It might seem odd that the first entry on a blog about exploring Scotland by bike is about cycling in Tenerife, but as I’ve been struck down with a post-holiday lurg for the past two weeks it’s the last adventure I had. So it seems to be as good a place to start as any.

We’ve never been on holiday in February before, but we took a last-minute decision to head for some sunshine, and what an excellent decision that was. We both just wanted to relax, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit still for that long. I also knew that Tenerife is a mecca for road cycling, so alongside my usual running kit I snuck in my cycling kit too, including my helmet, after a little internal debate about whether or not I wanted to rent one or not (and the chance of it being a sweaty mess. High).

Planning the Route: The Vilaflor Tour

Before we left I’d researched routes. There are quite a few blogs on the subject already, and I happened across the Bike Point Tenerife site, which had a number of downloadable routes. I thought that these sounded like they’d been created by locals who would know what they were doing, and picked the ‘Vilaflor Tour’, a 55km route which would take me from Los Cristianos up into the mountains to Vilaflor, the highest village on the island on the slopes of Mt Tiede.

The only fly in my ointment thus far was that I couldn’t seem to arrange a hire bike online for a single day. Everywhere I tried wanted a three-day minimum hire. So I decided to chance it, and ask at the hotel when we were in Tenerife. For once, a happy-go-lucky approach worked a treat, and the hotel arranged bike hire through Mr Bike Tenerife. The following day a lovely carbon-framed La Pierre was delivered to the front door, fully set up, for the princely sum of 30 Euros. And we were off!

About 50m into the ride I encountered my first issue. The gears weren’t working. I struggled up the street away from the hotel, frantically pressing the left lever, and nothing happened. Cursing my luck, I thought my day was ruined and I would have to return and contact the shop… until it struck me. Shimano. These are Shimano gears Claire. Yours are SRAM. So after a couple of moments where the gears in my head caught up with the gears on the bike and I remembered how to work them, everything clanked beautifully into place, and I saved myself the embarrassment of complaining about a fully-functioning bike.

Riding Out of Los Cristianos: Busy Roads, Traffic and First Climbs

The road out of Los Cristianos is a busy one, and of course you’re on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, so there’s a lot to think about in the initial stages of the ride. It’s a dual carriageway, but not in the sense that we’d think about it here – it’s just a regular road through town, cutting through colourful houses and shops, it just has two lanes and is very busy. I never felt intimidated though, the drivers are clearly used to cyclists and gave plenty of space.

After passing underneath the main TF-1 motorway the route continued up and away from Los Cristianos on the Carratera General del Sur. This was still a fast road with quite a bit of traffic, however for most of the way up there was a wide shoulder that I made full use of. Once I hit the first village of Chayofa the traffic definitely seemed to thin out a little. The road continues upwards through a collection of small towns where you get a sense that you’re moving into the real Tenerife, away from the tourists and hotels on the coast.

Leaving Valle de San Lorenzo, just under 10km into the ride there’s a short ramp of about 2.5km which hits about 8%. Although you’ve been steadily climbing for the entire ride, this feels like a “proper” climb with an absolutely breathtaking view across to the coast, which frankly does a lot of distracting.

After this the road “flattens” (which just means there’s a few wee downs to go with a few wee ups tbh) and you pass through several more very pretty, very Spanish little towns. I particularly enjoyed watching the locals in the cafes enjoying their mornings as I pedaled past, and once clear of the towns I returned to the phenomenal views over the island and down to the coast and the beautiful blue sea. Just after San Miguel de Abona, where I’d stopped to buy more water (this turned out to be an eminently sensible move as there’s nothing past here until Vilaflor) I passed a signpost indicating that Vilaflor was off to my left, however I trusted my locally-built route and ploughed on towards Granadilla de Abona, where just on the outskirts of town I hung a left and started the climb up the TF-21 to Vilaflor.

The TF-21 Climb to Vilaflor: Tenerife’s Highest Village

My route tells me that this climb started at 660m and over the course of 14km took me to 1380m. Just to give you an illustration, I’d been wearing a t-shirt the day before with “Bealach na Ba 626m” written on it. If you don’t know, the Bealach is one of the best climbs in Scotland. So there’s that. Steep at the start as you leave the town behind, the gradient ranges from 3% to 9% at various stages. As it winds up the lower slopes of the volcano the terrain starts off barren and dusty with raggedy bushes, where you’ve no escape from the glare of the sun to green with patches of tall trees further up which seem somehow out of place with the volcanic world you’ve just left. The route is a popular one with cyclists and I was passed many times, with those heading up sweating in the heat like me, and those coming down armed with jackets and gilets, evidence that they’d been a bit higher up into the cold air around the summit perhaps. I started to worry that I hadn’t brought enough clothes, however quickly reminded myself that I was Scottish and it was 23C, and therefore to wise up.

Towards the top I did begin to struggle, the unfamiliarity of the hired bike (well mostly the hired saddle if I’m honest) paired with 35km of climbing meant that I was very glad to see Vilaflor. It seems like a long way away when you finally glimpse it. As I entered the village I noticed what is perhaps the best-placed cycling café I have ever seen (it’s pretty much the first building you come to in the town) which was rammed, so I opted for a Coke from a shop round the corner instead, which was glorious.

The Descent: Fast Roads and Spectacular Views Back to the Coast

Once you leave Vilflor on the TF-51, it’s downhill all the way back to the coast. Initially a gentle, open descent, the road turns into a fast, swoopy rollercoaster just before Arona, with twists and turns and more amazing views. The cloud was sitting just above the coastline which made for picture-perfect vistas. I took some in, but the latter part of the road demands total concentration given the speed you can hit. Leaving this road in Camella, I rejoined the main Carretera del Sur and braved the traffic back into Los Cristianos.

I started this blog to write about adventures, and this certainly was one. The route was brilliant, just long enough, lived up to all expectations and let me experience a side of Tenerife I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. The cycling was great, with mostly quiet roads and courteous drivers, and the views were sublime. Sunshine, bikes, views and volcanoes. What’s not to like?

Bike hire: Mr Bike Tenerife

Route downloaded from:

Bike Point Tenerife – https://bikepointtenerife.com/download-gps-bike-routes-in-tenerife/