Point to Point in Mallorca

What first brought you to Mallorca?

Because of the terrible apartheid situation we moved with the kids from South Africa to the UK in 1989. It was a tough move, we had to leave our family’s aging parents behind. After 18 years in the UK, the kids had grown up, they were at university, so my wife and I decided that we wanted a holiday apartment. We bought one in Puerto Andratx, and we loved it.

Why did you choose to live on the island?

I’ve always been in information technology. We had an office in Rome, we considered living on the West Italian coast north of Rome. We went there for a weekend and hated it! It was completely shut down in February. I met with a Spanish colleague in Madrid one weekend, when we said where do you go for a holiday he recommended Mallorca. So I came out, rented a car and literally drove around the island, and drove into Puerto Andratx, called Lynn my wife and said ‘I’ve found it’. I think we came down eleven times in the year and absolutely loved it. And one February evening, we’re out on the patio looking over the bay, and we said, why don’t we move permanently? Lynn was a teacher and quickly got a job in one of the international schools and we’ve been here ever since.

How did you get the inspiration to start the 6 Points Challenge?

I’de ridden the Mallorca 312 event, the shorter 167 distance twice, and the event was a bit crowded for my liking, but I decided I wanted to ride around Mallorca. I thought, Well, how long will that take? two days at a push? Three days? Fine. I don’t really want to do it alone. So maybe I got to get a couple of buddies to do that. Maybe we should do it for charity. At that time. I was in the Lions Club. The inspiration was to be able to enjoy a ride around the island having fun and do two or three days at a relaxed pace. Lynn said I was mad as any sensible lady would say. I decided to approach Eva Serra, the deputy mayor for sports in Calvia and explained in my best Spanglish what I wanted to do. She said ‘I love it, do it and we will support you.’ This was in 2016, and we ran the first event in May the next year.

Tell us about this year’s event.

This is the seventh year of Mallorca 6Points. The first event had six riders, then we rented a crowd the next year we had 26. Then during the first year of COVID, 2020, we moved the event from May through to the October timeframe.

We had 109 registered riders this year, that was a bit of an experiment, because we said we were going to cap it at 75. In the end we actually had 87 riders on the road. Which is amazing. And frankly, I think that’s the cap. I don’t think any more than that. 80 to 85 on the road, is what we want. The ethos of 6Points is fun. It’s about camaraderie. It’s about friendship, and it’s about riding sensibly. This year our support team was 27 people on the road in 10 vehicles on the road, to feed and support people, luggage vans, logistics vehicles and a photographer.

Which charities did you choose to support this year and why?

Our philosophy is to do as much as we can for a small handful of charities. We hopefully make a big difference to them. We’ve supported Asdica, from the second year 2018, it is the Association for Disabled people in Calvia. They support young people and kids who have disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome and so on.

We have also worked with Yachting Gives Back for a few years and this year, we said that we really wanted to work very closely with them and with a charity that they support. And they recommended the Fundacion Shambala. The government looks after kids who are disadvantaged up to the age of 18. When they’re 18 the tap is turned off. These kids are left, and Shambala picks them up from there and provides access to parental style guidance in three main areas, education, health and fitness.
The third charity we started to give to this year is SOS animal from Calvia who are a refuge for cats and dogs.

What do you think about the growth of the cycling holiday industry on the island? How does your event tie in to this?

First of all, it’s a fabulous place to cycle. I’ve been able to cycle in probably 15 different countries, Mallorca is the best. The roads are good, the scenery is stunning. The cafes and infrastructure from a cycling support point of view are fantastic, it’s relatively easy to get here from lots of places. In the main, the drivers here are very courteous to cyclists.

The majority of cycle tourists who come to Mallorca base themselves in Alcudia and Pollensa and I think they are missing a trick. The riding in the south, particularly from Calvia is amazing, with a greater variety of routes and places to stay. 6Points will hopefully help publicise Calvia as a place to come and ride, and promote this important part of the island’s low season economy.

Tell us about the sponsors and the other elements which make the event happen.

The costs of running a six points event is about 30,000 euros, we get a grant from Calvia, and the riders pay a registration fee, but all of our sponsors with their logos on the riding jerseys pay their money directly to the charities. 6Points doesn’t see, or take a cent from that. All of our team are volunteers, our ride leaders pay for their own entries etc. Our name sponsors Reverence Hotels have been very loyal, they signed up just before Covid, and stuck with us despite all their hotels being closed which was amazing. The money we raise increases each year, and the latest figures when I updated my spreadsheet was €44,756 taking us to a 7 year total of €203,354.27c. We have beaten our target already this year, with more still to come in.

From its roots to now, is it how you imagined it would grow? What about the future of the event?

I never in my wildest dreams thought it would get to where it is. We don’t plan to make the event any larger, but there are plans in the early stages to have more events further afield, and every year we learn something new to implement next year.

How can someone get involved with 6 Points, either as a volunteer or a cyclist?

We always need new committee members, new and younger riders to come and join the 6Points family. The strong emphasis is on fun, for everyone. People often meet as strangers on the opening meeting on Thursday night and part as life long friends by Sunday night.

How can the readers find out more?

Visit www.6pointschallenges.com where you can find links to all our social media accounts.