Canary Islands – lardymtb

Just back in Blighty after an extended stay in the canary islands where I managed to cover almost 200 miles, find a few new (to me) trails and ride with some trail buddies. At the start of the summer, my Ragley Blue Pig, which lives in Fuerteventura, had clocked up 1,823 miles on Strava. I set myself a goal of pushing that up to 2,000 miles by the end of the holiday, and I’m pleased that it’s total now stands at 2,019. To be slightly pedantic, it’s only actually the frame, the brakes and the front & rear mechs which have done the full 2,019, all the other bits and bobs have been replaced at least once.

As Fuerteventura is incredibly dry and volcanic, the terrain doesn’t exactly offer perfect conditions for mountain biking. No trees, no mud, just miles and miles of loose rock and dust. So, that’s the bad news, but the good news is, you can ride pretty much wherever you like and there are lots of walking trails and dirt roads which will allow you to explore the wilderness. If you like rocks & solitude (and don’t mind wind) it’s a good place to ride. You do have to pick the right time of day though, I wouldn’t generally start a ride later than about 8.30am to avoid being baked alive in the sun. Early evening is another good time to ride, but I found myself drinking beer by the time the sun had started to set…

The few hundred miles I’ve now ridden out in the canaries have convinced me that a hardtail with 26in wheels is far from the ideal bike for the terrain on offer. 29er wheels would make the rocks seem a lot smoother and rear sus would be a big help too. Until my lottery numbers come up though, I think I’m going to have to remind myself of the old cyclists adage “the best bike in the world is the one you’re riding”.

Climbing the mountain road with the morning sun at my back.

I managed to do some serious damage to my spokes early on in the holiday and had to cough up a very reasonable 30 euros to have the wheels rebuilt. I also had to replace the bottom bracket as it was starting to feel very rough. Shimano Hollowtech BB’s are a doddle to replace though. I keep a small set of tools out on the island with the bike, so small maintenance jobs aren’t too much of a drama. I’m also fortunate to have a very handy little bike shop 200m or so away too.

The riding highlight of the trip was discovering quite a nice little descent into the village of Lajares. The trail drops about 300ft of elevation in about a third of a mile and features some narrow, sketchy, loose rocky stuff that can be fun. The first time I rode down it, a couple of the rocky step downs looked dicey enough to see me walking them, but each run down saw me gain a bit more confidence and lay off the brakes and ride faster and faster.

The descent down into Lajares, looks a lot steeper when you're at the top... — The descent down into Lajares, looks a lot steeper when you’re at the top…

I took the GoPro out with me on a few rides and put together a little video. This should give you an idea of the sort of riding that’s available on Fuerteventura. Not exactly MTB nirvana, but it’s warm & dry all year round and you can cool off with a dip in the pool after your ride.

August 15, 2015August 17, 2015 by elphin70 Categories: Ride DiaryTags: Canary Islands, Fuerteventura, mountain biking, ragley blue pig, volcano Leave a comment

Regular readers of this blog (if there are any) may remember me mentioning back in May when I bought my Canyon Spectral, that my Ragley Blue Pig had emigrated to somewhere a bit drier than East Sussex. We recently bought a small holiday home on the island of Fuerteventura and the Blue Pig now lives out there. During the latter part of July I was back riding on the Ragley exploring the north part of Fuerteventura around the town of Corralejo.

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived on Fuerteventura for the first time that there were cycle lanes everywhere. Generally these are well surfaced, wide, and sit a good distance away from the traffic. Obviously what I was most keen to find on the island was off-road riding, but the cycle lanes looked to be a good bet for getting from one town to another. There are a few official cycle routes on the island (details here) but I only rode one of these. Mostly I was wandering about, making it up as I went along. I managed 8 rides during my holiday, mostly around 10 or 11 miles, but one ride covered 20 miles. As well as the roads and cycle lanes, there are also a lot of dirt tracks on the island and most of my riding was on these.

This bit of cycle path eventually turned into some sandy, twisty singletrack

The terrain is dry, dusty with a lot of loose volcanic rock. A lot of loose volcanic rock. Here and there I found a few short sections of what could be described as “singletrack” but not the sort of trails that have you grinning from ear to ear as you swoop along them. The rides I did would come more under the Cross Country, getting lost, taking in the scenery, style of mountain biking rather than anything adrenaline fuelled. Probably the scariest aspect of my rides was the fact that I had no spare inner tube with me and I was one unfriendly rock away from a very long, hot walk home…

That’s not to say that there’s no fun to be had, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s on offer and I don’t doubt that I will uncover more and more when I return to the island over the next few years. There’s certainly no lack of elevation, Fuerteventura is a volcanic island and it’s littered with steep-sided calderas. I’m sure there are some twisty descents tucked away right under my nose, just a matter of digging them out.

This road snakes through the calderas about 600ft above sea-level — This road snakes around the calderas about 600ft above sea-level

One of the things I noticed while riding out there was the drivers have a hell of a lot more respect for cyclists than those in England. This might have just been a bit of good fortune, I did get cut up by one motorist, but he also cut up another car and there was a strong whiff of marijuana trailing out of his window. Overall, I found my “local” area, Corralejo, Lajares, Cotillo, to be very bike-friendly, a good portion of the road network has accompanying cycling paths and when they run out there’s often a dirt track running parallel to the road.

This cycle route leads you out to a tiny fishing village in the middle of nowhere.

Getting back on the Pig felt very weird. The bars felt about half the width of those on the Canyon, the pedals felt like they were in the wrong place, it just felt tiny compared to my 29er. I felt like a gorilla riding a monkey’s bike. I gradually got used to it again but I really wouldn’t fancy going back to it full time. I still think it looks good though.