Lost in Lausanne: Majorque Mise en Jambes!

Spring Training in Mallorca Spain

We just got back from the most amazing vacation in Majorque, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean. In September we saw a sign along one of our local rides for a “mise en jambes” in Majorque – a sort of a biking spring training after of winter off the bike. We’ve been so impressed at how the Swiss stay active during all the seasons, and how they embrace winter and all the winter sports. As for me, I had the painful experience of having to start from scratch the end of March after two months of inactivity following my sledding accident. But thank goodness for muscle memory, because I was able to get back into decent shape after about a month of cycling, and then an intense week in Majorque (about 300 miles in 5 days).

The trip was organized by TCS, a sort of Swiss AAA, which also has roadside insurance for cyclists (a great idea for the US). We went with about 30 other riders from “Swiss Romande,” the French-speaking part of western Switzerland. We left Lausanne in semi-freezing rain (still snowing the end of April), took the train to Geneva, and then a plane to Palma in Majorque. When we arrived the weather was in the mid to high 50’s, windy and overcast.

We checked in to our hotel, and went to our first evening meeting to meet Marie-Anne, our incredibly friendly, extroverted, and enthusiastic organizer, to hear about the week’s itinerary and meet our fellow riders. The next day Doug joined the faster group with the guide Jacky, and I joined the medium group with Raymond. We were pleased that everyone spoke French with us – for a double benefit of a week of biking and French immersion. We had a lot of laughs learning some new slang. Some of the more colorful speakers realized that had to be careful around me because I tended to repeat and ask “What does &!*%# mean?” (just like a 5 year-old).

By the end of the week we had made fast friends, suffering through the miles with wind, rain, storms, slippery roads, hills and some of the worst weather that our organizer had seen in 16 years of organizing trips to Majorque! But we also had several gloriously sunny days, miles of gorgeous scenery on country roads, and surprisingly courteous local drivers. We would highly recommend it as a fantastic spring training. As soon as we came back we signed up for another week of riding with Marie-Anne and TCS in early July, this time starting in Lausanne, winding through the Vercors and Tarn regions in France and ending at Mont Aigouil in the south.

When we came back we realized that we had only 8 weeks until we move back to California - it's incredible how fast a year can go. We’ve decided to try to extend this experience by renting a furnished house in San Francisco next year, right near the Golden Gate Park. We are so looking forward to spending the next year closer to our sons who live in SF.

Here are a few photos of our trip...we can hardly wait for the next one!

First day - eastern coast of the island