CANARY IN A COALMINE

Gran fondo novice Emma Lewis heads to the Canaries and throws herself into the two-day Vuelta Ciclista a Lanzarote, featuring one Alberto Contador…

Emma Lewis

The James Brown tune ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World’ comes on the radio, filling the coach, and does nothing for my pre-event nerves as I sit surrounded by serious-looking, wiry, tanned men in Lycra. It’s 6.30am, pitch black outside and I’m feeling very out of my depth as a relative newcomer to the world of clipless pedals and hurting for fun. Last night’s stress dream involved being very unprepared to get married and being handed my great-grandmother-inlaw-to-be’s hideous silver dress with lace trim to wear minutes before the ceremony was due to start. I’ll let you psychoanalyse that one. It feels several steps up from the only other cycling event I’ve done – the Etape Caledonia in the Scottish Highlands, 14 years ago in my pre-kids other life, when…

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Cycling Plus (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 2025

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