Sunday
10 March
90km / 1100m
My first good cycle of the year,
the legs felt great and tomorrow I'll see how the heel is...
We
rented 2 gravel bikes, Nevis and Dearg, from a Dutch guy who
delivered them last night. We thought they were good but: Paul back
break pad is not existent, my bottom bracket was playing up, the gears
of the front ring hard to change and all the tyres badly worn. Still
better than those from last year!
Being Sunday we though the
roads would be quiet (wrong) and we could start the holiday with a long day on the saddle. We set
off at 8.15 along the promenade to Puerto del Carmen, which
thankfully was quiet (there are 2 kind of tourists in Lanzarote: human
sculptures and very run down human, only the first was out at this time). The
first bit was quiet and flat, then the climbing started, and it was
steep. Still, we didn't want to push because of my heel, and slowly
we made it up to La Asomada, along the LZ 504 (we finally found some kind of map with cycling roads in Lanzarote). From there it was not
too steep and finally we joined the LZ 30, the main and busy one to
Teguise. It was a mess of cars, windy and quiet chilly without the
sun. It turned out there was the Sundry market in Teguise, therefore
the crowd. We soon left directed to Haría, and it was another steep
climb to the highest point. There was everything: cyclists,
motorcycles and cars but we made it there in time for lunch: the best
bocadillo ever, with tomato tortilla and lettuce, obviously home
made.
From there it was a quick descent to Arrieta where
finally we got on the quieter ruta ciclista. The sun was out and we
were melting, can't believe I was freezing. 30 min before!
From
there it was all known territory, down to Costa Teguise and then on
the cycling path back home, with the must ice cream stop. We were
back at 2 and headed to the beach for some quality rest time, I love
walking on the beach, hopefully it will be good for the heel
too!
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| cycling in Lanzarote is great... |
Monday 11 March
18k walk
The weather was
not great today, cloudy, a bit chilly and windy. To let the legs
recuperate a bit we opted for a walk and chose a place we didn't go
last year. We needed to catch the bus n. 5 to Fermes, and when I
checked the timetable I saw there was only one, at 8.21am... it was a
bit rushed but we managed to catch it. A fierce women was driving it
rally style and we made it up there quickly, and amazingly we passed through
a road we cycled yesterday.
The village was deserted and it
was very windy at 300m. We set off at 9.05 and despite the lack of
signs it was easy to find. We climbed a bit and then contoured Pico
Redondo, with views from Plays Blanca, Formentera and Puerto del
Carmen. The landscape was very dry but beautiful, there were also
plenty of birds, no idea what they drink or eat...
It was a
long walk down on rough paths but finally we reached the coast. From
there the path went up and down the sun came out and we started
melting. Sun cream on! We finally reached the small and quiet Playa
Quemada and stopped there for lunch - a very sad and stale bocadillo
with avocado, humus and lettuce. I was quiet hungry despite the pizza
of the night before...
From there it was a kind of coastal path
with many up and downs, and amazingly with people, to Puerto Calero
first and then to Puerto del Carmen. We were so thirsty and stopped
as soon as we saw a shop for a cold drink, which was very fortunate
as the bus stop was 20 meters up the road and the bus arrived in 2 min...
We
got back to Arrecife shortly after 2pm and went to get a bowl of
acai, my first since I left Brazil! It was not really the
true thing but at least it was refreshing and hopefully we got some
vitamins back.
A few more errands and then back to the flat to
chill out. Hopefully the sun will be out tomorrow!
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| We found a yellow fruit on the ground and have no idea what that was. I just touched it with my tongue and gosh it was disgusting, it took me hours to get the taste out of my mouth! |
Tuesday 12 March
12k cycle +8k beach walk - recovery day
When I woke up the heel was not happy. I think I should have done more work on walking on rough paths, and the downhill, but oh well, something to bear in mind when I get back home.
We were planning a cycle but instead opted for a more chilled out day, and we both absolutely loved it! I spent a while doing stretching, then we got on the bikes on a lovely flat and slow cycle to Play Honda (kind of 5 km away...). There was a long beach and we walked all the way to Puerto del Carmen and back, as I figured walking barefoot on the beach and seawater should help with the rehab. You have to believe in something.
It was a true pleasure, like proper holiday! We got back for lunch and then headed to the beach again, this time for proper relax.
The foot is kind of better and I really hope from tomorrow we will start cycling again!
Wednesday 13 March
75km and 880m up
Today we got back on the saddle for more exploring, I can't believe that, Lanzarote being such a small island, so far we managed to see a new place every day!
The start was all known territory up to Teguise, via Costa Teguise, but this time we took the LZ 404 via Teseguite. It definitely felt much easier getting to Teguise this way than the route we took on Sunday, despite the headwind (amazingly, even being a circular route, we always had headwind, and a strong one!). It also felt much warmer and a pleasure to cycle given there was little traffic around. Once on Teguise we stopped at the café which was packed full on Sunday, and treated ourselves to a piece of apple cake and pistachio and raspberry muffin (the guy running it was sooo slow that we could well understood why the endless queue we saw on Sunday, but it was worth it!).
Teguise is indeed a pretty village, but the best part of the day was the descent on the LZ402 to La Caleta de Fámara, truly breathing with the view of Isla Graciosa and the Risco de Famara, I'm so glad we headed that way! Once we reached the beach, packed full of tourists and surfers, we stopped for a contemplative moment at such beauty.
We then headed back up on the LZ410. It was past 11 and we could feel both the heath and the headwind was like a hairdryer, but still enjoyable. Past the sleepy village of Soo things started to get harder, we were dehydrated and couldn't face the sun and the wind anymore. Luckily in Tiagua there was a mini market and we got some cold drinks, which we drank sitting at the bus stop in shade and we also got the bocadillo which restored energies. And we really needed them as next bit along the LZ58 was the worse ever! Uphill, headwind and rough as not even the worse gravel road!
Eventually we reached the LZ30, and then we got on the LZ301 to Montana Blanca where we finally reached the top. I still can't believe we climbed so much but it was probably just the headwind.
The descent to Playa Honda was super fast, but now the strong wind was at our side and it was a bit sketchy at times... Reaching the well known cycling path along the coast back home was reassuring and enjoyable (5km of tailwind!!!). We rewarded ourselves with an ice-cream and some beach time, spoiled by the wind...we will be back!!
Thursday 14 March
84km, 860m
Another sunny and windy cycling day, but thankfully we did get tail wind on the way back and a few clouds were around at lunch time which spared us the midday melt!
This time we headed to the Northern point of the island. I could definitely feel the legs when we set off but it was our last long day in the saddle and it had to be done. Up to Arrieta it was all known territory. We reached it short before 10am and stopped for coffee and croissant at a bar. Recharged we took the LZ 1 to Orzola, passing through Malpais de la Corona which was probably the best part of the day, I felt so small in the middle of the lava field. It was a bit of a coastal roller but not too bad, and it was a 12km stretch anyway so we soon reached the village. We stopped at the shop but there was not much there, at least we got a cold drink and stopped at the harbor to look at the see and Isla Graciosa (much better views of it from La Caleta...). We then kept going on the LZ 1, finally with tail wind, and headed up the climb. I was sweating buckets and the last bit was quite steep but eventually we reached the top and headed down to Arrieta and kept going to Mala. It was noon and I was in hunger crisis so we stopped at a bus stop for the best bocadillo ever (tortilla). Energies restored we retraced our steps back home. The descent to Costa Teguise was brutal with the headwind and I had to put a lot of power to get down, but after that it was all a smooth and quick return by the coast.
The afternoon was the usual ice-cream and beach, can't believe tomorrow is already our last day here!!
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| On top of the climb, about to melt |
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| Descent!!!! |
Friday 15 March
13 km flat cycle, 12km walk on the beach
Today we didn't come up to much as we thought we may as well enjoy what we won't see for a while: beach and sea.
We cycled down to Puerto del Carmen to return the bikes to Bike Sensation. It's always good to get rid of them and don't bother with boxes and packing and dragging them around.
The wind was super strong, like thank goodness we didn't cycle around as usual! There were no clouds for a change too, but walking back along the beach with the constant sound of the wind was not as pleasant as it could have been. Still, I'm glad we did it.
We got back to the flat in time for lunch, followed by Paul's last ice-cream, then last beach time, pizza for dinner and post dinner walk. This year it definitely went smoother than last one, mostly because we knew where everything is. Not sure we will be back though as we have seen pretty much everything by now. Time to look around?
Beach time!
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| Bye bye Lanzarote, can we take the sun with us? |
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