Gran Canaria

thedoctor46

Hi All
Anyone heading over to Gran Canaria over the xmas hols..
Im flying out xmas eve from Bristol for a week road riding ,be nice to meet up with anyone if you there same time as me.
Was there last year and found some really great rides for all levels..
Cheers

stongle

Not when you are there, unfortunately.

It would be a great help to me, if you have any tips / routes?

I'm off on the 18th Feb, first time with the bike though. I'm staying in Meloneras.

Thanks

hjghg5

Lovely place to cycle, I actually have a bike that lives out there (in my parents garage). Was out there earlier in the month and going back in January, trying to do some more hill training before I get back out there so we can explore more of the mountains!

fevmeister

I'm wanting to get abroad with the bike and a few friends. How much does a typical bike hol cost? Gona need flights accomodation bike cases and baggage fees to carry big bike cases! Not really looked into it but if someone could give a brief breakdown of costs that would be great!

wheeledwidewebb

Our costs for a two bed bungalow in GC this month are,

Two return flights totalling £329
Bungalow rental total £350
Two cadX ultegra hire bikes total £200

So about four hundred and fifty quid each but using hire bikes.

Hope that helps.

Spender

I've been a few times and hire bikes from Free Motion (i see they have a shop in Meloneras ). They have good quality bikes (Cannondales) and are well maintained. I've been out on their guided runs which are good fun and its good to meet up with guys from different nationalities.

bigpikle

heading out on the 29/12 - 9th trip out there at Xmas...

Freemotion site has loads of good routes. Personally I love the 40km climb from the beach where we stay to the top of the island. Stunning scenery and roads

fevmeister

Thanks wheeledweb, appreciate it. That sounds great, ive never been abroad with my bike but have only been cycling for 3/4 years so that may be why! From what I've seen on here I need to pack my bags ASAP! Some of the descriptions sounded great!

FJS

The further inland you go te better. Epecially around Artenara and the road from S. Bartolome to Tejada are amazing. One of the best places I've cycled

bilsea159

Just a word of warning for you guys heading out to Gran Canaria. I went their last year and really enjoyed my hire bike from freemotion cycling most days of my holiday. However I was cycling back from Port Morgan to Melonoras and if anyone is familiar with this route they will know that the coastal route has a few road tunnels through the rocky landscape which after coming through bright sunlight can cause temporary blindness to a driver. As I hit one of these tunnels a large lorry followed me in and he did not see me until the last moment whereupon he hit his brakes hard thinking he had hit me. He was very annoyed and upset thinking he had hit me, he also said I should have been using lights. So if you are planning these roads consider some seatpost LED and some reflective clothing, I still shudder when I think what could have happened.

wheeledwidewebb

Rode through those tunnels only today. If you are renting a bike from Freemotion then they will supply lights for 2 euro for a week.

At least they are short though, thankfully not like alpine tunnels.

bigpikle

I dont ride those tunnels but there are signs for compulsory headlights on vehicles so thats good advice. Even the fairly short tunnels there and places like Bourg d'Oisans and other alpine areas can be potential death traps, esp when they have bends in them so light is almost zero.

thedoctor46

good advise,think its compulsory now anyway.. always put a small l.e.d seat post light on when over there to be on the safe side..

frank9755

I was supposed to be there now but had to delay for a month because a project came in at work. I'm going on 18 Jan.

For the OP, do head along to Free Motion and join their rides as it's a great way to meet up with a group. You tend to get lots of Germans and other Euros who are used to the mountains and descend like demons! And most of them are quite quick going up, too. Last time I was riding along chatting to a guy from Switzerland who always left me on the inclines and he mentioned that he had been a junior international road racer!

the playing mantis

good 'scene' on gran canaria too...if your into that kind of thing...!

bigpikle

There now

Glorious 25 degs on the beach and 16 degs at the highest point on the island at 11am this morning. Huge number of riders wearing Radioshack Trek kit as well so maybe some of the team here training as well? Seemed far too many to be a random selection of locals in replica kit.

bigpikle

yep - sure enough. They are here and today I got to follow Spartacus up a little climb Lucky he was taking it very easy and chatting while I did my best to maintain a polite distance behind him!

sunburntknees

How 'hard' are the Freemotion rides? Are they suitable for a club rider looking for a training camp or are they aimed more at the leisure cyclist?

wheeledwidewebb

I have not been out with freemotion but we rode a few of their routes whilst we were there and came across them several times.

I think they run a slow and a fast group. My take on the fast group is kind of like a weekend club run but the slower group was not made up of plodders, they looked respectable aas well.

A club rider would fair perfectly well in either group depending on how hard you want to push.

Most riders seemed to be continental Europeans though, not British (no bad thing of course other than language barrier).

There were two of us and I'm glad we didn't pay to go on the freemotion tours, nothing against them but it is so easy to find your way around that you may as well do your own thing IMHO.

We did rent our bikes from them of course and they were excellent in quality and service.

Energy bars and gels are of limited choice though so if you have specific requirements then make suitable plans.

bigpikle

They have 2 routes each day - 1 long and 1 short

The short rides tend to be slower as well, and my experience of the long rides was that they attracted a lot of european 'mountain goats' who were pretty damn quick up the climbs, and although they waited at set points for everyone to regroup, there were definite grumblings when they waited for the slow people. I know a couple of instances where returning riders were 'strongly advised' not to join the long rides...

Spender

I've been out with them a few times and held my own on the flat stuff but they do go uphill fast and it's longer than I am used to. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I'm a normal plodder who does 25 min 10s and 1.05.00 ish 25s at tts.

If you see victor, say help from me

hjghg5

They once told me I was too crap for their tours (they hadn't seen me ride - just looked at me and tried to persuade me not to try).to be fair they probably had a point but it pissed me off at the time!

I'm off out there again in 10 days time and can't wait to get my bike out of my parents garage and have a play

vortice

Here you go guys, the routes are all on their website. Unless you want the company they are easy enough to do yourself.

http://www.free-motion.net/en/roadbike- ... ria-winter

rodgers73

I didn't intend to ride with the Freemotion guides when I hired a bike from them, but I joined the slow group on my first day as a way of getting used to the island and its traffic/roads etc without having to think about navigation.

I ended up spending the whole week with that group, even though I was much quicker than them up the hills, mainly because the people were a good bunch of folk and there were no silly egos on show when it came to speed or fitness levels. I nearly joined the fast group a couple of times but every time we encountered them (at cafes usually) they were never talking to each other let alone smiling.

Very happy with Freemotion, their bikes, the guides and the routes. Really annoyed that my last day when I was due to climb all the way to the top of the island it was raining pretty heavily so had to cancel due to flooding risk.

raymondo60

Brilliant guys - I'm there for the first time in February for a week with the good lady. I wasn't anticipating getting any rides in but thanks to all the advice above I'm sure a couple of rides will be possible now. Just shows the value of this forum!

raymondo60

A last "Thank you" to those above who referred to Free-Motion in Gran Canaria. I am there now (!) and have just completed an 80km ride on a hired Cannondale - the ride was excellent, up to St Lucia and St Barthelemy, then a stunning descent down to Maspolamas. Windy, yes, but at around 22-25 degrees, I will not complain in any way. I was telling the tour guide about riding in snow and slush last week at temperatures around freezing. Fantastic experience and thanks again.

rodgers73

Did you ride with Victor? He was a nice guy

raymondo60

I did ride with Victor! A true "bueno hombre"!

rodgers73

Those Spanish cappuccinos they serve at the cafes with the squirty cream topping are a bit crap!

raymondo60

One NEVER orders "cappucino" in Spain - its "cafe con leche" for the proper stuff!