Warwick Lanterne Rouge CC (WLRCC) does Mallorca!

A little insight of the Club Tour......😎

So, alarms were set for the early flights heading for Mallorca.... various people got to various airports by hook or by crook but we all got there.

The “Mallorca Club Tour” WhatsApp group was fired up by .... heeyyy Riichi Poynter....(said in a mix of Spanish and Mexican accent).... This WhatsApp chat became very useful at times for rallying the troops, and trying to locate Team Davos!!!!🙈

So the first wave of club riders descend into the hotel lobby to check-in, just as Corporal Berney... who had been there for 2 Days..... came walking along the top balcony like some sort of world leader....”Morning Troops” was the cry 😂

All checked in and the other flights allowed the remaining riders to get to the hotel.... then we headed out to collect bikes and have Cheese and Ham Baguettes 😫

All sorted and a grand departure time of 2.30pm outside the hotel was decided on for the first ride out to the Lighthouse....30miles and 3000ft was order of the day..

2 groups headed out and after a few miles of getting the legs working we all began climbing...... natural smaller groups formed and this was the first taste of the Spanish climbs that we were to tackle this weekend.

Good to see Paul Berney having a steady roll up after saying he may not do it after his back issues... well done buddy.

I got to one point and there seemed to be a bit of heavy traffic... looked ahead and spotted Tom Davison in the middle of the road, staying away from the 300ft drop to his right.... he isn’t great with heights.😂

We all got to the lighthouse and everyone was buzzing, loving it..... it was bloody tough for some and they realised that if you just keep going at your own pace you will get there.👌👌

Adam Bateman deployed his drone that he had lugged all the way up.... with some brilliant pictures taken.👍

Coffee and cake consumed and back down it was.....🚴🏼‍♂️🚴🏻‍♀️

Great descent back into Pollensa and all back to Bar Tolos for a beer👌👌 Had a look over Bradley Wiggins Hour record bike that is hanging up in there....pretty cool I must say😎 The stories were flowing from on what we had just done.... great atmosphere.

Back to the hotel and a relatively early night for some, ready for “The Biggie” tomorrow.... There was a rumour that a few were propping the hotel bar up at 2am still, on the hunt for Gin..... can’t think who😐

So.... Saturday was a 7.30 depart for what our group as we had planned a 100mile/10,000ft day taking in some iconic climbs and the legendary Sa Calobra....🐍 We headed out for 40ish flat miles to a busy market square for Cheese and Ham Baguettes 😂🙈  On the way we spotted an Eagle soaring around, looked amazing. I shouted to see if Mike Bell was still with us or had the eagle picked the little jockey up and flew off with him.... still clipped into his bike 😂.. From then on little Mike Bell took some banter 😂🙈

.... so at 40mile we had only covered 1000ft going up. That didn’t lay great with me knowing that meant 60mile and 9,000ft to come....... little did we know how the day was going to pan out😂😂😂😂😂

So all saddled up and off we headed for 25 hairpins going up!!!!!....... Col De Soller..... When we approached them we saw a sign saying the next climb we were heading to was closed, Puig Major.... so once at the top of the hairpins it was back down and find a new route to get to Sa Calobra.....

And at this point we met up with the legend that is “Mick Dundee”...... A guy called Andy who was from Sheffield but had the strongest Aussie accent I’ve ever heard......... He was now “Mick Dundee”.....😂😂

Mick took us up a new climb that no one had done before and it dropped down into a small village area that was FULL of cyclists..... quick refuel and bottle top up and we were off again, this time looking for somewhere for lunch (cheese and ham Baguettes) and to reassess the rest of the day... we got there at around 3pm, Sun was blazing and the day was beginning to take its toll. I think we were now around 60mile in and 6000ft of climbing in the legs.

An hour stop for food and off we went, heading for the “petrol station”... this is the point that you either commit to Sa Calobra or head for home..... bare in mind it’s a bloody tough climb just to this point!!!!... Rich and Monkey decide to head for home at this point as it’s still another 3 hours of cycling ahead!!!!!!...  we leave there and start to climb to the top of Sa Calobra.... as you have to climb up one side of it, to drop down... to then turn and ride back up😫 Climbing up to the top of this Jason Caddy was full of enthusiastic support for Tim Bench as he shouted from the top of the mountain...... echoing off the stunning scenery was the call of....”COME ON BENCHY YOU FAT BASTARD” 😂😂😂😂😂

We all got together at the top and prepared for the 10km decent to the small tiny port....... this is going to be fun😉

Off we went.... flying down, mountains and drops everywhere, heart racing this was not one for the faint hearted... Adam and I were taking the descent well until Adam had a slight moment and soon dropped off.... just left me heading the field for a change, going down is better than up I find 😉 Got to the bottom in a very quick time...(faster than David Lopez from Team Sky.... I will take that).... it was like a ghost town down there, Caddy had never seen it so empty, even the guy at the cafe was shutting up shop😂 10mins later we began the trip back up......... at this point it was 6.15pm, we were 87mile in and 8000,ft all ready done. Now we had a 10km climb over 2500ft..... 😐

The mountain goats and jockeys shot off out of sight..... I was all alone on the mountain, some tough times going up there, caught glimpses in the distance of everyone which was enough to keep me going, Dan said the same... he could see Benchy and that kept him going. I know the other group that went out and did Sa Calobra..... Tom Miles said to me at one point in the climb he though about throwing his bike over a drop, following it and getting the Air Ambulance to give him a lift home🙈

It’s a bloody tough climb but SO SO Rewarding, stunning, breathtaking and dare I say emotional when you’ve beaten it....... Well done every single person💪🏼

So, we now have 30mile still to ride to get home!!!!... off we go. Rolling roads back to the Petrol Station begin taking there toll. Dan Taylor and Twooky begin to struggle.... but knowing the decent is soon to come... We get there and a nice 6/8km downhill back into pollenca is in front of us..... Free Miles.... Now touching on 9pm we have been out nearly 14hours and the light is going. It’s a free for all to get back to town and everyone has one thing on there minds.... BURGER KING. £25,000 worth of road bike are thrown into a heap outside Burger Kind as we head in and order whatever we wanted.....

Them the rewards for what I can only say was one of, if not the best, toughest days I’ve ever had on a bike...

116miles and 10,500ft of climbing........

That days is now known as

“THAT SATURDAY IN APRIL”.......

Back to the hotel and an Ad-Hoc gathering in the hotel bar for a few drinks... then bed...

Sunday gave us the “Recovery Ride” Everyone rolled out together and headed for the Velodrome, 24 man group ride which over there was normal. Was great to ride with those that had done different things over the weekend. Stories exchanged, all rolling as one WLRCC group through the Mallorca road👌👌 At one point we get greeted by “Oh... It’s Warwick Lanterne Rouge” in some random back road 😐😐 Turns out it was Val Ravenhill from Kenilworth Wheelers 😂👌👌.....

Got to the Velodrome and was great as we all had a blast round, tough that is. Again Adam sent up the drone for some great shots👌 Then it was up to the local square for....... you guest it....😂😂 nope, day off the Cheese and Ham today 😂

All lunched up we headed home.... a fast group shot off to push along while the other group rolled back nice and steady. The final ride on these roads.... for now.

Back at the hotel it was straight into the pool and the drinks came out..... flowing🙈🙈 Few hours having a laugh around the pool and it was time to go for the club meal.... which was superb.  With a few on board we headed into the bars and let our hair down, those that could 😂😂

A brilliant night and early morning ensured which topped off a brilliant first club tour......

Huge thanks goes to Rich for sorting this out... and to everyone for such a great time. Until next time.........👌👌👌👌👌