Distance: 83.0 miles / 133.6 km
Elevation: 7,345 feet / 2,238 m
Colls: Coll de Femenia (515m); Túnel de Monnàber (875 m); Coll de Sóller (497m); Coll de Tofla (260m)
Gorg Blau is a huge reservoir to the west of Port de Pollença in the Tramuntana mountains. If you decide to ride there, be prepared for a lot of climbing!
The orange juice shack
From Port de Pollença, the most direct route is to climb the Coll de Femenia and carry on to Lluc.
Whilst this climb is pleasant, it’s best to do it early as there isn’t much shade. About a third of the way up are some hairpins. From there you can look back at Port de Pollença and really appreciate how far you’ve climbed. Considering how high it feels like you already are, it’s quite overwhelming to note how much more there is to go!
It took me nearly 39 minutes to climb today, which is a couple of minutes slower than my personal best.
Carry on following the MA-10 coast road west from here. When you get to the turning for Lluc, take a right towards Sóller. Note that after this point there are no refreshments until an orange juice shack about 30 minutes cycling from here. I felt quite thirsty today, so visited the petrol station at Coll de sa Batalla again for supplies.
The ride to the orange juice shack is really scenic, with some excellent views of the Tramuntana mountains. Sadly the orange juice shack was closed today because of the pandemic, which did not surprise me. I was really pleased I took that earlier break.
Gorg Blau
Gorg Blau is just a short ride from the orange juice shack, towards Sóller.
Túnel de Monnàber
From Gorg Blau, there is a further climb up to the highest public road on the island – Túnel de Monnàber (875m). In the other direction, this is the summit of the famous Puig Major climb which I will be attempting at a later date. Whilst this point is only 25 miles from Port de Pollenca, it had taken me over 3 hours to get here.
After the tunnel are some amazing views of Sóller at an altitude nearly 1km below.
Sóller
What follows is an enjoyable 13.5km descent in to Sóller. At this point I was getting hungry, so I chose to eat in the main square.
If you wanted to extend your ride at this point, I recommend a trip to Port de Sóller. Should you need to visit a bike shop, Kilometro Cero is the place to go.
Coll de Sóller
Every road out of Sóller is a climb, but today I chose to ride over the Coll de Sóller (497m). The road is really quiet because there is a tunnel you can ride through if using a motor vehicle. There are over 50 hairpin bends to traverse in total – some of which are steep if you choose to take the inside line. At the summit is another cafe, but I hadn’t finished digesting my burger yet. The temperature had exceeded 30 degrees so I stopped for a bottle of Aquarius. The climb took me 42 minutes today.
I opted for a much flatter way home after that.. thank goodness! Both Bunyola and Alaró will be destinations I will visit on subsequent days when I have more time. I did not have any lights with me today, so I needed to not hang about. Just before Lloseta is Coll de Tofla, which is my last coll of the day. This is a climb I hadn’t come across before, so is my first “PB” of the trip 🙂
