Hello all

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on which of the Canaries was best for a week’s MTB holiday in January. I’m a regular red route rider, but a bit out of practice for daily black trail action. Tenerife is obviously the biggest but for some reason I get the vibe that Gran Canaria offers a better experience, I think based on the quality of the respective websites for firms based in the two places.

Does anyone have any experience and feedback?

Thanks

Tim

bump

Try Daz at Lavatrax I have been twice. Never tried any other Canary island riding

Saw a fair few MTBers on La Palma a couple of year ago, probably locals cos they were all in lycra & usually near a road.
We walked on some good tracks that would be ace for biking but I dunno what access rules apply, if any.

if it is said that “Gran Canaria offers a better experience”, then i dread to think what it must be likeon the other islands.

back in 2010/11 i worked for the largest bike hire/guiding place as a guide. there is some good riding out there, but you’ll be hard pushed to find it without local knowledge.

the island, despite being small, takes a long time to travel around. to drive from the north to the south (ca. 60km as the corw flies) can take 2 hours. many trails start at the top (centre) and generally end somewhere on the coast.

unless you are of a XC nature then the best way to get something out of the island is to go as part of a group (preferably with knowledge of the island), hire a van and to shuttle around. we used to take turns on a weekend shuttling. drop off at the top and then drive to some remote spot to pick up the bikers. often the bikes were there before the van.

the tours offered by the guiding co. were of a rather tame nature. think (for the most part) fireroad bimble with lotds of rolling along. more set up for people who sit on the beach all week and then think “oh, lets go for a ride”. however the friday tour in the north is good fun (but needs to be ridden more than once to get the most out of it).

don’t believe the videos showing guys riding from the top all the way to the coast and popping open a beer.

the locl mechanic, Manolo, who was/is rather sucessful DHer said that Tenerif and La Palma were the better islands for riding.

GC is very popular among roadies as a winter training ground.

don’t go during the summer. it’s stupidly hot!

+1 for Lavatrax in Tenerife. They run xc focused and “Enduro” days. I took a 5 and opted for a couple of enduro days. Really tested the limits of my skills and the bike’s suspension. On my 3rd flight OTB I did start to question whether I would have been better going for the xc riding! Really enjoyed the 2 days though and my ribs were back to normal after only 5 or 6 weeks. Lavatrax have really quality bikes if you don’t want to take your own. He was talking about getting some new Kingdom bikes when I was there a couple of years ago.

Anyon done any MTBing on Lanzarote?

Anyon done any MTBing on Lanzarote?

There is a little you can do, but by and large it is too volcanic and rocky to have any meaningful trails.

Another vote for Lavatrax on Tenerife, they have a bunch of different types of trails to ride. I was out there a few years back in February, lovely weather and proper guiding. I rented a Marin Wolf Ridge and it was well able for the trails.

La Palma is pretty good too but it´s a smaller island.
Here´s a nice vid of some guys riding there a few years back:

Go to Madeira instead.

There is a little you can do, but by and large it is too volcanic and rocky to have any meaningful trails.

I’d imagine volcanic sand isn’t great for moving parts either, but I wondered if eg. the coast path might be any good.

La Palma?

I’ve had great days out with these guys.

http://www.bikenfun.de

Ranging from hardcore downhill, technical XC through to off road touring.

re Lanzarotte,

I had an idea of hiring a mtb when there in Feb, but ended up hiring a roadbike for a couple of days instead (when the surf went flatish).

I’d emailed Tommy’s bikes after a search on here but wouldn’t recommend them. Bikes weren’t up to much, and the (I assume) owners were pretty unenthusiastic and not able to recommend routes, though they have a few on their website (the line “turn left at the biggest dump in Lanzarotte” sticks in my mind for some reason. This does actually sound like my kind of riding.)

There was a place also in Costa Teguise, further down Islas Las Canarias (could have been this http://bikelanzarote.com/ not sure) where I ended up hiring an ok carbon roadbike, though they had some okay looking Specialised hard-tails for hire.

Reason I went road is that the helpful shop guy said that the main riding was up and down the costal track. I’m sure that there’s more interesting stuff about (you can see some possibilities, farm track type stuff, leading off some of the roads but you’re unlikely to find it in a quick hit. All I could dredge up on youtube was footage of an xc race which looked frankly uninspiring.

The good news is that the roadbiking (a couple of quick circuits in the north anyway) is not as we know it and sufficiently good – smooth windy roads, great views, manageable gradients, swoopy ups and downs – that you can get a pretty good buzz off that…

I’d imagine volcanic sand isn’t great for moving parts either, but I wondered if eg. the coast path might be any good

The coast path (in the south at least) is OK in a fireroady kind of way. It goes on for miles and is very quiet away from the resorts.

It’s not technical but the terrain makes it far from easy – the volcanic events and virtually zero rainfall means that the track is strewn with unfeasibly abrasive and unstable rubble/rocks/dust. There are clearer sections where people have driven hire cars down and churned things up a bit but really it’s nothing like the trails we have at home it’s riding just for the sake of it

I know and have ridden with Gavin from Evolution Bikes in Lanzarote (admittedly we’ve only ridden in the Surrey Hills) but he is a great rider and he knows the island well.

tell him i pointed you in his direction and you will be well looked after.