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Daniel's Wild Week in Mallorca - Day 7
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Photo Credit:
Ulf Haase
A WEEK OF SKATING IN MALLORCA, SPAIN (Day 7)
by
Daniel Edman of Stockholm, Sweden
The airport transfer bus does not leave until 8 p.m. on this,
the very last day of the week, which allows us to use
the entire day for skating.
Skating departure is set to 8:45 a.m., for a slow skate
up to the bus stop for catching the bus to Inca and starting to skate
from there. I´m 3 minutes late and I catch up with the
group at the bus stop, but since we skated this particular
route from Inca the day before I´m not very keen on doing
it again. So I ask if anyone is interested in skating in
the opposite direction to meet the group in Llubi or so.
No luck with that attempt so I decide to go alone since
the morning is beautiful with almost no wind.
I take off along the now well-known road toward Sa Pobla.
This Saturday morning there is almost no traffic, I count
some 4 passing vehicles and another 4 or 5 from the opposite
direction, so I use almost the entire road lane and manage
to find that comfortable "minus 10% pace" again.
Looking over my shoulder after a while, I spot a lonely bicyclist
in what seems to be full racing outfit. Knowing that racing bicyclists
are faster than me, I do not pay much attention and just keep
waiting for the familiar sound of a bicycle from behind in my
left ear. But that sound never comes and I have to look a
second time, and when doing so I realize he has not gained
as much as expected, and the idea of being the first of us to
reach Sa Pobla strikes my mind.
The "minus 10% pace" is history now, and it is racing speed all
the way to Sa Pobla.
All of a sudden there is also a head wind that is forcing me to
tuck down and work really hard. A while later I´m the first to
cross the Sa Pobla border but when reaching for my water bottle
in the waist bag the bicyclist passes me. Unfortunately he is
not a 25 year old bicycle pro, but rather he is a 55 year old German
gentleman who has had more than one wiener schnitzel and beer
in his day.
Photo Credit:
Ulf Haase
From Sa Pobla I am lonely again and the pace is back to "minus 10%" while
cruising toward Llubi. At the intersection with the main road from
Muro, I get another 4 dressed-up bicyclists some 400 meters behind
me. Automatically the speed increases and again I´m awaiting that
bicycle sound approaching from behind. A few minutes later it is
time for that second look over the shoulder, and none of these
bikers have gained as much ground as they should. So my mind sets
up another goal; being the first of us to cross the Llubi village border.
The final stage to Llubi is uphill and maybe that is the reason
why they do not catch me, cause when reaching Llubi I still have
a 250 meters advantage. It is not until I carefully do my
speed controlling slalom turns in-between the stone walls of
the aged Llubi buildings, down the pretty steep downhill, that
they catch and overtake me. Then they short-cut through a triangular
Llubi store and gain 20 meters on me. When I notice they are
heading for Inca, I find myself in a tricky situation. What
to do? Should I be satisfied with having reached Llubi ahead of my
skating friends and just wait for them to arrive, or should I join the
German bicyclists and try to go as far as possible before
I meet my fellow skaters?
Some 5 to 10 powerful strides later I catch up with the bicyclists
and decision-making is history. They notice I´m back and the speed
increases. Bear in mind that we are on an excellent road surface
and I have a nice ride in the draft behind the four bikes.
It should also be pointed out that one of the bicyclists happens
to be a young lady with a somewhat inspiring "behind", so I keep
my tail position and let myself get more and more "inspired".
In a slight uphill the two elder bicyclists seem to loose steam
so I overtake them to stay right behind the young lady who is
trailing the leader. Skating right behind the lady all my fatigue
and tiredness just seem to disappear... I just wonder why?
Reaching the next even longer uphill I decide it is time for a conversation
so I pull up alongside the leader and we share a few words. Or rather,
I do my best to keep it together; to skate, to compose German
sentences and to appear totally unaffected. He seems to understand
my German and asks how long I have been skating. I tell him I have
been inline skating for 5 years, but also that we Swedes do long
distance ice skating in the winter time and that these disciplines
do have much in common.
He seems impressed and I tell him we skated in the mountains the
day before. I´m careful to underline that we only skated uphill. If
I had been
fluent in German I would have added something about "only sissies
going downhill...".
Photo Credit:
Ulf Haase
I reflect over the fact Inca is not far away and I still have not
met my fellow skaters from the bus. The thought of reaching Inca
ahead of them suddenly hits my mind and I keep right behind the
bicyclists that are doing between 30 and 37 km/h according to their
gauges. Outside Inca I say "Thanks" to the Germans and they shout
something back that I cannot hear, but I'm assuming it was something polite.
Not being sure about exactly where to find the Inca bus station
I decide to stop along the road at the exit where my fellow skaters
are likely
to come. I put on dry socks, have some water and add sun protection
on my arms and neck before I suddenly recognize Johan's colorful
shirt at the lead of the pack. I´m reunited with the group!
Totte who did not see me take off alone in the morning asks
whether I caught another bus or came by taxi. Not even my sweaty
T-shirt is wet enough to convince him I actually skated all the
way. He mutters something about not knowing what to believe and
not being able to trust anyone in this gang. All I can do is smile!
Photo Credit:
Ulf Haase
With the fitness skaters up front and speed lovers at the rear we
skate back on the same road I just traveled, but this time with a
moderate speed providing plenty of time for recovery.
We skate Llubi - Maria de la Salut - Son Suan - Santa Margalida -
Son Sorro - Muro - Son Serra - Can Picafort - Port d´Alcudia,
which in my case counts 95 kilometer. The bus users will have to
take 30 kilometers off that distance.
In Can Picafort we find a small bar on the waterfront where we
stop for a beer before cruising the final 10 kilometers north,
back to Port d´Alcudia.
Once at the hotel I could look back at a marvelous week including
460 kilometers on skates and a mountain climb on foot. Johan and a few
others passed the 500-kilometer mark, but on the other hand they
never put their feet on the summit of the second highest
mountain of Mallorca!
<--
Part 7
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Part 9 of this Article
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Related Links
Daniel's Wild Week in Mallorca - Part 1
Daniel Edman - Main Menu
Skating in Spain
Skating in Sweden
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