I won't bore you with every detail of the journey. The trip here was long. End of! As usual the longest part was getting to Gatwick.
The first evening involve the usual introductions, a few light refreshments and a general overview of the plan of action (very general- there didn't really appear to be one!). The food at the hotel was superb, even though the Spanish appear to love their mystery meats!
I also got acquainted with my bike- a Felt AR2. I've never had the opportunity to ride an AR2 so I was quite looking forward to putting it through it's paces! I got the chance to fit the pedals and adjust the saddle. The Europeans have a habit of having their brakes the other way around (so the front brake is on the left lever instead of it being on the right lever like it is on bikes in the UK).Stupid Europeans! A few of the other guys on this tour changed them around but I decided to leave them as they were. How bad could it be? I'd find out before too long...
Breakfast was at 8 this morning so I was up around 7:30 to get ready. There was a gentle, yet ominous, pattering sound coming from outside and when I pulled the curtains back I found that it was tipping down with rain. It's nice to have the chance to come to a warm country where it rains too! After a light breakfast (last thing I wanted was to cycle whilst too full) the guys decided we'd leave it another 30 minutes before setting off to let the weather pass. Again, stupid Europeans! More than one of them told me I was nuts to be cycling in shorts and a long sleeve jersey instead of the full thermal tights, thermals jackets, base layer, jersey, thermal cap and overshoes they'd decided to go with. The evidence was really starting to mount up that none of them had ever been to West Wales!
We were split up into through groups- tourist, sporty and ambitous, I joined the ambitious group which included a few elite category bikers and an ex-pro tour Swiss rider so this could have been a very tough day indeed. Fortunately I've always managed to cycle well in a group so I just hid in behind them for the 50 miles it took to get from the hotel to our lunch break. The route was pancake flat and on quiet roads so we got to see a bit of the scenery. It's been years and years since I've been to Mallorca (seriously- I was 6 when I last went!) but the island appears to have never got beyond the 1950's! It's so quiet and rustic and everyone we passed was so chilled out!
So, a few words about the bike. I didn't get much chance to really test it but what I did get it to do was really impressive. It is so comfortable, even on some of the bad road surfaces. The SRAM Red groupset is utterly bulletproof, even with my erratic gear changes, and it corners like it's on rails. The real test came though when I had to stop for a, er, comfort break. Because of that, and having to wait for traffic and other cyclists to pass, I really got left behind by the bunch. Only one option was left to me and that was to go at it, full throttle, to catch them. To say the bike responded well is an under-statement. When I put the hammer down it went like it had been shot from a cannon!
We've never stocked the Felt AR range in the shop before but we'll certainly consider it now. Put some clip on tri-bars on this bike and it will rival and triathlon bike over all but the flatest courses. Watch our website for updates on that...
Lunch was a three course affair which, again, involved a few plates of mystery meat! It was actually quite nice, especially the fish main. I tried to hold back a little, however, because I didn't really want to end up being sick on the ride back to the hotel. As it happens, the ride back was almost all downhill so it took no time at all to cover the 20 miles back.
So, here I am, having survived day one with the elite category riders, sitting in the bar, glass of beer alongside me, waiting patiently for the restaurant to open so I can "carbo-load" ahead of tomorrow. It's supposedly another flat day tomorrow so I may even chance a few turns at the front. Depending on how my legs feel in the morning...
Darren
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