Adrian Miles

“Under three hours. That was my target. In El Medano, the sun was searing and the traffic bustling. I expected harder breathing later on, at altitude. I just hadn’t bargained on the traffic fumes. Come my first checkpoint, Granadilla, I was on target. To my second, Vilaflor, I turned dizzy through the relentlessly bending road. Focusing on cadence, as Zwift has conditioned me, was my priority. I stopped for a refill in Vilaflor, the final chance before the summit, and remained on target, but the pause broke my momentum. Through the forest I embraced the much-needed shade, only for cramp in my right leg, which gnawed away. Despite stopping to stretch it out, it was enough to send me 11 minutes over my summit target. Still, I’d made it there - a full-on test of endurance and a challenge like no other.”