Habb bike ride 2008 - day 2

The HABB annual bike ride is officially underway! Day 1 saw the courageous group tackling hills and caves in the name of charity. Today our team soldier on (in spite of thier aches and pains) and travel through, Teguise, the oldest town in the canary Islands.

Day 2:

Hi folks,

So yesterday was pretty tough, but so was today!!! After dinner last night, we had our debrief and Mark Foster won the yellow jersey for the day!! Then a group of us walked to the local bar for some well deserved beers (not too many mind you - the fatigue hit in big time once we sat down for dinner!)

Up again at 7am this morning to pack as we were saying goodbye to our hotel Santa Rosa in Costa Teguise. After a hearty breakfast, it was time to get back on the bikes. This is were many felt the first pangs of pain as they sat back on the seat! For Beatrice who missed her flight on Saturday and who didn´t cycle yesterday, the shock was going to hit!

The first part of the day involved 7.5km up a 150 elevation hill. Tough, but certainly got the legs working. Sprirts were high in the group as we encouraged each other along. There ws then another 5.5km up to Teguise where we were given a walking tour of the oldest town in the Canary Islands (see photo of all of us in the square).

We then had a 12km straight down an amazing hill, although the wind started to pick up and few were nearly blown off! The views were well worth it though. We then had a 100km climb up to Soo - this made a few people struggle, but the more experienced kept everyone going. At the top, it was a shrot ride to Club La Santa (the Olympic training village) - were we stopped on their beach to have lunch. A few brave soles went for a swim and one member of the team even went au natural!!! Unfortunately, Claire sustained an injury and had to have her knee strapped up for the rest of the day. But no pain, no gain, she managed on through!! All in the name of charity.

The next part was the most challenging as it was a 200m elevation and was spent in the face of a relentless wind, which made even the most experienced cyclists struggle. A few took to walking up some parts as it was a lot quicker then actually cycling. Claire dropped quite far back and struggled a lot, but thanks to Robert Soutar and Jonnie Cool, she managed to eventually make up the hill with her dodgy knee! Words of encourgement and talking kept the last few going all the way up in the face of the unforgiving wind.The traffic on this part was heavy, as Charles Dodds nearly found out due to a very rude driver pulling out in front of him.

A few chains coming off and a few stops to rest and recover, and we were on the main road to Yaiza and our final stop. The majority of this was downhill with amazing views and a few that had been lagging earlier on managed to be among the first to get to the bottom! All in the promise that we were only 6km away from our hotel (which was said about 3 times - gee, thanks Max Kramer, never trusting you again!!). We then eventaully saw the signs for Yaiza and our new hotel - home for two nights!

Then came the group stretching - the locals must think we are mad as we all line up together and are guided by Andrew Neilson as to how to stretch properly! But we all need it! Now, after 70km done and 700m elevation gained, its time for a nice hot bath, cold beer (well deserved by all) and dinner after another gruelling, but excellent day!

Until tomorrow..................were´s the sudacream????!!!!

Claire, Jonnie and Andrew