Day 6 – Winter training camp
It was the final ride out of the winter training camp. Little Nemo was keen to do another outing and the 60km with the Spanish Posse yesterday looked an appropriate route.
The wind was still fearsome however the majority of the ride carried the wind at your back with only the ascent of Fire Mountain head into the wind. A small price to pay for an otherwise idealic route through the vinyards of Lanzarote.
The day started with The Fit One foremost in the thoughts of Bigman. The Primary reason for this was his call at 07:14 to see how the training was going! It was a short call.
Time for breakfast arrived an hour or so later and it was off to the bike shed to sort out Little Nemo with her trusty steed for the day. The temperature was back up to 25 degrees and extremely pleasant albeit the wind was still giving it full pelt.
As mentioned yesterday, the locals are sporting fine woolly jumpers and long trousers to fight the ‘cold’. Best dressed local today was sporting a balaclava. This is not a joke. If Bigman had thought he could have, he would have taken a photo to prove it. Instead, we will just have to trust him!
Little Nemo has certainly gained confidence on the road bike. At times she grew tired of the pace and wished she had a bigger cog on the front as she could not turn the pedals fast enough! It was not unusual for her to fly past Bigman wearing a massive grin from ear to ear ………………. Usually on a downhill.
After a coffee stop in Yaiza, it was time to tackle Fire Mountain. Little Nemo made it look like a damp squib as she fired up the mountain as if it did not exist. And she pushed hard down the other side leading into the wind. She has clearly got a sense of opportunity to race and the journey into LA Santa had Bigman imagining The Fit One was on his tail to inspire and motivate him to stay in front.
After lunch, Little Nemo went off to Fitball class. Not a mis-spelling. The exercise requires you to do various exercises on and with a large ball.
It seemed a bit extreme for Bigman so he went off to do a 1km swim. A 50 metre pool feels a lot longer than 2 X 25m lengths and certainly a lot less opportunity to push off frequently a quarter of the way up the pool.
But the key challenge for today was left until last. The final squash game of the week. It should have been an opportunity for father and daughter to bond, building relationships, however there was too much at stake. A David and Goliath story. Like two gunslingers duelling at noon, this would be fight to the death. A whisp of dust and you could easily mistake the scene for a spaghetti western. The pattern was predictable for the first two games.
Little Nemo takes the first and suffers ‘second game syndrome’ to lose the second. The third would be the decider. Little Nemo suggested best of five should she lose. Time did not permit as the supermarket shut soon and so it had to be now or never. Bigman felt confident that Little Nemo was already beaten in her head. And so it appeared, at 14-12 in favour of Bigman when Little Nemo took back serve to rocket to victory. The entrance to the squash court was not big enough to enable her smug grin to pass through. Note who is wearing the halo in the photo!
It was the final ride out of the winter training camp. Little Nemo was keen to do another outing and the 60km with the Spanish Posse yesterday looked an appropriate route.
The wind was still fearsome however the majority of the ride carried the wind at your back with only the ascent of Fire Mountain head into the wind. A small price to pay for an otherwise idealic route through the vinyards of Lanzarote.
The day started with The Fit One foremost in the thoughts of Bigman. The Primary reason for this was his call at 07:14 to see how the training was going! It was a short call.
Time for breakfast arrived an hour or so later and it was off to the bike shed to sort out Little Nemo with her trusty steed for the day. The temperature was back up to 25 degrees and extremely pleasant albeit the wind was still giving it full pelt.
As mentioned yesterday, the locals are sporting fine woolly jumpers and long trousers to fight the ‘cold’. Best dressed local today was sporting a balaclava. This is not a joke. If Bigman had thought he could have, he would have taken a photo to prove it. Instead, we will just have to trust him!
Little Nemo has certainly gained confidence on the road bike. At times she grew tired of the pace and wished she had a bigger cog on the front as she could not turn the pedals fast enough! It was not unusual for her to fly past Bigman wearing a massive grin from ear to ear ………………. Usually on a downhill.
After a coffee stop in Yaiza, it was time to tackle Fire Mountain. Little Nemo made it look like a damp squib as she fired up the mountain as if it did not exist. And she pushed hard down the other side leading into the wind. She has clearly got a sense of opportunity to race and the journey into LA Santa had Bigman imagining The Fit One was on his tail to inspire and motivate him to stay in front.
After lunch, Little Nemo went off to Fitball class. Not a mis-spelling. The exercise requires you to do various exercises on and with a large ball.
It seemed a bit extreme for Bigman so he went off to do a 1km swim. A 50 metre pool feels a lot longer than 2 X 25m lengths and certainly a lot less opportunity to push off frequently a quarter of the way up the pool.
But the key challenge for today was left until last. The final squash game of the week. It should have been an opportunity for father and daughter to bond, building relationships, however there was too much at stake. A David and Goliath story. Like two gunslingers duelling at noon, this would be fight to the death. A whisp of dust and you could easily mistake the scene for a spaghetti western. The pattern was predictable for the first two games.
Little Nemo takes the first and suffers ‘second game syndrome’ to lose the second. The third would be the decider. Little Nemo suggested best of five should she lose. Time did not permit as the supermarket shut soon and so it had to be now or never. Bigman felt confident that Little Nemo was already beaten in her head. And so it appeared, at 14-12 in favour of Bigman when Little Nemo took back serve to rocket to victory. The entrance to the squash court was not big enough to enable her smug grin to pass through. Note who is wearing the halo in the photo!
An extra match has been arranged for tomorrow prior to departure for the airport.
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