Distance: 100.8 miles / 162.2 km
Elevation: 7,867 feet / 2,397 m
Colls: Coll des Pescadors (374m); Cura (534m); Sant Salvador (510m)
Outside of the mountain range, there are three highly rated climbs in Mallorca. All three climbs have a monastery en route – either at their summit or beyond. The easiest way to tackle all three is to take the Mallorca Cycle Shuttle to Portocolom (or get picked up from there afterwards). Sadly, there were no shuttles to this destination because of the Pandemic. Having a hire car just about allows me to fit them all in.
The route
The suggested route is one way only, but my track needed to be circular. I used highlights left by cyclists on Komoot and the Mallorca 312 sportive route to find suitable roads. I decided that the best place to start the ride would be at the base of the nearest monastery in Artà and tackle the climbs in an anti-clockwise direction. The route I settled on was a little over 100 miles, making it the longest of my trip so far.
Ermita de Betlem
The road to the first monastery (Ermita de Betlem) is incredibly well tarmacced for a dead end. It differs to the other two monasteries in that it’s situated beyond the summit of a climb (down some hairpin bends). This meant I had to ascend a portion of the climb in both directions.
The monastery itself is over 200 years old and has some fancy tiles if you’re in to that sort of thing. I feel as though I rode to this monastery at a sub-optimal time. There’s an awful lot of religious folk about early on a Sunday morning.
The climb itself is pleasant and never too challenging. I managed to reach the summit in 14 minutes and 36 seconds – I’ve not attempted the climb previously, so that’s my one and only best time. It was possible for me to complete it faster I think, but given what’s to come I chose to pace myself.
I already look sunburnt on the picture at the summit which is concerning. The weather was only forecast to get hotter from this point onwards. To make matters worse, I realised that I had left my water bottles at home today. I was not happy!
Towards Santuari de Cura
The next monastery was the Santuari de Cura – at the summit of Puig (mountain) de Randa. This was approximately 40 miles away. I cycled here via Petra, where I got some lunch and consumed many refreshing drinks. The surrounding area around the mountain is fairly flat, and you can see the climb from very far away. Whilst an iPhone struggles a little to pick up the detail in the distance, I think you can just about make out.
Santuari de Cura
After cycling through the small towns of Sant Joan and Montuïri, I was soon at the base of Puig de Randa. I had actually climbed this coll on a previous Mallorca trip and it was a really enjoyable ascent. From the summit you can see far and wide, though again it was a bit busy with religious traffic. I managed to ascend in 24 minutes and 32 seconds, which is slower than I managed previously.
I don’t think this monastery had any tiles.
Santuario de Sant Salvador
I had read that the climb to the Santuario de Sant Salvador was the best climb of the three, but I had my doubts it could beat Puig de Randa. I was incredibly happy to be proved wrong! This is one of my new favourite climbs on the island, with some awesome panoramic views from the top. There’s even a not-as-shit Spanish Angel of the North up there. From the top it was actually possible to see Port de Pollenca – where I am staying, to the north of the island – and the resort of Cala Pi and the blue sea beyond (the complete opposite end of the island).
I managed the climb in about 25 minutes. Sadly for me, mass was starting a little over an hour after I arrived, so it was fairly busy again.
Back to Artà
After this high, some of the ride back was a bit miserable as I had chosen a fairly busy road to Manacor for the return journey. Realistically I didn’t have that many choices without adding on a lot of distance – something I didn’t really want to do, as it soon gets dark here. After Manacor my options weren’t as limited, and I made a loop via San Servera on some much quieter roads. I soon found that I was enjoying myself again.
This was unexpectedly one of my favourite routes so far – one I had planned more than a week ago. I had feared that the distance and climbing might make it a slog, but I had paced myself well. I arrived back in Arta just as it was getting dark – the ride had taken me a little under 10 hours.
Who needs water bottles anyway?
