5000km At El Campo De Pamo, Tenerife
Ever since my first road bike three years ago Marvin has been challenging me to ride at least 5000km in a year. I was only getting started in the sport of cycling and had a bad fit on the bike. I wasn’t really enjoying rides to the fullest and never got near that number…
So I experimented a bit, read up a bunch, and asked a Unicorn for advice. By the end of 2020 my Bianchi had a new home and I was hunting for deals all over the EU’s second-hand marketplaces. Eventually the right parts appeared. I built a blacked-out Principia with Super Record 11sp and the perfect fit made me more confident (it also looks bomb, especially with my BBUC gear happiness). More riding became possible and I did my best to help others into cycling. The whole summer season was fun! As the year drew to a close I was on the verge of that 5k.
Bar-master and Unicorn legend Pamo, aka Pamosonic, planned a training camp around that time in his personal paradise of Teneriffe and invited me to join four weeks of “Campo de Pamo”. He had masterfully curated routes for every level of challenge and a lot of fitness. If you’re not familiar with the legend, here is a sick recap from back in the day hehe…
My first thoughts were worried and insecure. I had never traveled to another cycling destination. I had only ridden around our backyard Wienerwald and Weinviertel. By that time winter mode was settling in too. Then again, the thought of overcoming Marvin’s challenge on El Teide was a big motivation. Eventually I signed up for the plan and let go of expectations. Then I was lucky when a fellow Unicorn kindly lent me the bike bag and necessities to make travel possible. No excuses?
Our base camp was located in the southern part of Teneriffe, where there are different routes leading to the longest continuous climb in Europe reaching 2,356m in altitude. We explored the east side of the island, which is also super windy, ascended El Teide twice, and somewhere along the way achieved my 5000km goal! There was more than riding too. We hiked in the red hills, swam in the natural pools of Los Abrigos, and chugged our daily Doradas…
It was a marvelous time, one for the books and my proudest moment on the bike so far. Shout out to Pamo for hosting an unforgettable experience, especially for allowing me to sleep on his shitty sofa while he enjoyed a bedroom with a beautiful ocean view.
11 Days Of #CampoDePamo Recapped In Photos
(NSFW shots excluded on Pamo’s request 🙈)
Words and photos by Jomar
