In January of 2016 I was lucky enough to spend a week riding in Tenerife.
Why Tenerife?
If you don't know, Tenerife is the largest of Spain's Canary Islands and is pretty much a cycling paradise this time of year because the temperatures are warm (an average high of 70 degrees), the sun is usually shining, and there is a ton of climbing. The most notable climb is Teide, which tops out at about 7,300 feet. There are a number of ways to approach the climb, but any way you slice it you're looking at at least 20 miles and 6,000 feet of elevation gain. For comparison's sake, Mt. Rose is the longest climb we have in Reno and it's 16.5 miles and 4,200 feet.
Getting There
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| Tenerife |
Tenerife has two airports, one to the
north (TFN) and one to the south (TFS). There are quite a few
European airports with direct flights to one or both airports,
including LHR, AMS, MAD, FRA, and more. Madrid had multiple flights
per day and seemed like the logical option, so I flew Delta from JFK
to MAD, then took Iberia from MAD to TFS.
From JFK to MAD I got a bulkhead aisle
seat and I was feeling pretty good about things. The middle seat next
to me was empty for the longest time. I try not to get excited when
that happens because it seems like someone always comes in at the
last moment and sits in that seat. Sure enough, in came not just one
person, but a woman with a stinking lap child. So there I was for 6
hours next to this squirming little piece of crap who kept crying and
kicking me. It wasn't the ideal situation, but the flight actually
seemed to go by faster than I thought it would.
We landed in MAD somewhere around 9:00 AM and I switched over to Iberia for an 11:30 flight. Customs and security were both fast and I was able to make the switch with plenty of time to spare. Iberia seemed like a good airline. Not much was different, really, except that the announcements were in Spanish. What's funny is that even in different languages you can tell when the pilots are talking. They still have that same delivery.
Renting a Bike
I rented from Bike Point and was very
happy with the experience. I showed up maybe 5 minutes before the
shop closed and the staff was still nice and took care of me. The
bike was a Ridley Fenix (carbon) with full Ultegra and Mavic Asksium
wheels. I've done a little bit of renting around the US and a bike
like this would easily cost $50 a day, probably more. Back in
December in Orlando I rented a much lower quality bike for about that
much. However, this bike cost me less than 200 Euros for the whole
week. That's a hell of a deal. And again, all the components were
solid. Everything was Ultegra, even the brakes. The bike came with
everything you'd need- tire levers, a spare tube, a pump, a mini
tool, and 2 bottle cages.
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| Rental Bike |
I've heard good things about Ridleys
but have never lusted after one like I have a Scott Addict, for
example. After riding the Fenix for a week maybe that will change. I
was impressed with the way it handled on the descents. It struck the
right balance- not too twitchy but still responsive enough.
The Hotel
This is the one thing I would change
about my trip. I stayed at the Hotel Aeropuerto Sur for the whole
week. Here's the good news: (1) It was cheap. (2) It was clean. (3)
It wasn't in the main tourist area but was still within a few blocks
of a bus stop. (4) There was plenty of food within walking distance.
Here's the bad news: (1) “Free wifi” meant free wifi only in the
lobby, not the rooms. (2) The hot water was only hot for 1 of the 7
nights I was there.
I wasn't super happy with the hotel,
but in the end the bigger mistake was staying in the same area for
the whole week. I should have switched over to the north side of the
island for a few days. You'll never see it all in one week, but I
could have seen a little more.
The Rides
Enough BS. Let's get to the ride
reports.
Day 1 (Jan 13)
I ended up sleeping about 14 hours the
night before and didn't wake up until 11:00 or so. This was just an
easy ride to get a feel for everything. The route was simple: I went
up to TF-28, went northeast, then turned around and came back.
TF-28 became one of my go-to roads.
It's a quiet, winding road that often has views of the ocean. There
are a few rough stretches, but for the most part the surface is
pretty good. The terrain is mostly rolling hills. This seems like one
of the few places on the island where you can do a ride without a ton
of climbing.
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| Heading north on TF-636 |
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| Heading north on TF-636 |
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| TF-636 |
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| TF-636 |
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| TF-28. |
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| TF-28. There are some ups and downs, but nothing too long. |
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| TF-28 |
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| Tunnel on TF-28 |
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| Tunnel on TF-28 |
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| TF-28. Little towns are never too far away. |
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| The ocean and a faint outline of Gran Canaria |
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| TF-28 |
Day 2 (Jan 14)
No more messing around. It was time to
tackle Teide. I went ahead and rode over to Los Cristianos and did
the main Strava Segment from there. It takes TF-28 to TF-51 to
Vilaflor, then TF-21 to the summit. All told, that is 20.3 miles and 6,912 feet.
I wasn't going to ride all that hard on
Day 2. I wanted to kind of see what Teide was all about and come back
later in the week to try to go faster. I felt fine early on and made
it to Vilaflor without much of a problem. However, as I would learn,
Vilaflor is only the beginning. Sure, up until that point you have
climbed 13 miles and 4,200 feet, but there are still 7 miles and 2,700 feet to go. I had 3 gels with me, and
that turned out to be not enough. I started feeling hungry and just
couldn't keep up a good pace. It wasn't a serious problem. I wasn't
on the verge of bonking or anything, but on a climb like that you
need all the energy you can get.
I ended up with somewhere around 2:30
for the climb. Even with the rough 2nd half I was hoping
for a better time than that, but that's the way things go sometimes.
No big deal. I was just happy to be out there in my shorts and a
jersey in cycling paradise.
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| At sea level in El Medano |
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| The first section of the climb has some shoulders. |
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| It's not long before you can see the ocean below you. |
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| The early portion of the climb |
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| Smooth roads |
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| Leaving Arona |
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| Still in the cactus zone |
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| Slowly getting higher above the ocean |
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| You can see the road above |
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| Smooth roads early on |
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| You can see that the scenery is about to change soon |
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| Out of the cactus zone and into the forest |
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| Into the forest |
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| Another island in the distance |
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| Near the summit |
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| Near the summit- looking north |
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| Two islands in the distance |
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| Welcome to the park |
Day 3 (Jan 15)
My first international century. I
decided to stick to TF-28 because (a) I enjoyed it on Day 1 and
wanted to see more of it and (b) My legs were dead and I didn't want
to do much climbing. It turned out to be a good decision. TF-28
remained a nice, quiet road for the most part until I got closer to
Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Then things got super busy and I turned
around a little early and just added a few extra miles on a side road
later on. Tenerife is like that sometimes. One minute you'll be on a
scenic road with almost no traffic and the next minute you'll be in
the middle of a crowded town and traffic is crazy. People drive so
differently, too. On the empty roads people give you plenty of space,
but in town people will pull right out in front of you and do not care.
It's especially bad in roundabouts. As always, ride defensibly as if nobody can see you.
No big deal. After I turned around it
wasn't long before I was back on the empty roads having a good time.
Towards the end I made a turn off of TF-28 towards Las Vegas for the
few extra miles I needed. Holy crap were my legs dead at that point.
I was crawling. You wouldn't think I'd be so tired on only the 3rd
day, but I guess that's what Teide can do to you.
Day 4 (Jan 16)
Day 5 (Jan 17)
Back to Teide. This time I went straight from the hotel, which was about 20 miles and 6,400 feet. I took TF-64 to TF-21 out to Vilaflor, then the same route on TF-21 from Vilaflor to the summit as Day 2.
TF-21 was a lot of fun. That stretch was 8 miles at 5% with a lot of switchbacks. I was feeling pretty good at that point. I was keeping a high cadence, hoping to save some energy for later on. Remember, from Vilaflor to the summit is 7.5 miles at 7%. I felt pretty good for the first few miles or two after Vilaflor, but eventually ran out of gas. What can I say? Teide is a beast.
I would be disappointed, but how can you be disappointed when you're out there in cycling paradise in the middle of January.
Day 6 (Jan 18)
Strava Link
This ride was the highlight of my trip to Tenerife, but it almost didn't happen. I had just climbed Teide the
day before and I wasn't so sure I could handle another big day of
climbing. I didn't sleep too well and convinced myself that I would bail
out and turn around on TF-523 instead of making a complete loop. I'd
still probably get around 9,000 feet of climbing for the day and that
wouldn't be too shabby for January.
I got on TF-523 and it inspired me to keep going. The views were great, there were a
lot of switchbacks to keep things interesting, and there was almost no
traffic. I may not have been going fast, but my legs weren't hurting and
I was in a good rhythm. Sometimes when you're feeling bad and you're on
a new climb you'll keep looking around each corner hoping to see the
summit. This was completely different. I was looking around each corner
just waiting to see the new scenery. That's riding at its best. That's
why I came to Tenerife.
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| Another island in the distance- Gran Canaria |
Before I knew it I was at the end of TF-523 and I had
about 49 miles. Seems perfect for that bail out, doesn't it? Well, I
was feeling good so I scrapped that plan. I knew that I was more than
halfway to the high point, so why not keep going? I didn't know (bad
wifi in the hotel) the exact numbers. I had just done about 11 miles and
4,000 feet. There were still 8 miles and 2,000 feet to go.
That
extra climbing was worth it. The scenery on TF-24 was spectacular. This
is where you can really see the volcanic features of the island. You
can think of Tenerife as a mixture of beach, desert, forest, and
volcano. If I had skipped this portion of the ride I would have missed
out on the volcanic side of things and that would have been a real
shame.
At
the end of the day I was tired and my legs were toast, but it was worth
it. If you're ever in Tenerife this is the loop to do!
This was just a recovery day. I did a little loop and headed south towards El Medano to hang out at the beach for a little while. There are some good access points there on TF-643 that are away from the big crowds.
Total
In total I ended the week with 440 miles and 46,200 feet.
Getting Back
On the way back I decided to fly through AMS. There was an afternoon flight on Transavia that gave me enough time to return my bike in the morning, then take the bus to the airport. As mentioned, there is a Bike Point in El Medano, which was only about 5 miles from my hotel. I rode there, then took the bus (TITSA) from El Medano to San Isidro to TFS. The two bus rides cost about 4 Euros total.
Flying TFS-AMS took somewhere around 4.5 hours. I got in to AMS at 11:00 PM and my next flight wasn't until 9:50 AM the next morning. I just went ahead and stayed in the airport all night. I figured if I got a hotel I might get 6 hours of sleep if I was lucky. That didn't seem worth it. Might as well save a little money, because this trip already cost me a lot.
The flight back to the US was AMS-PDX on Delta. Flight time is about 10.5 hours. That's a long time. Maybe MAD-JFK would have been a better idea. Luckily, I had a good seat.
Go to Tenerife!
It's warm and there's a ton of climbing. (I barely even scratched the surface in 7 days.) What more could you ask for?
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