A day for a relaxing recovery ride...well hopefully!
All seven out today after another excellent breakfast, which must be said has certainly satisfied the most ferocious appetites, mentioning no names, but it´s a close call between Peligro, have-a-go Glen and Mr chilled Marcus!
The route today was supposed to be simple, out past the airport, over to Santa Maria and finally lunch at Bunyola. What turned out was getting lost...again and ending up near Llucmajor, the complete opposite direction we wanted, riding down a side road which can only can be described as Mallorca´s answer to Paris Roubaix. Waz decided to call it a day and rode back to the hotel, albeit, he still managed to clock up 30km. After a few more diversions we did eventually find the Bunyola road and made are way up the slight incline to this beautiful historic village set in the foothills of the ´Serra de Tramuntana´. Sat outside in the small village square with all its old buildings surrounding the church, it made for an ideal sun trap as we took the opportunity to have coffee and baguettes beside one of the many cafes.
While sitting there, we noticed a rider in team Radioshack/Leoperd Trek kit pull up across the road with a man on a moped supporting him...it was Frank Schleck, out finalising his form in the mountains before the Amstel Gold race at the weekend. Spenna was star struck and wanted a photo next to him, which Glen had no problem in asking him by tramping across the road with his sun burned legs and arms in full view...it was very funny...you can imagine what he must of said in his Lancashire accent...´alreet c-ck, mind doin photo of me and my mate, ta´. Frank obliged and Glen and Spenno got their wish and truth told, Schleck, who not exactly biggest rider in the peleton, made Spenno look like a body builder :-/ still think Gert would give him trouble on a bike!
Lunch over and Spenno still in star struck mode, it was decided to drop down out of Bunyola and climb Soller, and take a quick scenic group photo at the summit. Riding in pairs and making our way up at a comfortable pace, Christine, who already ridden over some hard terrain made it to the top with encouragement from Peligro, an absolutely brilliant ride...top draw effort!
From their we noticed the weather changing for the worse, so it was a matter of finding the quickest route back to Arenal, which turned out to be straight to Palma and then back along the cycle path to the promenade front.
What turned out to be an easy ride, was, but we did take 4 hours to complete it :-/
A good day all told, especially for Spenno and Glen who now can say they have met one of the Schleck brothers!
Ride summary - route: flat + couple of hills, 96km, training segment: 0
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