Its been a while since i have written any posts here ,but felt the need to record our latest adventure and spread the word about www.outerdetours.com . Long post alert ….mainly photos .
Our friend Peter had planted the seed last year when we saw his pictures of the audax version of this route. However, we couldn’t see the point of cycling at night and missing some of the amazing scenery. Then when we (Liz) saw that Outer Detours were running a supported version we had no excuse.
The stats were a bit scary (582km, 11054m) for an early season adventure and it was going to be hard to get ready for those big miles /elevation so early in the year. It meant many hours in the attic chasing avatars and doing training sessions on Zwift. Bikes were serviced within an inch of their lives, and I believe Mc Convey Cycles are moving to a bigger premises on the proceeds.
All was going well till a week before when I contracted a serious man flu (well its always serious, isn’t it?) and right up to the night before departure it was touch and go.
Landing in Lanzarote in glorious sun made everything better straight away, although I did get the “not feeling great” excuse in early!
The other players were Matteo the director Sportif and founder of the Gran Guanche, Daniella our van driver ( but also with a very impressive cycling palmares including the Silk Road MTB no less), Weronika our other guide and photographer also put us to shame with stories of solo cycling across Morocco and other mental exploits. Lisa from England and Bjorn , Joep and Sjoerd ,all from the Netherlands and fearfully young and fit looking, made up the numbers . Photos copyright Erwin Sikkens with permission
On arrival day we had a short spin towards the north of the island (42 Km , 833m) with one of our Guides, Erwin “David Bailey” Sikkens who documented the week though his enormous camera lens , the product of his labours are superb as you can see. We were also joined by Christian from Luxembourg who had recently returned from altitude training in Columbia .. no pressure then.
Day 2 saw us loop first north then south to Playa Blanca 93km, (1122m ) amazing landscapes with every class of gravel from boulders to sand and included a vineyard inspection/tasting . The Hotel was amazing also with enormous suites and superb food .
Day 3 Ferry to Carralejo , along the west cost of Fuerteventura to La Pared ( 115km , 1713m). A stunning day with some tricky gravel sections .Some drama with a crash and broken spoke .. miraculously fixed .
Day 4 recovery day ( 33km , 560m) saw us drop further south towards the port of Morro Jable ready for an early ferry the next day . A lovely dip in the sea also .
5 , Ferry to Gan Canaria , very rough and I threw up on the ferry ! (74km , 2357m ) Weather started off lovely but as we ascended it started to lash and the temperature dropped severely , very close to hypothermia at the top, lesson learned .
Day 6 was in three parts , part 1 to the ferry (58km , 749m) , then quite a rough ferry journey to Tenerife but thankfully no throwing up! Then 45km, 1206m from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to San Cristobol de la Laguna . Lashing rain at the start.
Day 7 was the queen stage (108 km , 2436m) including a road ascent of Mount Tiede . The rain started early and the temperature dropped to near freezing at the top. Multiple layers of anything available were donned and at the top it looked grim. However withing 10minutes of gravel descent the sun came out and remained out for an awesome 30km gravel descent, followed by an equally awesome 30km road descent, interrupted only by a stop at a delightful café for lunch .
The hotels were all great, some even brilliant , although it has to be said we didn’t spend much time in any of them! , The support was superb with regular van stops and well planned gpx routes available to all . The photography from Erwin , Weronika and Matteo was so good I stopped taking photos on my phone .The Craic was great and the group got on really well . Book for next year NOW at at www.outerdetours.com then start training .