EXPERIENCE MALLORCA

Our favorite cycling trip curator
Ken Whelpdale | La Bici Adventures

For some context, tell us about your background, your role with USA Cycling, how it led into bike tours in Mallorca, and why that's different from some of the other tour groups out there.

At the highest level, I have world tour experience. I’ve worked with athletes at the very highest level of the sport. When I say that we provide a world class experience, it’s because it truly is. I've done more than 100 world championships with the USA Cycling and 6 Olympic games. Managing people, managing movement, and delivering service is what I do. A friend of mine describes my job as “chasing rings and rainbows” - olympic rings and rainbow jerseys. The real market difference between us and the other Mallorca tours that have the key marquee trips, is the custom aspect. We almost always follow this process - make contact, have a discussion, we align what the guest(s) want with what we can provide and then we potentially amend and adapt to the guests needs. I don't think anybody else in business does that. There's a custom element of the trip that allows us to deliver what people really want, rather than what we think they want.

📷 True World-class experience
photo cred: @labiciadventures

What are your favorite routes to share with visitors?

The Cap Formentor is traffic restricted during some points of the year and that means the only way you can access it is by bike or being a resident, access from the nearby hotel, or by taking a public bus. The start and end date is mid-spring and ends late-fall. So the Cap has become an unbelievable experience if you can get out there when the traffic’s closed on it. It’s wild; it’s amazing. There’s talk of it happening at Sa Calobra.

Like the rest of the world, Mallorca is getting a little bit busier. However, the thing that makes Mallorca so amazing is the secondary and third level roads - the farmer paths. That hasn’t changed at all. Everybody wants to ride the 2 marquee rides (Sa Calobra and Cap Formentor), but beyond that the real key rides are these custom routes (what I put together) through the farmer fields. We put them together in such a way that they flow and hit key places, as you know. 

They’re primarily paved, right?
Yeah, gravel has taken off here, but not like in some other places just because, as you know, the paved roads are so good. There’s no traffic. One the main reasons why people ride gravel is because it gets them away from cars. Here… when you know where to ride, or you have a good guide, you find these places. I’ve had the most nervous customer say “I’m not into traffic” and we can manage that.

We were watching Challenge Mallorca. The aerial views of the roads were amazing. They were talking about Coll de Soller might be repaved next year.. 

Yeah, that’s possible. A lot of the mountains like Coll de Sa Batalla were repaved ~ 3 years ago. It’s unbelievable now. It’s smooth and so fast. They’ve also changed the tarmac composition so it's a little safer than it used to be, so if it rains, you're not as terrified of going down.

Can you tell others why Selva is a good place to stay and are there others like that?

Any of the other villages in the middle of the island. The big plus on that is you can ride depending on the wind. You can cloverleaf it, hub and spoke it, and you go out even when you know you’re going to have a headwind. In the middle of the island, you can have a better riding experience than on the coast where you don’t have a choice, you have to ride north-south or east-west. I always think the villages in the middle of the island give the best riding experience. And there’s some 8-10 room hotels in almost every village that provide a local, relaxed experience.

I picked up one of the latest big travel magazines and read about local protests on overtourism in Mallorca. Can you explain what’s happening?

The main problem is car traffic, for one. Two, the number of people that come off the cruise ships into Palma brings high levels of congestion and not necessarily the tourism you want because they’re not going to buy things or spend money on a nice meal. I think cycling tourism is not the tourism people complain about because it happens in the shoulder season. The tourism they’re talking about in conde nast and such is very clearly this beach sailing tourism. They stay at a multinational hotel on the beach and they’re not going to spend money outside the hotel. They get a cheap rental car and drive all over the island and are a general nuisance. Whereas cycle tourism and cyclists are stopping and eating at cafes, they’re spending money on coffees. It’s that slow tourism that’s desirable. Most cyclists aren’t the ones getting drunk and throwing up in the street. The push against tourism is mass tourism. It’s not against cyclists so far as I can tell. 

How can we be better tourists when cycling? 

I think the biggest thing is being conscious of where you are on the road. In May for instance, the biggest cycling month, sometimes people ride 3 abreast and take up the whole road. There’s times when you’re trying to get somewhere and the cyclists are behaving poorly. I would say the best thing to remember is we’re all on the road together. When I do the tours, I try to keep people conscious of that, but also when we need to stop, we stop off the road, which is essential. And just be conscious of where you are. And other than that, knowing that things take longer here than in North America for instance. Like you order a coffee, and it’s not like a snap of your finger and it’s there. Most people I know in the hospitality industry love cyclists because they’re going to check in, put their bike together, ride, then they’re going to come back and eat something and then go to sleep. They’re not going to make a mess, or be a hassle to other guests in general. I think most people I know love cyclists. They’re going to leave by 10 am and not be back until 3 or 4 pm. 

Are you seeing any more women doing solo cycling experiences that come to you?

A lot, a lot. It’s the biggest increase. We have a group of women from Aspen coming in June, which is their fourth trip with us, with La Bici Adventures. They are staying in Selva, then Soller, and Pollenca. They ride for a few days out of one location then transfer to the next. 

If you were to recommend to visitors, what are the best times of the year for cyclists to come to Mallorca?

Out of the 12 months, pretty much all 12 are amazing. The main reason I say that is that every season has its markers. Right now, it’s the first weekend in February, I wore a short sleeve jersey and shorts, with arm warmers and a vest. It’s green and lush. The almond trees are blossoming. My secret time is October. The season is winding down, so it’s not like people are coming to train. It’s like, hey let’s go enjoy riding bikes. October is less crowded, it’s still warm, it can rain, but it’s going to rain for 1 day.

Back to gravel - what’s gravel riding like in Mallorca?

I would say it’s nice, it’s good, it can be pretty rocky, pretty technical. When I think of gravel, I think of flowy, not lose-your-fillings type of gravel. Here there’s a lot of rock. You could be above looking down on a cool gravel road, but in reality you’re like omg, I’m not riding that again. 

Would you rather just go mountain biking?

I’d rather just go road biking. Some of the roads are barely the width of a car. On those roads, nobody is going fast, not even the cyclists. To me, this is like a gravel road that they paved.

Are people wanting a mix of riding and cultural experiences?

The one thing I sold a lot of this year was a mix of guided and self-guided. Where we would take people out on a ride, explain things and then set them up with maps (electronic of course). We recently were partnering with a group that has a hotel on an olive oil producing farm and that is a really cool experience. They make this really amazing olive oil that has won awards all over the world.

Is there anything else you'd want people to know about La Bici Adventures?

The main thing I would say is there’s tons of cookie cutter stuff out there. And there’s tons of people that think they can design a route by looking at the Strave heatmap or whatever. The thing is this - you can’t beat 18 years of on-the-ground experience. We design super safe routes, we know the best roads, we know the best flow, and I think that’s wildly overlooked but I think that it contributes, to a great degree, the level of enjoyment that customers have - just by knowing how it rides. When you know that flow of the ride, it’s something special. It feels like you’re riding on air. Everybody in the world can get to Cap Formentor, right? You’ll figure it out. The stuff we do is really special - looping together special villages, special places, special viewpoints. 

Everybody finds Ken through word of mouth.
DM him directly on Instagram: @labiciadventures

Ken’s Top 5 Favorite Climbs in Mallorca 👉🏽 GPS links here

• Sa Batalla 

• Sa Calobra

• Cap Formentor (only at sunrise)

• Santa Lucia

• Port de Valldemossa

After our third visit to Mallorca, Zach was full of energy and created the Mallorca Profile Series. We hope it helps cyclists plan their next challenge and commemorate their accomplishments.