17 March 2009

Tour of Majorca

With a little bit of time up our sleeve we managed to get a few of the riders away from the cold of the northern part of Europe to the sunny isle of Majorca (Ibiza is the island next door). This is an island off the coast of Spain, and it’s one of the those popular places that thousands of riders and many teams head to sooner or later when the winter in Europe gets too bad to ride. I had not been there before, but almost all of the riders I had ever met here were familiar with the island, so I was hanging out to ride around it. I had a road bike ready, and the weather was looking good on the island, a much better option than the 0’c, rain and snow we were getting in Holland at the time. First we had a small drive up to Denmark in the sleet and snow, to meet up with Susanne and Trine. Klas was dropping off a car that had to go back to Sweden, and we had another trip to make to our bike guys at Stevens, so it was a multi purpose trip. We flew from Copenhagen, but that’s after waiting for a few hours for the plane to get de-iced in Berlin, before it picked us up, I was look forward to getting some more sunshine, it had been a week since the seeing the sun Qatar, and my endless summer was looking like it was in jeopardy.



But we were soon on our way, and the week’s weather report in Majorca was looking great, fine weather and sun for the week. I was keen on a bit of riding, it had been a few weeks since my last ride, and so I was keen to stretch the old legs again. The riding was sweet, after a couple of days I took a day off the training, to be a tourist for the day, a good chance to get a good look around the place. The city was dripping with history, a very old Roman city was still in place (amongst some newer buildings) after all the centuries gone by, most of it still stands. The streets were fantastic to ride around, just wide enough for a small car to drive slowly down, the bike was perfect for a good reconnoitre, and for taking a few pics on of course. The towns Cathedral was pretty amazing, and with my addiction to churches (mostly the outsides) I was in heaven. This was a pretty impressive building to say the least, and the surrounding areas looked pretty original as well, with the small streets packed closely in to the Cathedral, it was a great day. As always, while looking for that ultimate shot, I stumbled on to a wicked old furniture workshop, it looked like it had been there for hundreds of years, unchanged to this day. I have seen a few of these similar looking workshops around my travels, I dream of the day when I find on old bike workshop that looks as old as this. With clutter and spares in every nook and cranny possible, with an old man in an old leather apron with his head down, concentrating on his work. If I don’t find one, maybe I can make one for myself to retire to, and people wandering by just like me, poking their cameras inside to capture a slice of life you don’t often see in this modern world anymore.



The riding was fantastic as well, with small country roads leading all over the place, there was something for everyone, and some great sights to see. I didn’t take my camera with me on the bike, except for one day (I was trying to save weight as there was some big climbs to contend with, I was not that fit yet), so you will just have to take my word for it. I did manage a video of a days ride around the very beautiful coast, but you will have to wait until I find some faster Internet before I post it up for your pleasure.

In the meantime have a look at a few shot of the city and surrounds HERE.

Found some, so have a look at a bumpy ride.


Tour of Majorca from Benny Devcich on Vimeo.

Or here if you have the right viewer for a higher quality view.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Benny,

I've just started a section on my site detailing Majorca cycle routes. I have quite a lot to add yet!