Liam's 2014- Road Cycling Boredom and a Love of Redbull

Redbull, Spartans and Road Cycling Frustration

My 2014 started in the way of previous years. Lots of road cycling. Concentrating on doing the necessary to get up to race fitness and to finally nail that elusive 2nd Cat License. The mileage built up prior to a March training week on the island of Lanzarote. Having previously been out to Majorca for training I was really looking forward to a different environment for training.

I found Lanzarote fantastic for training. The Island is big enough and challenging enough for a week of riding although the strength of the wind can make rides a little sole destroying at times when you're on your own. There are some great climbs on the island to really test a rider and some beautiful scenery, particularly riding through Timanfaya park and the vineyards of La Geria.

I hired a bike (A Cinelli Xperience with an Alloy frame and 105 groupset) from Tommy's Bikes Costa Teguise for a reasonable price and of decent quality although it did need a replacement bottom bracket from the off. I wasn't too worried about an ultra-lightweight carbon bike having come from my heavy winter bike at home and used to lugging some weight up the climbs.

Teguise Market, March 2014 Lanzarote Training Camp with my Tommy's Bikes Costa Teguise Cinelli Xperience

In the space of 6 days of riding I averaged around 5 hours of riding a day and believe I must have hit at least 450 miles, maybe closer to 500 miles with a mixture of climbing days, intervals and just generally enjoying riding on the island. I'll definitely be back in future for some more training and possibly even the Lanzarote Ironman,