Randa in the rain...and wind....and more rain! And a celebration!

No pics of our ride today as the camera stayed in the waterproof bag all day. The day started out with 6 riders heading west to Randa, a hill with all the aviation radar equipment for Mallorca overlooking Palma. 114Km later......four riders returned wet and cold. Sylvie and Bruce did a shorter ride after a turn back in Sineu. Ken rode, Kathie was much smarter.

Kathie, Joyce and Donna took a walk through Alcudia and up to Old Alcudia towards the port. They stopped for coffee and cake and returned to Bar Hawaii (next to the hotel) for Pa Amb Oli (bread with olive oil and ham for lunch. The pic shows the weather in the morning with mist on some of the peaks north of Alcudia.

We all left on our separate ways this morning knowing the potential for some bad weather today.


Jerry took his car with Peter and Bill and went hiking. Their hiking was cut short by the same fog and mist, but they were able to retreat to the car, wet but not as wet as the bikers. Bill found a great Italian restaurant in Manacor for their lunch.

We started out with hopes for a reasonably dry ride with some expectation of showers, and until we virtually were at the point of no return, the weather was just OK. As we started our climb of the last 200 meters to the top of Randa to the Mare de Deu de Cura monastery, the weather turned for the worse with steady high winds and fog at the top. The last 2km as we wound to the top was in the fog and heavy mist. It was good to get inside the restaurant at the top for our coffee and Mallorcan sweet bread!
We gathered our courage and put on our wet clothes for the 5km descent into the Randa village and immediately went for another coffee stop with some food to warm up again.

I now know how the Tour de France riders feel as they climb into the mountains putting on their rain gear and then trying to stay warm for the rest of the ride.

It was a test of will for Milan, Robin, Jan and Ken to complete the day. We all made it back safely, thank God. At times we endured downpours and water sheeting across the road so we were extremely cautious as we returned to Alcudia. The warm shower back at Ivory Playa hotel was heaven sent.

The warmest part of the day, both literally and figuratively, was the chance to celebrate a special birthday for Dana. We had planned a surprise and had a cake delivered to our table in the dining room. Robin and Peter will leave us tomorrow to return to US, so we celebrated in advance of the actual day later this week.