This more or less sums up our recent training week in Lanzarote. For those that have had the plesure of training out there, you will know what I mean. Earth - in this case the many, many, hills, wind - well, the winds the island is famous for, and fire - the blazing 32 degree sun that beat down for pretty much all of our stay. Not that I'm complaining, this was a welcome change from the frankly revolting weather in England for the past few weeks. And the reason we went out there.
This trip was a last(ish) minute decision thanks to a lucky win on the Grand National a few weeks earlier (thank goodness Neptune Collognes had a slightly bigger nose than the brown horse) and a much needed booster injection of cycling, for both Andy and I. We were all booked, checked in and packed into the smallest bags we could find so's not to get shafted by Ryainair at the gate, when Andy came down with a stomach bug 2 days before. Luckily it was 2 days before and not during the 4 hour flight as that would have been fairly unpeasant for everyone within a 3 row radius. Thankfully it only seemed to be a 24 hour thing but we decided to push our bike rental back by a day to give him the extra time to recover and build some strength up for the days ahead. (FYI - I can highly reccomend renting bikes in Puerto del Carmen rather than stump up the £100 that most airlines want for taking your own. We got 2 very decent alu Treks for €136 for the two including all the gubbins for 4 days. No building bikes for us, which makes more time for holiday beer)
Before breakfast on the first day I wanted to run and Andy decided to come too, to see how he was feeling. We headed out along the coastal path towards Puerto Calero which in the early morning sun with the sea shimmering below you is a very different experience from running down the A10 to work. A leisurely breakfast and the rest of the day chilling out seemed to be the best way we could have started our week as we were both ready and well up for some cycling by Saturday.
A clear, cloudless day dawned and after stocking up in the buffet breakfast we headed out on the Ocean Lava triathlon course which with our different start and finish point gave us a 50 mile ride. The course is very challenging and I was filled with a new respect for our friend Mel who raced it just the weekend before in a very decent time. Out to El Golfo and round it the "easy" way (anti-clockwise) before heading through Brenas where there were a couple of up hill grinds. We knew Femes was on this route and the way Andy shot up of those first two hills told me one of two things. He was either feeling really good and was showing a bit of "Me man, me go faster than woman" attitude, or he thought the second hill WAS Femes. After hitting a roundabout and looking to our left where a little dot of a car looked like it was standing on its end, it turned out to be the latter. After enjoying the look on Andy's face for a second or two, we headed up. And up. And up. Its not a long climb, but it gets gradually steeper and steeper with the top being an all out lung, busting surge to get it over with. After a brief downhill it was time for Timanfya, or Fire Mountain as we know it. This really IS a b1tch of a course and I was glad to get home, get the run done and get in the pool for a cool down.
Day 1 done - 3.20 bike and a 30 min run.
Sundays ride was the Ironman course (minus the crappy bits in and out of town so only 103miles) and I have to say I was a little aprehensive about how the old legs would cope after yesterdays beasting. But after we'd warmed up the legs came back to life. It was a hotter day then the previous one so we had our water stops planned to keep our 1.5l each topped up. Our first stop came a little earlier than the planned La Santa one but I was glad of a sit down and a coke and a Lion bar in a supermercado that was actually just a bar filled with old men drinking in Tinajo, just after the slog up Fire Mountain. After this is was a cruise into La Santa where we were planning on stocking up on ride food and gels etc. Having been there several times before, I cycled in and was just dismounting near the supermarket when we were stopped by the security guard on the front gate. As we werent guests we either had to show him our passport or bog off. I pointed out, as politely as I could, that I dont often carry my passport when cycling 100 miles to which he simply shrugged. We persuaded him to let us use the supermarket to buy food for our ride and he grudgingly agreed. Yeah, Ok, I suppose you CAN come in and spend money in our already overpriced resort if you HAVE to but dont do it again. Dont worry Sir, we wont.
Any way, crisis averted, water and food purchased we were on our way outta there. Most of you know the course, or those that dont wont know what the heck I'm talking about so I'll skip the hill by hill description. I'll just mention the "memorable" bits. The first of which came on the drag from Famara to Teguise which with the wind behind you makes it feel like there is no air, just scorching sun and the feel of Satan breathing down your neck. This is just under half way and I think the wheels were beginning to come off for Andy. With Tabayesco and Mirador Del Rio still to come I kept quiet when he pointed at a mountain and said "I hope we dont have to go up there". We did have to. Before long we were on the climb to Tabayeso and a tired and hungry Andy decided it was a good idea to pick a fight with a tired and hungry Lotte so we spent 90% of the climb bickering about nothing. This actually made the climb go a lot quicker as we were able to take our anger out on the hill. We were friends again by the top but still tired and hungry and Andy becoming less and less interested in the ride. When asked if he wanted to take a photo at the top I got a short sharp "no thanks". After being gently reminded he may not be there again, he did. Quick, arid snack at the bar at the top and onto Mirador. I love this climb as the views are fantastic and even Andy seemed interested in this ;-) he took a few pics which he's very cleverly put together to create a panorama. You can see it, and his descripton of the ride (warning, they may differ!) on his blog. http://andy-bruce.blogspot.co.uk/
After this climb I knew it was pretty much home and dry with the tail wind helping you out. The descent from Mirador is amazing. The first section is on pretty bad road but after that there must be about 10k of down hill and I swear I didnt pedal for about 15 mins. I had forgotten about from the Ironman, though I can imagine how. There is one, brief couple of kms where you turn north again back to Teguise where the wind hits you like a truck. We crept up at approximately 6mph and the plan had been to avoid the Nazaret road (as per the IM course) as the surface is the worst on the island and instead go all the way to Teguise before turning west, but after 10 mins of this and almost losing Andy (I think he actually got off his bike at one point) we decided that any road surface would be better than this relentless uphill into the wind. Andy was really suffering now, a combination of his recent illness, his inability to eat much as a result and the heat (and the longest ride either of us had done in over a year) and the wind, it was hardly surprising. I was feeling it too but just wanted to get it done now. I was counting down the kms and finally arrived at what has to be my favourite bit of the island - Conil. This is then another 5km descent where I reached a max speed of 74.2kph (cool? or dangerous....?!) and then the Donkey Track which, with its views of the sea and PdC nestling below is pretty special. Hard ride done and time for a big feed, then bed. Couldnt manage Linekers tonight........ ;-)
Day 2 - 103 miles - 7hrs 30mins
As I seem to have got carried away reliving my holiday (sure beats working) I will continue this in part II.
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