I live on Mallorca, have done the race 4 times. Always loved it, always finished in top 50. But no more for me simply because of the chaos at the start - it used to be the case that so long as you arrived by 6.15am you could start very close to the front. Now as you shared you have to get there 3 hrs early or just forget about racing and try not to get stressed when it takes 30minutes plus just to cross the start line. They really need to get the start better organised for the faster riders- last time I did it it took me 15 minutes just to cross the line, then spent the next 4 hrs weaving at speed through thousands of very slow riders which i found very dangerous and frustrating.
I agree, they really need to sort this out. There must be something that they can do to make sure that the fast guys get a race and the everday cyclist get a good chance at making the cut off
This is my favorite video ofn the mallorca 312 Since i foundit like a 10 months a go and i watch it again and again, one day i hope to be there best regards from México. ; )
Great summary, very nice recap! Having done the 312 a couple of years, it's really important to get to the start before 5:30 at the latest. The earlier you start, the less traffic and less saturation you'll have at the stops, which makes you faster again. Contrary to what is commonly said, I recommend going hard on the first climb (know your limits obviously), as you will then have much less traffic on the descents and will be able to go faster with less effort there. Great vid!
Totally agree with you Marc- we were having to move at a pace that was comfortable for Paris but id happily get up that first climb a lot quicker and thus closer to the front with less congestion down the line
Well done guys. I did the 312 as well. I was staying only 1km from the start so managed to get there early but it was still carnage! I crossed the start line 7 minutes after the gun and managed to get into a fast group to the first climb. I was inside the top 500 at both the first and second feed stops. Didn't stop at the first one and managed to roll through ok. The second one was awful with many riders pushing people around to try and get water. Missed the 3 and 4th ones as my parents were staying near the 3rd and I met them by the side off the road to refill bottles etc. After the 3rd stop I was struggling on the 2 5 km climbs that end the serious climbing but managed to then get on a good group to the 312 cut off making it with 40 minutes to spare. The pace at this point was high I couldn't stay with them. I rode a lot of the last part solo but then got swept up by a good group before Ariany. Got to Arta and felt better pushing hard to the finish. Gun time was 12:49 actual ride time was 11:49 finished an hour and 10 minutes inside the limit so similar to you and the same length of stops. The organisers need to separate the 167 riders and start them after the 225 and 312 riders
We totally agree and think that the organisers could do a lot better- Paris filled the bottles at the first stop but after that i felt more comfortable if i was doing it as she got quick pushed around and generally the atmosphere was quite aggressive. Congrats on the finish time, sounds like we both paced it pretty similar. Doesnt seem fair that youd have to pay to be in the VIP start just to get a fair shot at finishing because they have bad organisation.
Great effort both of you. Would have been very helpful to have watched this beforehand! As a complete novice and doing it solo, I turned up at 6.20am and was at the very back of 8,000 riders. I started just after 7am and the first 100+km was spent trying to pass riders. Agree with you Max, that first climb was painfully slow but that may have been a good thing. As soon as the course split and the 167 route turned off, the ride became less cluttered and more enjoyable, but still the race was on to try and stay ahead of the cut offs and make it through the feed stops as quickly as possible. I finished just over 11hrs, so comfortably avoided the cut offs in the end, but having to wait over 30 mins at the start, and about 30 mins at the feed stops, the stress could have been avoided had I joined the queues at c5am. My suggestion to the organisers is to try and group riders on ability, estimated finish time or race type. Difficult I know as you are still relying on riders being honest & realistic. Cracking course, great experience, pretty well organised. If there is to be a next time, I think the 225km would be the better course. Well done again, and sorry to have missed you!
Great ride to make it after all that. The start and the feed stations are what really 'ruin' the 312 experience. Now ive ticked off the 312 i have to agree- the 225 is the better option if you want to actually enjoy it ;)
Great video, really captures the essence of the ride. Definitely the best I've seen and I looked at a lot before the event! I was just ahead of you both probably for most of the way round. I only saw the green polka dots as I was leaving Ariany. Just checked my video of the Arta party and can just see you both entering the square. I too just wanted to crack on. Got lucky and got a great tow back to the finish. An amazing event and well done for finishing. Bit of a big leap from 140km to 312....😂
Excellent. Great effort. I've done the 167 three times and am hoping to do the full 312 this year. That was very useful seeing the pacing etc. Anyway, nice job. 👍
I done it last year done 225 this year 167 but I was a mile from start and would advise getting to start at 515 then you don't have any problems with feeding station and you get dragged along at the start 👍👍
Congratulations, strong efforts with so little ultra experience. I must say I was completely surprised to see the stops in such a madness. How could you stay calm? Having done the 312 the first time this year when I arrived the stops were reasonable busy. I spent a total of 12min at all stops combined, so looks like pushing from the start line and a reasonable effort up the first climb really makes a huge difference.
Paris “I think I’ve just wee’d myself’. Max “that would be wicked if you get that up my nose!” Timing! 😂 Great video guys, shows some real pitfalls that come from these massive, over-populated sportive rides/races. The carnage at those food and water stops is frankly ridiculous.
@cd66061 Lol a little delirious after 312km... Great fun and luckily its in Mallorca so nice weather but if it was anywhere else there would be complete uproar with how badly they are organised!!!! They could do a lot more to support this event
Well done. I set off around the same time as you but got to the cutoff at 11:20 to find it closed despite the late start. After passing it we found out they re-opened it. Absolutely raging as I wanted to do the 225 at least 🤬
It’s a bonkers event but so worth doing. The start is crazy but the delays can ruin your cut offs. Great effort though and you can’t have enough donuts! 😂
Great video. The check points were all a complete screw up as was the late start. You had to fight yourself through to get water. This was my first one and my goal was to do the 225 but it felt really good and I wanted to see how close I could get to the cut off at 220. I missed it with 10 min but then I had easily lost 20-25 min at the start and guess close to an hour at the check points. I brought all my energy but you can't do without water. Somehow at 220 I got lost and got on to the 312 (I know it shouldn't be possible ;) ). After a while a realized it and asked the GPS to bring me back to the start. The route took me by my hotel in Can Picafort so I decide to stop there 250k later instead of racing with the 312 finishers (as I hadn't done it properly). So no medal for me but I had a great time and learned some lessons for the 2024 event. You captured a lot of that in the video! Next year I will bring more water and as you say, go out harder in the beginning. Will I see you there?
Trying to get back out there but they had a lot of problems with the tickets this year so we didn’t get any. I’ve reached out. Hopefully get to do the 312 again and push harder
Great video@@thewattlife . Need an advice on water: I sweat a lot so consume 1 bottle per hour or so. Do you think will be better to have 1 bottle on my back + the 2 regular on the frame to get to the 2nd SAG ? Getting at the 1st SAG I can decide to stop or not but also concerned about the additional weight on the climb.............choices !!
I did the 312 with around 30km/h average pace and the cleck points were alright for me. Jump off the bike, take anything you want and back on the bike. No time loss for me.
Yeah we got stuck right at the back in the start pen, and we probably should have pushed a load harder to get to the first climb and also up the first climb and it would have made a huge difference.
I think if i did it again, i would try to make more of an effort to either a) really push on the flat before the climb so i can get ahead of a lot of the slower riders (sorry no offence to anyone) or b) get to the start line a lot earlier so that i could get to the first few check points before they got mega busy. The check points where the only thing that ruined the day for me
Great video, looking at doing this possibly next year, either the 312 or 225 - Is the only way to get close to the start to arrive mega early? Or can you pay to start closer?
Nice- good question. And YES you can pay to start in the VIP area, they actually set off at 6:30. Then the rest go after them. Other than that, ive heard of people arriving at 4:30 to queue. BUT also saying this... i think if Paris and I had actually ridden a bit harder off the line and up the first climb we could have skipped a lot of the traffic, we were just moving with the crowd rather than pushing a bit because we didnt know what we were heading into...
A really cool video that explains a lot for a person not having yet to ride the event. But 2024 will be the first. Paris was an inspiration especially as you mentioned she did not use any gels. I like to know what she was adding to the water please?
Come back it’s my home! I’m so Lucy to have all this on my back doorstep. I wanted to say you did a great commonality on your video! Easy to listen to unlike so many who put crappy music to fill in the background 😊
Want to do the 312 next year. Maybe you can say something about your fitness and watts per kg. Would help to determine if it's even remotely possible for myself.
Hey Sebastian- I had been training for 5 months quite hard and putting in the miles. Paris broke her wrist so hadn't been on the bike at all and only started cycling again in Feb and the race was end of April. So she got about 8 weeks in reckon and she nailed it. We only really had to push a few times, but I think if we had done the first climb a bit quicker then it would have been more comfortable. Where you start in the pen has a big difference too as we made the final cut off (point there the 225 and 312 separate) by 4 minutes, but we did start 24 minutes after the gun.... You can see why the race is so complicated now huh.
You seem not to understand, why there was a celebration arriving in Artà, the last stop. The Mallorca 312 was originally organized by the Artà Cycling Club (Club Ciclista Artanenc), and I’m sure they still play an important role in the event. So, you probably arrived there, among some local heroes!
We took our own bikes. £45 each return on EasyJet. We both have the same bike- Enve Melee, 45mm Enve foundation wheels and 31mm Enve SES tyres. They are very light but comfortable to ride. Roughly 9kg so very light with all components and disk breaks.
Maybe becuase how you feel is more important than how you look and being comfortable at an event with less than 200 women and 2900 men is quite intimidating
Yes this is correct- there are only two physical locations where you will be stopped from carrying on from doing the full 312 route. one of them isnt actually at a check point but rather at the road section where the two courses split. All the times are references, but hopefully from the video you can see that if you are behind at certain points this will either leave you further behind later down the line or you will get caught out waiting for food/drink
@@thewattlife Yes. You are right. I was there. It was „special“. I did manage the 220 km cut by 5 minutes but maybe they would have still let it go because it was such a disaster to get water/fluids. -This year they will have more stations but I guess the first 3 will be packed again.
I live on Mallorca, have done the race 4 times. Always loved it, always finished in top 50.
But no more for me simply because of the chaos at the start - it used to be the case that so long as you arrived by 6.15am you could start very close to the front.
Now as you shared you have to get there 3 hrs early or just forget about racing and try not to get stressed when it takes 30minutes plus just to cross the start line. They really need to get the start better organised for the faster riders- last time I did it it took me 15 minutes just to cross the line, then spent the next 4 hrs weaving at speed through thousands of very slow riders which i found very dangerous and frustrating.
I agree, they really need to sort this out. There must be something that they can do to make sure that the fast guys get a race and the everday cyclist get a good chance at making the cut off
This is my favorite video ofn the mallorca 312 Since i foundit like a 10 months a go and i watch it again and again, one day i hope to be there best regards from México. ; )
It is such a good race, sad to not be doing it this year.
Thank you for your kind words
Great summary, very nice recap! Having done the 312 a couple of years, it's really important to get to the start before 5:30 at the latest. The earlier you start, the less traffic and less saturation you'll have at the stops, which makes you faster again. Contrary to what is commonly said, I recommend going hard on the first climb (know your limits obviously), as you will then have much less traffic on the descents and will be able to go faster with less effort there. Great vid!
Totally agree with you Marc- we were having to move at a pace that was comfortable for Paris but id happily get up that first climb a lot quicker and thus closer to the front with less congestion down the line
One of the best videos, if not the best, about Mallorca 312 I've ever seen. Congrats
Thank you kindly. Hopefully it helps a few people
Well done guys. I did the 312 as well. I was staying only 1km from the start so managed to get there early but it was still carnage! I crossed the start line 7 minutes after the gun and managed to get into a fast group to the first climb. I was inside the top 500 at both the first and second feed stops. Didn't stop at the first one and managed to roll through ok. The second one was awful with many riders pushing people around to try and get water. Missed the 3 and 4th ones as my parents were staying near the 3rd and I met them by the side off the road to refill bottles etc. After the 3rd stop I was struggling on the 2 5 km climbs that end the serious climbing but managed to then get on a good group to the 312 cut off making it with 40 minutes to spare. The pace at this point was high I couldn't stay with them. I rode a lot of the last part solo but then got swept up by a good group before Ariany. Got to Arta and felt better pushing hard to the finish. Gun time was 12:49 actual ride time was 11:49 finished an hour and 10 minutes inside the limit so similar to you and the same length of stops. The organisers need to separate the 167 riders and start them after the 225 and 312 riders
We totally agree and think that the organisers could do a lot better- Paris filled the bottles at the first stop but after that i felt more comfortable if i was doing it as she got quick pushed around and generally the atmosphere was quite aggressive. Congrats on the finish time, sounds like we both paced it pretty similar. Doesnt seem fair that youd have to pay to be in the VIP start just to get a fair shot at finishing because they have bad organisation.
What an amazing video!! So so good, you guys smashed it 👊🏼
Thanks so much Josh, it nearly killed us :)
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 LOVE
Brings back memories- brilliant video and well put together 👌
Glad you enjoyed it. Looking back it was a great event
Great effort both of you. Would have been very helpful to have watched this beforehand! As a complete novice and doing it solo, I turned up at 6.20am and was at the very back of 8,000 riders. I started just after 7am and the first 100+km was spent trying to pass riders. Agree with you Max, that first climb was painfully slow but that may have been a good thing.
As soon as the course split and the 167 route turned off, the ride became less cluttered and more enjoyable, but still the race was on to try and stay ahead of the cut offs and make it through the feed stops as quickly as possible. I finished just over 11hrs, so comfortably avoided the cut offs in the end, but having to wait over 30 mins at the start, and about 30 mins at the feed stops, the stress could have been avoided had I joined the queues at c5am.
My suggestion to the organisers is to try and group riders on ability, estimated finish time or race type. Difficult I know as you are still relying on riders being honest & realistic.
Cracking course, great experience, pretty well organised. If there is to be a next time, I think the 225km would be the better course.
Well done again, and sorry to have missed you!
Great ride to make it after all that. The start and the feed stations are what really 'ruin' the 312 experience. Now ive ticked off the 312 i have to agree- the 225 is the better option if you want to actually enjoy it ;)
BIG thumbs up, guys!!
Thanks so much, great event
This was actually great video and it explained in detail how event actually works!
Thank you, yeah i t would have been helpful if i had known all this before the event. Hahaha
Great video and memories of the day 👍🚴♂️
Thanks Martin- some fond memories of the day... even if i felt like it went on forever
Great video, really captures the essence of the ride. Definitely the best I've seen and I looked at a lot before the event! I was just ahead of you both probably for most of the way round. I only saw the green polka dots as I was leaving Ariany. Just checked my video of the Arta party and can just see you both entering the square. I too just wanted to crack on. Got lucky and got a great tow back to the finish. An amazing event and well done for finishing. Bit of a big leap from 140km to 312....😂
Thanks Paul- well done for finishing. Ha how funny that we are in your video, did you stop for a beer?
@@thewattlife No much like yourselves just a coke and wanted to just finish. Saw a group heading out and thought, "That's my ticket back". 😂
Excellent. Great effort. I've done the 167 three times and am hoping to do the full 312 this year. That was very useful seeing the pacing etc. Anyway, nice job. 👍
Hope it goes well for you, try to get out ahead of middle race and you’ll have much better time of it
Fun to watch! Also fun to see some Norwegians at the finish line; Follo SK (cycling club).
I done it last year done 225 this year 167 but I was a mile from start and would advise getting to start at 515 then you don't have any problems with feeding station and you get dragged along at the start 👍👍
Totally agree with you, but everyone takes the approach of getting to the start early. You definitely need to get there really early.
Congratulations from 🇦🇹🇦🇹🇦🇹👍👍👍💪💪💋✌️
Thank you kindly
Congratulations, strong efforts with so little ultra experience. I must say I was completely surprised to see the stops in such a madness. How could you stay calm? Having done the 312 the first time this year when I arrived the stops were reasonable busy. I spent a total of 12min at all stops combined, so looks like pushing from the start line and a reasonable effort up the first climb really makes a huge difference.
The stops were complete MADNESS- luckily we didnt capture all the pushing going on to get water!!! 100% getting there early pays off
Paris “I think I’ve just wee’d myself’. Max “that would be wicked if you get that up my nose!” Timing! 😂 Great video guys, shows some real pitfalls that come from these massive, over-populated sportive rides/races. The carnage at those food and water stops is frankly ridiculous.
@cd66061 Lol a little delirious after 312km... Great fun and luckily its in Mallorca so nice weather but if it was anywhere else there would be complete uproar with how badly they are organised!!!! They could do a lot more to support this event
Well done. I set off around the same time as you but got to the cutoff at 11:20 to find it closed despite the late start. After passing it we found out they re-opened it. Absolutely raging as I wanted to do the 225 at least 🤬
Absolutely gutted for you. The 225 is probably the race with the best view/enjoyment to suffering ratio. Still a good day out on the bike though
It’s a bonkers event but so worth doing. The start is crazy but the delays can ruin your cut offs. Great effort though and you can’t have enough donuts! 😂
The donut did taste good... eventually.
Great video. The check points were all a complete screw up as was the late start. You had to fight yourself through to get water. This was my first one and my goal was to do the 225 but it felt really good and I wanted to see how close I could get to the cut off at 220. I missed it with 10 min but then I had easily lost 20-25 min at the start and guess close to an hour at the check points. I brought all my energy but you can't do without water. Somehow at 220 I got lost and got on to the 312 (I know it shouldn't be possible ;) ). After a while a realized it and asked the GPS to bring me back to the start. The route took me by my hotel in Can Picafort so I decide to stop there 250k later instead of racing with the 312 finishers (as I hadn't done it properly). So no medal for me but I had a great time and learned some lessons for the 2024 event. You captured a lot of that in the video! Next year I will bring more water and as you say, go out harder in the beginning. Will I see you there?
Trying to get back out there but they had a lot of problems with the tickets this year so we didn’t get any. I’ve reached out. Hopefully get to do the 312 again and push harder
Great video@@thewattlife . Need an advice on water: I sweat a lot so consume 1 bottle per hour or so. Do you think will be better to have 1 bottle on my back + the 2 regular on the frame to get to the 2nd SAG ? Getting at the 1st SAG I can decide to stop or not but also concerned about the additional weight on the climb.............choices !!
I did the 312 with around 30km/h average pace and the cleck points were alright for me. Jump off the bike, take anything you want and back on the bike. No time loss for me.
Yeah we got stuck right at the back in the start pen, and we probably should have pushed a load harder to get to the first climb and also up the first climb and it would have made a huge difference.
After doing it would you do the 225 instead? And where does it start from? would you do it again?
I think if i did it again, i would try to make more of an effort to either a) really push on the flat before the climb so i can get ahead of a lot of the slower riders (sorry no offence to anyone) or b) get to the start line a lot earlier so that i could get to the first few check points before they got mega busy. The check points where the only thing that ruined the day for me
Great video, looking at doing this possibly next year, either the 312 or 225 - Is the only way to get close to the start to arrive mega early? Or can you pay to start closer?
Nice- good question. And YES you can pay to start in the VIP area, they actually set off at 6:30. Then the rest go after them. Other than that, ive heard of people arriving at 4:30 to queue. BUT also saying this... i think if Paris and I had actually ridden a bit harder off the line and up the first climb we could have skipped a lot of the traffic, we were just moving with the crowd rather than pushing a bit because we didnt know what we were heading into...
Staying in Palma is a tough way to do it. I walked out of my hotel and was in the start pen.
...Wanna share a room next year?
A really cool video that explains a lot for a person not having yet to ride the event. But 2024 will be the first. Paris was an inspiration especially as you mentioned she did not use any gels. I like to know what she was adding to the water please?
We were using SiS Beta fuel in the bidons. She crushed it… think she wants to go back too
Come back it’s my home! I’m so Lucy to have all this on my back doorstep.
I wanted to say you did a great commonality on your video! Easy to listen to unlike so many who put crappy music to fill in the background 😊
Thank you- I’m trying to get a place for the race in 2024, so if you know anyone who can help let me know 😊
Watt do your bikes weigh.
Watt a good question- Just over 8kg with cages
Want to do the 312 next year. Maybe you can say something about your fitness and watts per kg. Would help to determine if it's even remotely possible for myself.
Hey Sebastian- I had been training for 5 months quite hard and putting in the miles. Paris broke her wrist so hadn't been on the bike at all and only started cycling again in Feb and the race was end of April. So she got about 8 weeks in reckon and she nailed it.
We only really had to push a few times, but I think if we had done the first climb a bit quicker then it would have been more comfortable.
Where you start in the pen has a big difference too as we made the final cut off (point there the 225 and 312 separate) by 4 minutes, but we did start 24 minutes after the gun....
You can see why the race is so complicated now huh.
You seem not to understand, why there was a celebration arriving in Artà, the last stop. The Mallorca 312 was originally organized by the Artà Cycling Club (Club Ciclista Artanenc), and I’m sure they still play an important role in the event. So, you probably arrived there, among some local heroes!
I had no idea
Did you hire or take your own bikes? What bike did you say you had
We took our own bikes. £45 each return on EasyJet. We both have the same bike- Enve Melee, 45mm Enve foundation wheels and 31mm Enve SES tyres. They are very light but comfortable to ride. Roughly 9kg so very light with all components and disk breaks.
Why would you straighten your hair before a cycle event where it’s compulsory to wear a helmet?🤷🏻♂️😵💫
Maybe becuase how you feel is more important than how you look and being comfortable at an event with less than 200 women and 2900 men is quite intimidating
I’m riding it this year- shocked how few women will be there 😬😬😬
Hm. From what I understood there are only two checkpoints where you have to be on time not to be cut off. Those other times are just for reference.
Yes this is correct- there are only two physical locations where you will be stopped from carrying on from doing the full 312 route. one of them isnt actually at a check point but rather at the road section where the two courses split.
All the times are references, but hopefully from the video you can see that if you are behind at certain points this will either leave you further behind later down the line or you will get caught out waiting for food/drink
@@thewattlife Yes. You are right. I was there. It was „special“. I did manage the 220 km cut by 5 minutes but maybe they would have still let it go because it was such a disaster to get water/fluids. -This year they will have more stations but I guess the first 3 will be packed again.
Don't forget it's not a race for most me !
The 312 is definitely tough, but if it was more well organised there would be more finishers and it would be more enjoyable