Rapha Condor Training Camp - Malaga

Day 1 Friday
Flights and travel went well, and the bikes inside their carefully packed bike boxes arrived unscathed.
I met Andy Verrall in the afternoon, the Rapha Condor full time head mechanic. Awesome guy, and what he doesn't know about bike maintenance can be written on the back of a postage stamp... classic cliche' but oh so true.

Andy gave me a bit of input and then I put the 5 bikes together. We had intended to ride that afternoon, but the rain poured, and poured and poured. We settled for some gym work, well the 3 RAAM riders did whilst Marco (team director) and I swam in the massive pool and enjoyed a much deserved sauna.

Met John Herety for dinner in the evening, he is the Rapha Condor director sportif' and like Andy, is so inspiring to listen to. In fact if we never rode all week, but just listened to the pair of them we'd still come back home better riders & mechanic than before we went.

Day 2 Saturday

P----d with rain all day. But we rode over 80km in the foul weather along with Andy Verrall. I rode with the group today and Marco drove the support van. We intend to take it in turns.
I completed my first ever 16km climb, which by looking around at the stunning scenery was only really in the foothills. It was a good start. The 3 RAAM riders are really showing how good they are now, they have trained hard and are all experienced riders. Obviously I can't keep up on the climbs, but I give it my best on each and every hill.
I rode a lot with Andy on the hills, we were always a few hundred yards behind the others.

Day 3 Sunday

We set off in the van today and made for Marbella. After almost an hour's drive we arrived at the millionaires playground. It's quiet at the moment, well out of season.
I drove & Marco rode first. The ride begun with an awesome climb up high into the mountains. Not sure of the exact distance but the Rapha team do it in around 1 hour 20 mins. Our lads did it in 1 hour and 40 mins. Now those boys are good, but you now get to appreciate how different their level of riding is compared to the pros! Marco did well but was tired when nearing the top, so time to change and I duly got myself ready.
Fortunately he had done nearly all of the climb, and I had only the last kilometre or so to do. Then a massive decent where my Garmin was regularly reading 70kmh plus. probably the fastest that I've ever ridden. Quite scary at times, but the motorists here unlike those back home in the UK show respect for cyclists, so that's one less problem to be worrying about whilst riding at such speeds.
The ride continued in the mountains with lots of climbing and some stunning descents. I completed over 50km of mountain riding and then swapped back with Marco. He rode the last leg and stayed with the group nearly all the way.
To sum up day 3, it was probably one of the best routes that I've ever ridden. Yes only 50km for me and 50 for Marco. The team did the whole hundred and all of us were buzzing at the end.

Back at the complex and there was very little maintenance work to do, the bikes were dry today so just some minor adjustments and lubrication and we're ready for tomorrows jaunt!

We intend to ride (all 5 of us) for around 3-4 hours. no support vehicle... so lets hope Marco and I don't hold them back.
Off to dinner soon for more exciting cycling stories from Andy & John.
Good nite.