Mallorca

February 16, 2025

I first became aware of the "Ballearic Islands" when I learned that brilliant guitarist Mike Oldfield was living there. (Oldfield is the creator of the famous "Tubular Bells" and many other albums.) The Ballearic Islands are an archipelago offshore of Spain, a few hundred kilometers from Barcelona and Valencia, and comprising Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. Ibiza is apparently a party and music capital, and that's where Oldfield was. But Mallorca is quieter and more cultural, and it is where Cycleblazers have already been.

We noticed the 2013 blog of Eva and Al Walters, in which they spend an entire month on Mallorca. Spending an entire month in "one place" seemed quite remarkable to us, and an indication that there might be something there worth checking out. We follow this with the discovery that the Mathers went there in 2022, and the Fenwicks, and in 2024 the Andersons as well. So Mallorca is not new to Cycleblaze, but it sure is new to us.

Everyone's orientation is a little different, and I think to varying extents the previous Cycleblaze visitors were quite taken with the mountains, which are to the north of the island. The ride to Cape Formentor up from Alcudia seems to be thrill for some. It's short and steep, and looks like this:

But the past riders also did a pretty good job of touring the island in general, and all their photos are inspiring and instructive. The Walters wound their way around the island from Palma and then stayed at Port d'Alcudia for two weeks, making many interesting days rides from there. We could easily see how an extended stay like that on Mallorca would be lots of fun.

Our own take is to follow the Walters to some extent. We do see some good birding sites that we plan to include, and with our general A to B travel orientation, we will generally do Palma to Port d'Alcudia, and out!

This map shows approximations of the routes of previous Cycleblazers - the Fenwicks, Walters, Mathers - plus our own plan. The Andersons were ill and had a much reduced program. Their route was via Sineu. The Fenwicks and Mathers favoured the north, and their routes tended to overlap. The Walters did a circuit of the island (wide violet arrows), and then many day rides (not shown) out of Port d'Alcudia. The Grampies plan to follow the island circuit, but we see them (in gay green and purple) also heading for the south point, and circling some birding spots. Grampies then shortcut (in yellow) and head for Port d'Alcudia.

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Laurie MarczakOooh I will be especially interested in this leg as Palma was one of Avi’s options for his language program (passed over obviously in favour of Barcelona)!
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5 days ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesWe think it's a big difference, between the giant sophisticated city and a regional capital. We are only staying in Palma one night, because we never linger anywhere!
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5 days ago

Mark BinghamI'm really looking forward to following you on this trip - it's a place on my bucket list.
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5 days ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Mark BinghamFrom other blogs we read it sure seems like Mallorca will be great cycling. We plan on getting to Mallorca at the beginning of April but you, of course, are invited to follow us from Wednesday onwards as we crawl around Spain.
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5 days ago

Bob DistelbergCoincidentally ROUVY has recently been suggesting rides on Mallorca for my indoor training rides. If in real life it looks anything like it does in the virtual world, you should have some fantastic riding.
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5 days ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Bob DistelbergWe have high hopes, and of course will be sure to document what we see as we ride.
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5 days ago