Gael warning in Tenerife

Rather than backtrack to Santiago del Teide, I decided to head towards Villaflor - and on descending into the clouds, found my self in sheeting rain. The Honda was absolutely planted on the hairpins - and soon my ‘waterproofs ‘ showed they were anything but - and in the groin area. Delightful .

I didn’t bother stopping at Villaflor but headed towards a local restaurant I knew, hoping it would be below the rain line.

Once I got below the clouds I spotted blue skies in parts of the south coast around El Medano and Los Abrigos and as it was only 12 I changed my plans to head for there.

Garmin took me down some real Canarian boreens, barely a car wide, and steeep! would have been more fun in the dry, but a great experience all the same. I would not have wanted to be in a hire car on parts of them!

This is one of the wider and better surfaced parts:


But eventually, chilled and soggy, I emerged into sun and the port of Los Abrigos

Whilst tourists strolled around in tee shirts and shorts, I stretched out in the sun wearing all my layers including down jacket and Klim! Eventually I warmed up and felt less soggy in the nether regions, and had lunch in a portside cafe.

I am still puzzling whether the south of the island is invariably sunnier. I need to decide where I will lodge from tomorrow to Sunday and sunniness will be a factor!

Anyhoo, after a leisurely lunch I jumped on the bike and rode back up the coast to Santiago del Teide again. I debated whether to do the Masca run again but with clouds gathering I decided to carry on (on the fabulous wiggly road, involving some carefully planned overtaking of a long line of cars and a very long lorry with tons of steel rebar on it) via El Tanque (where I stopped for a second lunch).

Then back to base in PDLC by 5 or so, to discover the electrics in my room had picked up so I have just moved to the next door room. The arduous nature of adventure riding .

The Honda returned to its parking space, next to its almost twin

And the day’s weather ended better than it started
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?


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Great to see you out enjoying Tenerife, haven’t been there in an awful long time
Beautiful pictures too, keep ‘em coming

Hi Si, I've just seen pics of the overnight snow on Teide and noticed it blocked one of the roads that we were riding on Tuesday, I think it was the TF21.

Glad you are enjoying yourself.

More pics

So yesterday dawned promisingly with a clear view of snowy Teide

I decided I would head up on the Northern approach (yes you can see the problem already ) via La orotava. Lovely roads albeit busy through the town of La Orotava.

As I filtered through the traffic I was soon heading up, noting the increasing cold as I passed the 1200 metre mark.

As 1500 metres approached there was more abs more white on the road, never a good look. A little wiggle from the front wheel of the normally super planted CB500x gave me pause for thought.

I found a sunlit patch where I was confident of grip and drew to a halt. Tentatively poking at all the white, I confirmed it was indeed ice I had been riding on (and would increasingly be doing so if I continued up).

So my commonsense (and large deposit on this virtually new bike) kicked in. I flat footed the bike around in a safe patch and very gingerly rode back down minimising lean and avoiding any braking. Whew!

This was a clue:

So I base farewell to Teide (for today anyway) and resolved to ride North to the Anaga peninsula via the Canarian backroads



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This wide Canarian street looked like a good coffee stop after my ‘adventure ‘



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Then the road became a series of 25% slopes mainly one car wide and I was so glad to have a small bike! No photos as it was all eyes on the road as I sensed my way as many generations of Canarians would have done before the advent of the motorway that largely encircles the island today.

As I went North the clouds threatened and suddenly opened as I approached Tacoronte and I dived for a sheltering bridge




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The second picture was my upgraded shelter, in a bus station, once I realised I was likely to be run into under the bridge . I was there for the best part of an hour admiring the falling stair rods

A local rider soon joined me….he had been even more caught out than me as he was wearing completely un -waterproof clothing. He told me that the weather was incredibly local and it might be dry 3 kms down the road. But down which road?

I gambled South West and was soon in the sun again
A little doer upper in a village south of PDLC…one which has been overshadowed and bisected by the motorway but nonetheless seemed to live happily on…despite this neglected example.

The village of San Juan de la Rambla
Then it was time head home in preparation for meeting Lord Snooty of this parish, whose advice had been so helpful to me


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It was a pleasure meeting you last night Si, I hope that you are enjoying yourself today.

Today started very cloudy but I was keen to visit the less frequented and very lush North East of the island.



The map below will give you an idea of why a biker might want to visit there:


And this:
The rain held off completely and the riding and scenery was every bit as good as I hoped for. The deep valleys and massive peaks reminded me a little of the Andes (but the roads here are considerably better!)


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The photos are limited as the photographer was quite busy keeping the bike on the road


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Great stuff Simon, those look amazing roads. Glad it stayed dry for you.

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Know that island very well. It’s surprising just what is there when you get your arse off the beach into a car

PitaNaanRoti said:

Know that island very well. It’s surprising just what is there when you get your arse off the beach into a car

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Indeed. Had cycled over much of the island but never been to Anaga before…very beautiful! And the CB500x has been amazing….lots of torque, light enough, very comfortable and responding well in the bends despite the larger front wheel.


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Had the pleasure (and displeasure) of living there for 20+ years

Did you get to Chamorga Si?

I did indeed…and then on to San Andres….


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Today was the last day with the bike and the weather finally looked auspicious for the climb to El Teide via the ‘north face’.

But first it was time for a beard trim at a friendly local barber, as the beard had acquired ZZ Topp dimensions. The barber turned out to be Uruguayan, in fact.

This done I packed my bag and headed South up the winding road via La Orotava, whose ice had turned me back last week.


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simondippenhall said:

I did indeed…and then on to San Andres….


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Good man, I hope you enjoyed those excellent roads, I hope you got up Teide for your last day.