Hot January Cycling Destination outside Europe??

mrbenj

Suggestions needed please .....I've got 5 weeks off Dec/Jan and want to go somewhere with the following:

1. Great road cycling from a base (not a long distance tour)
2. Warm - hot weather (Europe in January doesn't cut it) I mean mid 20C ish.
3. A community of people to ride with, for a least some of the time I'll be on my own.

So, kind of like Mallorca but with great January weather. (and not Lanzarote or Tenerife)

Keen to hear of anywhere that folks on here might know of. Thanks

pblakeney

New Zealand.

imposter2.0

Dubai - go ride the Al Qudra cycleway

mrbenj

Where would you suggest in New Zealand?

sloppyschleckonds

Columbia

pblakeney

mrbenJ wrote:

Where would you suggest in New Zealand?

Anywhere except Auckland really, just for traffic issues, around Wellington and Christchurch as well. South Island has really low population and quiet roads, but with quiet roads comes less cycling partners.
I'd like to go back for a cycling holiday and do both islands over a long period but if I was to pick one area, probably the north west corner of the South Island. Mostly as it was the one area that we didn't cover but the roads should be quiet and scenic too.

W631

Cyprus,not mainland Europe.Decent weather and roads.

FatTed

PBlakeney wrote:

mrbenJ wrote:

Where would you suggest in New Zealand?

Anywhere except Auckland really, just for traffic issues, around Wellington and Christchurch as well. South Island has really low population and quiet roads, but with quiet roads comes less cycling partners.
I'd like to go back for a cycling holiday and do both islands over a long period but if I was to pick one area, probably the north west corner of the South Island. Mostly as it was the one area that we didn't cover but the roads should be quiet and scenic too.

Great cycling in the South Island not so sure about many people to cycle with
http://www.bike-nz.com/tour/south-islan ... xperience/

cougie

Adelaide. When is the tour down under on ?

ZMC888

South Island New Zealand, Tasmania, Changmai (Thailand) or Southern Taiwan.

pblakeney

FatTed wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

mrbenJ wrote:

Where would you suggest in New Zealand?

Anywhere except Auckland really, just for traffic issues, around Wellington and Christchurch as well. South Island has really low population and quiet roads, but with quiet roads comes less cycling partners.
I'd like to go back for a cycling holiday and do both islands over a long period but if I was to pick one area, probably the north west corner of the South Island. Mostly as it was the one area that we didn't cover but the roads should be quiet and scenic too.

Great cycling in the South Island not so sure about many people to cycle with
http://www.bike-nz.com/tour/south-islan ... xperience/

We concur.

mrbenj

Thanks everyone. Very useful.

vortice

Out of interest, why not Tenerife or Lanzarote?

MiddleRinger

Pretty toasty down here in Australia in January. Could go see the TdU or Cadel's Road Race?

yiannism

W631 wrote:

Cyprus,not mainland Europe.Decent weather and roads.

Given that i am Cypriot i can confirm that Cyprus is ideal place for cycling for a central European. If you need any more infos just send me a message

banditvic

Gran Canaria.

ayjaycee

Yiannis has a good point. Cyprus can make a very nice winter cycling destination with all sorts of terrain to ride on and reasonably quiet and good quality roads outside of the main tourist season. However the big problem that I would have with December/January is that you would have to be prepared for almost any weather from reasonably warm and sunny (compared with the UK!) to cold, rainy and windy. Also, I would try not to ride too much in the cities as they can be busy and have more than a fair share of psychopathic drivers (sorry Yiannis, nothing personal).

I would also like to suggest Oman. I spent some time there a couple of years ago and IMHO, it has almost everything you could ask for in a winter cycling destination - fantastic weather, great flat (or undulating) rides along the coast and inland plus some excellent mountain rides with almost all road surfaces billiard table smooth. There is a club in Muscat with a largely ex-pat membership (but also some Omanis) and, I think you can contact them on-line. The downside is that it can be quite expensive to travel to and stay there.

You should also give some thought to what you are going to ride - if you plan taking your own bike OK but, if not, you need somewhere that you can hire a decent bike (which is not always the case).

shamrock134

+1 for Gran Canaria.

It's definitely not Tenerife or Lanzarote but you didn't extend your exclusion to the Canary Islands as a whole?

johand

Andalucia

fenix

Don't think the Canaries are hot enough for the OP in Jan ? Same with Andalucia.

mrbenj

Thanks for all the replies. Oman sounds interesting, as does Australia, Taiwan and NZ.

And, yes. Canaries/Tenerife/Lanzarote don't tick my reliable hot weather box even though I'm sure they're great.

Thanks to all.

neeb

I've actually just returned from New Zealand - not a cycling holiday but it gives me some perspective.

I agree it could make a great cycling destination, although bear in mind 1) the weather on the west coast of S.Island can be unpredictable and sometimes very wet at any time of year. 2) Although the roads are pretty quiet there aren't many of them, so you would often be on main roads that perhaps aren't so quiet as minor roads are in busier places (especially at the height of the tourist season). 3) Don't underestimate how far away it is. There is a 12 hour time difference and overall you will spend most of a week travelling and recovering from travelling. My flight back included a 17.5 hour non-stop leg from Auckland to Doha.. And that was only 2/3 of the journey. It's not particularly pleasant (in economy at least).

For me it would depend on what else I wanted to do apart from cycling. New Zealand has amazing and completely unique wildlife and geology. The culture is laid-back, welcoming and enlightened. In the main towns you can get really good food in medium-priced restaurants. If I had 5 weeks to spend on a holiday I'd go straight back, but I'd probably alternate cycling days with days doing other stuff.

FatTed

If you decide to cycle the South Island you could start in Queenstown over to Wanaka vis the Crown Ranges (which you may want to do from both sides) when you get to Wanaka take a left to Treble cone and back to Wanaka

If the weather on the west coast is good then ride over there via Haast pass and then up the west coast cutting back to Christchurch if you wish or continue further up and cross over to Nelson
if its going to rain all week on the west coast take a ride to Christchurch via the Lindis pass and Twizel. On to Christchurch then over to the West coast via Arthurs pass (if its stopped raining on the west coast)
If its still raining then continue up the east coast to Hanmer springs then across to west coast via the Lewis Pass

All of this is really beautiful, but there is precious little accommodation. Finding a place to stay will dictate your riding schedule, Cell phone coverage maybe patchy

Dec/Jan is the school hols kids go back Feb 7th.

Wind is from the South

pblakeney

neeb wrote:

... Don't underestimate how far away it is. There is a 12 hour time difference and overall you will spend most of a week travelling and recovering from travelling. My flight back included a 17.5 hour non-stop leg from Auckland to Doha.. And that was only 2/3 of the journey...

My tip for dealing with this.
Once landed immediately adapt to the local time, even if it means being a zombie for the next 12 hours. Go to bed early local time and get a solid 10-12 hours sleep. Wake up at local breakfast time feeling normal.
Works for me anyway. Took a while to convince the wife but she is a convert now.
We did NZ to home non stop. The longest break was 5 hours in Singapore which we used for showers and a change of clothes. Zombies when we got home but once through the arrival day, no jet lag.

superlightweight

What about South Africa? No real time difference to worry about

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Florida; California; Texas in USA all stay quite warm over winter.

With a really quick skim of each state using Strava segment explorer, California looks to have the most varied hill categories, with HCs all the way down to cat4s.

ZMC888

I forgot to mention Hawaii, Manua Kea is massive. If you were willing to go as far as NZ then it's worth thinking about. Oh, a I've also heard great things about Oman too.

Scrub Southern Taiwan and Cyprus if the Canaries aren't hot enough for you.

ayjaycee

mrbenJ wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. Oman sounds interesting...,,,,

You won't realise just how interesting until you've been there! Cycling aside, the place has got loads of history with fantastic beaches all along the coast (with great diving if that's also your thing). Dhofar which is about 1000Km from Muscat (i.e.. the other end of the country near the border with The Yemen but don't let that put you off!) is a near tropical paradise. I'm beginning to sound like the Omani Tourist Board so I'll shut up now.!

yiannism

ayjaycee wrote:

Yiannis has a good point. Cyprus can make a very nice winter cycling destination with all sorts of terrain to ride on and reasonably quiet and good quality roads outside of the main tourist season. However the big problem that I would have with December/January is that you would have to be prepared for almost any weather from reasonably warm and sunny (compared with the UK!) to cold, rainy and windy. Also, I would try not to ride too much in the cities as they can be busy and have more than a fair share of psychopathic drivers (sorry Yiannis, nothing personal).

I would also like to suggest Oman. I spent some time there a couple of years ago and IMHO, it has almost everything you could ask for in a winter cycling destination - fantastic weather, great flat (or undulating) rides along the coast and inland plus some excellent mountain rides with almost all road surfaces billiard table smooth. There is a club in Muscat with a largely ex-pat membership (but also some Omanis) and, I think you can contact them on-line. The downside is that it can be quite expensive to travel to and stay there.

You should also give some thought to what you are going to ride - if you plan taking your own bike OK but, if not, you need somewhere that you can hire a decent bike (which is not always the case).

Nah man, you are right. Cycling became a trend here in last 5-6 years, so the drivers are still adjusting. You are correct also about our weather at the winter. Last Sunday we went from Nicosia to Kerynia, the weather was cloudy but nice,then for the next 45 km strong raining, while in Nicosia was sunshine.

kawaspresso

Thailand is one of the best for winter, roads are super smooth, drivers are careful.

Tiesetrotter

My club does a yearly trip to Sri Lanka. It's not that big so you can do a tour of the main tourist attractions. Everyone raves about it and since the Tsunami the UN have dumped huge monies into rebuilding the infrastructure. Personally, I have only been there on holiday and it was a fantastic place. Great people, food, history, sport etc.

Cycling is big there so respect is shown. My tour driver was the wicketkeeper for the Sri Lanka second team in the 60's. 40 odd years later people would walk up to him and discuss cricket from his era, lots of people. As a cricket nerd I was in heaven.