In a bid to kickstart my get fit for a Dolomites cycling holiday this year I joined a cycle training camp on Mallorca. I have visited the Spanish island twice before and enjoyed cycling with friends on many of the famously smooth roads and the classic hill climbs.
This year, I took up the opportunity for a last-minute place on a Legro’s Cycle Training Camp. Legro’s is owned and run by Dave Le Grys, a world champion track cyclist and much-acclaimed coach.
Mallorca is renowned for being a friendly place to cycle and offers lots of smooth tarmac roads.
Plenty of road cycling options.
As I was to find out, the camps are for cyclists of all abilities and aspirations and a great way to get in some early season miles in mostly sunny weather surrounded by like mind people.
I confess I was quite anxious about what I had signed up for. I worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with all the cycling fitties. I was concerned I would spend all week socialising on my own and that the camp would be filled with testosterone-fuelled men. I have been proven very wrong and I have greatly enjoyed my first cycling camp.
So many cyclists on Mallorca.
22 reasons to join Legro’s cycle training camp
My bike for the week.
1 Mallorca in April is usually sunny and mostly warm. We enjoyed a mix of weather from hot, sunny and wind-free to a little overcast and blustery but we still rode every day. Every day, when I checked, the weather back home was a lot less favourable.
New people, new riders to cycle with.
2) If you are travelling as a single cyclist, the camps are a great place to meet new people and enjoy the relaxed company of others during sociable days and evenings.
Great to meet new people including smiley Trudy.
3) As a solo cyclist who wants to ride a bike for a week, the camp is also a brilliant way to switch off and let other people plan good cycling routes for you. You can choose from a variety of different routes, distances and types of rides to suit your fitness level and aspirations.
A bit of track cycling, in between the miles.
4) You can ride every day or just once every few days and you can completely switch off from anything other than cycling, if that is what you want to do, or you can enjoy cycling and other activities such as track cycling, running, swimming, walking, kite surfing and day trips to attractions.
Try kite surfing, too.
5) The Legro’s camps include accommodation (lovely apartments or hotel rooms), breakfast and evening meal (plentiful buffets of nicely cooked and prepared food), led rides every day, access to dedicated sports masseurs, as well as morning yoga classes. You can also buy the Legro’s cycle kit if you fancy, which I did and which I love.
A nice pair of Legro’s cycle bib shorts.
6) You can come for a week, 10 days, two weeks or whatever you want to book and pay for. You arrange your own flights and transfers to suit.
Chilling out after a long ride back at the hotel pool.
7) Legro’s has access to discounted bike hire, such as Pinarello Experience, where I hired my lovely bike for the week.
Lovely countryside views.
8) You could come with your partner, friend or family and let them enjoy other activities on Mallorca while you cycle. You could bring a keen cycling child, partner or friend and cycle with them every day. You can cycle in the same groups or apart each day or on some days. It’s so very flexible.
9) You can sure that on some of the days the group rides will take in the classic hills, such as Sa Calobra, Soller and the Orient.
Happy and laid-back group leaders.
10) Each group has at least two guides per 10 or so people and if the groups are larger there are more leaders added. Every rider is looked after and no-one is dropped.
The bay before the climb of Sa Calobra.
11) The groups are very well organised and extremely friendly. I was worried there would be big egos and lots of riders cycling off ahead of me but nothing like this happened. Riders are requested to cycle with courtesy and commonsense and behind the group leaders/s.
(I think that if you wanted to find a bit of testosterone you would but that is more likely to be in the highest level group. I only saw the fastest riders as they whizzed away for the hotel each morning and sometimes in the restaurant each evening.)
Coffee and cake stops.
12) You do not need to fear the riding pace. The pace in the groups that I joined was generally extremely even. The group leaders set a pace – eg 15 to 16mph average – and I was able to keep up with little difficulty. If I wanted to push myself over one day I went up a group level.
13) The group leaders offer such amazing encouragement and enthusiasm. I had no idea they were watching my riding ability yet on several occasions they offered excellent tips and personal advice. See my blog about the final day of riding with Legro’s camp on the Big One. It was clear afterwards that Adam had seen my cycling ability over the week and was sure I could join the faster group that day.
14) The group leaders offer lots of advice and coaching so you can improve your group riding skills, how you ride uphill and your descending techniques. The advice is always friendly and I learned a lot about cycling, even after many years of being on my bike.
As an example, on the day we rode the famous 10km climb of Sa Calobra, I was fortunate enough to have group leader Nick with me. He accompanied me down and up the climb and as we chatted amiably about general life, he also gave me a few tips about how to descend more safely and efficiently and how to improve my time for the hill climb.
He stayed with me for the whole climb and when there was a chance to ride a little harder or faster he gently encouraged me to do so. With the last 500m to go to the finish he pushed me on and urged me to ride harder. I rode a PB for the climb and I was delighted.
In return, I said I would blog about how lovely his legs are. Certainly they looked pretty good from behind as I climbed up that tough Sa Calobra and he made the climb look very easy indeed!
Nick’s calves…
15) There are coffee and lunch stops on most of the rides, unless you are part of the speedy group and then it’s all about the riding. I expect they suck down gels as they push up the hills and power down the descents.
16) There is no need to worry about age or fitness levels because there is a group ride to suit all. The age range in our camp was from 16 to 79.
A chance to love your bike!
17) Inspiration is available in bucket loads, including older riders who are still in fantastic shape and of fabulous fitness; incredibly tough and fit women; and cyclists who ride with prosthetics limbs. I met some incredibly special people.
Be as sociable as you want.. or not, if you don’t want to.
18) You can be as private or as sociable as you want on the camp. I had my own apartment and it would have been possible to disappear there after every ride to enjoy some of my own time. However, I chose to enjoy the company of many friendly riders sitting with them at breakfast and dinner and enjoy time in the bar.
So many cyclists on Mallorca.
19) A week of a cycling camp creates new friendships and offers a lot of laughter. I arrived with nerves and the feeling that I wasn’t really fit enough. I left with sadness because I wanted to stay to enjoy the sun and more cycling. I feel like I have greatly improved my cycling strength, fitness and confidence.
Even Spiderman rides a bike on Mallorca!
20) If you want to find out what a Legro’s training ride is like you can pay to join a day of the camp while holidaying on Mallorca.
21) There are three training camps each year, with two weeks in April and May and a “cool-down” week in October. I recommend you book early to avoid disappointment.
Matt with a massive mojito cocktail.
Trudy’s impressive pina colada!
22) Thanks to the training camp I discovered the best and largest cocktails I have ever had the pleasure of drinking. See Bony’s bar in the Port de Pollensa. And I visited Tolos Restaurant, owned by Bradley Wiggins.
A bike ridden by Sir Bradley and hanging up in Tolos.
See Legro’s Cycle Training Camp for more info.
Other blogs you might like to read from previous years of cycling on Mallorca:
22 tips for a great cycling holiday in Mallorca