Switchbacks and stone walls

4 May 2009

Yogi Berra said, "Baseball is 90% mental; the other half is physical." The same could be said for bicycling. Climbing hills and riding long distances takes a bit of strength and endurance. Being mentally up to the challenge is even more important.

For three consecutive days, we've done some significant climbing, roughly 3000 feet per day. Young, strong cyclists (both men and women) have flown past us, demonstrating the "50% physical." But we've made it to the top and to the end of each day's ride without undue strain, and major factors are determination and confidence -- the 90% mental part.

It helps that the roads in Mallorca are superbly graded and that significant climbs are labeled at the bottom with the distance and slope. Today, for example, we rode from Port de Sóller to Jardins de Alfabia and back. The distance wasn't long -- about 22 miles total -- but there were no flat patches. We climbed from sea level up to 500 meters (1600 feet) to a crest called Coll de Sóller, then dropped down to 250 meters on the other side to visit the gardens. On the return, we reversed the process. At the base of each climb was a road sign telling us what to expect. On the return, for example, the climb was advertised as 5.1 km distance at 5.2% grade (multiply the two numbers and the result is 265 m, the total climb). The ride out was similarly sloped, but extended over almost 8 km.



The natural grade of the mountainside we ascended is very much steeper than the road grade. So the road follows a series of switchbacks with a series of 180 degree hairpin turns. On the longer grade, I counted 30 hairpin turns! The roads were wonderfully engineered and constructed with consistent slopes and often bounded by a stone wall. Sometimes, there was even a wide-angle mirror, good for seeing around corners (and for creative photography!).



Mallorca is full of stones and the stone walls that we've seen throughout the island demonstrate superb craftsmanship. The photo posted at the top of this entry illustrates some particularly impressive stone walls on a private farm near the Coll de Sóller.

After visiting Jardins de Alfabia, and after completing most of the return ride, we stopped for a light lunch of tapas in Sóller. The photo at right shows an ornate window screen from a building adjacent to the main church in Sóller. The iron work near the bottom reminds me of switchbacks!

An old-fashioned train runs from Port de Sóller to Sóller (just a few km) and then on to Palma, about 30 km further south. The photo at the bottom shows this train passing through the main square of Sóller.