"Vertigo" (Masca):

The Teno Mountain range possesses the most dramatic terrain on the island. Here is one place where mountains (between 700 and 1100m) plunge straight into the ocean. At this altitude, the sea appears as a great wall of water, a very unusual phenomenon - it can even be a little unnerving at times. The small village of Masca is a nice place to stop for a little break and enjoy the scenery, because you don’t come to these kinds of radical places every day. The descent into Masca is a rim-melter. It’s a very steep road, with more hairpins than a Japanese geisha house. The easiest route is to do the loop shown below in a clockwise direction.

Distance: 115km
Duration: 5-6 hours
Difficulty: Hard
Cumulative Ascent: 2550
Average Altitude: coming soon!

Route Map
Guided Ride: €45
With Bike hire + special lunch: €75.

"Sea-Snake" (Garachico / El Tanque):

Garachico is a charming old sea-side town at the foot of a 500m cliff, with loads of good places to eat. Founded in 1496, Garachico was home to the foremost seaport in Tenerife until it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 1706.

This is a relatively easy ride, along a good road that hugs the coast. Once there, there is a little-used road that snakes its way up the side of that cliff. It’s something akin to "The Furore" along the Amalfi coast in Italy. The whole route is shown on the altitude profile, with the highlight of the ride displayed on the map below.

You can expect traffic from El Puerto as far as Icod, although be aware that there is a good-quality uninterrupted cycle lane and great coastal views the whole way. In fact, most local road bikers choose to ride this particular circuit on the weekends (because it is one of the "flattest" rides), usually going as far as Buenavista before returning. By far the best time to do this route is on sunday morning, before lunchtime.

Distance: 80km
Duration: 3 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Cumulative Ascent: 1380m
Average Altitude: 200m

Route Map
Guided Ride: €30
With bike hire + lunch: €55.

"Die another day" (Tierra del Trigo):

This is the ride of all rides for all those masochistic climbers out there. Sure, the ascent is "only" 600m, but for the first two kilometres, the average gradient of this climb is 15%. Hell, even cars struggle up here. It’s the ultimate power climb, so fasten your crank-bolts well. You will need both physical and mental strength to successfully scale this positively brutal little road. We won’t take people up here unless they’ve proven their level of fitness to the guide beforehand. Exception: unless you’ve got those dorky triple chainrings on your road bike. (Yes ok, honesty compels us to admit that most of our hire bikes now come with triple chainrings, and we're not ashamed of using them) The good news? After tackling this, everything else seems flat!

Distance: 6km
Duration: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Extreme
Cumulative Ascent: 620m
Average Altitude: 300m

Route Map
Guided Ride: €40
With bike hire + lunch: €65.

"One for All" (Erjos):

Here is where things get interesting. We cycle through several towns (La Orotava, La Perdoma, Cruz Santa, Los Realejos, Icod El Alto, La Guancha, La Vega, La Montañeta, Erjos) that are perched high above the sea, along a bunch of secondary roads that we have selected, forming a completely new bicycle ride. There is some moderate climbing involved, but you are rewarded with an awesome descent! From Erjos to Icod (20km) is entirely downhill, this top-quality road winds its way through magnificent and varied scenery, including some small local farms, short sections of pine forrest and lava fields and then finally some stereotypical Spanish towns. If you're lucky you'll be able to see the island of La Palma in the distance towards the North West. This bike ride has a bit of everything; you won’t forget it.

It is also possible to do a similar ride starting from the Los Gigantes / Playa Arena / Puerto Santiago zone. Keep in mind that main road between Los Gigantes and Icod is one of the windiest roads on the whole of Tenerife. The distance "as the crow flies" between these two towns is only 17.85 km, yet the actual road that joins them is 35.7km long! Now to give you some sort of idea of just how twisty that is - if the road between these two places was a perfect sine curve, the length of that imaginary road would still only be 21.7km long... so it's no suprise that tourists often feel dizzy driving along here.

Distance: 90km
Duration: 4-5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Cumulative Ascent: 1870m
Average Altitude: coming soon!

Route Map
Guided Ride: €40
Bike hire + lunch: €65.

"End of the road" (Punta de Teno):

This is a wonderful coastal route, following the same road to get to Garachico. The road just before the end is, quite simply, astonishing. You can expect to see banana plantations and lots of coastline along the way.
Although the road never rises above an altitude of 200m, this is yet another testing ride. Why? Because almost the entire way, the road is either up or down. Hence, the cumulative altitude gain is still impressive. A few extra notes about cycling in this area: you'll need to bring a set of lights with you because there is one very dark tunnel just before the descent to Punta de Teno. It can also be pretty windy around there at times.

Distance: 105km
Duration: 5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Cumulative Ascent: 1700m
Average Altitude: ~200m

Route Map
Guided Ride: €40
With bike hire + lunch: €65.