This year’s Mallorca trip with our cycling buddies was one that we were looking forward to for a while. Colette was now mended from her accident earlier in the year and we were going to make up for missing that great spell of weather during the summer.
However, the weather forecast for Mallorca wasn’t looking the best for our chosen week. We were keeping our fingers crossed though, as we arrived in Palma around noon, where it was warm and dry. It stayed like that as we drove towards Puerto Pollensa and I thought we might be able to build the bikes and get a wee ride in on day 1. However, just as the coach approached our hotel, the rain started falling. It progressed to torrential for the rest of the day, so we had to wait until the next day for our first ride…
The forecast for the day 2 was looking better, with the chance of a shower late afternoon. Lynne came up with a plan for an easy first day’s riding, with a small group of us heading out to Muro and looping back via Campanet, where we could have lunch.
It was a pleasant ride out through the back lanes, with the little streams looking fuller and faster than I had seen them in previous years. The rain had also washed out some gravel and debris from the fields, so we had to be careful in some places.
Even though it was easy riding, I was glad to stop and have a break for coffee by the time we reached Muro. And it goes without saying that we all had cake as well!
Leaving Muro through the maze of streets and alleyways, we got split up into two groups for a while. It is easily done, but we regrouped and carried on, passing to the north of Santa Margalida.
After a while, Colette thought she might have a puncture. Well, the back tyre was looking decidedly flat. I gave it a pump up, hoping that it might be a very slow one. That lasted a few miles until it needed attention again. By this time, we were only half a mile away from Campanet, where we were going to stop for lunch, so I pumped it up again good and hard and we carried on to the square in the centre of town.
When we got there, we found another group of our cycling friends already installed at a table, having just ordered some drinks. We joined them at the next table and ordered our lunch.
Service was quite slow, so I contemplated fixing Colette’s puncture. By the time drinks had arrived, the tyre was flat again. I took the wheel off in preparation to change the tube after lunch, but the dishes came out in dribs and drabs. Eventually, I gave up waiting and got a new tube installed and the bike back together before my lunch had arrived.
My lomo (pork loin) finally arrived at the table, and I was starving for it by then. It was lovely and tender though it had a slight hint of fish about it. Then one of us went into the bar and discovered that the kitchen was a single gas burner and a skillet. No wonder they took so long!
By now, we were well behind schedule and the sky had clouded over. It was going to be a bit of a race back against the rain.
We reached the far end of Campanet valley when the rain started. It wasn’t too hard at first. I put on my bright orange rain jacket and those of us with lights turned them on too, as it was getting really quite dark. Thunder was echoing through the valleys and as we got nearer Puerto Pollensa, the thunder and lightning got more intense.
It appeared to be coming in from the east, but the jaggy hilltops above our destination were still clear of it. I mentioned to Fiona that we might escape the heavy rain. Of course that was tempting fate, and the clouds burst onto us round the next corner. There was forked lightning and deafening thunder all around us to accompany the torrents, which continued for the last couple of miles back to the hotel.
We arrived completely drenched and I couldn’t help thinking that without the delay at lunch, we would have been able to make it back to the hotel in the dry and would be feeling very smug right now. Then I looked at Colette. She had a great big grin on her face. “That was amazing!” she said. Well, it certainly was an experience we won’t forget.
It wasn’t till the following morning that news started to filter through of the havoc the rain caused on the east of the island with ten people dying in flash floods. Such a shocking, terrible tragedy, it put our own experience into perspective.