Since I’d ridden most of the roads around Port de Pollença, I decided to relocate to Palma. Not only would this allow me to ride along the west and south coasts of the island; it would mean that I could visit various cafés, breweries and pubs I had scoped out on day 9 that were sadly closed.
One day in Palma
Thankfully, everywhere I wanted to visit was open today. The Del Món beer shop had an impressive selection of beers – both on tap and in cans. I would have been happy to drink solely in here, but the majority of the selection was from English breweries. Ideally I wanted to try beers I wouldn’t be able to drink at home. Whilst the selection at both Guirigall and Adalt Brewing (not pictured) were much smaller, they tended to serve locally brewed beers. The latter brewery especially had some tasty morsels indeed.
I managed 6 or 7 strong beers in the end. Tomorrow will be interesting!
Sant Elm, Magaluf & Palma Nova
Distance: 57.8 miles / 93.0 km
Elevation: 4,892 feet / 1,491 m
Colls: Coll de sa Creu (370m); Coll de sa Palomera (128m)
It seemed clear to me that leaving Palma via the Coll de sa Creu was going to be best option. This road starts in the grounds of an army barracks, and I saw plenty of soldiers on training exercises whilst I climbed to the summit. In the air were the sounds of gunshots and small explosions, though they were all far from the road. It took me 31 minutes to ascend.
There was no sign at the top – someone had nicked it.
I think the best five words that describe today are hungover, humid, hot, headwind and hilly. My body did not want to work but at least I’d finished the biggest climb of the day. I had planned to stop for some food in Sant Elm, but it was quite clear to me that I wasn’t going to make it that far. The first town I arrived in after the climb was Calvià. Of course, like seemingly all places in Spain, it’s got a complicated one way system. I didn’t have the mental capacity nor patience to work it out, so in the end I treated my bike to a descent down some steps. Eventually I found a café but nobody came out to serve me. It felt good to put my head in my arms and have a little nap.
To the beaches
Sant Elm
There is only one road to Sant Elm, and that means riding it in both directions. I was really close to leaving it out, but felt as though that would be a shame. The beach had nobody on it, except for a lifeguard. There were a ton more boats than lifeforms about. I found a nice bakery in town and ate something daft like four pastries. Based on the number of people about, it would be their most profitable day in ages. My beard had a lot of icing sugar in it.
Peguera
I continued to follow the coast south through Port d’Andratx and Peguera. It was clear that people like collecting boats as much as I like bikes, because the harbour was full of them. It’s probably possible to drive (?) a boat to Ibiza from here should yours be beefy enough.
Magaluf, Torrenova & Palmanova
Everywhere had been deadly quiet so far, but Magaluf was next. I expected to see pissed up Brits slurping cocktails from fishbowls in venues blasting out loud dance music – but I saw nothing of the sort. Whilst I expected the pandemic to have had some effect on tourist numbers, I had not expected such a downturn. I really did feel like I might have been the only Brit in Mallorca. It was sad to see massive hotel complexes, bars, restaurants and clubs seemingly abandoned. Even McDonalds and Burger King were closed, which are places that generally stay open.
Hopefully the pandemic has killed off the idea that it’s normal to drink from fish houses.
Back in Palma, I decided to go back to Alt Brewing. Hair of the dog and all that.
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