Lanza is a frickin' awesome race. Great location, challenging course, anglophile locals, dedicated repeat racers, and a low rent holiday spot to boot. Race is generally characterised by heat, wind and mountains. Oh, and lava fields.

I've done it once, and would love to do it again, but time, distance, money etc...

Coachcox.co.uk is a Brit coach who's raced in Lanza (and holds camps over there) and he's got some good write ups on the race. Tritalk.co.uk is a tri forum (allbeit it's a bit quiet these days) who's members regularly race in Lanza, so a thread search will get you some good info.

Regarding your bike, check your airline about oversized or sporting goods. They'll be able to advise according, but generally it counts as part of your luggage allowance.

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Swim. Overbike. Walk.

Awesome....thanks for the help...i will check up on what you suggested....

I salute you. My first IM was Muskoka because it was close and a friend challenged me to do it. Some of the local triathletes wouldn't do it even though they had done other fulls because it was perceived as a tough course. It was but what is the point of an "easy ironman" Take your time and make sure you don't overcook on the bike. Also be a little bit obsessive about taking enough calories and fluid on the bike. Yes just transport the bike as luggage. Best thing for first time is to rent or borrow a case.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I think it depends on the airline. Flying from LA to Hawaii with Continental I had to pay 150$ one way for the bike at the airport (not possible to reserve at booking). From Germany to Lanzarote I do not quite recall, but I vaguely remember I had to book it as a bicycle. It is normally too big to count as normal luggage and normally you have to pay. I would use a hard suitcase because the loaders throw around with luggage a lot.
Lanzarote is great I was there but had a dns because of a collarbone fracture but watched the race as a tourist. Car renting was easy and not too expensive on the island. Problems cause the wind on descents, so a shallow front wheel is recommended. The water is cold so it is a wetsuit swim.
Have a good race!

Enjoy! At least all others will be "easier" ;)

As for flying, get one of these! So happens to be on sale!
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https://rustersports.com/product/og-hen-house


Can check as normal luggage (not additional for a bike).


Best of luck!

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Carson Christen
Sport Scientist , Coach
Torden Multisport

just came back from 2 weeks training in Lanzarote. It is an amazing island and I can't recall any better place for riding. super smooth tarmac everywhere, stunning views. all kind of profiles.
I rode the entire 180k ironman course and I have to say it is tough!
the toughest ironman I ever did was IM Wales and there are probably some advantages in Lanza. except one technical winding downhill, all the others are crazy fast and straight where you can compensate somehow the uphill losses. again, super smooth roads allow you to relax your nerves on the downhills, 99% you wont get any rain also.
wind: yes it can be very windy but over 15 days I had 3 very windy days (>40mph), 5 moderate and about 7 with decent wind (never zero wind!).

for traveling I always use my Scicon Aerocomfort bag 2.0 since 10 years, no issue at all

good luck for your journey!

It was my second IM and t's a spectacular race. Made the first one seem relatively easy. Bike course is fantastic as you have probably already researched. My advice would be not to underestimate the run though. It was surprisingly hard for me, and likely a combination of longer time on the bike compared to a normal IM, weathing being pretty hot on the day, and course having a few rolling hills too. Altogether, it made the run really tough for me. Good luck!

I am doing IM Lanza this year. My first IM. I did a training week last year in March and doing the same again this year. Taking bikes there is easy enough, the airports and taxis etc are very used to bikes as they are arriving all the time so they are looked after.

Pueto del Carmen is the main resort town and also the start of the race, lots of places to stay there. Our training camp was at a place called Trisports Lanzarote. They do an IM week, they will take to to and from the start and down to practice swims and provide all food etc. The guy who runs it has done the IM a few times also. Its a great place, huge villa, 25m pool in the garden , secure bike shed. Worth looking at that if you are on your own. I am staying with the family in PDC.

The roads are great out there. The cars are very forgiving of bikes and will always give plenty of room to pass. I loved cycling out there. You get used to the wind after a couple of days. Sometimes it can be quite hard. We cycled down to a place called Famara. It was downhill but into the wind. Everyone said they had never had to cycle so hard down hill.

I can't wait. If I can hurry up and shift this post-viral cough/fatigue and get the training going again I will be even happier!

Hi,
I have done IM Lanzarote 4 times (1999,2000,2002,2012). It is a fantastic race. Yes, its a tough course, but you will be fine. It can be very, very windy but I rode a 808,404 combo last time which was no problem at all. The one piece of advice I would give you is to make sure you don't get sunburn as the sun is very strong. If you are not accustomed to the sun, wear a long sleeved top or make sure you have good sunscreen.
Have a great day.

Will

I did Lanzarote this year and had a blast! I’ve never suffered so much ina race I was in shape for!!! Overall great vacation too. My wife and I are both triathletes and we stayed at Club La Santa for 10 days before the race and 3 after. Can’t recommend Club La Santa enough. It’s maybe a bit no frills in terms of North American lodging amenities, but it’s clean, hospitable and the facilities are top notch. The staff will put your bike together for free, so any maintenance for you, it’s like having a pit crew.

The climbing is there, but pales in comparison to the wind. Ouch!!

We got lucky with bike fees - didn’t get charged by Air Canada on the way out, or by Aer Lingus on the way back.

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

I did it several years ago. I was woefully unprepared, blew up on the bike, then had breathing issues on the run and had to bail. Only race I ever dnfed. And having said all that I would love to do it again someday.

Seriously hard course. But gorgeous. You should rent a car and drive the course so you know what is in store. Very inexpensive.

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Proud member of the MSF (Maple Syrup Mafia)

If I remember, there is no direct flight from NY to Lanza so presuming that you're stopping over in Barcelona/Madrid/etc? One piece of advice I would give would be to try and have a big layover between flights to give the ground crew(s) more time to get the bike across. Let's say you have an hour and a half layover and your initial flight is delayed you're going to be stressed on the second flight worrying about your bike. To be extra sure a 4 hour layover would help.

You'll need to check luggage restriction for your particular flight for bike restrictions. There are some quite varied baggage rules... I ride a small bike and put it in a almost rectangular soft bag. When I'm at the airport I'll see what's cheaper: bikes, or oversized. If oversized is cheaper I tell them it's a massage table. Normally does the trick

Wow....thanks everyone for so much great info...it will help make it a better race and experience in general.....

Good advice

Yeah good idea. I have ridden bits of it on my training camps, I am arriving the Tuesday before hand so will be good to spend some time on the course. For those using a turbo through the winter there is a video on YouTube of someone following the entire course you can follow also

I would rather chill out than psyche myself out driving the course, personally.

Has anyone seen a virtual bike course for IM Lanzarote on any platform? I understand the course has changed this year, but I'd be happy to try the old course.

I am excited (slightly scared) to race Lanzarote this year and would like to get a more detailed sense of the ride other than 'really hard.'

It's probably on Rouvy. I don't have my laptop with me or I would check for you.

There are 4 versions on Rouvy from 110 to 112 miles. Sadly, none have video. If I were riding the virtual route, I would probably pick the one titled "IM Lanzarote 2016". It is 111 miles with 7864 feet. You could watch a 4 hr 17 min youtube video of the bike course while Rouvy is controlling your trainer and probably the Godfather after that. Have fun!!

TACX trainer software 4 has a real course video of the IM Lanzarote course; the software works with any ANT+ trainer. But, you have to buy both TTS 4.0 and the course video so it ends up being expensive. I did it and rode it twice virtually.

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

Thanks for the virtual leads everyone..and for the video recommendations. I'll chase these down.

 I did it and rode it twice virtually.[/quote]
Did you find it helpful?

It was slightly helpful - I think the biggest thing I learned from the virtual ride is that there is a lot of climbing, but ya very rarely very steep - just a long slog uphill for the first 70 miles or so. I think more helpful was showing up a week before the race and riding the course in sections. I ended up getting most of the course done in 20-40 mike chunks before the race. The winds are really what make this course hard, and that part is hard to experience virtually.

The good news is that if you’re thinking this hard about course recon/prep/etc., then you won’t take the race lightly and will do just fine. Most of the people that seemed to have issues with the course were the ones that went into it thinking “this is no big deal!”

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MS: Exercise Science
Your speed matters a lot, sometimes you need to be very fast, where sometimes you need to breakdown your speed.

I would rent a scooter/moped if you are confident on them. I did it for my bike course recce back in 2015 and I found it really useful being on two wheels. I am racing this year again and will do the same to check the bike course out. If you think it's something you might do, don't forget to pack a pair of jeans and some gloves. Also, at points on the scooter it was absolutely freezing at the top of some of the climbs (doing over 30mph with zero physical effort to keep you warm). I ended up buying a soft shell jacket from the expo at La Santa to keep me warm for the rest of the recce!