Just back from Majorca and as usual it was a trip to remember with 13 days of sunshine and stunning roads shared with friends old and new. Caroline and I rode most days together either with one of the Stuart Hall organised groups, or with other cycling friends or just on our own. Alan, Tim, Vince, Kevan, Ewart and Andy also came and when we got there we met Ben who didn't know we were going so only overlapped by a couple of days. I believe that Martin Wyard was also on the island but at a different resort and we didn't actually meet.

Caroline who admits to hating hills confronted her fears head on by taking on the famous 10km long Sa Calobra climb. Sa Calobra means "The cobra" as this amazing stretch of tarmac winds its way up the flanks of the highest mountain on the island. There is one way down to the beautiful port at the bottom and one way back up again so this road is daunting to say the least. Sa Calobra is 30 miles from Porto Pollenca where we were staying and the entire 60 mile return trip is mostly uphill or downhill with the main climb being the highlight of a very long day.

We decided to take our time and have plenty of stops to ease Caroline's troublesome back and Vince joined the 2 of us to also enjoy an unpressured ride and to give support to Caroline. He was great company as always and we shared a memorable ride together but Caroline was pleased to tick this one off and stressed that she would not be riding the cobras back again unless her bike has an engine attached to the back wheel! 😆

I've ridden Sa Calobra several times and I've noticed that there is a turn off about 1 mile from the bottom and looking at the map it looked like an interesting road as it rises back up 1 mile and then descends 2 miles down to a bay called Cala Tuent. I've often said that one day I will check it out so a few days later I returned to satisfy my curiosity.

Many people hate to ride alone and I too enjoy riding in company but I equally enjoy doing the odd epic day out on my own, particularly in the mountains, so I took off for my solo adventure. The day would evolve as I went along but the highlight would be the son of the Cobra. I left the hotel and wound through the maze of back lanes towards Campanet churning a big gear (yes I had gears 😮 ), with a good tailwind enabling a comfortable cruising speed of about 20mph. I was bowling along taking in the fantastic scenery and catching numerous groups of mostly Germans who were pottering at a more sociable pace. After few short bonks in the first 10 miles or so I turned right to join the beautiful Selva Gorge climb at Caimari. This climb is a few miles long but has 2 hairpin sections joined together by a relatively easy straight section that offers great panoramic views back across the flat centre of the island. I kept it in the big ring and maintained a good pace up the climb, getting into a good rhythm and catching more Germans along the way.

I resisted the customary stop at the garage at the top of the climb as I knew that I had a long way still to go, so I continued along the rolling road to "The Orange man" at the turn off to Sa Calobra about 5 miles further on. This shack must be a goldmine as it is always surrounded by masses of cyclists either about to start the climb or stopping to recover after returning back from its fierce slopes. I stopped to buy a bottle of water and a kit-kat and briefly chatted with 2 friends from Seamons CC who happened to be there at the same time. I then continued up the warm up hill, the "Col de Reis" which is a 2 mile series of hairpins that I am sure are designed to change the minds of all but the brave, before the plummet into oblivion commences down the throat of the cobra.

The view from the top is unlike any other road I know as the road winds back on itself around countless hairpins which are precariously balanced on the side wall of a massive cove in the mountainside. Even I will admit that on a descent like this a freewheel makes sense as you can enjoy laying the bike low on the hairpins and accelerating along the straights, overtaking the odd car along the way and never being overtaken by cars behind. The bike truly is King of the road on this descent. Upon reaching the sharp right bend at the turn off, I left the masses and joined a wide smooth and completely empty road back up to a col 1 mile ahead. The gradient was pretty easy so I kept it in the big ring and just rolled it up the hill, stopping to take in the view at the Col.

I wasn't disappointed as the son of the cobra coiled down to a turquoise bay which adjoined a pure white sandy beach in an tranqil little cove. I enjoyed the descent and saw just one cyclist and no cars at all. As the road wound to the left on its way down I was confronted by the mass of Puig Major which at over 1400 metres is the highest peak on the island and is practically the same height as Britain's highest peak, Ben Nevis. Two massive buttresses thrust out of the main massif to create the bowl that this road was winding its way down and just like its father Sa Calobra there was just one way in and one way out. There were a few buildings at the bottom, an empty beach to die for and one bar/restaurant at the end of the road, set up on the hillside beyond the beach and this was my destination for lunch. I sat on a beautiful patio overlooking the bay with the winding road directly behind the bay and the enormous Puig Major off to the right. There were 2 other cyclist at another table and nobody else in sight and all I could hear was the birds .... paradise! I only wished I could have shared the moment with Caroline but 2 cobras in one day is never going to happen unfortunately.

I tackled the return journey back to the Col and then up the main Sa Calobra climb at a challenging tempo to test my questionable fitness. I turned right at the Orange man to climb to the highest col on the island at 900m, coming out of the tunnel to start the 9 mile long descent of Puig Major down to the mountain town of Soller. The descent was super fast as less winding than Sa Calobra and most of the time I was over 30 mph and sometimes approaching 40mph and yet it still took 18 minutes to get to the bottom. I didn't stop at Soller which has a beautiful square as time was pressing so I immediately started the climb of Col du Soller which is like a mini 4 mile long Alpe D'Huez, with a series of lacets climbing up and then immediately winding down the other side. I stopped for a bottle at the top and a mars bar and after the descent turned back towards Puerto Pollenca some 40 miles away.

In Bunyola I decided to avoid the busy main road back by taking the pretty side valley to orient which unfortunately involved yet another 550m high, 4 mile long climb. As it was by now 4PM the road was practically clear of cyclists and very few cars also, so I enjoyed the views and the tranquility once more. Surprisingly despite a tortuous route so far my legs still felt pretty good on the hills. The big mountains ended with a rapid drop down the Col D’Orient to the gently undulating roads that followed, as I passed below the towering cliffs of the 815m high Puig de s'Alcadena. The last 30 miles was a great wind down with the full mountain range of the Serra de Tramuntana, ridden earlier, to my left. I rode 110 miles and I haven't downloaded my Garmin file yet but I did several thousand feet of climbing in an area that richly deserves its World Heritage Status. I got back to the hotel at 18:20 so just enough time to have a quick shower then down for a big feast to round off another perfect day in paradise. If you haven't been then get yourself to Majorca as it really is a perfect destination for cyclists and for those who don’t like the mountains, most of the island is a mix of flat and gently undulating roads with Baguettes and cheesecakes at regular intervals!