John Whitney

“What awaits you on Teide is apparent from the start. Staring up at it from the coast, it’s all laid out in front of you. It’s colossal. There are distinct sections to Tenerife, and my ride was a cross-sectional delve into it, with the arid, dusty towns closer to the coast giving way to vineyards, then forest above Vilaflor, before the lava fields of the summit reveal its true origins. I never doubted my ability to make it to the summit, it’s just that these contrasts didn’t exactly fly by, particular once Vilaflor was in the rearview, as the altitude began to dig in its claws. By the symbolic 2000m mark, I was panting hard and knew more than ever that, short of relocating my Zwift set-up to an altitude chamber, there are some things a computer game can’t prepare you for.”