Spring 2016 and a Trip to MallorcaI

In the spring I had to be more deliberate about my training.  I had signed up to do a 2-week cycling tour of Mallorca (a Spanish island) at the beginning of May and I wanted to be in good enough shape to enjoy the tour.

If you have been to the top of Mt. Hamilton in San Jose, you have seen this sign.  We had a nice day for this ride, which is good because it isn't easy.

We were waiting out a late season rain in the early part of our ride.  We were somewhere in northern Marin County or southern Sonoma County (I'm not as familiar with this area).  We were able to stay dry, went down some lovely roads and did some climbing, too, especially at the end with the Marshall Wall and Wilson Hill on the way back to Petaluma.

At the very end of April, my friend Kim and I took off for Mallorca.  It was a great tour offered through Colorado HeartCycle, a non-profit touring club.  If you like bike touring in the US or abroad, check them out.  They lead their own tours.  The following are some selected photos from the trip.  Most don't need explanation, but a few have captions.

 

We had just boarded the plane to go

Enjoying a cappuccino on our first day riding.  I need to stop taking pictures in that jersey, it just isn't flattering.  It is my most versatile wool jersey and I love it, but geez, the pictures with it are always terrible.

In the bike barn.  At the hotels where we stay were places that rented high quality bikes.  It was great that we didn't have to ship bikes or take them on the plane.

Here I am with Kat, one of the other riders.  We have matching jerseys provided by the company we rented bikes from.  Fred Romplebert is a retired cycling racer from the Netherlands.  He set a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.  You can find him settling the record as well as crashing on You Tube.

This is in the Coves del Drac ("Dragon Caves").  The caves have formed by water being forced through the entrance from the Mediterranean Sea.  The caves are beautiful and well lit.  I have a million pictures from the caves so I restrained myself and put just one here.

A group of us from the tour on the way to Cap Formentor (the point and lighthouse in the next photo). 

A morning break at the cafe.

One of the many bike routes in Mallorca, a place well suited for cycling.