MA7 - Laughter and tears

Last day today and we are cycling to the lighthouse - Cap Formentor.  It's only a 30 mile ride with a few undulations (according to Stuart) so we have a leisurely 9.30 start.  

We all decide to wear the VCC kit today and it's great to see that everyone who was scheduled to be in the Intros group all week has ridden every day.  We've had a few guest riders too, but this picture shows the core group.

We are all in one piece, but a few ailments have cropped up, so there is some drug sharing at the start of the day.  Not quite EPO levels, more your ibuprofen and anti histamine!

As we set off on the ride Dianne notices that there seems to be a certain amount of uphill involved!

She's not wrong and there is a beast of a climb at the beginning!  This is followed by a huge downhill, and then we are only half way there.  The rest is just a few undulations says Stuart.   The second half of the outward trip is now cruel hills.  We get a brief respite to put our lights on for the tunnel, but the rest is hell!

Apart from the physical challenge of this ride, there is an element of mental torture.  On the way out to the lighthouse you know that every single downhill needs to be climbed back up on the return journey.

When we arrive at the lighthouse we all say that we are not sure if we can make the return journey, but a coffee and cake help and we are refreshed enough to pose for a team photo before we start the ride back.

Susan, Deborah, Dianne, Lesley, Wendy, Stuart, Laura, Mel and Shaun

The hills are just as bad on the way back, and I recollect 2 years ago just doing the first half of the ride and stopping on the big hill half way up to "admire the view".  At this point a line from a poem that my brother wrote for Stuart and my wedding came unbidden to mind.  So this time I am ready and have a copy of the poem so that I can read it to Stuart at the viewpoint on the hill.

The poem was written 10 years ago, but given the things that have happened in those 10 years I find it quite a struggle to read the poem without a few tears.  

Marriage is like cycling - toil, sweat, happiness and medals.

 But to keep going in a forward direction you must keep pushing those pedals!

The road is never straight or flat - it will twist and turn and bend

But keep each other peddling and the hills will always end.

When you get to the top of the hill make sure you rest a while

For what's the point of all that effort if you're too tired to smile.

Enjoy the downhills while they last for they too will always end

So lift each other's spirits until the pub around the bend.

When you're running out of breath and your legs are starting to ache

Get off your bike, enjoy the view and have a piece of cake.

Life is short, life is precious and a journey to be travelled with care.

Even when the going gets tough, life's troubles you can (now) share.

But apologies for these thought that must appear quite random

Cycling - like life - is fun for one, but better on a tandem.

 Finally now I must close, but with a thought from deep inside

I'm so happy and proud to be able to say - 

Please - a toast to the Groom and Bride!

We complete the rest of the downhill and are delighted to find that everyone has made the final journey without incident.  

This is a group of riders who have never done anything like this before, didn't believe that could do two 50 mile rides back to back and have now ridden over 300 miles in 6 days.

Thanks to all the guys in the Intros group you have been amazing to ride with, and share lots of laughs with, you've really made this holiday special!

And most of all thanks to Stuart for making this happen and planning a superb week, but we do need to talk about your definition of undulations! 

MA6 Is that all you've got?

Big day today.  Long miles and two big climbs, climbing Col d'Orient, lunch in Bunyola and fast home on the water pipe.

An early departure (8.30am) means that we are the only group at the hotel reception start point.  However, Stuart's group has grown in size again, there are now 14 of us!  

It's at least 30 miles to coffee, and most of this ride we stick to the Garmin route.  However, at Selma there is more map consultation and unfortunately we diverge from the Garmin route.

This does not end well for Deborah, who is on the front and approaching a very confusing junction with poor visibility, doesn't know which way to go, receives conflicting shouts from behind and ends up taking a slow tumble off the bike.  She has bloodied knees is a bit shaky, but get straight back on her bike - she is tough!

Before the coffee stop we have the Col d'Orient to tackle!  Although not as long as Lluc it is much hotter today, and I think we all find that the heat is a bit of an issue.

However, we make the top and have a partial group photo.  

Don who has joined us today, makes a similar mistake to Roy, and leads a few others off to coffee without waiting for the group photo.  

But the rest of us aren't far behind and the coffee stop is delightful.

After coffee we have a few issues with one of the "cafe locks".  It jams completely, but the cafe shop owner has a handy pair of wire cutters available to sort us out.  I think he has seen this issue a few times before!

We have another small (ish!) climb before lunch and the views are simply stunning.  In fact most of the day the scenery is awesome, and with beautiful blue skies it makes today really special.

We then have a glorious (but slightly technical descent) into Bunyola for lunch.  

Two unfortunate factors combine -  the group heads into a shady cafe rather than the sunny square, and Lesley is last down the hill (most unusually).  And this ends up with us losing Lesley.

Stuart and Shaun head off to find Lesley, and with the help of technology we are all soon reunited.  

After lunch we are cycling along a road known to cyclists as the water pipe.  A long straight flat road, great for riding as a chain.

There are 14 of us, so a bit too large a group to work properly, but we give it a go and it works successfully (with a minor detour when we find a road closure mid-route).

After riding 30 miles after lunch non-stop and fast, Stuart reckons we need some refreshment to help get us home.  14 lemon fantas are ordered, and we listen up as Stuart tells us how well we have done today!

Due to some weird cycling law of sod, there is a puncture immediately after the cafe stop.

Mel and Nigel fix the puncture whilst the rest of us hide in the shade and look longingly at alternative cycling transportation.

Quite soon after that puncture, Stuart also has a puncture.  Fortunately, Steve is at the back with Stuart and they have quite a tricky repair to fix, as the tyre is shredded.  The rest of the group are quite far ahead as it took a while to find a safe place to stop.  Shaun volunteers to go back and take extra inner tubes as the return journey is going to be precarious with the state of the tyre.  The rest of us head back to the hotel and arrive without further incident.

Bikes are abandoned and we head straight to the pool bar.

Stuart and Shaun are not far behind and we have two large cold beers waiting for them.  Shaun has been feeling poorly today, so he has definitely earned this beer!

Deborah has a medicinal beer to help aid the recovery of her knee.  It appears to work really well, as in this picture the wound is hardly visible!

I then enjoy telling the story of how I pulled past Laura on a small incline and turn and say "is that all you've got Coops?".  Laura is the queen of the mountain in our group, so very surprising that I was able to do this.  I'll never be queen of the mountain, but I was queen of the motorway flyover!

As this picture was taken we reminded ourselves of how to pose for a picture.  "Teeth and tits" went the cry.  I then turned to Laura again and said "is that all you've got Coops?"  Oh dear.  Time for another beer anyone?!

MA5 Social vintros spa day

Mid-week and we have a rest day, this means we are only going to cycle 30 miles!

A few others join us, as they have heard we have a nice day planned.  There are 13 of us when we head out.

Stuart decides that Deborah and I should set the pace and ride at the front.  Not quite sure why that is, but Deborah reckons it's because we are the A team. I reckon she is right!

First stop the gorgeous caves at Campanet.  A coffee stop with a view!

Next, Deborah and I are still setting the pace (and possibly holding up the traffic!) and we head to Cala Sant Vincenc.

We have booked a restaurant that is recommended by the hotel, C'al Patro.

Although it was quite tricky to find, it is in a beautiful location.  The social Inters who have joined us, Celia, Steve and Sarah are a bit shocked at the consumption of wine at lunch time, but we remind them about rule 5!

An easy five mile ride back and it's spa time!

We then head to the pool for a post ride beer and a natter.  A tough day!!

MA4 Best of Lluc - you'll need it!

Today we are going to climb a real Col at Lluc, and I did this ride on my last visit, so I know what to expect and I am nervous.

The others are pretty anxious too, but that didn't stop Roy and Laura polishing off a couple of bottles of wine last night!

This is a bit of a worry as Roy is joint leader today!  (Clive was supposed to be joint leader, but we think he was too scared to join the Social/Intros, after our last few beer sessions!)

We set off just after 9 and ride at a steady pace past Campanet to Caimari for a subdued coffee (well I was subdued!). Caimari is at the foot of the climb, so once coffee is over there is no choice but to commence the climb.

It's a 5 mile climb, and last time was nothing but a horror story.  I stopped 5 times on the way up, and felt like I arrived an hour behind the group.

I apologised in advance to the social/Intros of 2017 and asked if they wouldn't mind waiting at the cafe at the top and having a coffee, or possibly two.

So this year after grinding my way up at a much quicker pace and knocking 25 minutes off my last time I find that the group isn't in the cafe having coffee, but they are waiting at the top cheering me on.

What a tremendous feeling, I am knocked out by these guys.  They cheered everyone up to the finish line and it felt great to be part of this group.

We were keen to have a team photo and as we assemble ourselves a guy waved to us to indicate he would take the picture.  There was some discussion as to his fitness (on more than one level), but mainly that if he ran off with the phone would we be able to catch him.  He then said, in a very English accent that he wasn't actually that fit. Oops, we'll shut up now!

Once we had finished celebrating at the top, we headed straight to the restaurant at the monastery at Lluc for lunch.  

Laura committed what appears to be a cardinal sin of asking for mayo with her Serrano ham sandwich - the restaurateur said this was "catrostrophic" and that she should go to the church to pray for forgiveness.

We then have an amazing ride down to the bottom of the hill, although Roy may get fired as assistant leader as he didn't organise a group photo at the sign for Col de Formentor, although to be fair to Roy he wasn't told of this plan!

The views are amazing and this is probably the only one that was taken on the way down.

We then batter into Port de Pollenca, riding as a tight group, at 20mph.  Stuart was heading for an ice cream and he likes his ice cream!

Clive needn't have been afraid, we were very restrained only having ice cream rather than beers as our post ride reward.

MA3 Conquering Col D'Arta

Monday morning is team photo day.  Even though the weather forecast is not too bad the skies are probably a better indicator than a weather app!

Vivienne does an excellent job of making sure the photo call goes according to plan.

Group photo

Our group is heading to Arta today, the route that finished me off 2 years ago (on day 1!). They are however looking pretty relaxed about the day.

Unsurprisingly, it does start to rain, and we briefly shelter whilst Stuart gives us a quick pep talk on riding wet roads in Majorca.  Much care is needed as the surfaces can get very slippery.

We then make the first alteration to the day's plan and have an early coffee (or two) to avoid the rain.  There may have been more map reading involved!

I'm also very grateful that Lesley has brought a power pack and I can charge my Garmin and not lose precious Strava miles!

After coffee, the sun is out which means we can grab some lovely photos on the next part of the ride.

There is one part of the ride where we are climbing a hill, and I call out that this is the hill where there is a very sad picture of me being left behind 2 years ago and here is that picture

This year things are very different, although I am slow on the hills, on the whole I am keeping up!  And today the group is riding really well together, riding properly as a group and riding in rotation as well.  We looked pretty good in our VCC kit riding tightly 2x2 and although there is no photo of the neat formation riding, this is what we look like from behind (at yet another photo stop!)

We are planning to have lunch in Arta, but a delayed start in the morning and double coffees in Maria mean that it is nearly 2 o'clock when we get to Sant Llorenc, which is 10 / 18 km short of Arta, depending on the route you take.  

A great decision is made by the group to have an early lunch, as everyone is starting to flag.

We arrive at the square and only cafe looks open, and the owner indicates the kitchen is closing, but he could possibly do a cheese and ham baguette.  No decisions to be made, we'll take 10 of those!

We move inside to make sure we don't cool down too much and hoover down the baguettes at record speed!

We then decide to take the shorter 10km route to Arta.  However, there is some confusion as to whether there is a col en route.  It turns out that the 2017 edition of the map shows Col d'arta, whereas earlier editions do not.

So we conquer the Col d'arta, a brand new ride for 2017.  Although to be fair it didn't really seem much more than a big hill, the 2017 map may have been exaggerating things a little.  However, I can safely say that I conquered not vomiting on the way up the hill, as I was feeling pretty ropey after lunch, having accidentally taken a gel just before inhaling the baguette!

We then have a fairly easy ride back to Alcudia. Probably around 30 miles and a lot more downhills than the route out.

We happily arrive at the bar for large beers all round.  The thought of these beers kept us going on the ride back!

The sun is out and typical Brits abroad make the most of the sun.  Not sure what these three were saying, but Dianne looks a little shocked.  These three are definitely trouble once on the beers!

Today was a fabulous day, great group, good riding, lots of laughs and well led and looked after by Stuart and Shaun (and of course Steve).