volcano riding

Over in Lanzarote at the moment and took on a bit of a tour type ride yesterday. 55km of very very strange terrain. Rocks and lunar landscapes like you'd not believe. The last 10km turned into a three man race. Edward from Holland being my main competition. We swapped and changed position three times on a hell of a climb back up to mid point of a large volcano. In the end though I powered away from him. Heart rate was over 175 for 20mins ha ha.

Riding on the volcanic rock is most alien, grip but also very out of control. Madness.

I was riding a Ghost asr 69 I think. Full suspension and cross country geometry. Pretty nice.

Had a epic crash! ! On the road !
Was trying something I'd seen on YouTube which was to lower and raise seat post on the fly. Ended up pulling the wrong brake as in Europe they're reversed and went over the bars! Lots of blood and cups and bruises ha ha.

Nice work. Where did you ride out from? I love Lanzarote and there's lots of good riding both on and off road there.

Next mission, hire a road bike and do the road up from Playa Blanca to Femes It's not massively long but it doesn't half hurt. There's some epic stuff around the north of the island (Haria) and if the Femes climb doesn't tax you too much then go and do some of the stuff up there. The climb up to the Mirador Del Rio is a goodie!!*

*although none of it is as tough as Tenerife!

the road to Femes is a beast... only did that in the Seat though going from P.B to Femes seems a LOT steeper though. I was coming down the 'flat' bit towards P.B and without touching the accellerator i was just cruising at 110kph, not losing any speed... so even that bit must have a decent incline. The last tight bit must be VERY hard.

We set out from a layby just next to Timanfaya national park, ended up over by La Santa then a couple of other villages i can't recall, but mostly in the dirt paths and tracks.

We didn't venture up North this year at all as we did all the touristy stuff the year before and my lad isn't old enough to appreicate it yet. The only thing i dislike about the roads is the erratic tourists... jeez they're scary, not sure i'd wanna be on a pedal bike with them around.

My leg bruise is now 12"x10", not terribly painful though but plenty of colours of the rainbow. The small burn/cut about 1" x 1" on my hand is the most inconvenient though as it's an irritation for cycling. I'm hoping that clears up by the w/e.

Lanzarote is a very, very under-rated island because everyone just thinks Scousers and replica football shirts.........oh!

Yeah, we rolled down that "flat" at a similar speed in our hired Hyundai I30!!! Gave me a bit of a clue as to what was to come trying to go back up it. The restaurant at the top of that hill overlooking PB (next to the Femes village square) does the best paella.

Know what you mean about the tourist drivers. It's less of a problem towards the north or over towards La Santa/Famara simply because the locals are much more respectful of cyclists, there are less tourists and the ones that are there tend to be the more "sporty" types who understand the pain you're going through.

Glad to hear that the injuries aren't causing you too many issues!