Mallorca days 4 and 5

On Tuesday we rode about 35 miles to a town on the north coast of Mallorca, passing lots of sheep and pig farms, plus orange groves and vegetable farms with big, beautiful cauliflowers and leeks. The photo below with a town in the distance shows you our destination. It was a very pleasant day of riding with a few hills and almost no wind.

Wednesday was different, as the goal of the ride was a spectacular cape, sticking high up in the sky and far out into the sea. The road to Cap Fromentor has long hills, so some of the people in the group (including me and Dan) used electric bikes to make the climbing easier. This was very interesting: you pedal, but the bike also has an electric motor that really makes a difference. Very cool.

However, electric bikes do not stop rain. By the time we reached the lighthouse at the way-out end of the cape, we were soaked. (Even the people with rainjackets were wet; I had only my windbreaker and I was dripping from head to toe.) We were also tired from the effort of riding on rough pavement with cars and giant tour buses passing us on the narrow road.

I took the photo of rocks and sea from the lighthouse, during a very very brief break in the rain. We enjoyed the view, quickly, then started back toward the town, 12 miles away. We were wet and cold, but we knew that the electric bikes would really help us go up and down those long hills again, though we had to be extra careful because the pedals were very slippery.

Then it started raining really hard. In addition to hills, cars and buses, rough pavement, slipping feet, and chill, we had a new problem: we could not see clearly through the pouring rain. And the road was now like a creek bed, with water flowing everywhere. We stopped to rest in a parking lot where we could get under a roof, but we were so cold that we had to get moving again.

Then Dan's electric bike suddenly stopped working -- apparently its battery was dead -- and we had no choice but to walk. Pushing bikes that weigh at least 50 pounds. Uphill and downhill. On a narrow road. In the rain. With about 10 miles still to go. Hmmm, not good.

Fortunately the van, driven by one of our guides, passed us soon after that. The van normally holds nine people. There were already five people . . . and three bikes . . . in the van, so our friends sat on each other with bikes in their faces to make room for the two of us. We left the two electric bikes beside the road, to be picked up later.

You knew that the story would have a happy ending, so here it is: Dan and I really enjoyed our hot showers.