never seen a man turn so pale before

Back to my cycling days for this week's tale.

In the late 1990s, too late for it to matter but never mind, I started taking my cycle training really seriously, and my new regime entailed two weeks pre or early season training on the beautiful island of Majorca.  I think I covered every mile of road on that island including over the highest peaks it had to offer.

Logistically though it was tricky.  I had to get my bike over there together with spare parts, all my cycle clothing, shoes, tyres, tools etc.  So packing was always a careful exercise.

My mate Gerard though took a far more laissez faire attitude towards the whole thing, which came back to bite him in an airport lounge one year.

Puerto Pollensa 1999 - a post ride cake and coffee!

We were enjoying a pre-flight beer or six prior to departure for Palma when his name was called out over the tannoy to go to security.

He was gone for well over an hour, and when he came back he had the look of a man who had just travelled to the very gates of hell and back.

He explained that instead of bringing a 5KG tub of carbohydrate powder with him, he'd decanted small measures into a number of plastic bags.  Picking these up on an X-ray, the customs people thought they'd uncovered an international drug smuggling operation.

It took some explaining before he was allowed to rejoin us and his luggage was put on the plane!

The photo above was taken at a cafe we found in Pollensa on day one of our 1999 trip, and frequented every day after our ride.  The staff there were lovely and used to give us double portions!