A Cyclist's Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Hi, Leslie thanks for the initial feedback.

We were thinking of renting a car (big enough) to get the bikes in so we can easily get to the sites to do some mountain biking, although my partner had a severe skiing accident and hence should really just bike on forest rough track, volcano trails etc but not really «pure and dure» off road with all the shocks that come with it (the injury – the knee ligaments (cross ligament torn) and the rest (knee) in good stable rehabilitation building up muscle and strengthening the side ligaments. – hence I was almost contemplating for a triathlon bike ! although we just want to have some exercise to see the «paysage». Anyway, that is were we are currently with our thoughts.

We are thinking to check in to : Gran Melia Palacio de Isora en Alcala so we can have all the exercise and possibly some comfort as well. First time in Tenerife, so we are just taking our bearings………..Possibly you can recommend a good hotel accommodation close to the mountain biking areas…………..on the web site I did see your indicated routes.

We are both about 1.72 cm tall and would need a medium frame.

Also, we were thinking possibly to make outing to Gomera and take the bikes with us !

Some thoughts appreciate your input as to where would be the best location to find accommodation to be close to the mountain biking actions. If we have the car to transport the bikes, perhaps that is not so much an issue. What do you think ?

Yes we would need two bikes from March 22 to 26 – 5 days.

Unusual, Dr. Leslie renting bikes………………are you working on your next book ?

keep smiling –

Hello Carmen,

Nice to hear from you again…

Gran Melia Palacio de Isora is certainly a grand hotel, but I don’t think it is in the best location for cycling trips. It is an isolated hotel away from all the resorts. It is similar to the Abama hotel in that respect, so have a look at that one too if that is what you are looking for: http://www.abamahotelresort.com/ (it has less cement outside and is greener than the Palacio de Isora). What’s the difference between the two hotels? It’s like the people who own Abama said «Let’s create a nice 5 star hotel» whereas the people who own the Palacio de Isora said «Let’s show people what we can do with all our money». That’s just my opinion…

Personally I think the best mountainbiking is in the North of Tenerife. It’s more scenic & there are more tracks to explore.

For instance, there are about 5 flat roads that cross the La Orotava valley & it is mostly sheltered by the trees so it doesn’t get too hot. These are simple tracks with just a few small rocks and they won’t present any problems for your partner. Of course there are also other roads which have a greater difficulty level…

The only problem with taking the car is that you need to do a loop to go back to the starting point where the car is … this sometimes means lots of climbing is involved if you don’t plan it well (unless you are lucky enough to have someone drop you off and pick you up again).

So that’s why I say there is also a direct bus service (348) from Puerto de la Cruz that goes directly to Mt Teide and can take many bikes on board, so it means you can explore more tracks as it is possible to ride in one direction only. There aren’t any other buses from Los Gigantes or Santa Cruz, only the 342 service from Las Americas. Having said that, I would still rent a car because it is more convenient to explore the Anaga mountains (and La Gomera) for example.

As far as quality/large/convenient hotels in the North of Tenerife, apart from Hotel Botannico, I’d recommend Riu Garoe in the La Paz zone of Puerto de la Cruz; Turquesa Playa close to Playa Jardín; Las Aguilas hotel is also nice and is located on the top of a volcanic hill…

http://www.hotelbotanico.com/
http://www.riu.com/en/hotel-riu-garoe-tenerife.html
http://www.hotelturquesa.com/
http://www.hotellasaguilas.com/

Obviously the North is much closer to our base also.

Yes, La Gomera is definitely a fantastic place for biking, but be aware that the roads can be very steep. Unfortunately I have not even taken a bike holiday there (yet!) but I have been there twice so I know it is a very nice destination. I suppose it would be easier to stay in the South to enable you to get the ferry across to La Gomera early in the morning.

I see you are coming next week – would you like me to reserve the 2 16″ MTBs for you? If so, I’ll need your mobile telephone number. Do you plan on renting shoes/pedals/helmets or will you bring your own?

That’s all I can think of for now… looking forward to your reply!

-Leslie

P.S: I am an ex-research scientist (Materials) but really I prefer to work with my passion (bicycles) than stuck inside a laboratory all day studying things that no one knows about -you can’t even talk to most people about your findings because it is on another «level».

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