It’s been a busy cycling week on the island, with the Mallorca 312 sportive / gran fondo last Saturday, and the half-ironman triathlon today. The triathletes today are competing in a steady rain, but the sportive riders a week ago had beautiful weather. The winning time for the 312km was 8 hours, 52 mins, 38 secs; while the slowest on the results sheet was 13hours 53 mins dead. If you fancy the challenge next year, drop us a line and we can build a holiday around the big day.
The roads of Mallorca have never seemed so full of cyclists to me; on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I rode the climb of the Col de Sa Batala up to the petrol station and back down each morning. Perhaps because the descent is on the triathlon route course, the usual throng of cyclists going up or down was boosted by many triathletes, distinctive on their aero bikes (they were all out on their race set-up, best wheels on), and with their triathlete-dress (I have seen many sleeveless jerseys and compression socks, and best of all: sleeveless jersey with compression arm-warmers, leaving a white gap of skin on the shoulder in between). I feel a bit sorry for them; riding all week in the beautiful weather we’ve had—22-24 degrees and blue sky—only to get 19 degrees and steady rain today. Our clients here on holiday this week saw the wet day coming on the forecast and planned a rest day for today, but the racers have no such recourse. I fear there might be some riders sliding out on that Sa Batala descent.