While the spare parts for Bumblebee are on their way we were invited by our German friends to join them for a week on Mallorca. Flying to Palma I joined Marc who rode all the way to Mallorca together with Volker on their GS bikes. Leaving Germany in the pouring rain I arrived at a very sunny and warm Mallorca. What a lovely throwback into Summer. 

Picked up by the three at the airport by car I quickly changed my autumn outfit for a T-shirt and sunglasses. Our beautiful house was located in the hills of Campanet. Since Marc and I hadn’t had time to dive into what Mallorca has to offer we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty and diversity of the island combined with the lovely temperature to explore and ride (21-25 C). At night it is pretty cold but this makes you sleep well. 

The island is a biker paradise with lots and lots of winding roads and hairpins running high up and down the mountains following the coast line in the north. One drawback is that you share the roads with lots of cyclists at certain tracks but if you start later you have got the road nearly to yourself. 

A local biker told us that we should try to always ride anti clockwise. This way we avoid the stones that fall down on the road during the night time, ride the outside curves and avoid the majority of people riding clockwise. 

After joining Marc on his bike for a day I decided to rent a Ducati Scrambler for two days at Vintage Motors located in Palma. Riding through heavy traffic we found the parking garage where the Italian was waiting for me. A red one from 2016 with 15000 of riding km. The guy from Vintage wished me a lot of fun with her after quickly explaining the basics. He said you will love her in the mountains. 

A little bit nervous I started my first meters with her going up the ramp of the parking garage and making my way out of Palma with Marc. After leaving the city behind we made a beautiful tour through the mountains and along the coastline. The Ducati was handling so easy and had power enough. It was really fun riding curvy roads and even the hairpins in which I usually feel uncomfortable were fun! The gearbox is really smooth and the riding position is a touring position which is very nice for long stretches. As a short woman the bike is light with 170 kg and low enough to have my feet firm on the ground when stopping. 

Are there no disadvantages to this bike? Well after two days of riding I say maybe a few but they don’t weigh up to the fun I had with this bike. Wanna hear them anyway? Ok…the saddle is pretty stiff, the engine/exhaust is close to your legs and getting pretty hot if you have to wait a little longer and it is a naked bike so riding on the highway will train your neck muscles. Apart from these things I can not name any bad sides to this Italian fun bike. 

Together with Ulli & Volker we toured to Deia and Valdemossa. Deia is worth a stop to explore the beautiful church and old town. We had a very tasty local homemade almond cake with a great view underneath a tangerine tree. 

We toured Cap de Formentor with stunning views on the cliffs. We also did the hairpins of Sa Calobra with a great view on top where two huge vultures passed by me while I was making a photo. The town itself is nothing special but we had an icecream and toured back up again since there is no other road. Going back up we really noticed the quick elevation and have a lot of respect for the cyclists going this same road without horsepower!

Altogether Mallorca is a great island for riding and simply having fun on your bike. I would highly recommend going there in autumn or spring.