Rapha, Mallorca
Cycling with Rapha Mallorca.
Rapha Mallorca is located at Plaça del Rosari, 1, 07001 Palma, Illes Balears, Spain.
Located in the heart of the charming old town of Palma, Rapha Mallorca offers a wide selection of Rapha products and serving fine food and drink, you can expect a packed agenda of rides, special events, and live race coverage.
They organise weekly rides every Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday. Rides are led by local guides going through the beautiful landscapes of Mallorca.
More info in the RCC App or at rapha.cc calendars.
I was there for a weekend break and joined in on a club ride from the Rapha shop to the top of the Col De Soller. It was part of a Strava challenge for that month to see how many times you could climb it. They were climbing twice that day but I only went the once as had arranged to meet the wife for lunch! Coll de Soller is a famous category 2 climb. Over 400m of elevation. The road has many, many hairpin turns and is almost traffic free. Lovely!
The other side leading down to Soller is more sheltered from the sun and again is full of twists and turns. Be weary descending this side as it can have more debris from the trees and sometimes be slippery.
At the summit you will find café Ca'n Topa which has been there since 1880 under various guises. Food and service is good, the couple running it speak a number of languages and are knowledgeable about the climb and the area.
I stayed in Palma at Hotel Cort . As you can imagine most hotels are bike friendly but it’s always best to call ahead and check. I was able to keep my bike and bike box in the room with me and used the small lift to bring the bike up and down.
The food here was very good and lots of choice in the morning to fuel up before the ride. They also served good coffee! You can sit inside or out in the famous square Plaza de Cort which is known for it’s olive tree called Olivera de Cort – which is around 600 years old and is a popular tourist attraction. I went out of season and the room was a good price but as it’s very central and will book up quickly in the summer!
There are lots of great restaurants in Palma and I recommend going to visit El Camino for amazing Tapas and La Rosa Vermutería which is an old-fashioned Local that serves the best patatas bravas in Palma!
If you looking for some pre ridden routes to follow and download to your GPS then you can use either Komoot or Strava. The Strava blog has a good piece on climbs in Mallorca here and you can download the climbing segments. Cycling locations website have some great epic rides to look at and are downloadable here.
Enjoy!
Itinerary
Getting to City Airport, within London, it’s best to shop around for Taxi prices. The airport has its own stop on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which takes you to Tube interchange stations such as Canning Town, Stratford and Bank. If your driving look here.
Flying British Airways from City airport to Palma is a dream! This is because it is a small and quick airport but also I live nearby!
BA offer to take your bike box on as your hold luggage as well as a carry on case and laptop bag. The bike box must be max 190cm and 23 kg (51lbs) Find more info here. They ask not to pack extra items in the box but I always add my helmet, shoes and tools with no problems yet. They ask on the info page to call ahead but I have never done this and I just add the bike whilst booking online.
When arriving at Palma airport you will need to collect your bike box at the last carousel, number 17 and wait for it to come through. There will be many bike boxes and it’s best to start taking them off and lining them up as the carousel will stop moving if there are too many on there.
It’s easy to get a large Taxi the other side but always make sure it’s from a Taxi rank.
I stayed at the Hotel Cort on Plaça de Cort, 1107001 Palma de Mallorca.
There are also plenty of bike shops for your needs. Hire, pick up spares or get your’s fixed here.
If you like Tapas you must visit El Camino. You cannot book so arrive early. It is a bar seating arrangement where you can watch the chef’s prepare your food! La Rosa Vermutería has a great local feel to it. I advise booking and ordering the patatas bravas.
If you’r going out on your own make sure you tell someone where you’r going, pack the correct spares for your bike and always check the weather. It can get windy and some routes are pretty tough!
To see and download the Rapha route you will need an account with Komoot or follow me on Strava.
