Distance: 54.2 miles / 87.2 km
Elevation: 2,969 feet / 868 m
Colls: Santa Magdalena (285m); La Victòria (128m)
As the days pass by, I am increasingly more motivated to visit new places and ride different roads. Looking at where I’ve been, I am yet to ride from Port de Pollença to Campanet via the golf course. I’ve also not visited the towns of Inca nor Búger. With the help of Komoot, I made a basic route outline and from that added in the climb to Santa Magdalena.
Inca
The main square in Inca had one extremely busy café, and the rest were dead. Anyone who knows anything knows that you must visit the busy one when in this situation. What I failed to notice is that the chairs had a slightly different weaved pattern on the table I had chosen. When the waitress came over to serve me I realised that the table belonged to one of the quiet cafés.
Despite ordering a coffee, this failed to materialise after 30 minutes so I moved to the busy café. Since everyone else was eating, I decided to order a burger. This was probably the worst burger I have ever eaten. It tasted like it was from a can, and the chips came pre-applied with more salt than my cycling clothes on a hot day. The waitress had also spilled quite a lot of my coffee when she brought it over – but at least I had one this time…
It truly made me wonder how much worse the other café could have been. I don’t think the coffee I ordered ever did arrive.
Santa Magdalena
Only a short ride from Inca is the Santa Magdalena climb. It’s not particularly steep, with about nine hairpins. Given the climbs of the past week, I seemed to be at the top in no time. Strava has timed me at 15 minutes and 32 seconds, which actually doesn’t appear to be that competitive. Perhaps the afterthought of that burger was too distracting.
At the summit of Santa Magdalena is a monastery called the Ermita Santa Magdalena. In hindsight it was a stupid idea to visit this popular viewpoint – for today is the “National Day of Spain”. The restaurant at the summit was even more rammed than Inca – but in contrast the food looked edible here. Obviously I regretted my decision to eat beforehand.
La Victòria
La Victòria is a small resort just outside Alcúdia. From the summit you can see the the Alcúdia bay as well as the Cap de Formentor. It’s most popular for walkers because there’s an abundance of hiking trails in the surrounding forests. There is a road which appears to climb even higher than I rode, but Google seems to suggest this is in a military zone. Whilst there are a couple of Strava heat maps, I decided not to risk it today.
Whilst the climb is relatively small, it is quite steep at times. My time was 11 minutes and 40 seconds.
Alcúdia
After yesterday’s lack of beer consumption, I did some further research and found a craft beer bar in Alcúdia. Since it was a bank holiday, there was a DJ playing annoying tunes. There were also some kids climbing walls next to my parked bike which made me a bit nervous. Needless to say, I didn’t stay long. On a positive note they had a good selection of beers, so I might visit again on a quieter day.
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