On a recent trip to Europe I got to try out some cycling in a couple of the most popular places for cycling vacations, Mallorca and Girona. The trip wasn’t a cycling vacation per se but I did select those two places to be able to get a few nice rides in. I also did a few other smaller rides.
A little bit about me as a cyclist to start since these things really affected my experience riding there.
- I love riding a bike. It is my favorite hobby and has been for a long time. Its good for my physical health but probably even more for my mental health.
- I bike commuted to work every day in Seattle year round, rain or shine but days I have a strong preference for shine
- I love climbing hills but I’m not great at it. I am also the slowest descender because it scares me. I rarely even enjoy the descent.
- I have a fancy carbon road bike with electronic shifting but I almost never wear any kind of cycling clothing.
- I just turned 60, so I am unlikely to get any faster than I am now, but sometimes I try.
Rental
In both places I rented bikes. This was pretty painless and not as expensive as I feared. I always enjoy riding different bikes so I didn’t miss having my own. Since there were other parts to this whole trip it also meant I didn’t have to deal with carrying a bike around from place to place etc.
The one thing I did learn is you need to reserve the bikes way in advance. I was booking in Jan for a trip in late April and it still took some effort to find bikes available in both places.
Mallorca
There’s plenty already online about Mallorca and tips for riding there. The island is gorgeous. There’s a ton of cyclists and its overrun with tourists of all kinds.
We stayed in Port de Pollensa. Its nice, on the water, but I don’t know that there was anything I would say that was really special about it. It is super convenient for the Cap Formentor ride which was really beautiful and not very difficult (strava).
The ride I really wanted to do was Sa Calobra. I had a great day but honestly was a little worn out by the work to get there to have a great experience on the climb. I felt great on the Col de Femenia and going up the side of Col del Reis opposite the descent in to Sa Calobra. I even passed a few people on the climbs! However, the descent, while very beautiful, was actually pretty unpleasant for me and seemed to take forever, even though the views are breathtaking. At the bottom I rested and ate a bit but was pretty worn out mentally.
I did make it up with a few stops and I’m really happy I did it but I wish I had been in better shape or at least a bit fresher for the climb. This might have also been the only time on the trip where I missed my personal road bike which probably has 1 or 2 more lower gears. Riding back to Port Pollenca was pretty easy and also a lot of fun. Definitely a top tier day over all. (strava)
I guess the last thing I will say is that both in Mallorca and Girona I was amazed at just how many super nice bicycles you see all day long. Even more so that people just leave them out and I guess keep an eye on them while they eat but I didn’t see a lot of locks etc. It took some time to get used to it.
Girona
Girona felt a lot different to me. First of all I loved the city a lot more just as a place to be. Its got great walkability, amazing food, nice architecture and really friendly people. I’ve seen that there’s become an anti-biker backlash there but I didn’t see much besides some anti-airbnb graffiti which as far as I can tell is in almost all the cities in Spain now.
I did the Els Angles climb (strava) which was really fun and not too hard. I think what really impressed me was once I left town, I don’t think I saw more than 5 cars the whole time. The road surface was amazing and it felt like I had the whole ride to myself most of the time. It was similar on another ride I did in the area. The Scenery can’t match Mallorca but all the rest was great.
If there was a downside to Girona its only that It felt like everyone else there was a lot more serious about riding that me. I don’t mind it that I’m the slowest one going up the hill. I also sort of got used to people going “whoosh” right next to me on descents but I think also the whole vibe of everyone was so serious. In Mallorca, I talked to several cyclists during the ride, in Girona it felt (to me anyway) like the cyclists (not the locals) were “too cool for that”. Maybe I needed to dress better.
Amsterdam
I didn’t really ride much here but I did borrow a friends bike just to experience it. I just rode around a little bit to get a feel for how things are (strava). Biking through the museum is fun. The flow of cyclists around is fun to be part of and its nice to feel like you are the top dog in that everyone (cars and peds) seem to stop for cyclists. Oddly I wasn’t sure whether I would enjoy being a bike commuter every day in Amsterdam. I think it could be that at home bike commuting makes you feel like you are part of a special group that knows a secret. In Amsterdam everyone is already in on it.
Islay
I also took a little ride in Islay (strava). It got pretty hilly in parts but mostly it was lucky to have nice weather. The scenery is great and all the people were super nice. I don’t think I would choose it as cycling vacation. Most of the rental places seem to focus on e-bikes for going a few miles to a distillery, but there are some nice beaches and other interesting scenery.
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