A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

From looking at the route maps, it looks like most all the rides could start and end in Puerto de la Cruz. Is a rental car needed to meet you for any rides or can you get by without one most of the time? I might want to rent a car for a few days to drive to other parts of the island for sightseeing.

Congratulations on Cadel Evans making the podium in the Tour. I am a big fan of Robbie McEwen, he is spunky. Here on the US race circuit one of the guys I cheer for is Nathan O’Neill, he is a very smart and funny guy.

I enjoy your blog as well, thanks for sharing all the information.

Thanks,

Yes I think it’s a good idea to hire a car, at least for a couple of days. It’s not absolutely 100% necessary, but it allows you to make the most of your cycling vacation. The rides could start & end in El Puerto without one but there are a few things to consider:

1) They will be extremely long & difficult so you need to be very fit. Some hardcore cyclists feel this is cheating and enjoy the challenge of climbing to the base of Mount Teide (2300m) starting from sea level.
2) Of course if you want to do shorter rides, it’s better to start from more scenic locations away from the main urban zones, such as La Orotava, Las Mercedes, Santiago del Teide, Garachico, La Esperanza, San Andrés, Vilaflor and Granadilla de Abona. That way you will also avoid the same roads and the traffic around Puerto de la Cruz… the only problem is that you will need to loop back to pick up the car, so sometimes I recommend catching one of the local buses instead.

Guided road rides aren’t as popular as you’d think, so I prefer to concentrate on bike hire only for now. I’m slowly changing the website to reflect that new focus. I’ll also post new rides and routes in future.

I’m glad you like the blog! By the way, I’m definitely not a fan of Robbie. My sister and I call him Robbie «Excuses» McEwen, ‘cause when he doesn’t produce a win, he blames it on something other than himself. Hehehe. Stuart O’Grady is much more «down to Earth» and we all love him.

Cheers!
Leslie.

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