By Robbie Broughton

Hailing as we do from the village of Caimari, we’re doubly blessed in this little corner of Mallorca. Not only do we have one of the best, some would say THE best, cycling climb of the Tramuntana mountains on our doorstep in the Coll de Sa Batalla, but we also have arguably the best cycling cafe on the island in Sa Ruta Verda.

This little gem may only have been up and running since 2015 but it has fast become one of the most popular cycling stops around. For some, it’s not just a convenient refuelling place before riding into the mountains but a destination in its own right.

Great coffee and delicious cakes are a prerequisite for any good cycling cafe and Sa Ruta clearly delivers on both fronts. But here you’ll also get, shall we say, something a little more cosmopolitan than other local offerings. Vegan-friendly isn’t a phrase that’s banded about freely in this part of the world and neither is gluten-free, but Sa Ruta Verda does both. Throw in healthy salads (quinoa anyone?), bagels, wraps and smoothies, not to mention homemade energy bars and we’re going up several levels.

It's also packed to the rafters with mouth-watering cycling kit: jerseys by Stolen Goat, retro cycling caps, some very cool T-shirts, cycling wallets and belts, cycling books, cycling spares...you get the picture. Many a cyclist has been known to leave here with kilos of stash squished into back pockets.

With its cute, shady terrace it’s no wonder that spring and autumn months see riders from all corners of the globe sipping espressos and cortados and indulging in the local almond cake.

All the above would be fantastic in its own right but we haven’t mentioned one vital ingredient that transcends Sa Ruta Verda from ´good´ to ´great´: step forward a diminutive Norwegian by the name of Lennart Bjolgerud, the owner, manager and creator of the place. He leads a really friendly team that is easy-going, chatty and full of excellent local knowledge of routes and recommendations for cycling tourists. It’s down to him and the likes of long term staff member Steffi that make this cafe such a convivial and welcoming stop-off. Lennart has become a bit of a local legend among the cycling community of Mallorca.

**Lennart: founder, owner, local legend**

Over a cold cerveza or two in the late autumn mediterranean sunshine Lennart told us the story of how this place came to be. In his lilting, sing-songy Scandi accent, he’s an easy person to listen to and he has a good story or two to tell.

Lennart had been coming to Mallorca for some years attracted, as many a Norwegian is, by the majesty of the Tramuntana. Drawn to Caimari by its location at the foot of this mountain range and its wealth of hiking routes and paths, he bought a wreck in the village in 1998 which he began renovating. The last occupants had kept warm from the heat of their animals in the living room so it was more than just a quick paint job. To begin with it was just a holiday place, somewhere to escape the high-pressured lifestyle of a London banker.

Mountaineering and hiking may have been his first loves, but it wasn’t long before he noticed the streams of cyclists whizzing off into the mountains on elegant road bikes with ear-to-ear grins plastered across their faces. “I just wanted to figure out what it’s about, so I got on a bike and got a bit of help and advice. I started on easy and flat rides and started to take a lot of enjoyment out of it...it came late to me, but it’s there to stay. That combination of cycling and hiking - it’s very powerful.”

**Traffic jam in the centre of Caimari**

By 2012 he´d had his fill of the banking world and, ¨I walked away, quite gently, but I walked away. I think some people that are still there wished they’d done the same. Because I don’t think the money, it doesn’t mean much in itself in terms of life quality... you don’t want to die on your shift with your bank account stuffed but with very few real life experiences.¨

So he took a year out, went to central Asia on a mountaineering expedition and then realised he had to do something afterwards. He was looking for a project with no major business plan, no deadlines, something he could evolve in an organic way.

¨Then the penny dropped. The mountains give you a good chance to think because you spend a lot of time on your own or in a tent. Even when you’re hiking at high altitude you don’t say that much so it’s like you’re in your bubble, so you get a chance to develop some themes over a period of one or two weeks so I thought maybe that my project is much closer to home than I thought.¨

Returning to Mallorca he found another ruin for sale in Caimari, this one right on the road that leads to the Sa Batalla climb, so plenty of cyclist footfall. With the help of local architect Jaume Salas and 18 months of battling Spanish/Mallorquin bureaucracy, he demolished the old building and rebuilt it as a cafe with a small apartment on top.

Now there are two schools of thought when it comes to the decor of a cafe:

Stripped down, minimalist style
Homely

Sa Ruta Verda definitely falls into the second category with its posters, Colnago C60 on the wall (more on this later) and array of cycling products on offer which make for a great talking point when you come into the cafe. The T-shirts came from a collaboration with a Colombian artist, the jerseys from Stolen Goat, the retro caps from a distributor in Nottingham and the belts from an artisan in Newcastle. Lennart reckons it´s the Americans and Canadians who are most blown away. ¨They come in and just go, ´WHOAAH!´ There are quite a few Stolen Goat jerseys riding around Colorado and Alberta now.¨

Lennart still finds time to get out on his bike (the aforementioned Colnago). Not only is it a beautiful bike in its own right but it comes with a bit of cycling heritage belonging as it once did to the national TT champion of Spain, Anna Sanchez. ¨I don’t have a cycling museum but that bike will stay with me forever!¨ His favourite ride is, unsurprisingly, the climb up to the Coll de Sa Batalla. ¨It is actually one of the best rides in the world. Nobody says anything different.¨ But he also loves the ascent up to the Puig de Randa with its 360 degree views of the island while the ride up to the sanctuary at Bonany is, ¨very spiritual, shorter than Randa but a bit steeper...I like more up than coming down.¨ Other favourite routes include the coastal road from Soller, through Deia and on to Banyalbufar and Andratx. He says he´s been exploring round this area a lot recently. ¨It's beautiful, but actually I keep coming back to this part which is the best part of the island.¨

Steffi gets a hug (picture courtesy of Ottilie Quince) — **Steffi gets a hug (picture courtesy of** **Ottilie Quince**)

He gets a great opportunity to observe the various foibles of all the different nationalities that are his clientele. ¨You can spot the nationality a mile off. The Brits (sorry UK), they have a higher tattoo count, are marginally less athletic, and a bit pasty, but they are the biggest on storytelling, have bigger grins and are louder at the tables. They wear a lot of Rapha. Either that or it’s club kit from somewhere like Stoke on Trent- they’re the ones who have the best time. I love it.¨

Then there's the Germans in garish colours: ¨white on pink and splashes of orange, covered in local advertising for Otto Car Painters or the like. There are a lot of Scandinavians in the area. Actually it's a traditional area for Danish to come and stay. And the Norwegians, they love to pop in to check out their compatriot, that crazy guy who went off the radar!¨

**The Mallorca Masters Race goes past Sa Ruta Verda**

For Lennart the best times are, ¨when you have 10 different nations sitting outside, scattered on the terrace and you look out and you see that typical reluctance to interact, and it dissipates, and the German guys and the Swiss guys start asking the guy from Stoke on Trent, ´Where you been today?´ This is when it really comes together.¨

There are also regulars who live on the island like the multiple World Champion Ottilie Quince who runs her cycling business OQ Service Course Mallorca from nearby Pollenca. Then there’s the Great Dane of Selva, Kennet, who actually does have something approaching a bike museum. He was recently challenged to ride up Sa Calobra on a cargo bike and helps Lennart with litter picking up and down the mountain. Recently a local group based themselves at Sa Ruta while they tackled the local climb five times on the date of this year’s cancelled Mallorca 312 and Lennart says that there's a newer, younger generation of Mallorquin riders who are attracted by the healthy fare on offer.

There are many more stories to tell about Lennart and Sa Ruta Verda like the visiting sparrow named Ullrich and the Mexican waves during the Iron Man event, not to mention plans for more innovative cycling products (what about bells?), but there’s not enough space for all of them here. You just have to go and visit and find out for yourself. Lennart and Steffi will make you more than welcome although you may struggle to pull yourself away from the great company, setting and delicious food and drink. Come and visit in 2021!

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