Mallorca in October

We've been back to Mallorca, with the enthusiasm of recent converts, and we've had a good time again.  This time we drove down, which made it easy to transport the tandem, and gave the opportunity to eat a couple of fancy meals and to buy some wine on the way back.  All good, then.

We went over from Toulon on the night boat, which was convenient and comfortable, and not long after breakfast on the day of arrival we were riding out to the lighthouse at Formentor.  Spectacular road, but far too busy, even in the off season, and after that we stuck to routes that I had made for my GPS using the 'Bike Mallorca' map that Dave Jackson had recommended.  That was much better.

We covered a fair bit of the North of the island, sticking mostly to quiet roads where there was little traffic but quite a few bikes.  Many villages had 'cycle friendly' signs and cafes to match, so it's much better than, say, Provence, where suitable stops are few and far between.

Given the terrible flash floods in Sant Llorenc des Cardassar people may be interested in the weather. It was pretty good.  Of our seven riding days, four were very sunny, with blue skies and temperatures in the upper twenties.  For the other three, the generally-accurate met office forecast rain or storms in the afternoon.  So we could ride every day, and took our breakfast outside in the sun every day.

Checking the weather patterns for Mallorca I find that flash floods of this type occur every couple of years, and that fatalities sometimes result, though rarely on the scale of this year.  October is the month in which they most frequently happen, and they are very localised.  Worth knowing, though there's little to be done, other than keep an eye on the weather forecast.

So, would we do it again?  Yes, we had a very good time, and there's a big slice of the South of the island that we haven't seen at all yet.  Always good to have something to look forward to!

Mark