A chance to feel the warmth of the sun and more importantly a chance to get some good miles in the legs ahead of the coming season. This was a Trismart organised trip and attracted 4 members as well as 4 non members to the delights of Porto Pollenca in Northern Majorca. All attendees were either Ironman veterans (over 40 completions between 5 of them) or road/track specialists of many years for 2 others,leaving me looking slightly inferior in the C.V department. I was however the youngest member of the Salopian travelling clan and intended to use this to my advantage.
Majorca has some of the best riding Europe has to offer. In particular at this time of year whilst the Alps and Pyrenees are still snow covered, Majorca offers warm weather training with plenty of climbing to kick the legs into gear after a long winter. In the main the roads are smooth and rider friendly. No impatient yob trying to sneak past on blind corners over in the Balearic's ! Around the island are some typical Spanish towns with all the charm this part of the world offers. Clean and well kept villages with friendly service at the cycle approving cafes.
We had no real plan for the week,we had some riders well into there training and some who had to think long and hard where they'd left there bike to hibernate over the winter. We started off as a big group and by the end fractured out into groups of two or three depending how people were fairing. Nick for example is well into his Ironman training with IM Lanzarote coming up(6th year on the trot) in 8 or so weeks time and has been regularly doing 80-100 mile rides. He is an example to all about commitment and discipline and deserves all his rewards,of which the first for the year was to be selected for GB in the European long distance triathlon champs this summer in Spain. His totals for the week are impressive,570 miles/55000' of climb including 3 back to back 100 milers, as well as 2x one hour swims and runs for good measure.
For me I managed over 400 miles and 36000' of climb as well a 6m and 9m run post ride. I was pretty happy with my effort spending most of the week on the front and pushing on at all climbs to stretch the legs out. The weather was kind,only one day of light rain and generally in the region of 16c-18c. All in all a top week with good riding and great company. This will hopefully stand me in good shape for the forth coming World Qualifier as well as a duathlon in the lakes. I've also got the bug for this road riding game and have already checked out the calender to look for future road races.
I've also got a call up for Shropshire for the National inter-counties fell champs in May. Things are pointing to a good year,now where is the summer or spring for that matter !
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