By Steve Ball.

Many of you will have heard of the iconic Mallorca 312. For those that haven’t, the Mallorca 312 is one of Europe’s most famous cycling events, held annually in late April, starting and finishing at Playa de Muro. It is a closed road sportive/race which covers 312 kilometers through the stunning landscapes of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, featuring over 5,000 meters of climbing. The event attracts around 8,000 riders each year, making it a significant challenge for both experienced cyclists and amateur enthusiasts. It is a very serious challenge; there is a cut-off time of about 14 hours. If a rider doesn’t finish in 14 hours or doesn’t get to any of the pre-determined cut-off locations, then they are eliminated.

Just to be clear, I wasn’t in Mallorca to do the official Mallorca 312. I’d gone with Horsham Cycling’s long distance/ultra cycling afficionado Andy Ruban, to attempt a different 312 km ride, the Original Mallorca 312. We’d be doing this independently, no sportive, no race, no feed stations along the way, but most importantly no time limit. My objective was simply to complete the course, no matter how long it took.

So, what is the difference between the modern Mallorca 312 and the Original 312? Well, before 2016, the route was a circuit of the whole island. Nowadays it still follows the same wonderful Ma-10 north coast road from Pollença to Andratx, but instead of continuing through Palma and heading down to the south coast, it cuts back inland and stays close to the mountains in an easterly direction before heading south to Arta and then back to Playa de Muro.

Our base was the seaside village of Port de Sóller, which had a wonderful selection of restaurants along the sea front, a tourist tram from the nearby town of Sóller, a harbour full of boats and hills all around. In retrospect, while being very picturesque, this may not have been the best choice for this particular bike ride. The Mallorca 312 has always started from Playa de Muro, probably for a very good reason, the mountains can be taken on fresh legs right at the start of the event. Starting in Port de Sóller meant that we’d be climbing from Pollença and up to 875 m on the Puig road right at the end of the ride.

My training had been very poor. I’m not a lover of indoor cycling and my Rouvy subscription was a complete waste of money. Instead, I much prefer to cycle outside. January came with terrible weather and fitness ebbed away. Fortunately, in February the weather started to improve, and I could get back out on our local roads from time to time.

In mid-February, I was reminded that my most recent 100-mile ride was long ago in early August and with our departure date on 28th February, I might struggle. I decided on a last-ditch long distance training ride – the 200 km Winter Boat Audax in Buckinghamshire on 22nd February. It didn’t go well, I normally do fine on club ride distances, but when I arrived at the first checkpoint on the Audax at 67 km and stepped off the bike my left hip seized up. Thereafter it was hell! I completed the 200 km distance, but it was a complete mess. My saddle hurt and my hip was painful. I was shattered. I wasn’t sure if I’d manage the 312 km distance and so quietly downloaded the gpx files for the shorter 167 km and 225 km alternatives while packing my bags for Mallorca.

Most cyclists probably do their Mallorca trips slightly later in the spring to get more reliable weather. In the first week of March there is a higher risk of rainfall. We had just under a week and the plan was to do our ride on whichever day had best weather.

We met at Palma Airport and Andy promptly informed me that the day with the best weather was Day 1, no time for a warm-up ride, probably still not recovered after the Audax, no time to ease myself into it, no time for any indecision, I just accepted it and put all thoughts about a 167 km, or a 225 km ride out of my mind. We arrived at the Air BnB and re-assembled our bikes. I had a quick test ride around the village to make sure my gears were OK and gobbled down some pasta. Lisa Laws (another long-distance expert) arrived and saw that I was woefully underequipped. She kindly loaned me 2 bike bags in which I could pack some spare clothes and food, I got everything ready for an early start, went to bed at 8 pm and set my alarm for midnight.

I think I finally got to sleep at about 11 pm and woke up again at 11:45 pm. I closed my eyes again to try to get the precious final 15 minutes of sleep……

Disaster! I woke at 00:30 am. I went to the kitchen to have my porridge, and Andy was all kitted up, his cycling shoes next to his bike and just about to step outside into the cold night air. I have forgotten what he said to me, but I was fairly sure he presumed I’d decided not to do the ride and would be going back to bed.

I wasn’t giving up so easily!

I quickly had breakfast and coffee and set off at about 01:10 am. Hoping at some point to meet up with Andy en-route.

The bars were emptying in Port de Sóller and I’m sure the people who saw me wondered why I was out so late. It was a calm, cool, cloudy night with the moon occasionally appearing to the south, it was good to be on the move. On the outskirts of Sóller I turned right onto the Ma-10 and felt the superb smooth dark tarmac passing easily under my wheels. The switchback hairpins arrived soon after and I settled into the first of many climbs on the Ma-10 between Sóller and Andratx.

The MA-10 on this section was like a roller coaster, up and down as it passed over headlands, swooping left and right as it contoured coastal valleys. The moonlight wasn’t bright enough to show the way, so I was very glad of my super new 1400 lumen front light on the descents, but to save battery power I alternated with my older 1000 lumen light on the ascents where I wasn’t going so fast and I didn’t need to see so far ahead.

At one point I reached the crest of a hill and rounded a headland and saw the coastline stretching far ahead and below. About 10 miles to the east, I saw a solitary red flashing light. Was it Andy?

Ma-10 didn’t disappoint, and the huge benefit of riding in the night was that it was so quiet. Until dawn, I think I saw less than ten cars.

I said goodbye to Ma-10 after 38 miles at a roundabout on the edge of Andratx, and turned left onto Ma-1031, the road surface deteriorated immediately. I pressed on regardless and at 06:00 am reached a small town called Calvia. This is where I had my first stop, I parked my bike, had a proper sit down on a wooden bench and ate an energy bar. It was still dark, and the street was floodlit. Andy sent a picture of yachts in the harbour at Palma; he was about 11 miles ahead of me.

I arrived in Palma at dawn. It was a Sunday, so thankfully there wasn’t much traffic. People started to appear, in cafes, jogging along the sea front, on bikes too. I was no longer alone in the night. By the time I passed in front of the Basílica de Santa María de Mallorca cathedral the sun was starting to give some warmth. I have twice visited the cathedral as a tourist and probably because I already have so many photos, this time I never even stopped to take one.

Getting out of Palma was slow. There were traffic lights every few hundred metres. As soon as I reached any reasonable speed a red-light appeared and I’d have to stop again. However, after passing the airport I was on open roads heading for the south coast.

At this point the ride should have got easier, however the weather forecast had correctly predicted easterly winds. So, the further I went along the south coast the more it was into the breeze. This was where a tail wind would have been better, the roads were long and straight and there was little in the way of tree cover to give any shelter.

Rest number 2 came at a Repsol fuel station after about 100 miles, halfway between Santanyi and s’Alqueria Blanca where I had a veggie slice and replenished all my drinks. There was a brief respite when the road dropped down next to the beach in the lovely village of Porto Cristo after 122 miles, however the penalty was a 10% climb back up. I must have been drinking a lot because I had to stop again just before leaving Porto Cristo for more water.

The headwinds and long soul destroying straights continued…

…. until Arta at mile 134 where I finally turned west and no longer had to fight the breeze. I did have a 4 mile drag to contend with, however after that it was downhill nearly all the way to Playa de Muro.

Passing through Alcudia I heard someone shout my name! Obviously, they were shouting after another Steve because I knew no one who was there. A few miles further on I took a wrong turn at a roundabout, I went straight on instead of turning left and “Steve, you’ve gone the wrong way”, came from behind. Well, that was for me and when I stopped Lisa pulled up alongside. She’d driven to Pollença from Port de Sóller and was hoping to meet Andy and myself. It was so good to see her, she suggested food and we stopped at cafe near the old town of Alcudia.

I was glad of the hour long rest and the pizza. I was even more glad that Lisa let me follow her wheel through Port de Pollença, then Pollença and onto the lower slopes of the road that heads up the Col de Femenia. The last good thing was having the opportunity to lighten my load a little by giving her all my surplus items ahead of the final climbs. I waved goodbye, and once again was alone. It was quite late, the sun set and darkness surrounded me.

Now is the time to discuss those final climbs. There was a mountain between me and the end of the ride at Port de Sóller and I’d already climbed about 10,000 ft and ridden 165 miles. I’d only cycled such a distance once before and that was a very flat ride, so this was unknown territory. There was still about 3,500 ft to climb. This wasn’t a surprise; I knew it beforehand and the cautious pace I’d ridden the whole day was so that I’d still (hopefully) have energy left to get myself up and over that mountain.

Initially I felt good, I was spinning nicely, and the climb was going well. It still took a while because I reached the summit of the Col de Femenia in the dark at about 7:25 pm.

I don’t know what time I reached the aqueduct where the road turns left at the Orange Juice Bar. It was strange to see it closed and everything dark. I turned left for the final push up the last climb to the entrance of the Túnel de Monnàber.

It was on this final climb that almost all remaining reserves deserted me.

The road felt steeper than anything else I’d ridden that day and three times I pulled over into a layby, rested my forehead on the handlebars and almost went to sleep. By now both Andy and Lisa were back at the Air BnB and were coaxing me up every inch this climb with encouragement on WhatsApp. At one point I told them I that would quite like to stop in a layby and have a quick nap on the ground. They quickly and firmly convinced me otherwise, so on I went.

The tunnel finally appeared. With a huge sense of relief I stopped on the left of the road next to the 875 m signpost and put on all the clothing I had for what I knew would be a long and cold descent and headed downhill at last.

My navigation unit had been malfunctioning throughout the ride. No map popped up in advance of any junction and so there had been a lot of wrong turns and back-tracking. Because of this I’d put it in my pocket and was using it just to record the ride. Lisa had loaned me her top of the range Garmin in Pollença to get me to the end of the ride. It was very useful on the descent. In the dark it was difficult to judge the road ahead. Fortunately, the map on Lisa’s Garmin showed the way and so I could take the fast corners at speed, and brake for the hairpins.

It didn’t take long to get back to Port de Soller and it was so good to see everyone again. We shared stories and reflected on the achievement. Andy’s moving time was more than an hour faster than mine and he finished many hours ahead of me because of all my stops.

It was also good to achieve the main objective of a trip on Day 1. It meant that we could just relax and enjoy more reasonable cycle rides, which is what we did after a well-deserved rest day!

Final thoughts:

I was relatively un-prepared for this ride. Both in terms of physical fitness, and the equipment I had wasn’t ideal for this ride. Thankfully, when they recognized a deficiency, both Lisa and Andy made suggestions, gave advice, offered me the use of their equipment, etc. Their guidance was invaluable and although the ride was still a struggle at the end, I think their help certainly ensured I didn’t fail. I am so grateful, thanks again!