Mallorca Training Camp:Overall

We had really perfect weather each day. The highs were low to mid 70s and it was sunny every day. The Wheelsucker wore knee covers the first day and was a little warm. The correct wear was bibs, jersey, arm warmers and a light weight vest rolled up in a jersey pocket. A cap or do-rag was optional. The vest was only for long descents, and the arm warmers were rolled down except on the descents.

The wind -- which appears to be a thermal sea breeze -- would build up in the afternoon while the group was enjoying lunch and coffee. So each day the group would return into the wind, but all the return routes were slight downhills. Typically the group would be lined up in single or double file behind strong riders.

It appears that Mallorca had rain on some of the days immediately after we left, so we may have been lucky on weather.

Unlike Idlebreaks, there was no van accompanying the group, so one had to carry everything one might need. The Fred Rompelberg 268 guides were needed to avoid having to stop at every intersection and traffic circle to check the map. Perhaps pre loaded routes in a GPS device would help a lot here, though we heard that they do not always properly handle the tight turns in the center of a village. On the two days (Wednesday and Saturday) we did not have Fred Rompelberg 268 guides, we rode with Ken Whelpdale.

The guides -- Sebastien for three days, supplemented with Tom on one day -- were excellent, both were strong young Dutch bike racers, and a pleasure to ride with. Tom looks like Tom Boonen, only this Tom says Boonen is taller and thinner. Ken is an ex pro and ex pro team mechanic who lives and cycles on Mallorca. He knew the routes like the back of his hand.

Fred Rompelburg 268 and the hotel -- and that area of Mallorca -- appear to cater mostly to Germans and some Dutch. The ABRTers were soon calling the area "Little Berlin" or "the German ghetto."

More on the Germans... the Wheelsucker was trying to get the ABRT group organized for anytime they passed a group of Germans riding, by putting Katy on the front and having the rest of the group whistling or humming Wagner's RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES: Wagner Youtube clip.

For the barbarians amongst you, this is the music that Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall) has his air cavalry play as they attack the Viet Cong village in the movie Apocalypse Now: Apocalypse Now Youtube clip.

Surely the Germans -- rumored to all be huge Wagner fans -- would have appreciated this...

While apparently deemed a good idea, this was never actually pulled off.

There were lots of Germans, including active older Germans, riding, but fewer racers. Big Ring Eddie was probably one of the strongest riders visiting Fred Rompelburg 268, but he, his friend Thomas, a middle-aged Dutchman and the guides, were the only other riders we rode with. To the credit of the Fred Rompelberg 268 organization, they quickly decided the ABRT group was "special" and gave us our own guide, rather than lumping us in with their existing "speed" group.

Fred Rompelburg 268 apparently has four hundred bikes -- they are the largest cycling company in Mallorca -- with mostly new bikes. The bikes were aluminum with triples. Mike Faber's had a problem with a new chain slipping on a worn cassette, but Mike noticed this immediately on roll out and the wheel was swapped out by a mechanic. Scott Giles couldn't get low enough in front given the slightly high head tube, but that apparently did not slow him down enough, as he won the yellow jersey anyway.

There was drinking water, a carb drink, a daily sandwich and banana provided in the morning. As above, you needed to carry everything you needed.

There were several mechanics to adjust or repair bicycles. They were available in the bike area.

Fred Rompelburg was in evidence for photo day; the rest of the time Peter, apparently his 2IC, addressed everyone and managed the operation.

All the food you wanted was provided -- and included in our fee -- by the hotel for breakfast and dinner, though compared to the restaurants we ate out at, the food was institutional. Coffee and tea were provided. Bottled water, wine and other beverages were extra cost.

While the group was lucky with the weather -- the forecast for the following week had several days of rain -- Mallorca was fabulous, the riding exceptional, and it was not expensive.

If the ABRT group wanted to be outside Little Berlin, Ken Whelpdale: http://www.3fsports.com could probably provide an alternative to Fred Rompelberg 268: http://fredrompelberg.com/en/html/default.asp. This could be more customized to what ABRT wanted, though probably at a higher cost.



Our starting point from outside the hotel was two blocks from the beach, somewhat to the southeast of downtown Palma, on the Bay of Palma, which is the south side of the island of Mallorca.

see google map. Try the "terrain" option to see where the hills and mountains are.

Most of the climbs were to the north and west, and the ride to the first climb of the day was frequently 40-50 miles. The group averaged 80 miles per day, with less overall climbing than at Idlebreaks, and one day less of riding, as we returned a day earlier.

But the Mallorca climbs are great, with generally more technical descents, and there were far more cyclists around. There were disabled cyclists riding hand cycles in noticeable numbers. We rode on the shoulders of secondary and local roads, and on some very narrow roads that were not wide enough for two cars to pass without one stopping. These narrow roads -- lanes really -- had some blind corners and once or twice some gravel sections.

The ABRT group crossed paths with one group of hand cyclists, as ABRT was climbing a long climb and the hand cyclists were just drilling it on the descent; very impressive.

A cool aspect with all the cyclists around is that some of them were pros and or Olympians; Ken pointed out Sarah Hammer riding the other way at one point, and Ace dueled with two track World Cup stars on one of the climbs.

Mallorca was a much more interesting venue than Idelbreaks, especially for non hard core cyclists who had many things to keep them occupied. And having the non hard core cyclists there made the trip more interesting for the hard core cyclists, as evening conversation was a little more varied.

The water was rather too cold for swimming, but sun bathing would have been OK.

The area around the hotel -- Little Berlin -- was nearly 100% German. Restaurant signs and menus were in German, but there were other nationalities on Mallorca, just in other places on the island.

Ace and the Wheelsucker hooked up with a Mallorcan cycling team on the first Sunday and had a great time with them. We did not ask the locals for their views on Contador's guilt or innocence.

The rest/recovery/tourism day was spent in Palma, with the cathedral, and a central square with cafes and restaurants the highlights.