Bikepacking the Gran Canaria Grande

foreign Canaria sits just off the northwest coast of Africa in the center of the Canary Islands its spectacular Mountain Landscapes make it an incredible place for cycling with far more variety and Adventure potential than you'd expect from such a small and relatively touristy place I spent a couple of months bike packing around Gran Canaria last year and through a lot of trial and error I gradually fine-tuned a new bike packing route around the island which I decided to call the Gran Canaria Grande this winter and along with a friend I decided to head back out to put the finishing touches to the route the complete Loop takes around five days to ride so it's the perfect length for anyone looking to take a week off work to fly away for a cycling Adventure in the Sun the climate in Gran Canaria is pretty amazing with good weather even in Winter and flights from most of Europe are really cheap so the island is super accessible hello my name is hello my name is aegon I come from Switzerland the southern part of Switzerland and I live in England and that's where I bet Tristan I work in the aviation I'm a pilot and I love bike packing to me is the the free the most free uh a person can be because you can you got the speed to actually cover distances and see things but the freedom of a hiker you know so you can properly see places is the best way to see a new country as well and you're self-sufficient you're just completely free I feel like when you're backpacking the true traveler traveler in a way it was a perfect day for all the hot got low 20s Celsius it's quite a jump from the minus five in the last week in England but uh so good to be back with day one we started climbing straight up into the mountains and quickly you start seeing that the landscape gets really interesting with this rock formations big pillars you know it's like a mixture between sometimes it feels like you're in the Grand Canyon sometimes it's like some parts of Jordan I mean on the coast especially in the South it's super busy everything's really built up and it's full of tourists but as soon as you go up into the mountains especially if you go off-road there's hardly anyone there outside of the town so you usually have the views to yourself foreign so for the most part resupply on the route is really easy you generally go through at least one settlement every day so you don't have to carry a lot of food it's really nice to just roll into these beautiful mountain Villages stop for a coffee and a bite to eat use the toilet and then head back out again there are some really beautiful villages in Gran Canaria and with it being quite physically challenging on the route we really look forward to taking breaks and cafes in the shade whenever we arrive back in Civilization oh this is steep and this has got to be 18 20 easy this is so steep so here comes the single track section A little bit less than flat that one wasn't it almost flat look at this goat here this is a poser goat look at us there you go that is a cool looking go he's got a proper hairy going on oh now we've got attention well I think that's bald bro it's not making the video come on buddy don't give up oh he's oh he's gone good effort come on bro come on oh turn this way keep going oh keep going keep that momentum just like I did clean my lenses foreign and this is one of the really cool things about Gran Canaria behind us where we've just come from we have super dry Rocky kind of arid pretty spectacular and then back this way it's all trees it's all uh big beautiful pine trees when it comes to sleeping there aren't really many options for accommodation in the mountainous parts of Gran Canaria so camping is kind of the only way to do it while camping is technically not allowed but as long as you find somewhere out of sight you don't make a mess and you don't make any fires I don't really think there's a problem there are also a handful of designated free public campsites around the island and the route goes past most of them which makes things really easy the first and last nights in particular worked out perfectly with the public campsites so we use them for those two nights and wild camp for the rest hey man day one well done yeah great timing of the sunset there yeah beautiful I couldn't be lucky with the weather yeah works out really well doesn't that was time to correct one open yeah let's grab a bear and food which parts very fast oh Cheers Cheers congrats what happened today ah oh God that goes down well morning coffee good morning whatever this is ketchup tuna tuna coffee not the one how are you feeling about day two pretty stoked actually we got into the groove you lost your heart if anyone sees my hat contact the number below oh man we should just go back it's not even worth it go back to the store again a woolly hat how are you feeling I'm feeling awesome man yesterday was sick and today's I know today is going to be even better um they climb ahead yeah a big climb but then we've got a 2 000 meter desert 2000 meter descent that's gonna be sick foreign coffee number two of the day four total well for you three for me I can't wait for my juice be aware it's a tough route um even though it's not a long route because I looked at it and I felt bad this is not a long distance but it's a lot of up and down it doesn't underestimate it I did not train at all for this one um because of work I I didn't really have the chance to do any backpacking for the last uh three four months and so it was a bit of a shock to the system I had some knee pain and nothing that stopped me but because you're going to start climbing from day one and it's you know it's a long way up to make it more pleasant for you just train a little bit make sure that you cycle a bit in a lot in the in the weeks leading to this mission to this route so yeah just be aware it's a tough fruit and carry water carry lots of water it's it can get really hot out here for most of the root you get to feel like you're pretty well off the Beaten Track but there are a couple of specific places that are touristy which I decided to include on the route even though they're touristy I do think those places are really worth including because they are so spectacular and any trip to ground Canary wouldn't quite be complete without checking those off your list foreign foreign last little climb for the top how are we feeling you going feeling good come on legs nearly there yeah last couple hundred meters you got it buddy yeah buddy hold on well done man that's uh incredible look honestly it looks like Tenerife is just there looks that far away so how you feel man yeah that was a tough flame I'm pretty tired but well we're nearly 2 000 meters and from here it is almost all downhill so we should go a bit up well it's we're going down to sea level I mean it's a bit undulating on the way down yeah mostly mostly down here coffee coffee it is well it is all downhill to the cafe feeling ready I am ready for a downhill oh wow oh this is the comfy place already no not yet okay don't get a carry on it's launcher this is lovely that's beautiful good stuff almost life without a bit of hiker bike the Gran Canaria Grande has a pretty wide mix of surfaces and Road types which definitely keeps it interesting traffic in the mountains is generally light so there are fairly paved roads along the Route but also gravel roads dirt roads Forest Trails and single track for the most part the route is non-technical which was a deliberate choice to make sure the route was as accessible as possible there are a fair few sections where there are single track alternatives to the main route but single tracking Gran Canaria tends to be very steep Rocky and Technical so these trails are generally better suited to hiking or at least riding unloaded but yeah for the most part the route is pretty straightforward to cycle and there's some pretty great downhills in there so the riding is a lot of fun foreign foreign bikes are here Tristan is inside and this lovely little town that I forgot what it's called my favorite part of this bar is that there's been here in this Courtyard how amazing is that well done spar my favorite part um I think it was the uh the Green Valley we called it this way I mean I'm not sure what the name of that Valley is but there's a valley that we call the green alley because it's a it's this incredible place we're dropping down from the higher elevations of this island down into this steep valley that then drops down to sea level and the location and the shape of it something about it that makes it so you know prone to accumulating moist moisture and it's generally water so it's very green there's a lot of grass it's almost like a jungle in some bits it's totally different vibe from the island because most of the island is quite you know deseretic and of it but yeah this Green Valley is incredibly beautiful so Steep and uh full of you know surprises and you know twists and turns and and also the the really cool thing about this Valley is that this um you can't drive it this the road that does not connect of the steepness so you you know cycling or hiking are the only way is to actually see it but of course there's some hiker bikes so you have to earn the Green Valley all right so well when you have to have like a bike down downhill you know you're ah well you know some complaining because you could be doing this uphill down well yeah then United States that's true well we will too you just got to start yourself from going downhill too fast ah what's left without a better bite that's the spirit of Mike Puckett come on so situation is it got dark we got slowed down on this terrible donkey Trail because of Trenton's planning obviously and not because of me being slow and we found some caves and these caves are actually really nice and the only scary thing is there's a bit of a shrine here I mean it's normal lyrics but you know you never trust Australia well well what I've been blamed for this was always the plan this was always the plan freeze lovely this man knows something about airbnbs huh we can make a fire in here what could go wrong yeah Cozy home look at him definitely dodgy as hell if you're ever wondering like what lives in dodgy caves in the middle of nowhere it's a sky it's this is delicious guys if you find this and I'm like you know dead or maybe eaten apparently he's doing a chicken dance show me your house so hi MTV Welcome to my crib so I mean the main bed is gone now but I love what you've done with the place it's so cozy it's inspirational messages like follow your inner tongue or love and peace and there's no seems like some lyrics here there's some Stars up here oh yeah there's the stars and there's like um armchair and a lamp it's a bastard what place to live for coffee number one of the day number or something for the trip six hang around six you're on sex y we'll have to go back and check the footage and the counter on whatever quarter will be updated now like And subscribe okay so how was the last day yesterday was quite a tough one because we had a lot of climbs and in the end we didn't do a lot of kilometers but mainly because of the route and for example today well yesterday evening we were hiker biking down this Trail yeah it's a descending hike a bike you were complaining you were like oh why are we going downhill hike a bike I've got it on video brother there's there's some serious complaining going on that scene to me adoring it yeah but generally it just slowed us down it's awesome though because we ended up in this amazing place where we are now we're camped in a cave so honestly that we we won in any case but I'm really stoked because um yeah it just looks beautiful we stumbled upon this Green Valley and it's incredible it's nothing like you know you see in other places in Gran Canaria where it's kind of arid here's like proper way look at this grass it makes you wonder where does it get the moisture from because there's no water but yeah having fun having fun nice let's see where day three takes us all right don't have any rubbish we've got it all on your bike there leave my Trace guys very important foreign number 12. so the problem we've had we've made the mistake of over decking around having too much fun drinking coffees and just chilling chilling out down by the beach and it's now nearly one o'clock hottest time of the day we really haven't done anything we've done very little today and we've now got a 1500 meter 2000 meter ish climb as well there's Downs in there as well but I've got a lot of climbing to do we're about to hit the resupply heavy because we're not going to make it to the next resupply point before tomorrow morning which means we're now calling I'm carrying about five five and a half liters of water up this massive climb so yeah we've had too much fun time fun is the enemy yeah but there's a very very good spot coming absolutely oh yeah the next bit's gonna be unreal so it'll be worth it but anyway we should probably stop talking to the camera and just go should we do that let's go foreign doing pretty good we've got off the busier bit of the road turned off to the abandoned Old Road still going up very very beautiful quite hot and yeah what an amazing place the old Coastal road is one of my favorite sections because it's so completely different to the rest of the route the gc200 was closed permanently in 2016 due to a massive Avalanche and a new road featuring multiple tunnels was built to replace it the abandoned Old Road is still there and although the route only follows a small part of it before turning in land it's enough to give you a feel for what is easily one of my favorite Coastal roads in the world from where the route turns off the gc200 to go and land it's only a five minute detour to see the Avalanche so it's definitely worth going to have a look hopefully so after quite a few hours of going uphill on deserted paved roads graduated to the next stage which is of course going uphill underserted unpaved roads this is very cool is it like clay it's Clay like green there what the huh I've never seen anything like this well maybe sometimes you see it in the ground but you don't see like the cross section of it very cool so we've discovered some natural landmarks up ahead we have well this is the the lion's head yeah which is pretty awesome it's overlooking the road that's a pub yeah and then up here we have a natural Arch yeah just here which uh Egon has just very creatively named what did you decide the name for it was I changed my mind knee pain Arch how is your knee going you're suffering from some some knee pain feels like that yeah don't worry it's all downhill from here it's gonna be really easy again if I go through a certain threshold of pain I just won't feel it anymore yeah I mean that's that's medically Sound Advice just ignore it completely and continue two professionals don't don't try this and this is part of some flashing disclaimers here on the screen do not do not do what we do did I try this at home can I try this out actors before they're too professionals thank you so we've just come up on this spot overlooking the coast off towards Tenerife Ada and the sunset and I just don't think we're going to beat this for a camp sport I mean what a place is going to be to spend the night for a day begins just on his way up my day thank you good morning coffee cheers lovely it would be hard to say goodbye to this View I mean this place has been absolutely incredible it was probably one of the best camps at 10 spots we ever found one amazing place still got quite a lot of climbing to do today so I hope your knees hold up turn right next right up over that Ridge and then down and then up and then down and then up and then eventually down there is an event there is an eventual down so one of my favorite things about Gran Canaria is that when you're in the mountains you always have these big Landmark rocks like niblo on the skyline as a reference point to help give you your bearings Gran canarius censored around this enormous Valley which we decided to call the Valley of Dreams because it's so spectacular and the route goes all the way around it so you get to see it from so many different angles and get a real feel for how the island is laid out foreign well that was a pretty epic design I have to say and now we've got another big climb up into the next town it's a header foreign foreign last Little Rock on our checklist and uh then we're going to be heading back up and then round to our campsite so we are going to go back down the road to here then we follow that road round and then it's this road all the way up looks like a long constant decline yeah it's not too bad it's uh and then a pass which means on the other side it's just anywhere right yeah more or less yeah it's all uh lazy and downhill from here yeah except all the uphill bits well we will ignore this well it could be worse we could be walking this road like they are yeah walking God what an idea it's Christ uh just yeah go with Tristan cycling um we'll be fine they said guys I think I broke you God I'm fine I'm not going bad I'm good he's doing great you're doing amazing honestly you think he thinks he's in England we are truly broken him truly I have ruined this man all the coffees in the world can't save you now maybe that's what this is It's just had too much coffee and you're like it's not shaking maybe it's nothing to do with the cycling every day maybe it's withdrawal then you're only averaging like three coffees a day and that's not enough for you coffee is a drug guys be very careful right let's crack on shall we look at that beautiful thank you all right well we've got a nice downhill now yeah massive downhill and there we go say goodbye to the Valley of Dreams yeah very sad to be leaving over the past and then we get to see the sea probably on the other side thank you foreign has just set I think or is currently setting we've made it to the view above the reservoir down here crazy views we just have one more descent to do for the day and then we should make the camp um um this is one of the best views we've had yet you've been saying that a lot yeah I say that because every time Gran Canaria it's even better that's true and also this one makes me nostalgic because it reminds me of Home in Switzerland Switzerland huh yeah which is very similar to Surrey and West Sussex oh foreign nice thing about if you spend the entire day cycling up and down mountains end of the day it doesn't matter what your food is could be the most boring meal in the world delicious it's going to taste better than anything you've ever eaten so last night unless we stay here tonight could just go do the whole route again foreign uphill yeah it was too easy the first time see how do you feel about this coming to an end I'm a bit sad actually yeah it's a shame I wish I could carry on for a bit longer yeah foreign this is day five but wish we could continue longer it has been a lot of fun but uh yeah it's pretty pretty happy about the descents today yeah well don't get any ideas there's still a bit of climbing yeah yeah but yeah actually uh like every trip I ever take where you know when you start you just all you want is to get you know get it over with like you know get to the Finish point we need to get in the Rhythm every time managers want to continue you got so much momentum you know yeah five days isn't really enough is it no but it's fine I could say that I've seen a good chocolate area yeah you've seen a lot more than most people ever well yeah I'd like to say so and it's a good campsite good way to finish the trip yeah we've got a pretty amazing descent coming up and there is a place where we can get a coffee after the first kind of bit of The Descent so don't worry calm your calm yourself it's gonna be fine well it's gonna be fine um but yeah let's uh let's enjoy the last last bit of the day the last bit of the ride let's do this let's do this I'm gonna foreign Descent of the route is pretty rough and it's definitely one of the sections where it's nice to have a mountain bike the route is totally doable on a gravel bike which I think is important as it makes the route a lot more accessible especially with gravel cycling being as popular as it is I would still suggest bringing the widest tires you can as certain sections are likely to be pretty rough on skinnies but there's not too much of that and the views are always worth it look foreign probably penultimate coffee foreign as well as being an amazing place to get off-road Gran Canaria is really a road cyclist Paradise with a whole bunch of incredible clients on good paved roads with very little traffic so you'll probably meet a fair few Roadies along the way the Gran Canaria Grande finishes with a descent down one of these huge passes from Soria to the coast it's a super fun way to polish off the route thank you foreign buddy we're now within sight of mass Palomas can just about see it over there motorcyclists on the road yeah hey villain probably not going to be able to use any of this because it's so bloody wind again great content great content last couple of kilometers into city of maspalomas for coffee and weights disgust me I shouldn't be encouraging with the sick habits it was amazing getting to ride the full route a year after I started working on it I have a lot of love for Gran Canaria it's such an incredible place for bike packing and I think this route does a great job in showcasing what makes the island so special it was also a lot of fun to ride it with Egon his knee was given in quite a lot of trouble but he never complained and just powered through the pain so I have a lot of respect for him for that yeah buddy nice one smashed it coming here with no expectations I was surprised because it's such a beautiful place way more complicated than I thought there's so many ballets coming out from the center with different climates yeah this route is is the perfect way to see in kind of like the whole thing you keep going up and down in valleys you get these amazing campgrounds to to camp and the roads are very interesting this this really good single Trail this could gravel but also paved sometimes so to me this route is really yeah the best way to actually see the island you know get come here for a week and get away thinking and you know knowing that you properly you had a proper taste of what Gran Canaria has to offer my experience was incredible it's it's so beautiful and you know it's stunning keeps keeps surprising you

2023-03-16 11:05

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