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.
Ay Up! it's the UCI Worlds in Yorkshire.
This is the post excerpt found in the Options tab of Edit Post. Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
The 2019 UCI Road World Championships was the 92nd edition for road bicycle racing. It took place between 21 and 29 September 2019 in the historic county of Yorkshire, the fourth to be held in the United Kingdom.
Watching the very wet worlds on TV did not fill me with much hope of a sunny ride up north to take part in the excitement of the UCI worlds coming to the UK.
I traveled from London on the 28th to join up with Rapha and ride part of the course and watch the racing live at a pop up cafe they had arranged in town. The sun was out when I arrived to watch the women’s race which was won by Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands.
It was predicted to rain the next day and rain very hard like it had done earlier in the week. And on this prediction the Rapha ride was canceled and the routes was shortened for the professionals. I decided to get the next train home and watch it from the dry comfort of my living room.
I changed my ticket no problem but was told the bike reservation was full. This did not make sense as I was leaving early evening and most people I predicted would have stayed to watch the racing anyway. I risked it and mine was the only bike on board!
You can find more info and results here
Itinerary:
Travelling with your bike on the trains can be painful. Try to be prepared as much as possible and phone ahead to confirm that there is space and that the route you have chosen accepts bike travel. Some local trains may not.
LNER train from Kings X to Leeds. Journey time 1h 44m. Bookable for bikes. Best bet is to phone them and book to confirm that there is space and get a reservation number.
Northern Rail train from Leeds to Harrogate. Journey time 35m. Bikes cannot be reserved on this train but the do provide space.
I stayed in a very nice Airbnb near the centre if town. Expect prices to be high for this event. Book as early as you can.
The Little Ale House on Cheltenham Crescent did a great Ale and pork Pie.
It was easy to change my train ticket with LNER to get home early but I was told the bike spaces were full. They were not and I am glad I risked it to avoid the weather!
Rapha, Miami
This is the post excerpt found in the Options tab of Edit Post. Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Cycling with Rapha Miami.
Rapha Miami is located at 3911 NE 1st Ave #106, Miami, FL 33137.
I was in town for some sun after Christmas and took part in the annual RAPHA#FESTIVE500 event. This is 500 kilometers in eight days! I haven’t managed it yet!
You can hire bikes from Rapha but you need to be a RCC member. When I went they had problems with delivery of the Canyon bikes but usually offer bikes through the website.
It was a good mixed crowd that turned up and these rides are a no drop social affair. We headed out to the Key of Biscayne with some great views and a quick coffee stop at Starbucks, of course, in Palmetto Bay.
One thing about riding in Miami is that it is FLAT, very FLAT. The only uphill I encountered was the ride over the Rickenbacker causeway. The roads are well maintained and there is usually a cycle path for you to ride in.
Itinerary
Getting to Heathrow, within London, it’s best to shop around for Taxi prices or get a Taxi to the nearest station to access the Heathrow express.
Flying British Airways from London Heathrow T5 to Miami International Airport.
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 problem 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.
It’s easy to get a large Taxi the other side but always make sure it’s from a Taxi rank.
I stayed at a friend’s place on Collins Avenue, next to the beach, but there are plenty of Airbnb’s in Miami.
There are also plenty of bike shops for your needs. Hire, pick up spares or get your’s fixed here.
If you like sushi I recommend Blue Ribbon on Park Ave and 21st.
To see and download the route you will need an account with Komoot or follow me on Strava.