A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Hello good day from Amsterdam!

I am planning a trip to your island and I would like to know if you have large framesets (racebike) for hire. I am 1.96 cm and use frames of 65 cm. Do you offer this kind of sizes as rental bike ?

Looking forward hearing from you soon,

We have become well aware of just how tall some cyclists are, especially from the Netherlands and Germany!
The largest bike we have measures 65cm from centre-top. It is certainly big enough to fit you! Actually you might be interested to know that the tallest client so far had a height of 203cm!!

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The directions to the hostal seem a bit confusing. I’ve got to get to la Orotava somehow from the South airport, I’m not too sure how long that will take, maybe an hour or so? add another hour to get out of the airport, probably add another hour or two for getting lost…….

Well I can help you with the arrival. At least I hope this clears things up.

Option 1)
Direct from TFS to El Puerto de la Cruz. Titsa bus 340 is a direct service from TFS airport which also stops at TFN onroute Journey time is approximately 1 hour, depending on how crazy the bus driver is. Yes it’s convenient, but there are only 4 daily services which leave TFS airport at the following times: 09:45, 14:00, 20:00 and 23:30 [last time I checked when I wrote this].

Then there are a fair few regular lines that go from El Puerto de la Cruz to La Orotava. Numbers 101, 350, 352, 353 and 345 are the most common. The most you’ll have to wait in Puerto de la Cruz bus station is 30 minutes. Or you can catch the taxi from El Puerto to La Orotava for about €10-12.

Option 2)
Transfer at Santa Cruz. The bus 341 goes directly from TFS to Santa Cruz. It leaves TFS at 15:50, 16:50, 17:30, 18:30, 19:30…. then from Santa Cruz, you have a another choice: go direct to La Orotava (101, 107 & 108), OR go to El Puerto de la Cruz (102 or the 103 «without stopping»). Once in El Puerto de la Cruz, see above on how to get to La Orotava. The 101 bus from Santa Cruz, while interesting, goes via the old road, and stops at every little town along the way (and there are many). It’s the equivalent of an «all stations» train. While it’s a great way of getting to know how to avoid the busy TF5 freeway, I think after your journey, I’d give it a miss & wait for one of the other buses… cross your fingers and hope for the 103! Both the 107 and 108 lines also stop at TFN airport on the way to La Orotava.

It all depends if you like to be on the move or sit around twiddling your thumbs waiting for buses… generally they are on time or running 5-10 minutes late, but they always show up. Not like sydney trains which seem to get cancelled all the time. Hehehe.

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Do you deliver and collect bikes from Torviscus, as I am staying there next week and would like to hire a 56cm road for a day.

Is not usually practical for us to deliver a bike just for just one day since it’s quite a drive over there to the South and back. It means we’d have to either stay in the South until you’re finished with the bike, or else make 4 trips of almost 1.5 hours each. For that reason, we normally request 3 days minimum bike hire.

Most people that do decide to rent from us for 1 day come and hire a bike from La Orotava… for instance, there’s a great climb to the volcano crater just from where we’re located (with ~1850m ascent) that many people do starting right outside our place. They then they return it later in the day on the way back down. Once again, it’s best if you can schedule that, as I’d need to send you some arrival instructions.

Keep in mind that sometimes it is possible to arrange a days’ hire if we happen to be over in the direction over two consecutive days… best to check with us via e-mail in any case.

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Dear Sir/Madam

I am going to stay at Costa Adeje Gran Hotel from Saturday 8th to Friday 14th, and I wondering if your company can help me with hiring two bikes?

Best Regards

Yes we can definitely rent you 2 bikes. Please provide your current frame sizes, heights, and whether you prefer to hire road or MTBs.

Alternatively, you can reserve our rental bikes here.

Do you requre hotel delivery & pickup? (we are located in the North but we are happy to arrange it for you)

Thanks,
Leslie

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Hi Leslie!

We aro so sorry
We should put off our arrival till summer because its a crisis here
my friend lost work
so…its changed all our plans
but i hope we will do smth to change the situation and make it better for ourselves
thanks a lot for your efforts
and hope to visit Tenerife in summer or next year!

Hello,

Don’t worry – there is a crisis all over the world … it’s global … for example one of the weeks in January I had just one bicycle rented! Normally I have 5-10 or more bikes rented then, if not more. Luckily last month [February] was okay.

My Spanish partner also worked for Iberia and her work contract expired early and is now unemployed. Unfortunately she isn’t entitled to unemployment benefits because she hasn’t worked more than 365 days… incredible! Where I am from -Australia- the goverment automatically helps us when we don’t have enough work.

Anyway, that’s one of the reasons I sent the last newsletter – it’s times like these that we have to work harder than ever, especially if individuals & businesses want to survive. Instead of complaining about the crisis and wondering about why the economic situation is the way it is, I always try to maintain a positive, optimistic attitude for the future and keep working to find new clients. I’ve found that it certainly helps if you have clearly identifiable and reachable goal.

Thanks for your email & hope to see you one day in the future training in Tenerife!

-Leslie

Tags: Inspiration., That's Business, The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I’m pleased to announce that the Vertebrae Components website has been revamped! I wanted to keep the simplicity of the original webpage and also make it easier to navigate & update.

I don’t want the new website to be associated with a blog, because it isn’t one. It’s an online shop. I chose a very simple 1-column design template; I think what gives most blogs away is the sidebar with the blogroll in it. I also removed several things like search windows, RSS feeds, etc. The vertebrae-components webpage is essentially written page-by-page, not one post on top of the other.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you notice any bugs with the new layout or have any suggestions about how to make it more professional…

Tags: News Reel, Sales Pitch, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Dear Sirs,

We are an Italian travel operator focused on sport. Please could you send us as soon as possible offers on bike training camp in 2009?

Thanks cooperation

We are not planning any cycle training camps yet for 2009.
Most of our business concerns pro-quality road and mountainbike hire.

We can of course offer discounts for large groups of cyclists hiring bikes…

Thanks,
Leslie.

[cyclists are of course welcome to express their interest in Tenerife training camps using the comments function below]

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Having never been to Tenerife, we would appreciate any guidance on places to stay – we prefer to stay away from booming nightlife but would like reasonable access to a beach and some good places to eat.

The best place to stay is probably Puerto de la Cruz. Puerto de la Cruz is not like ugly Las Americas. It’s a more upmarket resort aimed at German & Scandinavian toursists. There are two beaches within El Puerto, and several better black beaches within easy cycling distance from there. I’d suggest the quieter «El Botannico» region of El Puerto to stay.

Garachico is a very tiny little town with just one or two places to stay (Quinta Roja), and a tiny tiny beach. Mainly tourists pass through there but don’t stay more than a day… there are also a bunch of traditional houses but they are generally not close to any beaches or restaurants.

Thanks very much for your enquiry,

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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What we would hope to do is a mix of road and mtb. Would it be feasible to rotate the bikes?

Swapping bikes is also okay with me – provided you stay close by or are prepared to drop the bike(s) back here yourself. Otherwise it will likely incur an additional delivery charge…

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Hello Leslie,

I can use your reservation form of course, but I have to know little more about possibilities. So I am pleased if you can give me your answers for the following questions.

Do you think that I could find suitable routes for three days (or even more if I like)? And so that the starting and finishing point is my own hotel Barcelo Varadero at Los Gigantes?

I have seen and planned your easier routes from PdlCruz to Teno and El Tanque or something like that. Is it possible to cycle from Los Gigantes via TF454 to Santa Barbara or somenthing? And what about TF47 to Adeje?

I am willing to have a pleasant trips for appr. 4 to 6 (more if necessary) hours per day?

And I am not a pro cyclist, anyway I have had road bicycle (with pedals) 8 years, but just a hobby. The total climbing is new matter for me, that is one reason to be so curious.

Thanks,

Hello,

Yes I think you will find some inteteresting routes for 3 days…

Firstly, I would cycle from Los Gigantes first to Santiago del Teide, then Masca, El Palmar valley, Buenavista, Garachico, El Tanque, Erjos and back to Los Gigantes. Click here for the route map. Another way past Santiago del Teide is via Los Llanos and La Vega.

Road TF-47 is OK but generally busy with traffic. There are several loops you can do around Adeje / Guía de Isora initially via TF47. I would ride to up to Chio via Playa San Juan, Guia de Isora and return via Arguayo and Tamaimo.

Although it is very scenic, the road TF38 to Mt Teide is quite bumpy… I think most people don’t enjoy riding down that road. It would be much better on a MTB / hybrid. Also the side roads to Teno Alto and Punta de Teno are interesting + scenic…

Thanks very much!

Leslie.

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To whom it may concern,
I was wondering if you have a women road bike for me to rent while I am in Tenerife. I am only 5 feet height and I think I am only comfortable for a 17.5″ frame. if you have a bike that fits me, please let me know. Thank you very much.

Hello,

Yes we do have 1 extra small 46cm road bike available. We also now have a 14″ MTB. Both bikes are a great fit for people 5’0″ – 5’5″ tall. I.e. women and children.

They have an alloy frame, alloy rims & good components. The most important thing is that they are XXXS size, with an ultra-short stem, so I know either one will fit you well. I’m not sure of the exact geometry … I can go and measure them if you like and get the exact top tube lengths. Plus they’ve both only been used once before!

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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This device is exquisitely CNC machined. I refer to it as a ‘device’ to convey a greater sense of the intricacy of its construction. It’s as much a work of art and engineering as it is a derailleur.

Replaceable parts:
Firstly, it’s completely rebuildable. The inner and outer link plates are removeable as are the pulley cages and upper / lower link knuckles. The pivots are held in place by tiny grubs screws. Allen head bolts are used throughout – even the High (H) and Low (L) derailleur limit screws utilise allen key fasteners!

Materials & overall finish:
Secondly, both the derailleur body and hardware are CNC machined 7075-T6 aluminium. The pivots are made of 6Al 4V Titanium. There is no side play whatsoever in the parallelogram link mechanism. In fact I can’t see the pivots ever becoming sloppy (unlike my SRAM X7 rear derailleur which is only a year old). I reckon this derailleur will just about be breaking in when other units are wearing out… So yes, this derailleur is built to last. Overall, you can tell that the body is precision machined. There are no burrs and the anodisation process is perfect.

How does it perform?
I’ve been using it exclusively with Vertebrae ceramic housing and I have not been disappointed. The only modification I needed to do was apply some loctite to the barrel adjuster threads. I also wrapped plumber’s teflon tape around the H and L limit screws to stop them vibrating loose. That was 6 months ago. Since then, I haven’t touched it. Shifting is flawless.

The bottom line:
I hope mine lasts the next 10 or 20 years and I think it probably will. The only down side is the exclusivity; these are not easy to get hold of because almost nobody sells them. They’re definitely not cheap but then they aren’t as expensive as the new campagnolo super record derailleurs sold by online retailers…

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I am staying in Las Americas during the week. I wont have a bike with me. I would like find some guided/group road rides about 3-4 hours steady winter pace, I usually ride with one of the foreign owned companies and I not checked the web for years. It would be nice to ride with a group I can understand.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Hello,

Well we can certainly supply you with a quality road rental bike + equipment, but group rides are not happening at the moment.

Regarding group rides, may I suggest you try the following:

1) Look at the following list of bike clubs in Tenerife and the Canary Islands. There are a few cycling clubs located in the South of Tenerife, such as Chaveña Cycle Club in Granadilla de Abona and Club Ciclista Chineje near Guía de Isora. You can then contact them directly for further info about group rides…

2) Failing that, consider joining the forum to post a question about meeting other cyclists here (just ask for help if you’d like to sign up).

3) Post a comment below with your intentions, in the hopes that other cyclists read it and respond.

Do please get back to me regarding your bike sizing + equipment needs. It’s best if you fill out the bike hire reservation form for that.

Thanks very much & happy cycling!

Les.

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Hello. Do you speak italian? If yes:

Salve.
Volevo sapere se mi potete noleggiare una bici Merida Road 905 o una Merida TFS 300, per tre giorni. Vorrei sapere il prezzo, e se la bici ha un bikecomputer.
Io dovrei essere al Jacaranda Hotel di Tenerife di Costa Adeje.
Grazie

If no:
Hello.
I wanted to know if I can rent a bike Merida Road 905 or 300 TFS Merida, for three days. I would like to know the price, and if the bike has a bikecomputer.
I should be at the Jacaranda Hotel in Tenerife Costa Adeje.
Thanks

Hello,

Unfortunately I don’t speak Italian, but naturally I would like to learn.

Many of our road bikes are already reserved/booked from next week. Yes we have a 300 TFS Merida in large size available whenever you need…. yes we can also install a cycle-computer for no extra, and you have a choice of slick or offroad tyres…

Thanks, Leslie

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Having found your web page very useful a trip to Tenerife is certainly being considered for a week of road cycling. Do you know if there any organised training camps on the island, or is it just a case of organise it all yourself?

Many thanks

Hello,

There aren’t any dedicated training camps organised on the island that I know of. This isn’t for the lack of trying, because I’ve been googling words like «cycling tenerife» etc for over 3 years. I have only ever seen a few cycle training camps in the Canary Islands, over in Lanzarote. These are usually organised in the UK & Germany; for that reason, I can’t see how they would be able to offer the best possible experience if they aren’t actually based there.

Tenerife Training camps and guided road rides were my original business plan. Since then, people have requested bike hire only so I’m happy to specialise in that now. When I’m a little more well known and have a bit more capital, I’d eventually like to get back to my original goal (probably after the economic crisis) and offer all-inclusive packages, including the neighbouring island La Gomera. For now, I think it’s easier and cheaper for people to organise their own cycling holidays in Tenerife. That way, you have more flexibility about where you want to stay, where you go & your travel dates. I provide a lot of free information & offer quality road and mountain bike hire.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,

-Leslie

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I am hoping you can help me I am arriving in tenerife south on Friday 14th March and I am staying in Puerto De La Cruz.

What is the best, quickest and cheapest way to get there from South Airport? Can you get from South Airport to North Airport and how?

I would be grateful for any help at all.

Many thanks

Hi,
The cheapest way is to catch the 340 bus right outside the airport terminal building. It goes pretty much directly to El Puerto & I it also stops at the North airport on route. But the trouble is there are only a limited number of services per day.

The alternative is to get the 341 bus to Santa Cruz, which comes each hour. Then from Santa Cruz, it’s best to get the 103 direct bus to El Puerto, or else the 102 which also goes via La Laguna & the North Airport – they leave every 30 minutes or so. The 101 bus from Santa Cruz to El Puerto is basically an «all stations» service so it takes much longer to arrive.

It’s best if you can buy a bono bus card first as it saves a bit of money. Have a look here for more info about other airport transfer options (you can also download the bus timetables there too).

Even from Santa cruz a taxi will cost > 45 Euros. Not much less from the North Airport, depending on the traffic.

Thanks,
Les

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Do you still offer guided road training rides?

Bike hire is proving to be the popular thing, so I have scaled back the emphasis on guided road training rides, and these days I pretty much offer bike hire exclusively. I also enjoy taking people on guided MTB rides.

Road rides are a bit of a different story. Right now I prefer to invest most of my capital my ever-expanding fleet of bikes than a dedicated van + trailer, etc. In the future I will surely offer guided road rides again, when I have a regular base of customers and people wish to explore the lesser-known regions of Tenerife & La Gomera. Then I will invest in a suitable vehicle to enable pickups and dropoffs (which is what cyclo tourists really want after all). We still don’t even have an official shopfront yet, but all in good time…

Tags: The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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What happens if I have trouble with the bike when I’m travelling with the bike on tenerife. Do you have a service for this like a replacement bike?

Yes I generally have replacement bikes available, except during peak periods.

My policy regarding broken bikes:

If you are riding somewhere in the North, then you can always call my mobile number, and I will come to you directly to fix or replace the bike provided I am free. I will try to get you back on the road and riding again as soon as I can, but since it is just me essentially running the whole business, I can’t be in two places at once so you may need to be a little patient and understanding. I can re-imburse (refund) you for the days you don’t have a bike (the wasted days), but so far that hasn’t been necessary. [Read more →]

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