Thursday, November 11th
Happy Birthday Colman!
Coll de Fema 7.7km 5.5% grade, 47km total ride
Amie just made me the best sandwich ever, fried egg with ham, cheese (edam and cheddar!), and tomato, grilled to melty perfection. We are cooking dinner in our 1-bedroom apartment in Port de Pallenca, Mallorca (located on the north-eastern coast of the island). Yesterday we had intended on taking the bus from Palma to Soller and biking along a scenic mountain route to Port de Pallenca. Amie was feeling sick and took the bus straight to Port de Pallenca. As soon as Amie left, McKayla and I (Erin) realized we didn't have the bike pump. I haven't gotten a flat tire yet (knock on wood) and the route we wanted to take was 60km in the middle of nowhere (not even one town along the way). I got really anxious, and when the bus to Soller had no room for our bikes, I took it as a sign that we shouldn't ride. I was a bit bummed, but enjoyed the views on the bus to Port de Pallenca instead and went for a scenic run on the beach that afternoon. The bay is amazing because you can see the jagged, volcanic mountains along all sides of the aqua blue water.
Today we woke up (luckily) and intended on riding out the peninsula and hiking to some lighthouses. Once again our plans were thwarted, the road we needed to take was closed for construction. So instead we biked out on the road that we had intended on riding in on yesterday. About 15km in there was a mountain pass called Coll de Fema. The pass was 7.7 km long but the grade was only 5.5%, making it real easy to ride up (especially without panniers). I felt strong and cruised through the first 4km or so and then stopped to wait for Amie and McKayla. We rode up a but further and I discovered Amie was hacking up her lungs. She decided to take a 10 minute break and then head back down. In fear of being way overdue for a flat tire, I didn't want to split up the group (despite my urge to continue riding). I told her I'd ride 7 minutes up the pass and 3 minutes back down while she took her 10 minute break. I busted out the next 7 minutes and knew I was pretty close to the top, so I extended my ride to 8 minutes up, rode up to the Coll sign (515 meters of elevation gain). We cruised down and back all the way to the water in only 40 minutes, what a fun descent! I loved riding alongside Palm trees, Pine Trees, and deciduous trees with their leaves falling off. We ate our lunch along the beach and spent the afternoon trading song suggestions for when we return to the land of iTunes. Oh, also I've been trying some new fruits. Yesterday I got one called (in Spanish) a Chirimoya. It's got a green skin that you peel off to reveal a white flesh that surrounds large, hard black seeds. It's got a a tropical taste and is fun to eat. We tried Kaki (in Catalan) which is orange, looks like an apple, but is soft like a pear and tastes like a mango. I prefer the Kaki over the Chirimoya. Today I got a melon, it's green on the outside like a watermelon but tastes a tropical honeydew. Now you know, in case you were wondering...
Tomorrow we are heading to the Eastern coast where we will spend a few days exploring the beaches, caves, and cliffsides.
Love you guys!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Mallorca!
Tuesday, November 9
Hola blog followers, (McKayla here)
Yesterday morning at 6am we landed by boat on the Spanish Island of Mallorca. This wasn't our original plan, but I think we are all completely satisfied with our decision to spend the last week of our trip, before heading to Madrid, in this incredibly beautiful place. Mallorca is a travel destination for many cyclist because the island has it all...mountains, cliffs, scenic coastal bike paths, rolling hills, and fantastic pavement for road bikes. Hiking is also very popular on the island's northwestern mountains which offer spectacular ocean views from the top.
We spent Sunday creating plans for the week, only to change them multiple times when we learned that you can't take bikes on high speed trains in Spain. We were going to train to Sevilla, bike to Granada, and then train back to Madrid, but after that plan fell through Amie and Erin suggested we go to Mallorca. Amie's brother, Anthony, spend five weeks rock climbing on the island last spring and only had great things to say about it. Our seven hour ferry (an enormous cruise ship) left Barcelona at 11pm, and we slept in a cabin with bunks right through the entire ride. At sunrise, we biked 5km into the city of Palma. Ahead of us, the sky was pink and purple, and we could see a huge castle in the distance. Palm trees lined the bike path to our left, and motor/sail boats filled the harbour on our right. In Palma, we had breakfast at a cafe, found out a ton of information at the tourism office, bought a new map, grocery shopped, and found wifi at a cute little tea salon where we searched for available hotels.
We biked 10km along a coastal bike path to the beach town of Can Pastilla. The waves occasionally sprayed us as they spilled over on to the bike path, and the sea breeze pushed us along. The first 6 hotels we found were completely booked. We think it's because the winds have been perfect for parasailing and windsurfing. As we biked into the town, we saw over 50 parasailers and windsurfers out on the water. It was quite a sight, almost like a playground out at sea. We eventually found a place to stay and settled in for the night.
Today, Tuesday, we biked back through Palma and then north to the town of Bunyola. We stopped at an outlet mall for shopping (aka looking) and lunch about 20km into our ride because it started down pouring. The sun came out about an hour later, and we continued to make our way to Bunyola where we were going to pick up a trail head and go for a short hike. My cold has been lingering on, so I decided to take a bus back to Palma while Erin and Amie went for the hike.
Back at the hotel, Erin and Amie cooked a delicious whole wheat tortellini and setan dinner, and we spent the evening planning our next few days of adventures.
-
Hola blog followers, (McKayla here)
Yesterday morning at 6am we landed by boat on the Spanish Island of Mallorca. This wasn't our original plan, but I think we are all completely satisfied with our decision to spend the last week of our trip, before heading to Madrid, in this incredibly beautiful place. Mallorca is a travel destination for many cyclist because the island has it all...mountains, cliffs, scenic coastal bike paths, rolling hills, and fantastic pavement for road bikes. Hiking is also very popular on the island's northwestern mountains which offer spectacular ocean views from the top.
We spent Sunday creating plans for the week, only to change them multiple times when we learned that you can't take bikes on high speed trains in Spain. We were going to train to Sevilla, bike to Granada, and then train back to Madrid, but after that plan fell through Amie and Erin suggested we go to Mallorca. Amie's brother, Anthony, spend five weeks rock climbing on the island last spring and only had great things to say about it. Our seven hour ferry (an enormous cruise ship) left Barcelona at 11pm, and we slept in a cabin with bunks right through the entire ride. At sunrise, we biked 5km into the city of Palma. Ahead of us, the sky was pink and purple, and we could see a huge castle in the distance. Palm trees lined the bike path to our left, and motor/sail boats filled the harbour on our right. In Palma, we had breakfast at a cafe, found out a ton of information at the tourism office, bought a new map, grocery shopped, and found wifi at a cute little tea salon where we searched for available hotels.
We biked 10km along a coastal bike path to the beach town of Can Pastilla. The waves occasionally sprayed us as they spilled over on to the bike path, and the sea breeze pushed us along. The first 6 hotels we found were completely booked. We think it's because the winds have been perfect for parasailing and windsurfing. As we biked into the town, we saw over 50 parasailers and windsurfers out on the water. It was quite a sight, almost like a playground out at sea. We eventually found a place to stay and settled in for the night.
Today, Tuesday, we biked back through Palma and then north to the town of Bunyola. We stopped at an outlet mall for shopping (aka looking) and lunch about 20km into our ride because it started down pouring. The sun came out about an hour later, and we continued to make our way to Bunyola where we were going to pick up a trail head and go for a short hike. My cold has been lingering on, so I decided to take a bus back to Palma while Erin and Amie went for the hike.
Back at the hotel, Erin and Amie cooked a delicious whole wheat tortellini and setan dinner, and we spent the evening planning our next few days of adventures.
-
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Pictures from Lloret and Barcelona
Hi all, Check out our new pictures on the above link! Hope you enjoy them.
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