Sunday presented an opportunity to do some more riding. The weather looked a little dicey and the forecast called for some showers, but it didn’t look too bad. I saw some blue sky up there. I had the bike till the afternoon, and then I needed to return it. I opt’ed to see if I could find something with a little bit less traffic. But no need to rush it, so I drove down the western coast south of Soller for a bit. The road south goes through a couple small and interesting looking towns but they were pretty sleepy Sunday morning. The road was hilly with a lot of twists and turns and a blast to drive. The roads are well maintained on Majorca.

Eventually I veered off and headed inland toward Palma where I picked up the expressway and zipped over more toward the center of the island and the town of Llucmajor. No particular reason. I picked a place more or less at random. From the map I had, it looked like a decent jumping off point to some roads listed as bikeable. I found a place to park and just set off.

It wasn’t 100% obvious which way would get me out of town on the ‘right’ road. I’d picked a destination further north – Sant Joan, through Montuin. But it doesn’t take too long till you find arrows pointing the way to the ‘next’ town on the way to whereever you’re going. It’s one of the things I like about getting around Europe – as long as you know where you want to go you don’t really need a map. Just follow the signs. But I’m a map guy. I always have to have a map to see the big picture.

As it turned out, the route did indeed have less traffic. Mostly a pleasant ride through the countryside. You can see a picture here of the open road I snapped at one point. I did an out and back route and on the way back, took a detour up the Randa mountain to Santuari de Cura. That’s the Sanctuary of the Mare de Déu de Cura that sits at the top of the Randa mountain. There’s a lot of info and a picture here. I didn’t hang around all that long but I did stop in the little cafe to grab some more water.

I’ve included in this post a couple pictures on the road up. One toward the top and one at the signpost marking the top. We’re not talking the Alps here but it was a nice climb to get up to its peak of 534 meters. 5K of about 5-6% grade and switchbacks. Nice views all along the way though.

The last picture here is of my little snack of tapas after getting back to Soller. Click through on the picture to see some notes about the food.

Next up, headed to Girona by way of Barcelona.