Teide  8th November 2014

It was away back in early spring time that Tommy’s wife Sharon came down to visit with my wife.  They concluded that we needed to have a sunshine holiday this year and asked me for my preferences.  I said that I didn’t mind where we went, as long as I got one day cycling and one day at the water park.

And so it came to pass that we went to Tenerife,  which only has the longest continuous ascent of any cycling road in Europe.  Well, me and Tommy just had to have a bit of that.

The road is about 30 miles of continuous "up”.  The surface was generally very good,  with only a few hundred yards of less perfect tarring.  The going was tough and relentless, and even though it was November,  the sun was shining bright and the temperatures were hot.  But we ground it out and eventually reached the highest point on the road, which, to be truthfull, was a bit of an anti-climax at first.  You see, there was no big lead up to the top,  no signs saying 5KMs to go,  1KM to go etc.  Just a sudden change in slope from the road going uphill to it starting to go downhill.  After a minute or so we realised that we had made it and the elation then set it – what an ascent!!

It did not quite take us as long coming down.  Our wind jackets were essential as the descending temperatures were cold on the thighs.  Now I’m not a great descender, but it was a delight to go back down that hill again, with its smooth tar and sweeping bends  (there were a couple of tight corners,  so please beware).

We had hired the bikes from Bike Experience Tenerife (https://bikeexperiencetenerife.com/en).  We had called into the shop a couple of days beforehand, and everything was ready for us on the morning of the cycle itself.  We opted for the Specialized Tarmac SL4 which were fitted with Ultegra all round – lovely bikes indeed.  We had brought our own pedals and helmets, but it is possible to hire these as well.   In fact,  anyone thinking of hiring a bike for more than a few days can email their dimensions  (eg taken from a professional bike fit) through to the shop,  and Ferdi will have the bike setup perfectly for you.  It was a really good bike hire experience and I would recommend Bike Experience Tenerife to anyone visiting Tenerife.  NB,  as well as road bikes,  they also do mountain bikes.

The second of my holiday desirements can true a couple of days later when we visited Siam Park -  one of the best water parks in the world.  Brill.

Well done to all.