Day 11: Peguera (Cycling into the mountains)

Eventually it had to happen, and it has, I've finally ventured into the Serra de Tramuntana mountains. Again there were 9 (garmin) climbs. However, only 7 colls were summited. They were:

• Coll de sa Gramola (360)
• es Grau (332)
• Coll des Pi (240)
• Coll de sa Bastida (298)
• Coll des Grau (468)
• Galilea (410)
• Coll de n'Esteve (238)

I chose to do the loop in a clockwise direction as this meant I'd be heading into the wind inland, which I assumed would be easier, rather than heading into it alomng the coastal road. I'm not sure whether it did provide any benefit!

However, I do think I'd try it anti-clockwise next time, simply because it seemed to me that the more interesting climbing is to be had inland in the opposite direction to that which I rode today. It would also mean you'd be cycling on the side of the road closest to the sea along the coast.

The only real disadvantage of cycling in an anti-clockwise direction is that at junctions you need to cross over a carriageway to get to the one you want, which is an added safety issue. Having said that, the roads in the mountains today were very quiet, typically, on average, I was overtaken by a vehicle once every kilometre or so. Indeed, on the 9 kilometre cycle between the junction of the Ma-1100 and Ma-1101 and Puigpunyent, no cars were encountered (travelling in either direction). That's how quiet the roads were!

• Distance driven: 0
• Distance cycled: 73 km
• Weather, it was about 10°C when I left Peguera but, for most of my time in the mountains the temperature was nearer 7°C: there was quite a lot of cloud cover for much of the time and, as such was mostly riding in the shade. Later, as I was cycling the final two Colls (roughly 2pm) the sun came out and the temperature again reached about 10°C. By that time mey toes were feeling cold, but were warmed up by the time I reached the van.

Today's route:

Now for some photos of Coll signs and, as a bonus, some beginning of Coll climb signs!