Team B were all present if not necessarily correct on this year's training camp. Now we're a bunch of not really serious cyclists but we're keen enough; the A team consisted of properly serious cyclists who were training for the Etape. The level of preparation within our team, which varied according to personal motivation and circumstance, eventually lead to a discussion amongst ourselves. We had the services of excellent guides Paul (who competed in the local Ironman competition) and Roman who was Maurice's former partner in 6 day racing.
Day 1: Getting sorted
The ride today was a sort out over relatively gentle terrain and established the readiness of the group members. Some time was spent loafing outside a bike shop in San Bartolome whilst the mechanical problems of a time poor handyman were investigated. This established that although fantastic economy had been achieved in getting 6000+ miles from his original chain and cassette, the end was in sight for these mechanical marvels. The all round consensus was that a service including parts replacement would be a good idea. We met up with Team A @ a coffee shop for refreshment and the ride back to the hotel. Some fast descending was enjoyed by the carefree speed merchants on nice tarmac running alongside the Golf course in Costa Teguise. This is an area where the motorcylists (Marcell, Nick & Everard) in Team B can hold their own with the best of Team A. Stan set a new record of 53mph, Marcell was slightly behind at 52.3 mph.
Day 2: The Jitters
We set out for the first real challenge of the week the climb up to Mirador del Haria. Our route was a fast rolling ride north along the coast to the town of Ortzola, where we then turned south towards Haria. We climbed up through Haria and onwards up to the mirador. This was a climb of approx 10miles rising from 50 ft @ Ortzola to 2000ft via a series of hairpins and a max gradient of 10% and an average of about 5-6%. After coffee and cakes at the restaurant @ the top it was a series of fast descents beginning with a 5 mile tumble through -14% towards Teguise. During this exciting phase that I discovered wind dancing. With a cross wind and speed above 35mph the flat bladed spokes on my Kysrium SLs caused the bike to shimmy like a twenties jazz dancer. It was very unnerving to have this happen whilst descending an absolutely bald hillside so the brakes were in frequent use for a long time. The nutters had a ball.
Day 3: Beer and Pizza
Today's ride was a rollercoaster skirting through the outer edges of Timafaya, the volcanic National Park, where you can observe lichen growing on lava. This is unlike the cenre of the park where you can ride camels amongst the lava vents and have your lunch barbequed on a volcano. It was steady climbing and quick descending all the way to Puerto del Carmen for beer and pizza. The return trip to base included some cyclo cross type riding and walking on a bike path running alongside the fence of Arrecife airport paralell to the runway. This was owing to repairs and large amounts of windblown sand from the beach. A sluggish start in the morning lead to evening suggestions of splitting team B into two smaller groups according to fitness. Much discussion was had about effort and the difference between resting and waiting. In the end it was decided that the terrain would sort out the group and there would be no more resting/waiting apart from natural breaks. I also took the opportunity to replace my front wheel with a traditionally handbuilt Mavic Open Pro loaned to me by Maurice in anticipation of the next day's ride. Further testing had made me officially christen my bike "Wind Dancer".
Day4: Old Nick and the Ride of the Living Dead
Now my roomate Nick (hereby christened "Old Nick" as he had a namesake in the A team who was a mere youth of 35) had been frightening me every morning with serious hacking sounds from the bathroom. On occasion I had been on the verge of breaking down the door to administer first aid before he corpsed. He is asthmatic and was recovering from a chest infection. It would not be wrong to say that he was feeling put upon during the previous evening's discussion about splitting the group. As we assembled to start the ride the no waiting policy was made official. We set out and on the drag up to the main road where we warmed up for our rides everyone was keeping up unlike previous days. This mood of determination was to last all day. As we headed for Teguise to climb to Mirador del Haria from the other side the only break was a natural. Roman had been examining our riding styles and giving helpful advice, now he took the opportunity to adjust all our saddle heights except for Old Nick's whose was spot on. A brisk pace was maintained to the start of the climb up from Teguise where everyone then set their own pace. It was a workout but legs had been dialled in. As I headed for the top I was passed by the most of the A team in a bunch. I took note of the missing and was determined not to surrender a 10mile headstart to everyone. Digging in I was passed on an 11% grade with the wind in my chest by all but one of the remainder of Team A and made it to the top without a total whitewashing. Some of us stopped at the top and others descended down to Haria for their stop. I enjoyed an improved descent to Haria with Wind Dancer behaving graciously on the Open Pro front wheel. Having witnessed the results of a head start for Team B Maurice decided on a handicap departure from Haria to Mirador del Rio @ the north end of the island. Old Nick was given a 5min start along with the slower climbers of Team B. I was then given a 1 minute start ahead of the better riders in our group with the A team starting later. I gave chase out of Haria managing to overhaul two of the first starters after making considerable efforts over some miles of double figure ramps. All the way I kept getting glimpses of Old Nick's helmet determinedly out front as he stayed away. As the road opened out on the approach to the top I was able to see all but two of the chasers fail to catch him as he reached the top. Laurence and Danny made the catch. It was a resurrection of the pissed off and collectively the best ride of the week in my view. The return trip was made with a Bey,Nat and Everard from team B at a pace that suited all along mostly good roads where descending was a pleasure. The Open Pro proved its worth.
Day 5: A long way down and a hard way up
Today we headed for Playa Blanca @ the southern end of the island climbing 1167ft over 16.7 miles to Yaiza via Uga. There then followed a 14.5 mile descent into Playa Blanca, the average speed was high and heart rates were low. Following refreshments and a bike change for Stan (broken rear hub)there was the return, this was to be via Femme. One mile out Philippe punctured so I waited up to offer assistance and we then set off again a long way behind the others. There then followed a steady ride into a headwind on a 5% drag whilst observing slow moving specks of yellow in the distance. Things got really interesting when we turned right at the roundabout at the base of the climb up to Femme. This is 3 miles of vicious, it just stays in double figures and keeps getting steeper and harder all the way to the top. I acheived my aim of climbing non stop even though I managed to drop my speed to 3.7 mph on the topmost 17% ramp. The ride back was a slog against a strong wind that blew the bikes about from the side and slowed descents to 9mph when head on. This was the last ride for Team B after 5 days on the bikes. We just didn't fancy it in the stengthening wind.
Overall it was another great camp with hard work and good company. Marcell and Philippe lead the way for Team B (they're not serious enough yet for Team A) but we were all riding a little better at the end. Next stop Italy and the Felice Gimondi.