Austrian rides a unicycle from Puerto de la Cruz over Teide
Heimo Katzbauer covered 45 kilometres and 5,600 metres of ascent on one wheel, setting off at 2am to reach the Teide cable car station by 8am on his 50th birthday. See the pictures from his crossing to Los Gigantes.
Johannes Bornewasser is an author, journalist and editor-in-chief of Teneriffa News. He is regarded as a recognised expert on the Canary Islands. Bornewasser is also responsible for the editorial content of the website.
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The extreme sportsman had been training in his home country of Austria. His preparation took around half a year. Photo: private
«Katzi» has now completed 45 kilometres, with 5,600 metres of elevation gain and 150,000 pedal strokes. Teneriffa News documented the unicycle tour from planning right through to completion. Below are some photos of this unusual project:
Heimo Katzbauer has crossed Tenerife on a unicycle. Teneriffa News followed his journey from the planning stage right through to the actual journey.
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The extreme sportsman had been training in his home country of Austria. His preparations took around half a year.At 2 am, Katzbauer set off on his ascent of Mount Teide. Under cover of darkness, whilst there were still no tourists about, he began his climb, covering the first of a total of 5,600 metres of elevation gain.Equipped with a head torch, we set off into the night. The route is only lit for the first few kilometres. Once we’d passed through the last village, the path led through complete darkness until sunrise.Even though the road conditions were rather poor for such a daring endeavour, the extreme sportsman struck up a friendship with a team of road workers along the way. They took plenty of photos and communicated using hand gestures and body language. In return, ‚Katzi‘ was treated to a hearty breakfast.Katzbauer finally reached the tourist information centre at the foot of the national park. From there, the gradient isn’t as steep as it had been over the previous few kilometres. However, the path to Mount Teide still stretches on for quite a while.And then the moment had arrived: the Mount Teide Cable Car gondola is the highest point that can be reached directly by unicycle. At around 8 o’clock, Heimo Katzbauer had achieved this goal, which he had set himself on his 50th birthday.From the highest point of the tour, the route led back down to Los Gigantes in the south of Tenerife. Once we reached the beach there, we made our way back to Puerto de la Cruz with some locals, two buses and a taxi. But ‚Katzi‘ isn’t just any ordinary tourist. That’s why……after a short break, he decided to go for a spontaneous trip around the island. So, setting off again from Puerto de la Cruz, he made numerous stops along the way. Here, the Austrian took one such break in San Isidro.Along the way, they kept stopping for photos and brief chats. Passers-by and locals were simply too curious about ‚Katzi‘ and his strange vehicle.Unlike the tour of Mount Teide, however, «Katzi» took her time this time and stopped off for a few overnight stays along the way.But wherever Heimo Katzbauer went on his unicycle, people would invariably ask him about his unusual mode of transport. And, of course, one or two people wanted to have a go on it too.As well as taking lots of photos, we naturally stopped for a few refreshments along the way. So ‚Katzi‘ also came through his impromptu tour of Tenerife in fine fettle. And, incidentally, he’s now something of a minor celebrity on Tenerife.
Here you’ll find the full report on the unusual unicycle tour, including all the interviews and background information.
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