Which Canary Island for training?!

Arequipa

Hi!

I hope you are well. I travelled to Tenerife last February/March with a couple of friends and we got some great training done; we did a loop in the north of the island and cycled up to Mount Teide from the south; long and tough;but good achievement from my point of view!

I have been reading a few threads about Tenerife, Lanzarote and other Canary Islands.

In Tenerife we got a great hotel, off peak season with all drink & food included. Some pros were training when we were there. There was also good opportunities for a few beers with the lads after all the cycling. The scenery was also impressive too.

Which island would you recommend to travel to in terms of variety of cycling terrain and training opportunities? And maybe a few beers after all the hard training!

Thank you!

omri

Hi I've been in Gran Canaria, don't remember what's the little village called but you climb around 900m or maybe was it 1800m something like that. Anyway great fun. Roads on that route were superb. Gotta watch for traffic though as you can reach high speeds going down. I rented the bike there. Was alright though they don't insure the bikes so if you crash it might get expensive.

stopped_clock

I found the roads dodgy enough in Lanzarote last November.

Mallorca was great though. But not in the Canaries.

cunavalos

Apoligies in advance for the long winded post.
In January 2010 i spent 2 weeks cycling in tenerife and in January 2011 3 weeks (so far) in gran canaria. Note i tend to go away because i usually have time off at that time of the year and don't race or do continental sportives (etape marmotte etc.)
My impression is that for all round training GC would be best there are a greater variety of routes short steep climbs, rolling coastal routes, mega climbs and also flattish routes for tt/interval training. Tenerife (i stayed in the north) is essentially dominated by teide with 4 distinct routes to the top there are other routes around masca in north west and anaga north east but again very tough so i found it was very difficult to have an easy day on the bike. I suppose if you go slightly later in the year and have a fair bit of base training done then this wont be an issue but i imagine is not the best place to start training for the year. if you are starting from a low base GC is a better option but still quite tough.

Weather condition and road surfaces are quite similar i.e very good and much better than at home and attitude from drivers is quite good to all cyclists, the biggest problem is from the hire cars. There are also plenty of pros training in gc also. I have met/ spoken to riders from BMC , Geox (footon sevetto) ,Rabobank, Flamino Boseni and loads of smaller semi pro teams from throughout Europe.

Costwise there are deals to be had, there are loads of accommodation options available and self catering bungalows in GC sleeping 3 can be had for approx €200 per bungalow per week and i think i paid 240 per week all inclusive in tenerife including single supplement. GC is definitely better equipped regards bike hire. there is a much better choice of quality bikes and in both islands there are bike shops in the resorts for essentials.

Haven't been to lanzarote or fuerteventura so cant comment on these but i suppose to answer your question and if i had a week to 10 days available for warm weather cycle training before march i would choose gran canaria.

P.s Having said that i have also heard great things about the costa blanca in spain especially around calpe and denia especially from the end of january onwards, mallorca is excellent but weather is somewhat unpredictable 15C and dry in january but snow in march

dave.obrien

I resent all of this...



Only cause I can't go myself, like, but still.

Quigs Snr

Another vote for Gran Canaria, have gone there for a weeks riding on three occassions. 2 of those on bike.

Varied terrain with rolling roads around the coast or if you head inland climbs of between 400m and 2000m. Pico De Las Nieves is the biggest climb on the Island and it is the same height as Alpe D'Huez. If you think you are hard enough and want a real tough climb look for the Vott (Valley of the Tears), this one :

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=8567

We did that last time. I saw top class riders have to walk for so much of it that their cleats were completely shaved down to nothing at the end of it. Bring small gears. I took it on with what I thought was a sissy 39x25. At the end of it I felt like I had just done an hour long circuit training session comprised entirely of squats. My stomach and back muscles were completely blown too.

Great fun.

Arequipa

Hey, thank you for your replies; I like the idea of some easier days in the saddle; in Tenerife all roads seemed to go up or down!
Is fab to escape the late winter for a few days, get fit, get a tan, nice food & a few beers!

If you have more routes of any of the GC rides, I'd appreciate it!

Arequipa

cunavalos

This guy does a lot of the continental sportives and aims to place high so his rides are very long
http://www.mikecotty.co.uk/ride_summary.asp
Scroll down over half way to gran canaria ride diaries there are 7 to choose from

Most of the following have been logged by ryan sherlock and have followed some of these
http://www.strava.com/rides-by-country/spain/cn/santa-luc%C3%ADa-de-tirajana

Varied terrain with rolling roads around the coast or if you head inland climbs of between 400m and 2000m. Pico De Las Nieves is the biggest climb on the Island and it is the same height as Alpe D'Huez. If you think you are hard enough and want a real tough climb look for the Vott (Valley of the Tears), this one :

http://pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=8567

We did that last time. I saw top class riders have to walk for so much of it that their cleats were completely shaved down to nothing at the end of it. Bring small gears. I took it on with what I thought was a sissy 39x25. At the end of it I felt like I had just done an hour long circuit training session comprised entirely of squats. My stomach and back muscles were completely blown too.]

I started to do VOTT last week but had near enough 60km in the legs before i started so at "The Crossroads" made an attempt at it 30 seconds later saw me free wheeling back to the crossroads and taking the easy option by artenara ( an extra 30km longer and still only 1500 metres ascent ) but had my revenge two days later.

Pico des Nieves should not be underestimated but ascending via ingenio is often regarded as being harder than most continental climbs including Alpe d'Huez.

Below is a good blog about some of the climbs in GC
http://www.sportivecentral.com/index.php?p=blogs&rid=360&page=2
http://www.sportivecentral.com/index.php?p=blogs&rid=359&page=2
http://www.sportivecentral.com/index.php?p=blogs&rid=317&page=3

If you have any other questions give me a shout

Arequipa

You are a gent! I will check these out!just had quick look at aerlingus & ryanair timetables: seems most flights leave Dublin bout 1/2pm, & leave the Canaries bout 6.30pm- no redeye flights & good last day!
Did your own bike or rent out there?
Recommend a rental company in GC?

Muchas gracias!

cunavalos

http://www.free-motion.net
they do group rides as well check the website for details.they have two different groups which cater for different levels but even the second group can be quite tough. free motion are a massive operation with brand new cannondale bikes definitely get a compact it will get you up everything on the island. i reckon if you get the late flight home 6.30-7.00pm you would easily have time for a 4-5 hour ride in the morning.

other option is happy-biking gran canaria. i think they do specialized and there are mountain bike options too.

Arequipa

Thanks again for the great advice;have a nice weekend!

Arequipa

Last question for you; any ideas on where to base ourselves accomodation wise; so as to be near to bike rental, bike routes and not too far from shops, restaurants, bars etc?! ie a good centralised position?

Maybe you can recommend accomodation? we got a great hotel in Tenerife;everything was 'todo includio'!

Thanks again!

cunavalos

Arequipa wrote: »

Last question for you; any ideas on where to base ourselves accomodation wise; so as to be near to bike rental, bike routes and not too far from shops, restaurants, bars etc?! ie a good centralised position?

Maybe you can recommend accomodation? we got a great hotel in Tenerife;everything was 'todo includio'!

Thanks again!

IMO probably best to go to Mapalomas/Playa Ingles/Meloneras(the 3 towns roll into one really), 30 minutes from the airport by bus (about 4Euro). i stayed in the campo internacional area of maspalomas and found it pretty central for most things. maspalomas beach is about 10mins walk, there are plenty of small pubs and restaraunts and supermarkets within 10minutes but for clubbing and stuff you need to go to playa ingles which is about 20minute walk (best to get taxi or bus but again very cheap) .
i went self catering and cooked for myself so used one of the many bungalow type accommodations in the area and was able to keep the bike in the bungalow for added security. i couldn't wholly recommend my accommodation towels smelled a bit, a bit too noisy but for what i paid i couldn't expect much more. look on booking.com and enter maspalomas and the dates you plan on staying and check the cheapest options for bungalow accommodation in the golf course area. there are more than enough routes in the area to keep you busy for a week to 10 days without repeating too much

Let me know if you have any more questions i will be only too glad to help.