Biking Archives - Page 36 of 99

A visit to Formentera. Life day’s 25,284, 25,285

Posted on October 19, 2016October 19, 2016

The end of the road! Most southerly point in The Baleraics

I’m writing this back in Ibiza Town having just spent a couple of nights on the smallest of the big four Balearic Islands, Formentera.

The island itself is nothing remarkable, although it’s famed for its clear water & beaches which are reasonably impressive. The biking consists of riding to each of the lighthouses and around the lake. A grand total of 36 miles and 1500 ft of climbing 🙂 So not a big island 🙂 Although with an MTB you could do more. It must be chaotic in the summer seeing the literally hundreds of mopeds & bikes waiting to be rented when the ferries come in.

I stayed at the Hostal Bon Sol in San Ferrán de ses Roques a pleasant hostel whose main misfortune is to be adjacent to the huge street cafe outside 🙁 The other omission is no chair & desk in the room hence the delay in this post.

It was pouring it down when I left this morning so another good test for the iPhone 7 it seems to survive although once the screen is covered in water the touch bit suffers and occasionally the phone thinks the rain is me touching it.

The Moves.app is really suffering on the iPhone 7 suddenly turning itself off for varying lengths of time. I think it’s a memory problem 🙁 although why it’s so much worse on the new phone and OS who knows.

There are a few pics on Dropbox here

Cala Boix to Ibiza Town – Lifeday 25,284

Posted on October 17, 2016September 11, 2017

I wrenched myself away from Cala Boix and had another great days biking. That is apart from where the track had been dug up for a water pipeline (I made a detour) and further along where a locked gate had been put across the road near Boca Llisa (I snuck around it).

I had a very pleasurable rest & coffee at the Jacaranda Lounge in Es Cana overlooking the bay. All a bit idyllic especially admiring all the multi million Euro homes with their pools clinging to the cliffs.

The 23 miles and 1,704 feet of climbing today means I have now circumnavigated Ibiza in 97 miles and 9,288 feet of climbing over a very leisurely 4 days 🙂 Probably the most leisurely cycling I’ve ever done and really very enjoyable.

Big distraction this evening was whilst looking through my Feedly tonight I came across this story about Shane Acton who is something of a hero to me. I met him at a party in Cambridge after he had just sailed around the world in his 18foot dinghy. The memorable part was when I asked him what was he doing in the UK since he enjoyed it so much. His reply was that he was saving up to do it again – I asked, how much money did he need. His reply was £50 🙂 🙂 Unfortunately the ciggies got to him and he died in 2002 even though he was born in the same year as me. There is a good thread here about him which led me to download his book……..

The photos of the day are here

My heartrate was:

Portinatx to Cala Boix. Lifeday 25,282

Posted on October 15, 2016October 15, 2016

What a gorgeous day and how I enjoy cycling in the warm sun 🙂 I didn’t even mind the close on a thousand feet climb that starts the minute you hop on the bike! My climb time was 38:30 whereas the KOM is nearly 25 mins faster but then I guess he isn’t lugging the kitchen sink up with him and I would guess considerably younger 🙂 Great fun though

Then a short descent into the very upmarket Sant Joan town and the lovely Giri Cafe selling its ‘volcanic purity’ water whatever that means – volcanoes to me mean sulphurous smells 🙁

At the top you get the pleasure of the 5 mile descent into Cala Sant Vincent with its huge hotel as a backdrop to the beach 🙁 I didn’t stop but continued along to the Cala Boix hostal where I’m staying for some reason the beach has been left largely untouched apart from a cafe. So I may go for a swim later.

My Strava says a whopping 16.5 miles covered and 2,057 feet of ascent 🙂 but still an excellent ride,

All my lovely pics are here on Dropbox

My thoughts however reach out to poor Aleks Kashefi yomping his way through Scandinavia to try and reach the sun in Spain 🙂

and here’s my heart rate stuff:

Touring Ibiza – Lifeday 25,281

Posted on October 15, 2016October 15, 2016

Oh dear lost track of which touring day I’m on 🙂 Senility is creeping in and anyway does it really matter?

I’m now doing a very leisurely tour of Ibiza. The island is about 100 miles around and I have a week before I have to jet back to the UK to take my whole family, 4 grandkids, 3 kids and 3 spouses plus Sally & I, to Butlins for a fun filled half term break.

I’m going clockwise from Ibiza Town which actually in Spanish is called Elvissa. The first stop was at San Antoni which is the second town of Ibiza & famous for its sunsets. With the British its famous for the Irish Bar and other home comforts like Bacon & Egg breakfasts with beer, totally different atmosphere to the more dignified Ibiza Town. For me the most awesome thing was having a true 50MB Down & Up internet at Hostal Mari where I stayed 🙂 I enjoyed the ride, the road was in excellent condition but quite hilly. Strava made it 2384 feet of climbing in 30 miles

Yesterday it was a 800 foot climb straight out of San Antoni on my way to the northern tip of the island at Portinatx with a total of 3143 feet in the 27 miles. I dropped down to Port de San Miguel to get in some more climbing and take a peek at another bay. The roads were good and pretty empty. In Portinatx I had booked into an ‘all inclusive’ Apartamentos Club Paradise Beach. A bit dated place with a pretty rubbish internet connection, especially with 50+ teenagers hanging off it. It must have been a gorgeous cove in the past, think I’m about 50 years late visiting here.

The photos are here now I’ve sorted dropbox out