Cycling in the Canaries

[ianrobo]

oh forgot to mention the drivers in Tenerife, - totally brilliant, even on hairpins etc, reving of engines and gentle beep to let you know someone is behind

[Ivor Tingting]

Gran Canaria for me as it has some stunning scenery inland, akin to a small Grand Canyon and Utah, great mountain roads, you have to like climbing though but the descents are awesome, some great coast roads and still excellent beaches. Check out Youtube. There are some great videos of riding there.

[GideonReade]

We've ridden quite a bit in Fuertaventura. Agree with previous comments. We always went at Xmas, it's horrible in summer, hot, windy, dusty. Would love to see other Canary Isles.

Don't overlook the off road options. Not terribly technical, just great gravelly trips. We often took fast hybrids with 1.6" slicks and mixed roads and gravel. It's usually bone dry, slicks fine. It can occasionally rain torrentially, and off road would be a mess for a few days.

If you do ride the FV west coast tracks in winter, pay attention to the waves & a few memorials if you go off track too look at the sea. People have been swept off pretty high rock ledges by the occasional bigger waves.

[TrevA]

We are in the middle of our week long holiday in Fuerteventura now. Ridden 3 days so far, 160 miles in the bank. Warm enough for shorts and short sleeve jersey. We are staying at Caleta de Fuste, not far from the airport (12 euros for a taxi). The wind has mainly been from the south, so we start off in that direction and get a tailwind home. Loving it so far, though it's meant to be windier tomorrow. Ave temp here is 18-20 degrees C during the day.

We did a bit off off road today, by mistake, trying to find a short cut from Tuineje back to Caleta. A bit stony for a road bike, so we had to turn back!

[Jellykiss]

We stayed in Los Llanos (La Palma) and walked to Tazacorte on a few occasions. I thought it was charming and the beach was clean and the water mostly calm enough to swim in. It definitely had the most traditional feel. You can also take whale and dolphin watching trips from there - we saw pilot whales! We did drive to Puerto Naos to see what it was like - it's a little more 'resorty' I'd say in as much as La Palma has resorts and it was where we saw the most English people. Mooching about has got to be Los Cancajos or Tazacorte. Los Cancajos is more touristy but being off season things are open practically all day. <SNIP>

[Jules59]

In 2021 my friend and I had two great days of mountainous cycling on Gran Canaria. We hired Colnago road bikes in Meloneras and managed, despite our age and the heat, a total of 110 miles and 11000ft climbing.

We are thinking of doing something similar this year - leaving our wives to irradiate themselves on the beach.

Does anyone have some recommendations for road cycling on the other islands, suitable for a couple of day rides on hired bikes.

[rotavator]

I have only been to Lanzarote, hiking not cycling, in December. The best thing about it was the weather which was perfect for hiking or cycling, although it can get windy apparently. Around 21 deg C max every day and just a bit of drizzle for half an hour. I saw a bike hire shop in Arrecife and there were quite a few cyclists on the roads and pootling around town and along the seafront. The scenery is not great unless you like deserts, volcanoes and lava flows!

[Jdsk]

A couple of pages from 2018:
[topics merged by moderator]

Jonathan

[Jules59]

Jonathon, many thanks

[cyclop]

Hired an mtb on Lanzarote and had a very strenuous day,riding up to the highest point,then carried the bike down steep,stony trails to the coast then bike-hiked back along the north coast,take fluids ,two 750 ml bottles.

[st599_uk]

The Canaries are in the Trade Winds, so yes, they can be windy. You also have a number of wind acceleration zones and 40 knots isn't unheard of on a nice day.

Azores may be better as the Azores high should create calmer conditions.

[al_yrpal]

Theres a sports hotel on Lanzarote. Its away from the worst tourist area. Lots of cyclists there, great for cycling. I think you can hire bikes. Very interesting volcanic hinterland, lots of interesting places to visit and lots of Artistic stuff all over.

https://www.jet2holidays.com/cycling-ho ... lsrc=aw.ds

Al

[al_yrpal]

Theres a sports hotel on Lanzarote. Its away from the worst tourist area. Lots of cyclists there, great for cycling. I think you can hire bikes. Very interesting volcanic hinterland, lots of interesting places to visit and lots of Artistic stuff all over. Dont miss Manrique's house and gallery.

https://www.jet2holidays.com/cycling-ho ... lsrc=aw.ds

Al

[MrsHJ]

If you have access to GCN have a look at slow pro tour for inspiration (or possibly what not to do!). The best bit is that they cover 5 of the islands I think.

https://app.globalcyclingnetwork.com/YNkiMJbZUByXRYmn8