The long awaited Odiham CC training camp was here again and we were back to our favourite destination, Port Pollenca in Mallorca. The plan was to complete 4 days of riding from Thursday to Sunday and racking up as many miles as possible.
Unfortunately when we landed in Palma we were greeted with dark skies and damp roads but we knew the outlook for the rest of the week was to get significantly better, with sunnier and warmer weather, and we weren't to be disappointed.
We were back in Hotel Duva hotel and spa for the 2nd year in a row and hiring bikes from the highly rated Pro Cycle Hire and riding Massi team carbons again. Liam and I headed straight down to the hire shop and were greeted by the rest of the gang with beer in hands. We got measured up correctly and the bikes couldn't have been better, they just needed some getting used to.
Day 1 on the Thursday we were treated some sunny skies and only a few light clouds in the sky. The weather was mid teens which made riding conditions almost perfect. The plan was to head out on a shop ride for a flat intro into riding on the island and then head out as a Odiham group to the Formentor light house. We completed the 50miles in the morning and stopped for a brief lunch and tanning session back at the cafe. We then headed out to the lighthouse, which consisted of (m) of sunny climbs and we were treated to a hillside road that had been completely re-tarmacked. All in all the lighthouse ride is great with spectacular views all along the road, a highly recommended first road introduction to some Mallorcan climbing. We totalled 80 miles on Thursday, the ride can be seen below.


Day 4 and unfortunately the final day. We were set to check out at 12 and off to the airport at 2 for our late afternoon flight back to Gatwick. It was agreed that we would go out for about an hour and a half and enjoy the final bit of sun before the rain of Britain. We headed down to the seafront and enjoyed the views before heading up the first climb up the lighthouse to enjoy some final spectacular views of the local area. A great way to reminisce on the past few days.
Now back in England, memories have been shared along with many photographs and tan lines / burns.
Thanks for reading,
Cheers
Ryan Keynes
Odiham CC / 1stgearcycles.com