Breakfast was indeed all one could have hoped for and more!
Athletes, especially triathletes happen to be the fussiest
bunch of eaters I know. Well, this breakfast had something for EVERYONE. Every
kind of bread you can imagine, gluten free, rye bread, white brown and
everything in-between. A smoothie bar manned by a guy churning out smoothies
like no-body’s business. An egg area, for whatever kind of egg you would like!
Omelettes, that Spanish thing I have forgotten the name of, like quiche without
the pastry. My fave is the ‘make your own museli’ station which has load of
different dried fruits and nuts. All kinds of milk, soya, even no lactose milk!
And of course cooked breakfast including fried courgette and all kinds of
strange stuff along with all the faves. Basically everything!
The staff also seemed to have warmed up a bit and have been helpful and friendly. Someone even kindly showed me around the apartments as I think that might be nicer (and easier for food etc) when I come back for the Challenge race in April.
The staff also seemed to have warmed up a bit and have been helpful and friendly. Someone even kindly showed me around the apartments as I think that might be nicer (and easier for food etc) when I come back for the Challenge race in April.
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| This is pretty much the landscape! |
My thoughts on the bike course (The Challenge Fuerteventura bike
route) is it basically has 4 distinctive parts;
Undulating
HILLY/mountainous
Undulating
Flat and fast
I think that hydration and feeding are going to be critical
on the bike, its very hot and humid even now in December. The wind ads anew
problem to the equation too, since taking a bottle to drink from, at the same
time as a strong gust nearly sent me tumbling into a ditch!
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| Hydrating on the beach! Nearby café with great coffee and free Wi-Fi! |
I have found there is a wild cat feeding area in the hotel! Some
very friendly kitties seem to mooch about here. This provided a nice
distraction from the pain in my legs for about 5 minutes!
Dinner was as good as breakfast, everything you could hope
for and lots of it! My only criticism is that drinks are pretty pricey, and
they don’t let you take your own bottles in, even just water.
Day 2 and the rest of the week 
Went for a little dip in the sea which was lovely. The sea
temp is about 19 degrees centigrade. There were a few little tropical fish
floating about, but after they had gone the seabed was pretty barron! Just
black and volcanic! It’s a really good beach for OW swimming as there are a
number of bouys fairly near the beach so great for sighting practice. Off on the bike again after breakfast and I went on a short-ish ride down to the south. It must have been hotter than yesterday, but the wind masked that. I only realised how strong the sun was when I got back and saw my lovely red arms and crazy tan legs in the mirror!
I ran off the bike today…cripes! Windy and hilly made for a
fairly miserable run…however I got some new tan lines. Ehem….I mean burn lines!
I swam in the evening in one of the later sessions, and now I
know why no one swims then…it gets freeing! I couldn’t finish the session since
my head was pounding and I started getting black spots in my eyes! 10 mins in a
hot shower and normality was restored.
The pool is an extra EUR2.70 for an hour. It was really
clean and 8 lovely wide lanes in the sunshine :)
Very nice for someone who hates swimming.
One day I decided to try out the small fishing village adjacent to the resort. I went to a lovely restraint and decided sea food would be the best option given the nature of the location. I had a delicious meal, and cheeky EUR2.00 glass of wine! The dinner was lovely and on the seafront. Perfect place and way to unwind after an intense day in the sun! And it was really reasonable. The dinner was also accompanied by the local kitties, fine for me as a cat lady, but others weren't so keen!
One day I decided to try out the small fishing village adjacent to the resort. I went to a lovely restraint and decided sea food would be the best option given the nature of the location. I had a delicious meal, and cheeky EUR2.00 glass of wine! The dinner was lovely and on the seafront. Perfect place and way to unwind after an intense day in the sun! And it was really reasonable. The dinner was also accompanied by the local kitties, fine for me as a cat lady, but others weren't so keen!
Last day
I had a late flight which meant after checking out at 1100,
I had some time to kill. I did a swim and sesh in the gym (which is free to
hotel guests). The gym is large and really well equipped. Lots of eights and machines, plus all the foam rollers and thera-bands you would expect in a top-class gym. The staff kindly stored my bike and luggage for me so I was free to swish about the resort as I pleased. A bit of trg and a lot of book reading, and then it was time to leave :'(
Concluding thoughts
The resort is really clean and well set up for runners, triathletes and generally active people. The weather in Demember was lovely, not too hot, but sunny enough to top up the vitamin D levels and get a bit of a pre-Christmas tan! The staff were actually very friendly and helpful, I think they were just having a bad day when I arrived. The food is good and plentiful! The cycling is as challenging as you want it to be, but beware, its not called the windy island for nothing.
I would definitely go back for a week, or more of training. The long flight time (4h +) makes it a little too far for any time less than a week. Looking forward to being back for the Challenge event! And by looking forward....I mean totally terrified by the hills, the heat and the sheer enormity of 70.3 (for the Sprint and SD distance girl anyway!)
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