Janelle’s Day:

You know when you have a perfect day and you just can’t help but smile? That was my day today. I got on my bike – my road bike – and rode. Wow. Talk about the right tool for the job.

The plan was to follow the Via Verde from Manacor to Arta, a mere 29km one way. However…the trail itself was very rocky and very gravelly. Not a good combination with a road bike. It was beautiful – an old railway that has been converted to an eco trail for hikers, bikers and horseback riders. So…I had to pivot. I managed to find highways and backroads to supplement the trail as I rode to each town.

It was glorious. I stopped to smell the roses because I wanted to, not because I had to. (Here’s looking at you, last week!) I got to explore a few different towns and see their huge, prominent, beautiful churches situated in the middle of each one. Cycling past them was enough for me to enjoy the moment.

Did you know that Mallorca has a Safari? Neither did I. I was sorely tempted to go inside the park and see what it was actually about, but I settled for taking a few images of the statues lining the road. I’ve seen these animals in the wild, don’t think I want to see them behind bars.

My 50km ride came to an end in plenty of time for me to enjoy the rest of the day…after a shower, of course! I got to watch Jason play some pretty amazing tennis while basking in the hot, hot sun.

A perfect day, if I do say so myself!

Jason’s Day:

It’s finally here! I have my tennis nerd hat on and I’m ready to go! The schedule today is 2 hours of Tennis Clinic in the morning, then an hour of classroom time to go over double’s strategy, a break – followed by another 1.5 hours for our Double’s Mixer.

I think I got pretty cocky riding the e-bike, thinking I was so strong. Nope. The first hour on the courts was way more exhausting to get through compared to the 4 days of riding last week. By the time I was done the two-hour clinic, my shirt was wet…not moist…wet, my shorts covered in clay dust and my hat was ready to crawl off my head by itself. Me? Done. Stick a fork in me done…but so happy!

The pitstop in the room was so nice, and just enough time for the second shower today. I got myself all fresh for the classroom session.  20ish of us in the class, listening intently to the instructor giving the slide-deck describing to us all the jobs we’re ‘supposed’ to be doing depending on which one of the 4 positions we’re playing.

The final tennis thing for today is that 1.5-hour mixer. We all grab a number out of the hat, 1 through 24, then check the sheet to see which court we’re on, and who’s partnered with who. We’ll have three quick 25 minute sets and see how many games we can put on the board. But this part isn’t really about winning as much as applying all the things we learned this morning. Plus, getting to meet & play with a bunch of people in a short time.

Okay, it’s maybe a little about winning.

My third shower today felt like magic.