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 !