The island exceeds the expectations of five travellers in search of excitement and new challenges
You’re suddenly woken up by the sound of the landing gear wheels touching the ground, you look out of the plane window and see a group of runners on the promenade being overtaken by a pack of cyclists, a girl is practising wing foil on the sea and several sailing boats are competing in a regatta. A small, unanticipated smile appears on your lips and a whisper arrives from your subconscious: hello Lanzarote!
The plan is to spend a week on the island. These are not professional athletes, and they don’t practice a specific sport, but they’re looking for sporting experiences on their trips. This group of five have chosen Lanzarote for its climate, but above all they have been encouraged by the posts they have seen on social media showing well-known sportsmen and women whom they follow loyally appearing on different parts of the island.
Instagram: Chema Martínez
They’re staying at the Occidental Lanzarote Mar in Costa Teguise. They decide to dedicate the first day to cycling, and they start by going to eBike Lanzarote to rent 5 electric bicycles with which they can easily reach any point of the island with not much physical effort. The first route will take them to the village of Haría – a photo of Alistair Brownlee posted on Instagram of him and his brother on the demanding climb up Tabayesco is the reason for this.
A little help from the electric technology gets them to the welcoming village of Haría with no problems and they take the opportunity to recharge their batteries in one of the cafés in the square before continuing the route. On their way back to Costa Teguise they are overtaken by a group of cyclists in the middle of one of the training camps organised on the island.
Instagram: Alistair Brownlee
On the second day the plan is to improve their swimming technique and so they book a lane in their hotel’s 50 metre pool. With outside temperatures at 23°C they don’t feel much like putting on their swimming goggles in a heated pool, but they’re motivated by the sight of a team in the central lanes training at a very high pace, accompanied by several coaches.
One of the lads on the trip dares to go up to one of the coaches to ask which club they belong to. The coach points to one of his swimmers’ caps on which is silk-screened ‘ESP’: “we’re from the Open Water National Team“. After the training session, the group took the opportunity to have their photo taken with the members of the national team.
Instagram: Guillermo Olcina
The good weather encourages them to spend the third day in contact with the water, but this time in the Atlantic and on a windsurfing board. The impressive images they have seen on social media shared by the participants in the European competition held in Lanzarote encourage them to try out the racecourse.
The five travellers go to the Pro Center Lanzarote to rent all the necessary equipment and to get advice from Atxon Otaegui, ex-professional windsurfer and owner of the centre. Once in the water they enjoy a wonderful day not only playing with the wind and the waves but also watching what the other athletes are doing – they share space with windsurfers but also with wingers who are working on improving their technique with a view to participating, on this same stage, in the Wing Foil World Cup next July.
Instagram: Freestyle Pro Tour
The day after the exhausting day of windsurfing they take a break and decide to go to the Marina Rubicón, located in Playa Blanca. The day before they had been told that the IQ Foil Games Lanzarote was taking place and they didn’t want to miss the chance to see this new Olympic discipline live. They also took the opportunity to visit the Papagayo Beaches, the best way to recover after the intense sporting activity of the last few days.
Instagram: Marina Rubicón Sailing Center
Instagram: Perú Alfaro
No sooner do they leave the hotel when they pass Sara Pérez, a Spanish triathlete who is preparing for the season, as well as many other athletes on the promenade, who create a very pleasant atmosphere along the route. As they pass near the airport, they see the planes landing, an image they experienced from the other side of the small windows a few days ago. The GPS shows the 21 km mark right at Playa Grande, a place they have seen thousands of times in photos as it’s the epicentre of the Lanzarote IRONMAN.
Instagram: Sara Pérez
The sixth day is spent on a visit to Famara Beach to enjoy a day catching waves on a surfboard. They have hired the services of a surf school to learn how to handle themselves and they spend the day in foam, tumbles and laughter. They meet Lucía Martiño on the beach, the Galician surfer who spends several periods of the year on the island, and with a big smile she poses for a photo with the five delighted travellers who already have another interesting post to share.
Instagram: Lucia Martiño
