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Feeling the hot sun on your skin, the summer breeze on your face, smooth glistening tarmac roads and wearing nothing but shorts and a jersey...day dreaming yet? Well I certainly have been since the minute I returned to Glasgow.
We stayed in Tauro which is located on the south east side of the island which offers a much quieter setting than the ever popular cycling hotspot of Maspalomas. By no means were we missing out on the action though our hotel, Anfi Tauro, used to be the home of the Tinkoff Bike Academy. Where the likes of Peter Sagan and Alberto Contador amongst others stayed for their winter training.
We arrived late on the first day so unfortunately no riding. However we did have time to unpack our bikes from the shops awesome Bike Box Allan travel cases. Being as vertically challenged as I am and a huge bike nerd it was essential that I brought Suzy, my custom Cannondale Supersix Evo. Sean was also able to bring his beloved Cervelo S5 thanks to the shops new Aero Bike Box Allan which accommodates for saucy integrated cockpits!
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Riding our own bikes in the sun on beautiful roads for the first time in years, due to you know what, got to our heads a bit...on the first day we attempted one of the hardest climbs on the island - Soria. Bearing in mind we had came from -2 degrees and snow the day before to 33 degrees and I had not ridden as much as I'd promised myself in the lead up to the holiday, its safe to say it was a shock to the system. Nothing a can of full fat coke and a hand full of Haribo couldn't fix though. 2.5 sunny hours in the legs followed by an afternoon by the pool was a welcome change from the depth of Scottish winter regardless of the sore legs.
Day 3 consisted of another mountainous day from Tauro - Maspolomas - Ayagaures, where we had a beautiful 10 mile descent! before returning via the coast to the hotel. This was my favourite day of the trip, not only because of the huge sweeping descent, as the scenery was sublime offering a convenient distraction from my lack of climbing prowess. However there was inevitably another bonk which was again revived by emergency roadside sugary goodness.
The remainder of the week was tackled at a more relaxed pace with a few cafe stops and unfortunately our big plan to ride to the highest point of the island was trashed due to a Marine Weather Warning (high winds). We did try to go for it anyway, but after nearly being blown off our bikes, we thought otherwise.
So with no surprise to anyone, a great week was had topping up our cycling tan, consuming amazing coffee and riding new roads. Is it to soon to book another flight out? I am seriously considering it, Turbo miles just don't hit the same as Spanish ones...I cannot recommend cycling in Gran Canaria enough so make sure you head out if you can! Thanks for reading everyone, i'll see you in the next one.
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