the ups and downs

To reach Soller on the north coast we have to finish the climb to a tunnel which marks the pass.  The road is open exposed to the sun, the landscape now rocky.  It doesn't take us long from our campspot and we are overtaken by more rad cyclists who probably set off much earlier than us, but have probably already cycled 50km.  A passing english cyclist calls out "congratulations" to us as we approach the top. "Thanks" I shout back "but how did you know it's my birthday?".  We are both sick of the friendly condescension of the road bikers.  The descent is long and glorious - we can't comprehend how high we had climbed since leaving Pollenca.

a view of Port de Soller

Soller sits at the foot of a great natural bowl.  The encircling Tramuntana mountains form an impressive barrier in the south.  The town itself is inland from the coast - perhaps to keep out of sight of marauders.  When the arabs were here they planted out the steep hillsides with lemon and orange groves to which olives have been added.  The produce made the town wealthy and it looks a really nice place.  We take a room in a pension so we can rest, explore and soak it up.  

Tourists can reach the town by train from Palma and there's also a road through a tunnel but we eventually leave by climbing the old road snaking up above the tunnel.  It is, understandably, another popular cycling route with quite a few hairpin bends.  At the pass is a cafe run by an englishh couple specifically for the seasonal cyclists who now clap us when we arrive.  Patronising buggers.

a patronising bugger took this photo for us

 We have arranged to meet our friends Claire and Mick with their kids Jess and Jack in two day's time and we are ahead of our schedule so we try to ride slower and take shorter days.  It's not like we've been clocking up the kilometres.  Far from it.  In the village of Bunyola we meet another touring cyclist, a Catalan.  So we aren't alone.  Loaded with water we turn north east and head back into the mountains.  The road is narrow and twisting and the forest provides some welcome shade in the afternoon.  There appears to be nowhere to camp, but then we spy a footpath leading up to some ledges in the woods.  Once again, we strip the bikes on the roadside and then shuttle everything into the undergrowth to avoid being seen.  There are more of the 'Big Game' hunting signs so we post a watch in front of the tent lest an elephant comes crashing out of the woods.

Inevitably there are cyclists huffing puffing up the road in the morning.  We sneak out and join some as if we've begun at the bottom like them.  On one easier stretch of the climb I suddenly notice that Gayle is speeding up.  She's spotted some cyclists slowing down.  Yes.  This is it.  We can finally overtake someone!  We finish with a few hairpins on a steep section that sorts the wheat from the chaff.  And we really are chaffed after our sprint climb.  We take the rest of the day very leisurely.  The road emerges from the thick forest into a high open valley which has been cleared for farming.  It is extremely pretty and very peaceful. We keep stopping for photos and just to enjoy the views.  It really is stunning.  

Now we're heading eastwards with the Tramuntana mountains on our left before taking the road that cuts south and into the huge valley plain that cuts east-west across the whole island.  The land is walled and fenced.  Not much chance of wild-camping.  The fencing is strange to us - much of the land is either olive trees or arable - if there are no animals being kept here, why would you need such serious fencing?  Maybe it's to keep animals out, not in.  It certainly keeps out cheeky cycle tourists.

Alora

We ride into Alora looking for water.  In  a plaza Gayle overhears a mother speaking english to her baby son.  The woman lives here and describes where we can find a water tap.   Villages traditionally have a drinking fountain in the plaza.  We start going uphill to the older part of the town but finally give up, lost, and head back to a supermarket.  While I'm inside Gayle lays down outside and is "woken up" by the same englishwoman.  Emmeline invites us to stay in her spare room in her appartment.  We're delighted.  She's a young single mum who settled here a couple of years ago.  She used to crew on superyachts and now runs an online agency that suppplies services to yachts when they're in marinas.  We have a great evening with her and her two year-old.  

Emmeline (on the right) with her flatmate

The next day our friends Claire, Mick, Jack & Jess drive over from Port de Pollenca for a picnic lunch.  It's great fun to catch up with old friends from  Manchester - especially as it wasn't planned.  Claire had written when she saw that we were in Menorca. 

You know you're on holiday when you've got an ice-cream in your hand

 All of a sudden we are having a very social time of it.  To cap it off we have great Warm Showers hosts in nearby Binissalem. Sebastia and Esperanca with their young daughter Aina welcome us into their home for a night.  Sebastia's a keen mountain-biker and probably knows all of the Sierra de Tramuntana like the back of his hand.  He helpfully suggests us a quiet route that avoids the busy roads on to Palma.  We are so lucky to meet such lovely folk.

I think Gayle was a little envious of Esperanca's workshop

one of Aina's silkworms