Mallorca 312....

20 something from our club going over. Haven't done as much as I'd hoped over the winter due to weather and life in general but I'll still go over and enjoy it.

I'm aiming for the 225 but if I end up doing the 167 then its not the end of the world either.

Well just about recovered now from last Saturday.
I entered this with the vague idea that it would be good to do more than the shortest 167 distance, but a very curtailed winters training (about 700 km total since last October) had me heading off on the club trip to Majorca just praying for survival on said 167 route.
The day arrived, great atmosphere, and I set out at a very conservative pace on the early hills, hoping to make the distance. Sustainability was my key word and thought. Somewhere before the routes split at 93 km, I got the notion that I was going ok and could cycle like this for a long time. I made a belated burst to reach the junction before the cutoff point of 11.30 ( or was it 11.40?). I failed in that attempt, but after stopping at the splitting point for a few minutes, I said what the hell and turned right for the longer route. I knew there were five climbs left on the 225, whereas the remainder of the 167 had no long climb I think, but I didn't mind the climbing at my own pace.
I ended up getting lost once or twice due to poor signage on the convoluted last section, and any stewards had left the junctions before I got there.
Nonetheless I felt good at this stage and passed a good share of fellow stragglers to finish about 11.30 rolling (12.30 total), average 20kph. Well outside the 10 hour cutoff for the distance. My longest cycle by about 40 km, and way more climbing than any other long spin I did.
Really enjoyed the day ( all the days cycling in Majorca - my first time). Great buzz, perfect weather, lovely climbs - very little above 9%, none of the killer ramps you can get in Ireland.
Negatives were food stops ( but hard to cater for such numbers) and convoluted back road section late on, but I guess if you want to close the roads some compromises have to happen.
Chuffed to get the 225 done - one of my most memorable cycles ever, for all the right reasons.

Signed up last night going to aim for the 225(haven’t a hope of the 312)

Have 6 months to lose about 10kg+

Was planning to go to Majorca at Easter for the long weekend but when saw this was the week after I made the full week work.

Now to tell the wife...

Having been to Mallorca (Majorca?) a couple of times now and done all day spins over the various mountains, odometer readings of 160km + are hard earned. It's hard to get your head around the 312 number. But then I know a bunch of lads that managed to do it, some of whom are only recent, occasional, leisure cyclists.

But I'd have no interest in the event myself. You'd have much more enjoyment out of clocking up 400km over the course of a 3-4 day stay, in my opinion. Every day on the bike is an occasion on the island with the sheer volume of cyclists around. You'd come back lovin' the bike and in fine fettle. The danger of the big event is coming back in absolute flitters and not wanting to go near a bike again for weeks.

Flights booked
Accomm booked
Bike rental sorted

Sold out within a few days.

Going to attempt the 167 with absolutely no training done( have had 2 spins upto last week, and few here this week) what could go wrong? Have the wife warned she may need to collect me somewhere!

Wow that was amazing and excruciating!

Cycling in Majorca is amazing. Only did the 167km and it took all day. We plodder around. Stopped for a nice lunch and plenty of pics. 9its the most Metres I have done on a single ride.

Some of the other lads the 312 &225

Not sure I’d do it again though. There was a few organizational things they were were poor. We managed to sneak into a spot just after the pros and vips. So we’re on the road 6min after the start. Heard of others that took over 40min to get going. It would have been very hard to make cut offs starting that far back. The first food stop was completely gone and taken down when we passed. ( we had stopped for lunch and that was mainly cow we knew the food stop would have been closed by the time we got there) They could have been many more water stops. We ran out of water and and even had other people asking when passing did we have any to spare. The second food stop only had Nutella sandwiches when we got there.


At the last junction where the 225/167 and the 312 split. The signs were taken down and there were no Marshall’s. Only for a lady living in the house at the corner told us the way we were stumped. But a few people had gone straight on in the wrong direction.

The finish was all over the place I ended up coming at it from the wrong side, I probably missed a turn. I had to cycle up past it climb over a high curb and cycle back down. Kinda ruined the finish for me. Those pot noodle things at the end were disgusting.

Other than that I really enjoyed it.

The general consensus between our club members is that if we come back to go on our own spins and forget about the 312.

Fair play to anyone that completed the 312. Met one guy from Ireland who was devasted. He missed the cut for the 312 by a few min.