My wife and I have come to refer to it as the Mallorca triathlon.
Rather than the rigorous run-bike-swim event requiring extensive training and incredible athleticism, our version of the sport befits arriving on the sunny Spanish island via Holland America cruise ship.
As the 920-foot Noordam glides into dock at Palma - Mallorca's capital - my wife and I are finishing up a three-kilometre light jog round and round the ship's elegant woodfloor promenade deck.
We find daily runs partially justify the copious amounts of gourmet food and fine wine one tends to consume on a 10-day cruise of the Mediterranean.
Showered and breakfasted, we're down the gangplank and onto a shuttle bus that takes us to the centre of Palma.
But rather than file up to the magnificent cathedral like all the other tourists, we bypass the lines and head straight to Palma on Bike to rent our transportation for the day for 14 euros each.
The bike tech, with very little English and a lot of pointing at a map, directs us to the nearby bike path that hugs the coastline for 15 km.
With a lot more pointing at the ocean - this time by us - and making swimming motions with our arms, we deduce this leisurely bike route will pass by numerous beaches.
So, the easy cycle and swim portions of our island triathlon can be checked off.
Mallorca is part of the Balearic Islands that glitter in the Mediterranean off the east coast of Spain and also includes the party island of Ibiza, asd well as Minora and Formentera.
It doesn't take long on the bike path before the tourist traffic thins out and we only hear Spanish accents from passing cyclists.
It's also when we start to come across the most beautiful beaches.
The stretches of sand run from gloriously long crescents to tiny rocky coves.
The medium-size Molinar Beach catches our eye. It's quiet and beautiful in a residential area, with just a few holiday lease places and restaurants.
The texture of the shore is more fine pebble than sand and the beachgoers are a mix of young couples playing paddle ball, families, buff guys and topless women.
In Spain it's common, acceptable and encouraged for women to sunbathe and swim sans top.
But we want to work up more of a sweat before taking a dip. So we continue on a few more kilometres until the path runs out and so do our beach options.
We backtrack to Molinar and decide to delay the final event of our tourist triathlon further by ducking under the umbrellas at Yam Portixol Caf脙漏 for latte, bruschetta and cold cava (the yummy Spanish sparkling wine).
We're happy to simply watch the world go by.
Spaniards wander by with their groceries, a dad and his kids pass on in-line skates and there's a steady stream of cyclists and beachgoers.
We decide to join the trek to the beach. Because this is a residential area, people can change into their swimsuit at home or in their holiday accommodation and then conveniently show up.
Thus no public change facilities at Molinar.
We do our best under towels to shimmy change and wade into the water.
It's a sweltering summer day, but the Mediterranean is still cool enough to be refreshing.
After a decent sunbath, we repeat the under-towel change shimmy and return to our bikes and the city.
We're quite proud of ourselves for fashioning a memorable day at a port where we initially had no clue what to do.
There are organized and expensive excursions by Holland America at every stop and we'll do some of them when we stop in Livorno (the seaside villages of Cinque Terre), Tunisia (the ruins of Carthage and cliff-top souk town of Sidi Bou Said), Naples (the hydrofoil to the island of Capri), Monaco (the casino and South of France) and Sicily (cooking class with a baroness).
But, in Mallorca, it was great to find a bike shop, scenic trails and beaches so easily.
We follow much the same mantra in Barcelona where it's a natural to stroll the famous Las Ramblas and follow the locals with towels and sunscreen to the massive downtown beach.
The same in Rome where the cruise leaves and returns and the ancient city is compact and walkable and full of eye candy, such as the Colosseum, Parthenon, Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona.
