In Lanzarote..........talk about gradients !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ezy Rider

Im typing this from lanzarote and sitting in my own dripping sweat 8)

Guys if you want some hill intervals, Lanzarote is for you . I mentioned hiring a bike to my wife and her look answered the question. But some of the climbs are epic, ive seen hills that are easily 25% territory.

sungod

it's a lovely place to ride, good roads and most drivers very considerate

jibberjim

Interesting, because I only ever managed to find one climb that was actually steep (Femes) everything else was pretty gentle with just a few slightly steeper parts, generally the climbs are less than 8%.

Pross

I always thought it was more long (relatively) gentle climbs i.e. the sort of thing you don't get much over here?

merak

In my experience they are mostly long and steady like the ones over the volcano, but the climb to Femes starts off long and steady and gets steeper towards the end. The last 750 metres is at 15% and an absolute bastard and is known as the hardest climb on the island. I have no idea where there are 25% climbs on tarmac though.

sloppyschleckonds

merak wrote:

I have no idea where there are 25% climbs on tarmac though.

Them is the off road ones

mowflow

You sure you're on Lanzarote? Long steady hills from what I remember. Maybe some steeper twisty ones if you ever head from Arrietta to Famara but nothing too terrible. I found the wind to be the biggest challenge, particularly around the north coast.

lostboysaint

The climb up to Femes is epic. But then the paella in the restaurant overlooking the climb is worth every turn of the pedal.

And the drop back down...............................

5pudgun

Get the ferry over to fuerteventura if you like a climb.

sloppyschleckonds

Get an aeroplane to Wales, there are sum gud hills

ThatBikeGuy

I always thought of Tenerife as the better island for hill climbing, with it being an active/dormant volcano and all?
From past holidays i can vaguely remember driving to the summit up the winding roads, i wouldn't mind riding up there...

gwillis

the femes hill is a beauty I managed to crawl up it a few times but it was the wind that killed me in the island.There are plenty of big climbs towards the north but the names escape me sorry

oldhairylegs

Was out there back in May this year.

It's a lovely place to ride a bike - smooth tarmac, not much traffic and some great scenery. The strong wind is ever present though and I agree with Merak about the climb up to Femes, which is guaranteed to bring pain and plenty of expletives!

MountainMonster

I found a epic climb a few weeks ago, with a few parts hitting 26-27% and it was lovely having such tiring climbs.

Enjoy the riding out there, bet the weather is better than here!

Ezy Rider

less than 10 mph wind today in puerto del carmen and 34C / 93f in the shade.......awesome !!!!! went to timfanya volcano park and the climbs the coach went up were INCREDIBLE .............easy 25+ % climbs , I wished I had my bike.

LZ one of the best holidays ive ever been on the weather has been 10 out of 10

sungod

Ezy Rider wrote:

less than 10 mph wind today in puerto del carmen and 34C / 93f in the shade.......awesome !!!!! went to timfanya volcano park and the climbs the coach went up were INCREDIBLE .............easy 25+ % climbs , I wished I had my bike.

LZ one of the best holidays ive ever been on the weather has been 10 out of 10

this sounds like the paid-entry bit based around the restaurant on the volcano, i cycled in one day, but they refused to let me ride on the coach road, it was strictly coach-only, so aside from the steep car park up to the restaurant it's not much of a route

but i'm wonderimg about making an early start next time and getting in there before the guides/guards are there, certainly looks like a great route on google earth

Ezy Rider

sungod wrote:

Ezy Rider wrote:

less than 10 mph wind today in puerto del carmen and 34C / 93f in the shade.......awesome !!!!! went to timfanya volcano park and the climbs the coach went up were INCREDIBLE .............easy 25+ % climbs , I wished I had my bike.

LZ one of the best holidays ive ever been on the weather has been 10 out of 10

this sounds like the paid-entry bit based around the restaurant on the volcano, i cycled in one day, but they refused to let me ride on the coach road, it was strictly coach-only, so aside from the steep car park up to the restaurant it's not much of a route

but i'm wonderimg about making an early start next time and getting in there before the guides/guards are there, certainly looks like a great route on google earth

its such a shame you didnt get to ride up those gradients, its all alpes like twisty and windy hairpins up bowel loosening climbs with volcanic scenery all around that would make your jaw drop and then some. its boiling hot today and wind is negligible .............oh i wish i had my bike with me right this minute im rapidly subscribing to the fekk the weather forecast mentality , I read forecasts that said 30mph gusts in puerto del carmen today , and where im sitting right now, when i go outside i can honestly say ive felt gustier farts than what is outside and its unbroken blue skies with hot temperatures i understand the uk weather lately has been total crap and im not looking forward to returning to it the canaries climate is just cycling utopia , consistent, dry and warm , the opposite of the uk :roll: :x

jig

sungod wrote:

Ezy Rider wrote:

less than 10 mph wind today in puerto del carmen and 34C / 93f in the shade.......awesome !!!!! went to timfanya volcano park and the climbs the coach went up were INCREDIBLE .............easy 25+ % climbs , I wished I had my bike.

LZ one of the best holidays ive ever been on the weather has been 10 out of 10

this sounds like the paid-entry bit based around the restaurant on the volcano, i cycled in one day, but they refused to let me ride on the coach road, it was strictly coach-only, so aside from the steep car park up to the restaurant it's not much of a route

but i'm wonderimg about making an early start next time and getting in there before the guides/guards are there, certainly looks like a great route on google earth

Thats exactly what I did the week after IM lanzerote in May!! I biked upto the park entrance from PDC and got there for about 0730- a quick hop over the (very small) barrier and away I went.

I was finally evicted by the security guard around a hour later but by then, I had done 3/4 of the route and the only way back was the remaining quarter so I was win win!! The guard wasnt too pleased thougj :twisted: I know I shouldnt have been there however, so I did offer my apologies and left as requested.

I have to agree with others, the road conditions on most of the island along with the consideration given by drivers is fantastic.

Alibran

Before Lanzarote became such a tourist hotspot, there was no visitor centre, no coaches, no paid entry. The roads round the whole of Timanfaya were open to anyone, and you could spend hours up there and not see a soul. Bliss.