Mallorca is a cycling mecca and I couldn’t wait to rent our bikes and finally travel this island the way it was meant to be seen. If you don’t know/remember, last year when we were here, I had just wrecked my knee and while I had succeeded in riding a stationary bike, I was unable to make a real bike work for me so I had to sit it out. I was so upset. To make up for it this year, we had planned to come a full week earlier than we needed to so we could explore at our leisure. Squeee!!!

Our day started with getting our bikes from Rossrent Mallorca. It went seamlessly, the bikes were waiting for us as soon as we walked in. The owner was amazing. He took his time explaining all the different routes available to us, choosing ones that would suit our fitness level and interests. After some minor adjustments to the bike seats, we were set free. 

I was a little bit disappointed that I didn’t specify a road bike and instead got a hybrid. It looks pretty heavy and the tires are much fatter than I am used to. Hmmm. I figure it is probably a good thing though as the roads, while good, aren’t completely pothole and gravel free, so I go with it. How much different can it be??

We drive the bikes back to the hotel so we can change, gather some ice cold waters and go for our first ride. There are a bunch of bodegas (wineries) nearby and that just seems like a fantastic idea. We can do an easy 20km, have a nice lunch and a wine tasting, then comfortably ride back the 20km to the hotel. Sounds like a perfect afternoon and a great way to see if the bikes will actually work for us before we choose a longer route.

I don’t know if it was jet-lag, being up since 4am, not having had breakfast, the 30 degree heat or the bike, but wow. I have never had such a difficult ride. And we were only at the 20km mark. Luckily, we were at the winery so a rest was on the agenda. And food. Except they don’t serve food. Grrr. No worries, there is a restaurant across the street opening up in 30 minutes. That’s right, they don’t open for lunch until 1pm. 12:30 is way too early for lunch in Spain, don’t you know.

We wait and then have a lovely meal before going back to the bodega. We still want our wine tasting! And, truth be told, the rest is still quite welcome. I was not looking forward to cycling back, even if it was a net downhill.

Also, Jason, having run into a thorny bush trying to avoid an oncoming car, was still nursing his shredded finger. Okay, not really, but we’re also using that as an excuse to rest just a little bit longer.

The ride back was miles better than the ride out. That 1% grade downhill for a lot of the ride made such a huge difference, plus it wasn’t quite as hot out, the sun was behind some pretty dark clouds. The hill from the main road up to the hotel though…ugh. 7-9% grade for a VERY LONG TIME. I worked hard for that win. Then I figured I deserved a dip in the pool. Yes.

Overall, we had a great day. Except when…okay, all I wanted to do was get a few pictures of us biking along the roads with the mountains in the background. Simple, right? I stopped my bike. I got off. I instructed Jason on what to do to make my vision come alive and then…the camera fell out of my backpack. It only dropped about 3 feet, but did it ever land wrong. All I could do was stare at it. I picked it up with shaking hands, hoping that nothing serious was wrong with it. Luckily, we had taken some advice from a friendly photographer years ago to protect our expensive lens with a UV lens filter because that was what shattered. Into a hundred pieces. It took some doing, but we were eventually able to clear the glass and see that the actual lens was undamaged (thank goodness!!) however, the housing is bent. It’s all good though, we can still take pictures! They just look like this for now:

Needless to say, after all that excitement, our evening was very quiet. Time to get rid of some of that jet-lag!