With Clothes and cycling kit washed and laid out on spare beds, toiletries bought, EHIC and GHIC cards secured, euros ordered, left over suntan lotion found, new cycling shirts arriving in the nick of time (never in doubt), car parks booked and car drivers pick up arrangements made and athletes training schedules completed, we are now set for our Mallorca 2022 trip, our 3rd outing to the Island and the first since 2019. And with a promise of some decent weather, 27c on some apps and plenty of sunshine, (we’re ignoring the threat of thunderstorms, who needs that bad karma ), all the arrangements are now finalised, it’s just down to us to turn up on time, check in, grab our bikes and head for the lighthouse on our first ride out.

We welcome along 3 newbies for their first Mallorca adventure, Barry on his first TF trip, along with Jon-Paul and Briggsy who are both new to our Spanish Island adventure: they are in for a real treat. Not only is the cycling excellent (more of that later), but the Hotel is great, we get to visit our favourite bar at the Marina for a few “post-ride beers” and enjoy some surprisingly good hotel food. Cafe stops are of course compulsory and with lunch taken out, hopefully in some Spanish taverna in a historic square, there will be much frivolity, “piss-taking” and general chat to keep us going through the day. The company, it goes without saying, is excellent and we have our own guided trip route organiser and mechanic, the Majorcan veteran, Mr Kevin East, we have brought along our own Sommelier, that fine ex 2nd Row Mr Mike Green, (did he have a stint at no8?) to keep us straight on the wine and we even have a rescue car driver in the form of our very own “broom van driver” and tour guide extraordinaire, Mr Shaun Smith, who we understand is extending a current Majorca (Mallorca) holiday to be with us. So we have all the bases covered to ensure an excellent trip. Given that cycling is an important part of the trip, a few words should be devoted to the cycling it offers. These words come as a result of the experience of a couple of previous visits, and are really offered to the “cycling enthusiast” who is visiting for the first time. (There is plenty of advice elsewhere for the more serious cyclist, of which we are not). Firstly, Mallorca is an excellent place for cycling. Some stunning scenery awaits, especially on the “must do” ride out to Formentor Lighthouse, (an out and back ride with a fair amount of climbing), the island has some pretty challenging climbs, we completed “The Pig” , Puig Major, (done once and never again), which is the highest peak on the Island and quite a slog out of Soller and of course no trip would be complete without a visit to the iconic Sa Calobra, the famous switch back road, (much photographed, is in real life is very impressive), which has a great descent to the port and a pretty taxing climb back out (well it is for most of us), but to get to it you’ve already had a couple of tough climbs and covered some kilometres. The roads are generally in excellent nick, there are plenty of dedicated cycle lanes in the larger towns, car drivers are pretty courteous and careful and there are loads of routes and loops that get you out and about to some of the quieter villages and small towns. Cafes and restaurants are great and most welcome cyclists and have provision for bikes and those that don’t, have plenty of lean your bike space. So all in all a great place for cyclist of all levels. So that is us for now. Let’s hope Jet2 do their stuff and get us there on time and that LoveVelo, who we have found to be excellent in the past, don’t let us down on all the other arrangements. The rest of it is in our hands, and full backs and wingers excluded, we won’t drop the ball on that one!!