Achtervolger

Road bike overnighter in the Tramuntana mountains

So what do you do if a good friend visits you on the island of Mallorca for four days? Two overnight bike trips of course - one on MTBs (more on that later) and one on road bikes.  

Our road bike trip covered the length of the Tramuntana and went over many of the famous cols (passes) that this coastal mountain range has to over. In total the ride was 250 km with about 4.500m of climbing in two days with an overnight stay at the refuge of Son Amer close to the Lluc monastery.

The trip was front loaded with eight mayor climbs (including the 14km Puig Major) and 150 km. Again and again I am reminded how beautiful and perfect for riding this part of the world is even after 7 hours in the saddle. On a side note: Most of the hiking refuges on the island can be reached by road bike (albeit in some cases there a short gravel roads leading to the actual buildings). In the case of Son Amer you can walk down to the monastery for dinner, which can be done in cycling shoes - as proven on this trip.

The second day was a bit shorter with 100 km and only the ride out to Cap Formentor being “hilly”. However we did struggle a bit in the headwind on the final stretch through the valley of Campanet.

Four days in the cold north of Germany

So I did want to meet a bunch of friends living in and around Hamburg in the north of Germany. And with it being late March I thought: “Well let's borrow a bike and ride the distance between the overnights stops.”

So I traveled from Spain to Hamburg and got the bike on a Friday and rode the next four days first from the outskirts of Hamburg in a wide arc to Lübeck, then from Lübeck back to Hamburg, on to Stade on the south of the river Elbe and back to where I started. All in all about 350 km - so nothing to bad.

What made it a bit more challenging was the weather (A nice mixture of fog and clouds at around 0-2 degrees C) and the fact that meeting friends does not mean getting into bed at 10pm to get a good nights sleep.

In the end hobo-ing for a few days with a small backpack and enjoying the evenings among friends is a good way to spend your time even if your hands are cold and you need to yawn from time to time.

Hiking the West Highland Way in Scotland

The Scottish highlands do have a place on many travelers bucket-list - be it hikers, mountain bikers or motorcyclists. They are well known for their mystic landscapes, ever-changing weather and sometimes dramatic history. We chose to hike the West Highland Way as our introduction to this part of the world.

This trail covers 154km from Glasgow to Fort William and passes through some of the most spectacular parts of the Highlands as for example Glencoe and ends at the foot of Ben Nevis - the hightest mountain on the British isles. We did the hike in seven days and walked up to the summit of Ben Nevis (1.345m above sea level) on the day after.

The trail can be divided into parts: The first from Glasgow to Loch Lomond which brings you from the farms of the lowlands into woods and via the summit of Conic Hill to the shore of the lake. The second part follows the shore of the lake and is the most difficult as you have to climb over large rocks and through muddy bogs the whole way. The third part covers the “proper” Highlands with Glencoe and Devils Staircase. This part does have more elevation change but it is less tricky than the second in my opinion.

The trail does connect small towns and village so that we decided to use hotels and hostels for accommodation. You are allowed to camp most of the time but we hiked in April 2017 and did have to deal with a bit of rain and cold weather (including snow). Not the cheapest way to travel but comfy and it keeps the back weight down.

For me the highlight of the trip was the third part of the trail and the subsequent hike up Ben Nevis. The landscape is full “Braveheart” and the low hanging clouds in the mornings give it a mystic quality. Besides that digging into huge portions of Fish and Chips was also pretty great.

PS: We did spend a few days in Glasgow after the hike and got our geek on.