A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

1. Your brake levers easily hit the handlebars, consequently you’re not stopping like you’re supposed to.
2. You don’t have the power to skid either wheel.
3. You start smelling that all too familiar smell of burnt brake pads.
4. You have to do a virtual panic stop just to enable you to slow down.
5. You’ve warped your disc rotors, and they stay warped no matter what you try and do to straighten them.
6. You get hand fatigue on long descents.
7. You want to be able to brake with one or two fingers, so you can maintain control of your bike properly.
8. Your current braking system has all the requisite symptoms of bipolar disorder (it’s either «on» or «off» and there’s no inbetween).
9. Riding in the rain has become an unthinkable activity.
10. You want to be faster, braking for each corner at the last possible moment.

Tags: Ride the Volcano!, Sales Pitch, The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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1] La Esperanza РIza̱a
There are several approaches to the centre of the island, and this Eastern one has the best combination of road surface, length, spectacular views and the least amount of traffic.

2] Barroso – Aguamansa – El Portillo – Mt. Teide
The road around Aguamansa has just been resurfaced this year; dare I say it but the TF21 approach from the North of the Island this has now become a world-class climb. It’s often a few degrees cooler than the Southern approach, which is great in the hot Summer months. It’s also sheltered quite from the wind (compared to Arico for example).

3] Granadilla – Vilaflor – Mt. Teide
Lots of cycle-tourists will already know this route as many are based in Las Americas or Los Cristianos and therefore it’s the most convenient climb. It has lots of smooth sweeping bends past Vilaflor, which make for some fast descending.

4] Almáciga – Taganana – Pico del Inglés
This ride is highly recommended. It’s steeper than the others, but the topography is truly amazing.

5] Arafo РIza̱a
Choose this route if you’ve aready explored some roads in Tenerife & you’re looking for a Sunny approach to the top of Tenerife.

6] Buenavista – Masca – Santiago del Teide
A top-ten list wouldn’t be complete without including a ride to Masca. Prepare yourself for the last 5km, because the road out of Masca climbs 450 metres in only 3.4km, giving an average gradient of over 13%

7] Afur РPico del Ingl̩s
One of my favourites simply because it’s more isolated than other climbs.

8] Los Silos – Tierra del Trigo – El Tanque – Erjos
The first part of this road is brutal. It literally zig-zags up the side of a cliff face. From afar, you wouldn’t think a road like this is even possible. If you’re looking for your new HR_max, you won’t be disappointed.

9] Los Gigantes – Tamaimo – Santiago del Teide – Las Llanadas
This road is one of the steeper ascents in the South of Tenerife, so make sure you choose the right gearing.

10] Batan de Abajao РPico del Ingl̩s
Another personal favourite, but not easy to get to.

Tags: Ride the Volcano!, The Bike Guru by Dr. Leslie Brown
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With nearly 4 months notice, I’d like to annouce that we’ll be closed from 09/05/09 – 25/06/09. This means bike hire and guided rides won’t be possible during that time. Of course the website will continue to function and I’ll administer it while I’m away. Throughout May and June I’ll still be able to answer emails and take advanced bookings for the remainder of the 2009 Summer. The bike hire service will resume as normal after that date.

The reason for the closure? After two years of non-stop work, I’m long overdue for a break. I haven’t left this island since June 2007 and I haven’t seen my family in Australia since then either. The May / June period is the slowest time of year for bike rentals, so I’m taking the opportunity to catch up with family, friends and relatives over there. At this time, we’re still unsure if my partner will be able to travel with me. I’m really look forward to it!

I do sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope business picks up more in future…

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano!, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I originally started the business with the intention of doing guided road bike training rides (hence the original website name Tenerife-Training). Some weeks I was riding 500km or more and climbing 10,000 metres cumulative ascent. Of course I became incredibly fit. Even during the weeks I wasn’t taking anybody I felt obliged to maintain my fitness. When I was desperate for money, I’d even go out with just one or two people, but to be honest the groups were never that big. I soon realised it was too much effort for too little financial gain. And then training like a professional cyclist while simultaneously trying to grow and establish a full-time business [singlehandedly] was too much stress. It was a recipe for physical injury & sickness. [Read more →]

Tags: Ride the Volcano!, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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This morning I was driving in the South and saw two cyclists riding in single file between Las Americas and Los Gigantes on a single lane road. As you all know I am an avid cyclist, but these pair were really starting to annoy me. Why? Basically they weren’t riding very fast and refused to move over to let cars safely overtake them. [Read more →]

Tags: Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Over the last two or three years, I have compiled a list of cycling clubs in the Canary Islands. I had previously linked to all of them through this blog, but it was becoming un-manageable because there are now a total of 35 links to all of the clubs’ websites. I don’t imagine many Spanish people read this cycling blog, so I have moved the list of local cycling clubs to my spanish cycling forum, here, because I think it’s a more convenient location for these links.

Tags: Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I think I have an idea of what road riders seek.

What they are looking for more than anything is to be as far away from civilisation as possible (just like mountainbikers), but with the knowledge that if they need anything, they can have access to it. That might mean that extra water, mechanical backup, etc is only a phone call away. It’s kind of impossible, but there you have it. [Read more →]

Tags: Learning Curve, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The main road TF21 to Las Cañadas is currently receiving an upgrade around the Aguamansa region, for a distance of approximately 300 metres. That brief section is currently not sealed. I feel obliged to point out that beyond the cafe’s in Aguamansa, the road to Mt Teide resumes as normal (just in case cyclists think that the horrible road surface continues the whole way up). It is possible to bypass around the workzone, but it is not marked as an official detour. [Read more →]

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Many famous names in professional cycling come to Tenerife, including Lance Armstrong, Marco Pantani and Miguel Indurain. A longer list of professional cyclists that have trained in Tenerife can be seen here.

Tenerife is one of the seven Canary Islands, a volcanic island chain belonging to Spain. Tenerife is located in the Atlantic ocean, about 250km off the African coastline (Western Sahara).

Tenerife, the world’s third largest island volcano, is an ideal training destination for serious cyclists as there are several continuous 2300 metre (7000 ft) ascents which commence from sea level. Mt Teide, rising to 3718m can often be seen rising above the surrounding terrain.

Many professional cyclists choose to train in Tenerife during the winter season when the rest of Europe experiences much cold temperatures. The Canary Islands are generally regarded as the Sothern-most part of Europe; Tenerife’s local climate is obviously a lot milder than what the European mainland experiences, even despite the mountains. So much so, cycling in Tenerife is possible all year round.

Professional cycle training camps are often based at Las Cañadas in the centre of Tenerife. El Parador, the only hotel allowed within the entire El Teide National Park, is located at an altitude of 2100m. From here, cyclists are able to become accustomed to high-altitude training within the surrounding volcanic crater; the elevation in this region always exceeds 2000 m.

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The most important thing to remember if you haven’t ever cycled in mountainous terrain is APPROPRIATE GEARING. I can’t stress that enough. The best gearing for climbing are the following options:

1) 53/39/30 chainring with 12-25 cassette

2) 50/34 chainring with 12-28 cassette

3) 53/39 with 12-32 cassette

All of these choices provide what I call «the magic 1.2 low gear ratio» which will be perfect for climbs ranging from 5 – 10 or even up to [Read more →]

Tags: Learning Curve, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I must admit that I’ve overlooked the needs of triathletes lately. In many respects, Tenerife would be an ideal location for European triathletes looking for triathlon training zones. Apart from several swimming pools & gymnasiums around the local resorts, there are many ocean swimming spots dotted around the coast. We have great weather all year round, and don’t forget the legendary 2300m climb to the base of Mt Teide!

I have one medium/large triathlon frameset which I could either rent out as a triathlon bike or sell. This has dedicated tri geometry, 650c wheels and could be equipped with a set of time-trial aerobars.

[poll=15]

Tags: Ride the Volcano!, Sales Pitch by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I recently wrote an article about the steepest street in the world, Calle Monroy. So after diligently studying the countour maps provided by Google Maps, I decided to take a look for myself, IN PERSON (no one ever does that these days!) I wanted to observe the entire street to judge it for myself, compare it with the other steep streets in the region, and of course take some photos.

I’d previously explored this region in 2006 and came across a sign which warned of a 30% grade! Despite the maze-like network of tiny roads and streets, I managed to find the same sign again; it appears at the top of the adjacent steet, «La Calzada». The top section of this street is so incredibly steep that concrete is used to seal this road instead of bitumen or tarmac. Note that there are grooves moulded into the concrete in a chevron pattern to aid in the traction of vehicles going up or down this terrible slope.

I’ll confess that I did not even attempt to climb this street. I know it is well beyond my current capability. Not only that, but it can be dangerous: if you fail an attempt, you will inevitably fall of and slide backwards down the incredibly steep slope… it’s hard enough to stop with good brakes as it is. On the opposite side of the road, a small shrine stands as a rememberance to someone who died here. So I decided wisely to approach it from the top and decend the whole length of Monroy St instead. Even so, I have thoughtfully provided some free advice for tackling hills with 20%, 30% and even 40% gradients (see below). [Read more →]

Tags: Learning Curve, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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The guiness book of records states that Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand is the steepest street in the world. According to the figures, the Baldwin St is 359m in length (horizontal measurement) with a total elevation gain of ~80m.  The plaque states that «over the 161.2 metre length of the top section, it climbs a vertical height of 47.22 metres, which is an average gradient of 1 in 3.4.1. On its steepest section, the gradient is 1 in 2.86. However, there is some dispute over this as only 6m out of the total street length at the steepest gradient.

I’ve seen Baldwin Street in the flesh and was somehwat disappointed – in fact the first part is almost flat! It then ramps up considerably towards the top section. Hence, the average gradient of the entire street is more like 1 in 4.375. That’s the trouble with New Zealand – they tend to exaggerate a lot. So I would like to challenge that record today by making yet another claim for the worlds steepest street:

After scouring over online topographic contour maps, I have chosen Calle Monroy in the district of Santa Ursula, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. I do not possess a global positioning system (GPS) to accurately gauge its gradient. Nevertheless, we can estimate that the length of this street from the data provided by Google maps. Monroy Street descends from 638 to 430 metres in a length of only 740 metres. Therefore, the average gradient over the entire street is 28.1% (a slope of 1 in 3.56) compared to Baldwin Street with an average gradient of only ~22.3%.

Besides, the photo to the left shows that the steepest part of the road has a slope with a ~40% gradient (caculated by the pixel method)! Now until some bright spark can come up with another street with a steeper average gradient, which can be confirmed, I’m going out on a limb and labelling Monroy Street the «steepest street in the world», albeit unoffcially! Or if you prefer: «the street with the highest average gradient». But I think the first one is more correct.

Oh and as far as I am concerned, taking slope readings only on the very steepest parts of the same street is cheating. If that were the case, I’d claim the inside portion of this street. Measured over a few centimetres, the gradient is technically about 80% over the length of one particular piece of aggregate!! Hell, you could probably even find a patch of tarmac with a slope greater than 100% on if you used a micrometer. Obviously, that’s not at all fair. For this reason alone, I challenge people to take the average slope over the whole length of the street. Take the reading from the very beginning to the very end of the same street, don’t leave any sections out, and neither can you add two or more street sections together. Also, I think it should be compulsory that the street has to have a name recognised by the local council…

If you take the entire length of the street and then determine the average gradient the way I propose, Monroy Street (Calle Monroy) appears to come out as the winner. This street does not have any flat parts; it is the steepest continuous grade sealed street with public access that I am aware of, also plainly visible in Google Maps.

OTHER CANDIDATES:

One other very steep street that I spotted also resides in the district of Santa Ursula. This particular street, which includes Calle Los Tosqueras for most of its length, descends from 1012 to 348 metres in a length of 2.5km, although the top section is not paved. Furthermore, Calle Los Tosqueras diverts horizontally while the steeper adjoining street has a different and as yet unknown name.

However, the neighbouring zones of La Corujera and Toscas de Ana María also provide many other possible candidates for the world’s steepest street. Camino el Monte, Calle La Calzada, Calle Las Turcas, Calle Los Castaños, Camino Los Pajales and Camino La Banderola are all noteworthy, boasting average gradients close to or exceeding 25% slope. Other extremely steep streets in the North of Tenerife worth a mention are Calle Argentina in Icod de Los Vinos and last but not least: Camino de Chasna in La Orotava.

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Sorry for the lousy cartoon - it was the only semi-decent one I could find about bicycle races. Anyway, I’ve just uploaded the Canary Islands cycle racing events calender for 2008; It is written in Spanish & you can download it HERE in pdf format.

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I’d really appreciate it if a few of you cyclists could take the time to fill in this brief one-page survey. It will only take 3-5 minutes of your time, and will help us improve our bicycle hire & tours service. We don’t ask for any personal information & your answers are kept strictly confidential.

The aim of the survey is to:

1. Receive feedback about future potential hire bikes + rental equipment and the level of quality that customers expect or desire.
2. Evaluate the website’s effectiveness in displaying information
3. Find ways to improve the website.
4. Devise ways to significantly increase our web traffic and hence our exposure by effective marketing.
5. To acertain your future level of interest with regards to cycling and training events in Tenerife.

Here’s your chance to have your say!  🙂
Thanks,
The management.

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano!, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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As cyclists are exposed to the elements whenever we go for a ride, it’s vital that we possess some sort of weather prediction strategy. It is no fun being dressed inapprpriately and then freezing later on through inadequate knowledge & planning.

Here I’m going to attempt to demonstrate the ways in which local Canarian people are able to predict the local weather patterns reasonably well. Note that these observations are based from La Orotava, in the North of Tenerife:

• General overcast conditions (stratus cloud cover) almost never produces rain, especially if you can see patches of blue sky directly above.
• Clouds creeping over Mt Teide & Las Canadas from a Southerly direction (the mountain range behind Puerto de la Cruz) is not a good sign. When it is accompanied by heavy wind, together these are the attributes of a big storm – especially if the clouds are dark. Expect rain, lightning & snow above 2000m, and even heavier winds to come! Everyone is advised to stay out of Las Cañadas during a storm; the winds make it very dangerous. Don’t even think about cycling up there during a storm! Better to stay indoors – the conditions will usually improve within 24 hours. There are usually only a handful of heavy storms per year, most often occurring in the Winter season.
• If you can see reflections of the clouds in the sea towards the North, and consistent/continous cumulus clouds rising above the ocean, then it is probably going to rain within a few hours.
• If you can clearly see the island of La Palma from Tenerife, some say that rain is assured. (I’m yet to be convinced of this)
• If there is dust in the air, a calima is present. Expect elevated temperatures during day and reduced temperatures at night. This phenomonen usually lasts 2-3 days but sometimes as long as one week. There will normally be a temperature inversion, meaning that the higher you go up the slopes of Mt Teide, the hotter it gets. Las Cañadas is particularly hot during a calima.
• ‘White horses’ on the ocean and large waves breaking on the shore obviously means that it is (or will soon be) windy; this is often visible from 5 or more kilometres away!
• Puerto de la Cruz is always sunnier than the rest of the La Orotava valley as the coastline juts out beyond the reach of the «sea of clouds».

From personal observation, it seems that the weather slips into one of three weather patterns:

1. Normal – overcast, but no rain. (telltale sign = stratus clouds between 1000-1500m)
2. Calima – unusually hot and dry with no clouds present. (telltale sign = presence of dust suspension in the atmosphere, no clouds)
3. Stormy – wind, rain, fog, snow, lightning. (telltale sign = heavy wind + cumulus clouds above 2000m)

I guess you could say that the periodic alternation between these three states is a normal chaotic weather pattern. Whenever there are 2 or more of these weather states present at the same time, that’s when the weather appears to be acting strangely. I could be wrong but the calima & storm weather patterns appear to be mutually exclusive.

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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This a great tasting refreshing drink commonly available here in Spain. It’s almost identical in flavour to Staminade, another refreshing (Australian) drink that has been popular since the 1970’s.

It’s really good because it’s not only cheap, but it actually quenches your thirst, unlike those hyper-sweetened gatorade & powerade sports drinks available on the market. It is sold «flat», i.e. it’s not a bubbly drink and contains no CO₂ gases. For the first time in history, the citrus orange flavour tastes superior to the lemon version. Although this product is not specifically aimed at athletes, it should be…

Anyway, I started drinking this a few weeks ago whenever I feel dehydrated; on a particularly hot day, I recall that one of my local relatives here in Tenerife ordered it in a traditional spanish bar. Judging purely by the label, it’s not something I would have ordered, especially knowing what some drinks taste like. Next time you’re at a roadside bar on a hot day in Tenerife, you might like to try it!

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano!, Spoke Bed by Dr. Leslie Brown
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It’s recently become apparant by simple observation (& also looking at brake pad wear patterns) that many cyclists use the wrong braking technique for steep descents (>10%) here in Tenerife. For maximum braking effect when travelling in a straight line, you only really need to use the front brake. Using only the rear brake is a recipe for disaster because the rear wheel will eventually skid and you could possibly lose control -you react by jamming on the front brake as your only last remaining alternative and that’s what gets you into trouble.

• Don’t be afraid to use the front brake – due to the distribution of weight, it’s by far the most effective of the two brakes.
• It is best to use the front brake for stopping, and the rear brake for «speed modulation». 
• Never apruptly apply the front brake while taking a corner, or the front wheel can slide out.
• The trick is to lean back over the seat as the declining road gets steeper so that you won’t go over the handlebars.
• With disc brakes, It is said that organic disc brake pads provide better modulation, but their heat tolerance is extremely poor. Sometimes they’re gone within only about 5 downhill rides!!
• A better alternative which I use exclusively are sintered metallic brake pads. They are harder than organic pads and thus will cause a faster wear rate of the disc rotor, but that’s the price you pay for improved braking performance! They are also no more expensive than regular organic pads. Using these, you can descend 2km of 10-20% slopes with 6″ discs and not have to worry about brake pad life or overheating problems.

Tags: Learning Curve, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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[poll=10]

Tags: Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Les has just purchased 6 new aero framesets from Leader bikes for the new road rental bicycle fleet here in Tenerife. These bikes are available in a wide range of sizes from a tiny 46cm (50cm centre-top) all the way through to a whopping 61cm (50cm centre-top)! While they look like a time trial frame, they have traditional road racing bicycle geometry.

We’re very proud to partner with Leader bikes in 2008.

Tags: News Reel, Ride the Volcano!, Spoke Bed by Dr. Leslie Brown
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