Ride Leading in the sun.

For something different I thought I’d do a blog on a typical day in Mallorca with Sun Velo with whom I’ve been a Ride Leader for a number of years, but I also freelance on the island when not working with them, at which times I am usually based 14km further north in Puerto Pollensa.

So, it’s 8.15am and having woken from another much needed sleep it’s down to the restaurant and the area set aside for Sunvelo and guests for breakfast at the Prinsotel Dorada 4 star hotel where we’re based. The sun is up and it is still cool but the weather’s looking good, I’d checked which group I’m taking the evening before, and after fuelling for the day I return to my room to kit up before leaving for the start area. There are 5 groups today, Yellow, Red, Blue, Green, and Light Green; the longest and fastest is the Yellow which is full on through and off all day, right down to Light green which will be like our club C ride (Easyriders). The company have a number of ride leaders who they use on a rota basis for 2 or 3 weeks at a time, most sticking with one particular group, all have First Aid certification plus ride leading and Mallorca experience, some also have race and coaching experience too and being old I have the lot. I am also used as a floating leader as I can take anything from Blue to Light Green, but today I am doing Green which will average a good club run pace and we will cover around 115 km with a common coffee stop and a later lunch stop. Co-ordinating the stops enables guests to move up or down a group mid ride should they wish to (usually it’s people coming down a group!).
Now it’s 9.45 at the quiet area where the groups meet in their designated spots and I run through riding safety and etiquette plus an overview of the route. Introductions are made, any questions answered, then at 10.00 pretty much on the dot all groups move off, giving about 30seconds or so between. So, we roll out behind the hotel with the S’albufera national park on our right, heading south east down the coast on a pan flat wide main road for the first few kms before turning off first to a quieter road and then into the rural lanes. I’ve been checking the group as we ride out as there are literally hundreds of others on the first stretch, but now we are alone and savouring the real Mallorca. We use a number of lanes through fairly open countryside which is littered with smallholdings and small fields, mostly with stone walls around and containing olive and almond trees, plus orange groves and a few lemon trees, and often they are growing some cereal crops between the trees. When you add on the profusion of wild flowers the sights and aromas are a delight to the senses. We soon come into the small town of Santa Margalida which is like many, being built on a hilltop. I take the group around the outskirts and back into the lanes, more trees about now, some sheep and goats, and occasionally a few black pigs in the walled fields. There’s quite a bit of blossom still about and all the poppies and wild flowers are out to give extra colour at ground level. We zig zag around the lanes to bring us into Maria de la Salut and climb up into this almost silent town to the Placa (main square) and our coffee stop. Two of the other groups have arrived shortly before us and today we gain a rider from the Blue group who was finding their speed a bit high for him. I introduced this café stop to Sunvelo a couple of years ago, the owners are father and son, Miguel (Michael) and Georgio (George). I recommend the tarte Manzana (apple cake) for those who feel they need to eat now as lunch is a good distance away.

As we prepare to leave the gilets and arm warmers come off, I do a quick resume of where next, check all have paid and are ready, then away we go. Once out of town we drop down to the plain and get into the lanes again, continuing south east to the town of Petra, which we pass by today. This place is a hot favourite stop for groups from around the islands coastal resorts, being roughly mid way coming from the north or the south, and it has 2 large adjoining squares, both with a number of cafes and the whole lot gets full of cyclists and very busy at times. I take our group of 8 north east on a quiet main road which climbs steadily for 5 km, then 1 km later we turn right onto a wide lane where I call a short stop to brief everyone about the descent ahead which drops us down via some steep and very tight hairpins into the Bosc valley. From now on we will see very few people either on bikes, in cars, or on foot as we get into a sparsely populated area and after a few more kilos under our wheels we turn sharp left into an almost hidden lane and the roads become more rolling. The sun is now fairly warm despite the strong headwind we have coming out of the east. There are a number of turns we have to take en route to lunch, and some short climbs, but then we begin the long gentle descent to Sant Llorenc and it’s a nice fast swoop down to the town. The café in the town square is a little tricky to find but we get there, 2nd group in, and put the bikes on the typical racks you get abroad, popping the saddle over the bar, then getting everyone sat down. As usual the service is fast, drinks ordered first, then food, mostly we do baguettes and this café has some of the best and freshest. We relax with our coffees and cold drinks and eat the freshly sliced oranges they give us as the food is prepared. Today the square has a group of kids playing happily on the far side, and we chat amongst ourselves and to the next group which has just turned up; it’s the yellow gang and some are looking a tad stuffed and the hardest part is still to come.

We get straight into the lanes after lunch and the next stretch takes us into the wilder part of the island along stunning deserted back roads, a fair amount of climbing, some pristine tarmac, and eventually we emerge, rather worn, just outside of Arta. We are not going into the town today but there is a great café stop overlooking the town at the Santuari San Salvador, it’s at the top of a short steep climb. All groups will now have to travel nor’west all the way back on the MA12 main road, 28 km of high speed riding in the main as we have a strong tail wind, so once we’ve done the initial few km away from Arta it’s 53 x 11 for a good stretch. I don’t like this main road but with todays wind we can at least get home fairly quickly, and when we come back into Playa d’Muro we pass the hotel and go straight to Bike Café for the usual post ride drinks and chat with all the others about our day. For me it’s a large strawberry milk shake which I find is a good recovery drink, but I like to get back to my room fairly quickly, shower and have a lie down and rest before going down to dinner around 7pm. Tomorrow will be another long day, as was yesterday, but today we had no punctures, no mechanicals, no crashes, the sun shone, and everyone enjoyed it.
I have a dream job, but you need to be fit for it and look after your recovery, otherwise you just get progressively fatigued. A week after I leave the annual 312 round island sportive will be on, 8,000 riders, 116 entries via Sunvelo, and the start and finish is almost right outside the hotel, how good is that! Perhaps some Wyre Forest members will get together and be doing it next year, or just coming out to ride with Sunvelo………or how about Puerto Pollensa in October, I’ll be there from 1st till the 12th.