins and 3 ish Euros).
Change at bus station for 340 (1 hour and 6 ish Euros)
Cab is about 50 Euros.

Just got back from walking some of the GR221. Great place. Enjoy!

It’s a lovely place, the road are excellent and hire is cheap. Please bring me back some Tunel!

Our club sec has set this up.

No actual experience but I’m told it’s very good, lots of different rides with the locals daily depending on what you feel like doing. Short ride with a few hills, longer ride in a bunch etc.

A few of ours have flown out today, hope to get myself out there at some point.

Thanks for all the pointers guys.

Haze – looks good but my holidays are outside the window.

I’m looking at EZY flights in and out of Edinburgh, 7 nights B&B in Hotel Uyal for £485 all in. Bike hire, food etc on top of this but that seems pretty decent to me.

Thoughts?

Our club is going there in April .
Think it was £199 sleazy jet( booked last year) and £485 sounds about right.
Great place and well set up for bikers .
Good roads and rides straight out the door.
People that have used the hire bikes say that they are a good spec.

Just returned from there half term. We stayed at ferrer hotel janiero in can picafort, lovely hotel half board food was good. Outdoor pooland a spa sauna etc. They had a bike garage and you could rent from them, i rented from a british guy who hires out planet x and pinarello i think they were 20 euro a day, he delivered them to the hotel and picked them up. HE is based in port du pollenca and said he though that can picafort gave better riding options than his base, there was a laos a british guy in the hotel who has been to mallorca for many years and he has moved to using can picafort over port pollenca for the same reason. The garmin sharp team were staying in hotel mura (i think) in alcudia which is between the two places
I cna dig out the hire company for the bikes if you want
thanks

the riding was brilliant, we headed out to formentor one day over lluc one day and out towards arta the other day we had

Can Picafort is perhaps better placed for access to the interior and east side if the island, but I don’t think the après bike is as good as pp.

Edit: guess who likes the après biking more than the riding 😳

Majorca is just the best place ever for road cycling. I stayed in Arenal. Hire carbon Ridley with electronic campg. Lovely roads, great food. Cheap(ish) to stay. Just perfect….

Just back from a GREAT week’s riding.

I ended up taking my own bike which worked out fine (you really need to book bikes before Xmas to stand a chance of getting what you want).

We stayed in Hotel Uyal which is on the seafront in Puerto Pollensa. Excellent hotel with great breakfast buffet from which we snaffled plenty of pastries to stuff into pockets for the rides. They also have a secure bike garage with racks, locks, workstands, washer/drier and a water fountain. Ate out most nights; lots of choice though none of it super cheap.

The riding itself is outstanding. I managed about 400 miles in 6 days and only had to throw in the towel on day 7 due to a touch of tendonitis in my right knee. Highlights included:

85 miler taking in Col del Orient, Col d’ Honor, Coll de Sóller and the monster climb up to the Tunel du Monnaber followed by a lovely return via the Col de Femenia.

Sa Colobra climb. Very hard if it’s your first proper ride of the year (we did this on day 2). Good tip is NOT to eat at the bottom as this will avoid spending a lot of money on poor food and also the resulting tactical chunder 2/3 of the way back up the climb.

Descent from Coll de Sa Batalla. Beautiful, sweeping bends with a few switchbacks. Perfect gradient that requires little braking.

Cap Fermentor ride. Only 26 miles return but a beautiful viewpoint. Also worth taking in the “Pepperpot” climb from the first col out of town. Stunning place, though the descent would rattle the gold from yer teeth.

Arta, Sineau and the East Coast. This turned into a 100 mile day with a couple of add-ons including the truly beautiful climb to Ermita Betlem out of Arta. There are some very “rustic” lanes between Arta and Manacor which are more like a Belgian Classic in nature. Just when I thought we were going to go hungry, we rolled into the bustling town square in an otherwise-deserted Petra – lifesaver! Lots of fast, rolling roads on this one rather than the big climbs in the Tramuntana.

In general, the roads are superbly surfaced. Cyclists outnumber cars by 10:1 (probably no exaggeration) and the motorists are infinitely patient and respectful.

Just go!

Fly tomorrow and have 19 days booked. Going to be superb with Legro’s Training camp a Hotel Duva

Also …anyone know what the cycling is like in Menorca……..bike hire as well

Don’t know about Menorca, but Strava’s heat-map should give you an idea of where the riding is:

http://raceshape.com/heatmap/?lat=39.77756699977888&lng=3.173675537109375&zoom=9&opacity=90

These guys are great for bike hire, based in Paguera (SW and about 30mins from Palma) http://www.bicycle-holidays.com/en/cycling-stations/detailview-radsportstationen/?hID=7

All the riding up the west coats is great, this was a typical route I did last summer http://app.strava.com/activities/74317110

thanks stuartie – heading out next month – looking for “insider” tips 🙂

superb – this has been a more than useful little thread, cheers folks! Really rather looking forward to my trip next month now…