Spring Training in Mallorca - Spring Training Light, That Is.

 

April in Mallorca  

They call it spring training, and it seems to keep the economy of Mallorca afloat for several months at the start of the year – has done, it seems, ever since the Sky Team started sending their cyclists over to enjoy the balmy temperatures and rugged terrain of this Balearic island.

Our own routes steered well clear of the mountains, taking us through gently rolling farmland on quiet roads where the greatest danger was falling asleep after another hearty lunch – or not noticing the next group of (serious) cyclists hurtling towards us.

The roads we travelled were generally very quiet  – and the odd motorist we met treated us with courtesy and consideration

 

For us this was a holiday, not a training programme. We averaged fifteen to twenty miles before lunch, roughly the same afterwards, taking it nice and steady and enjoying the landscape, the warmth and the food. It was cheap, generally excellent, and mostly served in decent portions. Below are a typical first course, and a rather superior dessert.

  

 

The only worry, as lunchtime approached, was finding a spot to park the bikes. This is what the island is all about at this time of year. Wherever we stopped we could count on a group arriving while we ate - sometimes as few as eight or ten, occasionally as many as forty. We entertained ourselves watching the head waiters as they patrolled their portion of the square, competing for the custom of the next arrivals.

 

 

 

I was surprised by Mallorca. I'd always thought of it only as a resort for families seeking sun, sand and sea. There's plenty of that - and they say there's a lot of sex in Magaluf - but once you move inland you're into a quiet, pretty place of small farms and scattered, handsome villages. I'd go back any time.