Tenerife is a cycling destination par excellence. There are many hidden cycling gems on volcanic island Tenerife/ Not for nothing do many pros train year-round on this island of eternal spring. Ruben Hoogland previously cycled on Tenerife for us, where he found out what makes this island so suitable for cycling adventures. This time Ruth travelled for us to this island, which was created by undersea volcanic eruptions some nine million years ago. In this report, she takes us on her cycling adventure on this volcanic island.
Read also: https://cyclingdestination.cc/verhalen/spanje/tenerife-geschikt-of-ongeschikt-voor-een-fietsavontuur
Text: Ruth Koops van 't Jagt
Wheels and windmills
The spokes in our wheels turn slowly like the blades of the metre-high windmills you find on the southern flanks of the island. The wind often blows briskly here, making the area home to at least three wind farms. We climb from Porís de Abona to Villa de Arico, having first driven from Güímar along the beautifully winding TF-28 to our first coffee stop. 'Tenerife rolling', our guide Alberto Delgado of Tenerife Bike Training calls those first few kilometres. In other words, for cyclists in Tenerife, this part of the route is fairly flat. But our Dutch cycling legs have to get used to this short, at times spirited climb and descent.
Carretera Vieja
This beautiful route in the south of the island runs largely along the Carretera Vieja, or Old Road. This was originally the main road connecting north and south Tenerife. Locally, this road is also known as the Road of a Thousand Bends. And we notice it too.
After kilometres of turning and turning, the first Cortado awaits at Casa Arbelo in Arico Viejo. The espresso with milk is the typical coffee stop choice when cycling in Tenerife. That does not go without 'Rosquetas de Batata' here, a doughnut-like snack made from sweet potato. According to insiders, it consists of more than 90% of sugar, also known as 'rocket fuel'. We definitely need those sugars for the climb that then takes us past the windmills.
Long climb
For over ten kilometres, we climb with an average gradient of 5.2% and an outlier to 10%. The road is incredibly quiet, with hardly any other traffic. This is cycling as cycling is meant to be. Sometimes it feels like you are alone in the world here. When you cycle by yourself, you only hear your own breathing, the wind, and the whooshing of your wheels and the sails of the windmills. In a surreal, sometimes desert-like landscape where you can easily imagine yourself dancing on the pedals as you cycle over the flanks of a volcano.
Tenerife Bike Training: https://tenerifebiketraining.com
Breathtaking Anaga
Cycling on Tenerife (the largest and highest Canary Island) feels like cycling across several continents in one week. The different microclimates and height differences on the island create a huge biodiversity of flora and fauna. There are no less than six different ecosystems in an area of over 2,000 square kilometres. As a cyclist, you will see your surroundings and views change as within tens of metres. The first southern route, in a sometimes desolate landscape with spurge, windmills, robust bushes and red-coloured rocks was fantastic. Today we cycle through an explosion of green, 180 degrees different.
Royal reception
In the centre of Tacoronte, we are first received royally in the old colonial house by the mayor, with fresh coffee and delicacies. Then we descend to Mirador del Pris, a viewpoint with stunning vistas of part of the northern coastline. Via narrow roads with short calve-like climbs, we then drive through a hilly green landscape to Tegueste. In this flag-draped village, it's once again time for cortado and rosquetas de batata before heading into the beautiful Anaga Natural Park.
UNESCO biosphere
Not for nothing is Anaga a protected nature reserve with UNESCO biosphere heritage status. The Anaga massif is one of the oldest parts of the island, with rocks that are between 7 and 9 million years old. Volcanic activity, wind and water erosion and the special climate in this north-eastern part of Tenerife mean that you will find a wealth of unusual native animals and plants here. In the higher parts of the Anaga Massif, you cycle through ancient 'laurisilva' or laurel forests. More than 20 million years ago, large parts of Europe were covered with these beautiful subtropical forests until the last ice age put an end to that. Except here in Tenerife.
Beautiful route
So with a bike ride through Anaga park towards Mirador Pico del Inglés, you'll imagine yourself in a fairy tale. Here you meander through an explosion of greenery with laurel, lichen, heather, willow and wild ferns. Sometimes it is like cycling through magical green tunnels. At the end of the climb, a stunning viewpoint awaits you. You may not get any closer to the roof of the world. From Mirador Pico del Inglés you can see large parts of the north and the centre of the island. Afterwards, a very fine descent allows us to return to the coast. In the port of Dársena Pesquera, we do ourselves in at Yanfi Marina Restaurante feast on freshly caught fish and the typical Canarian potatoes, which once reached this island via Peru.
Lighthouse magic at the end of the world
The best thing about cycling with local guides is that they know how to find the spots that are magical. Where you feel like an explorer on a bike. At the far end of a beautiful volcanic island stands a quirky lighthouse, warning ships off the coastline on stormy nights. The third route we cycle together on Tenerife starts at Mirador El Lance. Here, a metre-high bronze man statue will wave us off. Mencey Bentor was his name, an indigenous Guanche king. Here he is said to have thrown himself into the ravine because he refused to be captured by the Spanish conquerors.
Icod el Alto
We start our ride here on the road between Icod el Alto and Realejos. A short climb is followed by a nice descent, after which we climb again from Icod de los Vinos, this time towards Restaurante Mirador de Garachico. There, a coffee stop with a feast of sweets awaits us. A small kilo heavier, we then whizz down a beautiful descent back towards the coast. Time for the last part of the route.
Cycling in Tenerife = cycling to the end of the world
From Buena Vista del Norte, the climb to the end of the world begins. Each at our own pace, we climb to Mirador Punta del Fraile. From this point we have incredible views of the jagged coast. The coastal wind here blows relentlessly hard and if you want, you can fly kites with your carbon bike. Below us, the ocean churns with white foam heads against the rocks. Due in part to the wind, the falling rocks and the nature reserve we cycle through here, this road is only accessible by bicycle, taxi or public transport. Cautiously we continue our way, sometimes hanging in the wind and standing on the pedals on the steepest bits. In a dark tunnel, we ride lit by the headlights of the follow car right through the cliff. Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For our legs too, as a straight descent follows to one of the most beautiful places you can get to by bike.
Go west
On Punta Teno, Tenerife's westernmost tip, a red and white striped lighthouse stands proudly upright: 'Faro de Teno'. You can also walk through a jagged black-grey rocky landscape with bright green mosses and shrubs to a viewing platform on the far tip via a wooden boardwalk. If you look around you can see here the waves pounding furiously against the Acatilado de los Gigantes, the gigantic straight cliffs along Tenerife's north-western coast. In the building near the lighthouse, which is not normally open to the public, we are treated to a sumptuous buffet of delicious snacks, cakes and treats. We let the sea breeze blow through our hair, fell silent at so much beauty and sighed deeply. There are thunderously many beautiful places to visit by bike, but this lighthouse magic at the end of the world comes in the top ten with a bullet.
Cycling in Tenerife: route north part 2
Cycling in Tenerife: Vuelta al Teide
The icing on the delectable cake of this Tenerife week is the Vuelta al Teide, a Gran Fondo where you climb El Teide in a major (175 km) or minor (95 km) route. The volcano located in the middle of El Teide National Park and World Heritage Site. Earlier I wrote about my doubts about choosing the full or half Gran Fondo in Biggest cycling adventures are not just for the beaters.
With all my heart and soul, I am finally cycling half the Vuelta al Teide on this final day. The night before the ride, Alberto Delgado laid out what to expect from the course. 'Make no mistake,' he warned, 'after the long climb, the five flatter kilometres through the park may seem like a trifle. But that is precisely where I have seen many cyclists blow themselves up.'
Medium is also good
While the long-distance idiots have got up before dawn to start their 195 kilometres from Puerto de la Cruz, we get into taxis to our starting point in Santiago del Teide. In the village, festive music blares from the speakers while the announcer talks encouragement to all the riders in excited Spanish. One last quick coffee, a nervous pee and a pat on the back left and right and then the starting gun sounds. For us, the ride starts from Santiago del Teide with a short spirited climb via Las Manchas to Alto Arguayo at 1076 metres altitude. The climb is only 2.1km long but has an average gradient of 7%, making it the perfect way to paddle our still sleepy muscles awake. Cycling in Tenerife isn't so bad
El Teide Natural Park
After a descent, the 24-kilometre climb towards the El Teide Nature Park then begins from Chio. Call me ill at ease, but such a bruisingly long climb with a relatively mild gradient through beautiful nature is a great cycling gift for me. Without a glance at my Garmin, I start looking for my ideal pace by feeling. The pace at which I can still breathe through my nose, look around, chat in broken Spanish and English with unknown cycling enthusiasts who become friends for a while. Sometimes a fast Jelle flashes by with a blue jersey number, who I therefore know has already done almost 100 kilometres. Normally, I can be quite bothered by that but today is entirely about great enjoyment.
Corona forestal
After the first section, which largely runs through Corona Forestal Natural Park and where you are thus sheltered by tall conifers, you enter a completely different landscape after a wide right turn. Volcanic ash, lava, rocks and ancient erosion create a surreal landscape here that makes you feel like you're on another planet. In some places, the wind blows relentlessly between the cone-shaped rocks and we sometimes even have to dismount. With a wind trauma I once suffered on Mont Ventoux, I am not immune to the gusts. I squeeze my handlebars tightly and hope there are no new scars today.
Part 1 = check!
Then suddenly a long straight road looms. The first part of the climb of El Teide has been completed. Now the relatively flatter part through the Natural Park awaits after which, as a dessert, some 8 kilometres of altitude have to be negotiated. Apart from some typical climbing saddle pain and tingling fingers, I feel good. Keep those last altimeters coming. As sometimes happens during a climb, I swap places with one Davide, who climbs a little faster and then a little slower. And then, suddenly, the road starts descending again.
Long descent
The last say 50 kilometres of the Vuelta al Teide actually cover one long descent. Although the middle section goes through beautiful forest, with a fairytale-like mist landing in tiny droplets on your still warm body, this part of the route could actually be stolen from me. I am not such a hero with descents, and at these speeds it is a lot harder to enjoy the scenery anyway. So I am glad when I cycle 95 kilometres after the start under the finish arch of Puerto de Cruz. There is paella, cold beer and salty nuts. There is a real medal and a whole bunch of cycling friends. It smells of the sea, of sweat and sunburn. There are tan lines and freckles and proud faces and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. What a week this was.
From wheels and windmill blades to breathtaking Anaga. From lighthouse magic to the Vuelta al Teide. Cycling in Tenerife is truly fantastic: a volcanic island with many hidden cycling gems. So great cycling adventures really aren't just for the beaters.
