Cycling in Canaries

sillybilly

Hello,

Planning a week or two trip to the canaries, early January, would hope to rent a bike and cycle each day. Nothing crazy, perhaps a nice 80-100km loop each day.

Any ideas as to which Island/ Location would be best suited to base myself?

Thanks

topcat77

i did a bit of cycling in Lazarote, Puerto del Carmen a few years back. Rented a bike and very happy with the bike and setup (http://revolutionlanzarote.com/#_=_)

Enduro

They all look good to me. Don't think you'd go wrong with any of them. Have experience of Lanza, Tenerife and GC. All are good. GC probably best for MTB if you're that way inclined. Tenerife probably best for hill (the entire Island is basically the biggest mountain in Spain, hence the singular hill!). More climate variety on Tenerife and GC than Lanza.

Wishbone Ash

sillybilly wrote: »

... Nothing crazy, perhaps a nice 80-100km loop each day...

Just bear in mind that the Canaries are very mountainous - a 100k ride could involve 2-3,000m of climbing.

sillybilly

Great thanks for all that. So which Island has the best variety of cycle routes...
a mixture of flat and hilly preferably..

Fian

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Just bear in mind that the Canaries are very mountainous - a 100k ride could involve 2-3,000m of climbing.

Though you could instead do 100km along the coast with no hills to speak of, which is what i did in Gran Canaria when I was there.

If you do go into the mountains the roads are great, lovely surfaces.

Great weather, nice views, cool breezes, warm seas.

bike rental is pretty expensive though.

dohouch

Bring warm clothes. Yeah , really. Tenerife can be very windy in the south, the north of the island is much nicer IMHO, really green and lush with great serpentine climbs, La Palma ( the green canary ) is also good, La Gomera you have 500 meters of flat when you arrive and after that it's a 1,00 meter climb to go anywhere , all roads go through and over the centre of the island.

About the warm clothes, Tenerife and La Palma can get a cloud ceiling around 600 meters and when you hit that the temperature drops about 10 degrees

Enduro

sillybilly wrote: »

Great thanks for all that. So which Island has the best variety of cycle routes...
a mixture of flat and hilly preferably..

Have a look at the bike hire and bike tour shop's websites and see their sample routes. That should give you a few ideas. Or just have a look at the islands on OpenCycleMap to see a good view of what roads go where over what hills.

I found Lanza a bit small after a few days. Was covering a fair whack of the Island each day. Tenerife was the opposite... kept teasing me with the what could have been if only I had the time to keep going. I've covered GC more on foot, but know that there is a great variety of roads going accross the island, as well as around it.

GC and Tenerife are far more populous than other islands. However they both have near orbital motorways that take most of the heavy traffic, leaving the old roads much quieter. Lanza and Furtaventura have much smaller populations and no motorways. On all the islands I found the drivers exceptionally respectful and patient with cyclists. Not a single dangerous overtake.

I'm going to Tenerife again next, as that's the one I want to explore more (both on bike and foot).

Plastik

I've only been to Lanza and I had seen enough of it after 100k. It all looked the same after 3h.

mossym

just back from lanza last week, got 3 days cycling in while there. epic as always. usually get a bike for a few days while out there. wind can be atrocious, having to pedal to stay moving while going down a hill, but blowing you along at 40km/hr without pedalling in the other direction. have cycled the last 3 or 4 holidays out there, and done a race.

tabayesco is a must do if you to to lanza.

Eamonnator

+1 on Tabayesco.

If you're renting in Lanzarote, there are lots of options, Renners, Flistons and BH Concept are all on the outskirts of PDC.
and all get good reviews. There are others in Playa Teguise, Playa Blanca and La Santa.

killalanerr

Eamonnator wrote: »

+1 on Tabayesco.

If you're renting in Lanzarote, there are lots of options, Renners, Flistons and BH Concept are all on the outskirts of PDC.
and all get good reviews. There are others in Playa Teguise, Playa Blanca and La Santa.

I get out to lanzo most years,that wind is a killer is it the same on the other Islands ?

mossym

killalanerr wrote: »

I get out to lanzo most years,that wind is a killer is it the same on the other Islands ?

in multiple days cycling out there i;ve had no wind (rarely), little to strong wind Typically), and last week the strongest winds i've seen out there, it's pure luck of the draw.


on rental in Lanza, have always used Renners in PdC, including for the race i did out there, and never been let down

sillybilly

Ah great, thanks a mill for all the replies, lots to work with there

Bikerbhoy

http://www.cyclegrancanaria.com/

macadam

mossym wrote: »

in multiple days cycling out there i;ve had no wind (rarely), little to strong wind Typically), and last week the strongest winds i've seen out there, it's pure luck of the draw.


on rental in Lanza, have always used Renners in PdC, including for the race i did out there, and never been let down

+1 on Renner Bikes They have two shops in PdC One beside Fariones apts and Raw hide and the other behind Sol Sombre and California snack bar on the strip up from the Casino, ask for Peter he was an employee now a partner he will give you a good deal, maybe an extra day. Only back myself, the Eastwind was unreal last Saturday and Sunday, but the temperatures were great 30 deg.Tabayesco is a great spin and you can make up routes some lovely villages and great descents.

sillybilly

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'm now kinda thinking other options.

Has anyone been anywhere else cycling in January? Spain, France etc?

spyderski

You won't get the weather anywhere else in Europe in January - unless you fancy snow cycling you're pretty much limited to the Canaries. VEry south of Spain might be alright, but probably 5-10 degrees colder than the Canaries at that time.

daviddenis

I hired from Flistons in Puerto Del Carmen. Was really impressed. Would hire again. Brillant service.

Cycled in fuerventura aswell. We stayed in calesta de fuste. Only had one bike shop. Over priced and poor quality bikes. Never again.


Be careful of wind in canaries. Nearly killed me in fuerventura. Only ended up doing 60km

Also Lanzarote is small enough would get island done in day.

Fuerventura is bigger island and is scenery is more interesting than lanzarote. But Fuerventura is the windiest island out of them all, Id check out bike hire north of island if deciding on Fuerventura

Donie75

I rented in Puerto Del Carmen before. Did Renners once but his stock was very limited as he supplies a lot of winter training camps and there was a load of Olympic teams over training that year.
Also rented from Revolution and they were excellent. Nice Spesh Tarmac. They were also very busy and found it hard to get a bike the second week when I hadn't booked.
I also rented from Flinstones. Their bikes are very racy Bottechnia carbon bikes. Very racy geometry and standard chainset meant I couldn't get up the hill out of PDC. They changed it for a compact but I wasn't a fan of the very low front setup.
Heading back for Christmas this year and going to rent for 2-3 days.

option

i did a bit of cycling in Gran Canaria, it was nice! (except the hotel, bu it s another story!)

macadam

Donie75 wrote: »

I rented in Puerto Del Carmen before. Did Renners once but his stock was very limited as he supplies a lot of winter training camps and there was a load of Olympic teams over training that year.
Also rented from Revolution and they were excellent. Nice Spesh Tarmac. They were also very busy and found it hard to get a bike the second week when I hadn't booked.
I also rented from Flinstones. Their bikes are very racy Bottechnia carbon bikes. Very racy geometry and standard chainset meant I couldn't get up the hill out of PDC. They changed it for a compact but I wasn't a fan of the very low front setup.
Heading back for Christmas this year and going to rent for 2-3 days.

There is another bike rental shop at the Calle Juan Carlos, opposite Aparthotel Puerto del Carmen, this is the newest shop opened last Feb they hire Planet X bikes, they also run cycling tour groups everyday.

Doc07

macadam wrote: »

There is another bike rental shop at the Calle Juan Carlos, opposite Aparthotel Puerto del Carmen, this is the newest shop opened last Feb they hire Planet X bikes, they also run cycling tour groups everyday.

If you are staying Playa Blanca or Costa Teguise, I would recommend Papagayo bikes. Good price and service and they run trips also. Dropped bike to my hotel for me. They had Mercx and Cannondales.

nilhg

I've cycled in both Lanzarote and Tenerife, both were very enjoyable and I'd have no problem recommending either.

Lanza is a much smaller island so if you were intending to cycle a lot you'd see most of the island quite quickly and there's less variety to the landscape than in Tenerife but having said that there's some lovely challenging cycling there, especially when the wind blows, which is most of the time....

I rented there from Proaction BH, found them good, bike was lovely and reasonably priced, no problem going back.

http://www.proactionbh.com/

I was in Tenerife a couple of weeks ago, really enjoyed the cycling there too, slightly different to Lanza in that there was more traffic, most of the drivers were fine but a few were a bit inclined to get a little close, I was speaking to someone about that and he reckoned that the locals were good but that there were more hire cars there.

The big difference from Lanza is the height of the climbs, from Los Cristianos up to the crater rim was 33km @6% with hardly any sections where the gradient falls below 3% but you can always go part of the way up then go sideways, there are some lovely quiet roads doing that.

I rented from Bike point in Las Americas, which is a big busy shop, very professional, again I'd be happy to go back to them.

http://www.bikepointtenerife.com/

If you do go to Tenerife, consider having a go at the climb up to Toucho, it's a bit of a drag out to the start and a tough drag up but well worth it for the view from the top.

http://veloviewer.com/segment/1989661

Exiled1

Have cycled in Lanzarote on several occasions. Always used Revolution Bikes, their new shop is on Calle Juan Carlos, I think. Top class service and advice.
The wind will always be a factor but there are lots of possibilities depending on the wind direction. Lots of opportunities for climbing, you would have a bellyful by the time you topped Femes from Playa Blanca and the down hill run to Yaiza is scary enough.

rollingscone

My father is planning on doing some cycling this month based out of Costa Teguise in Lanzarote, 50-80km routes (he did 50s last year but has been progressing nicely with his club and completed a few centuries at this point).

Is it a case of take the most generous gearing possible for all routes?

Is it worth him loading few routes from RidewithGPS on the 810 before he goes? (have the canaries on his mapset)

ford2600

rollingscone wrote: »

Is it a case of take the most generous gearing possible for all routes?

Is it worth him loading few routes from RidewithGPS on the 810 before he goes? (have the canaries on his mapset)

The rental bikes in GC are typically compacts with 30 sprocket on rear, he might not need it but might be glad to have it.

Most countries don't have our endless amount of boreens/laneways and with half a sense of direction cycling in most European countries is much easier in terms of navigation. Even if he gets a little lost, it'll be a story to tell over a few beers.

maps.me app or similar you can find your location with just gps signal and no need for data

Exiled1

Difficult to get too lost in Lanza. His bike shop should be able to assist with routes. Wouldn't be too concerned about gears etc. .....get out there and enjoy the spin and sunshine.

Eamonnator

rollingscone wrote: »

My father is planning on doing some cycling this month based out of Costa Teguise in Lanzarote, 50-80km routes (he did 50s last year but has been progressing nicely with his club and completed a few centuries at this point).

Is it a case of take the most generous gearing possible for all routes?

Is it worth him loading few routes from RidewithGPS on the 810 before he goes? (have the canaries on his mapset)

I'm mid 60s, a bit overweight but quite fit. . I go to Lanzarote every year. I use 34-50 chainrings with 11-28 cassette. I am reasonably comfortable on Tabayesco.

seanin4711

Best hotel/accomodation in GC specifically Maspalomas/playa des ingles ,need to be close to bike hire(freemotion).thanks

Large bottle small glass

Cordial hotel in Mogan is decent on same site as freemotion.

Quite part of island at the end of the motorway