OK this coming Sat to Thu I am in Port Pollenca, then moving to a hotel near race start in Alcudia Thu to Tue. My run training was in the tank (barely jogging 15-30km last few weeks due to a calf issue), and bike training was minimal because of biz travel, but last week I had a solid week of biking (and my total week was 23 hrs on a work week so it was a win…11.5 hrs bike, 6 hrs swim, 4 hrs run, 1.5 hrs weights). I should be OK for the swim and bike at the 60-64 level. The run, will be what it will be. Hopefully no mad calf cripple walking!
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Any idea on water temps? I think I will pack my neoprene cap in case
You won’t need a neoprene swim cap. In all the times I’ve in Mallorca in April & May (training & racing), I’ve never needed one. 
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Can you guys recommend training rides that are NOT the 70.3 course. I know Cap Formentor which is round trip 20km from my Airbnb in Port Pollenca (and i just rode it again on Rouvy at home…it’s a monthly or 2x per month TT staple that I use and part of the attraction for coming to Mallorca).
Also which 25m pools do you guys recommend in Mallorca. Long story, but at Marbella worlds, I got a bad round of chafing from my wetsuit behind neck. This subsequently got infected (I ignored it) 2 weeks later and coupled with stress at work, my wife’s cancer treatment and my dad having a heart attack all on time of each other, my immune system lost the fight and my 55 year old dormant chicken pox virus blew up into a full blown almost emergency round of shingles (docs said they would have hospitalized me, if not for my overall low heart rate, and blood pressure and sent me home with meds)….the long story was the entire area had shingles scabs and sores and it took months for the skin to heal, harden and smooth (I could barely sleep on that area for 2 months due to pain and itch), so I don’t want to swim with a wetsuit other than the minimal amount before the race day to keep the skin intact (I’ll probably tape the area up a bit to protect it)
Not sure on what distance you want, but Sa Calobra us a must if cycling in Mallorca. From Port de Pollenca it is a ~100km return trip ride. The first 27km out is the same as the race course, but from there on it is different.
If you’re up for a bigger ride, the Soller + Puig Major combo. The return may partly overlap with the race course but in the opposite direction (descent from Coll de la Batalla down the Ma-10 - which is simply epic due to low-medium technicality - and the Pollenca road).
Definitely would do Sa Calobra as suggested by @slow_bob - and you’ve googled it already I suppose; just make sure you get there early (9 o’clock at the latest) because the number of cars, buses and cyclists is such that the Formentor traffic ain’t nuthin’.
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How bad is Formentor traffic on. Sunday evening. I assume it is a shit show. I assembled bike and it started pissing rain like we would need to take refuge in Noah’s Arc so I went for my longest run of the year (14km….now I need to survive 7km more next week). The plan is a 2 hrs ride this evening and short swim
Ok will get up early and do Sa Colabra. Will force me to adjust to jet lag
Agree with the others, Sa Calobra and Puig Major are a must if you’ve not done them; also like heading down south and doing Randa or San Salvador.
Ref swimming in PP, I believe the public pool is closed for renovation, but you could spin down to Alcudia and use the public pool there.
How long do you think the round trip would be to Puig Major from PP. It looks like 1100m total gain heading out and around 200m on the way back. That’s around 1300m total . At race pace it took me 3:08 at Marbella for around 1550m, so I suspect this would be around 3:20-3:30 at a relaxed pace. Anywhere to top up liquids on that route from PP. If so I may try to later today
Never done an out-and-back to Soller/Puig Major from PP, only ever a loop, which is about 135km (1800m elevation); so I guess it depends how much milage you want to get in before the 70.3.
Correct, no need for a neoprene swim cap right now. I’m swimming sans-wetsuit currently, though my wife still prefers a wetsuit right now.
Current water temp is 17-18*C, depending on how shallow the water is in the exact area you’re swimming. Albeit, today’s absolute dumping of rain for hours undoubtedly dropped things a degree or two. :-/
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OK update.
On Sunday I rode from Port Pollenca over the first climb to Formentor and then came back 10km and did the final 10km to Formentor again, came back to town and rode to Pollenca and back. That was 70km 1330m of vertical and 3:10 ride. On Monday I rode towards Lluc monestary based on something I read online (not here). Wanted to recce the ride to Sa Colabra. I did not realize I was on the ironman course. That was a nice climb and after Lluc, I went down the other way to Calmari and realized I was on the IM course (very nice, the descent is tricky on a TT bike but I was OK but could not keep up with roadies rocketing down !!!). I am on rim brakes with TPU tubes so did not want overheating (@lightheir we discussed this on another thread). I did not finish the IM course and came back directly to Port Pollenca via Pollenca.
I swam in my Airbnb pool (unheated) 15m. It felt like 15-16C. Today (Tue), I think I will do the out and back to Formentor (should be 2 hrs with 900m vertical) and just go for a jog and swim in the Sea (looks flat). @dcrainmaker depending where you are and you see this you could join for the ride or swim.
Tomorrow I either do the Sa Colabra ride (looks like 110km with 2200m of vertical) that then go into a taper Thu and Fri, or save that ride for Mon two days after the race which may make more sense and then fly home next Tue.
I’ll post a few pictures later for anyone reading and for future planning purposes
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Sounds like you’re having a great time!
Be careful on the descent down to Caimari on race day, often there are sheep or goats wandering onto the road, and you’ll have crazy triathletes under-taking and overtaking you into & out of corners.
Personally I’d save the Sa Calobra ride until after race day. It’s a good ride to get out there from PP, then spin down to the bottom, and ride back up, and then ride back to PP…it’s a bit too much IMHO.
I’ll have a few athletes onsite from tomorrow, I’ll have them spin out to Campanet (through the lanes), jump on the 70.3 course and come back in TT mode via Muro, Sa Pobla, Reed Road and Alcudia.
Good luck, it’s a great race!!!
Nice, hope you had a good ride/swim! I’m on the other side of the island (an hour’s+ drive each way), so a bit tricky for me.
I’d agree with WhittleFit on Sa Calobra, I’d save that as a fun post-race slow-mo day. From Port Pollenca, it’s a longer day than most realize, because you’re essentially doing the height of Sa Calobra twice. Once to get up to the top to descend down to Sa Calobra, and then again to get out of the dead-end road. Plus, there’s some false flats and such. Atop that, people do stupid stuff on Sa Calobra on a continual minute-by-minute basis (cyclists, bus drivers, and regular drivers alike). I’ll pretty much only ride it in winter now, when it’s empty because of the stupidity (with cyclists honestly doing the majority of the stupid stuff). Point being, would hate for you to do something ahead of race day.
Instead, I’d look at some of the routes through Campanet, as they’re a bit more chill, away from most cars, and you can chill a bit more in aero.
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I ended up doing an out and back from Port Pollensa to Cap Formentor and back. It’s roughly 2 hrs plus some warmup and cool down in TT postion on the flats (I can largely ride tons of aerobar rides back home, but I can’t do rides like Formentor, although I do it frequnuently on Rouvy…not quite the same). In terms of cars, cyclist, buses doing crazy things, I saw that in full fight decending back into Port Pollensa today coming back from Formentor. I left my departure to 10:30 am. Had I been returning by 11 am it would have been fine.
I’ll be doing that ride again tomorrow just because it’s so much fun, but I will go easier … today I got into a bit of an impromptu race with some Belgian studs built like Van Aert haha (according to Garmin, I spent 20 min in Zone 5 !!!)…i was feeling heroic until they found out I was 60 years old and at that point there is no way they were going to keep drafting me and the hammer came down and I promptly exploded.
Tomorrow I will break down and go for a swim in the sea too. I can walk out to an entry point from my Airbnb in PP (it’s 50 ft walk)
@WhittleFit , I have time all day Monday 2 days after the race to do Sa Colabra out and back. I think in reality as I will be doing it from Alcudia on Monday this will be a 5-6 hrs with a lunch break. I agree about the descent on race day. Some of those switchbacks are decreasing radius turns. I was doing it with a lot of people on road bikes who knew what they were doing. I am generally pretty good descending on a tri bike but the faster roadies were dropping with me (just better weight distribution on the bikes carving the switchbacks like slalom skiers). But being on the course with a bunch of triathletes, with bit engines, but several being flat landers and egos involved with passes and bad things can easily happen on that descent, so I will extra diligent. I already have a slot for 70.3 worlds in Nice so giving away 2-4 min on the descents is fine. I’d rather get back home in one piece as my wife just went through cancer treatment end of last year/early this year. We don’t need two people to be in recovery mode. In a way i need to be “primary caregiver” (although she is OK physically, but there is an emotional support angle)
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@WhittleFit I just did some math and with the race + Sa Colabra ride on Monday, I could hit an Everest worth of climbing for the trip. Let’s see if I get through all of this. Then when i get back to Canada I have Swim Canada masters swimming nationals just two weeks after Mallorca70.3 and I am essentially doing near zero swimming. Hopefully I don’t forget how!
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I’ve ridden a LOT on the island, and I must admit, the Formentor ride is still one of my all-time favourites…it’s just got everything, and you’re done in less than 2 hours…perfect!
Yes, every time I’m cycling in Mallorca, I get the Quebec vibes.
(Not really 
wouldn’t even know)
Good luck in your race! Tear it up and smash’em!