ONE BIG WEEKEND

Can Ibiza get close to its more heralded Balearic neighbour Majorca when it comes to cycling?

- John Whitney

A subdued flight home to Britain was the prediction from Simon Rose, the guide for our stay on Ibiza and owner of Velo Club Ibiza, the leading bike-touring and hire firm on the island. It was a calculation made from the fact that Ibiza was emerging from its opening weekend, not just from a long winter but from over two years of Covid-inflicted darkness. As one of the world's biggest clubbing destinations, Ibiza's nightlife was decimated during the pandemic and hadn't been fully open so far this decade. For an island whose income is so influenced by this sector, it's had a bruising impact.

So it would be a big weekend indeed, making the return flight back to Bristol a far more restrained, glassy-eyed affair than the raucous booze-fuelled flight that had brought us out. I, too, was slumped in the seat, only for very different reasons. Ibiza had been Cycling Plus' staff choice as our very own opening weekend: a first Big Ride off British shores since 2019, when Covid confined us to barracks. It was Ibiza's roads, however, that we were interested in hitting, not its clubs. I'd been interested in coming here since attending a Majorca training camp several years ago, where, also present, was Ibiza DJ Paul Newman - aka Tall Paul. He's a man who lives up to the moniker with his stature, but he didn't let his size get in the way of ripping my legs off up the steep slopes of Sa Calobra, Majorca's most famous climb. Paul had talked up the terrain of Ibiza and if he was getting in this sort of shape there, surely some cracking riding was in store.

Shock and ale