Ride like the professionals

If you are going to do the Tour (one week ahead); then (in my head) you do a training camp (or two) to get the miles before the Tour itself.

So in the midst of a little bit of comment – such as “Not another holiday”, it seemed like a good idea to go and do a little altitude training week in Tenerife (well we can always pretend).

So three days after seeing Dr Gary Palmer (@ Sportstest); who said what I needed to be doing was ‘long and flat’ rides, I set off for a sunshine break in Tenerife.

Three immediate things I should point out:-

1. Tenerife in March was cloudy, windy and occasionally cold – until the morning I went back to the airport (when it was 22° and getting warmer).
2. There is no such thing as flat in Tenerife!
3. There is absolutely no such thing as flat in Tenerife!

But I didn’t have any grounds for complaint, two things (on the bike at Mount Teide) – both times riding up through the cloud cover I came to discover amazing blue skies and fantastic scenery. The second time as I “crawled” up Teide; a couple of ‘Bahrain Merida’ professionals cycled past – chatting as if they had nothing better to do – I wished it was that easy!!

The rest a mixture of rides exploring an island with the most amazing rock formations and variations in fauna – with roads that go from super-smooth to the ones that vibrate your hands off the bike.

But it’s done; and as I returned to the UK I realised (following an e-mail from Sarah and Tracey at Tour de Force) – we are under 100 days to the Tour!