Afternoon in the Rain

Following my "Morning in the Mist" Vilaflor ride / walk with Nikki and Gizmo (see my previous post), this was the more 'extreme' version (in terms of mud, anyway). In a way, it was also an example of the way that the internet has changed our friendships, and our lives ...

I teamed up with someone who I'd met in cyberspace (on the Boards windsurfing forum). Pablo is a yacht captain who is taking his boat across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Like me, he's a keen windsurfing, with many years of sailing adventures to his name, so he stopped off in Tenerife to 'score' a few days of windsurfing in el Medano. Sadly the Wind God was not co-operating. So instead I offered to show him a different side of the Island, and do a bit of mountain biking up in the forest.

When I turned up at our usual meeting place (the bar Las Raices, at about 1100 metres, above La Esperanza) it was 14c, not too chilly ... but fully in the clouds, and steady rain was falling. The weather was foul really, and normally we would never venture up there on a day like that. I suggested that we just have a drink and cancel, but Pablo was not to be put off. This was despite him not exactly having what you might call 'technical' bike gear.

Just look at this picture ... I have my SPD bike shoes, Gortex bike jacket, helmet etc ... and Pablo has ... his 'official' / company / yacht uniform ... no helmet ... and deck shoes !

Despite the lack of suitably clothing, a bike that was possibly a decade older than my full-suss Marin, and never having seen the trail before, Pablo ended up 'smashing' the downhills at a furious pace.

Anyway, he's just about to set sail for Cabo Verde, and then the Atlantic crossing to Antigua. I wish him Bon Voyage ... and thank the internet for introducing me to somebody who lives the adventures of life to the full !

Morning in the Mist

We decided to take advantage of the extra hour this morning, and get out of town up into the mountains. It's been an oppressively hot & sticky autumn so far, and it was around 25c as we left the coast, so we weren't too upset as we watched the temperature dropping on the car thermometer as we climbed up to Vilaflor. When we got up to the track it was a very refreshing 14c, misty (in the clouds at about 1200 metres up), with occasional breaks of blue sky and sunshine.

I went for a bike ride ...

while Nikki and Gizmo went for a walk ...

There were a few puddles, but not too muddy. Doesn't look much like the Tenerife that most people know though ...

(photography by Nikki)

Friday 16th October ... Bright and Breezy

After several weeks of hot, sticky, windless weather, we finally had a storm. A few hours of torrential rain in the morning, followed by bright skies and a building SWly breeze. It ended up being very windy in the afternoon, as Nikki's pics show:

Sand was blowing off the beach onto the water, and getting in my eyes whenever I came near the beach !

In this next one, you can see that there was some swell, and there were rideable sets ... just not by me :-(

The next one is me, on a 3.7m sail ...

I can't say it was a relaxing sail ... very strong gusts, chop, and sand blowing everywhere.