Lanzarote. Thursday 2 February. Viewpoints Ride.
Today was a great biking day, light winds, sunny and clear with temperatures up to 20C. I decided on a long ride to visit some of the viewpoints to the north of the Island.

I took a back road up to Tias and then another back road to the main plateau road at Masdache. The traffic on both the back roads was very light averaging a car every 2 minutes. Then a fast ride along the centre of the Island to Teguise where I stopped in the square for a break and a snack from my Bar Bag.

Then onwards and upwards along the Haria road to climb another 1000ft to 2000ft. Just before the top I turned off on a side road to La Nieves which is a Church and a car park perched on the edge of 2000ft cliffs above the surf, pounding Famara beach far below. From here there is one of the best views in Lanzarote over the northern coastal plains and the distant volcanic peaks to the south. For some reason it is off the standard tourist trail so is fairly quiet and peaceful.

I continued to the top of the pass and then down the hairpinned descent to Haria. Then further north and another climb to the viewpoint at Mirador del Rio in the far north of the Island. There are 2 roads and I took the narrow windy backroad along the cliff edge with amazing views across to the Island of Graciosa. The Mirador del Rio is a viewing area and building built into the cliff face and the cafe has windows looking out over the view. This made a great place for lunch.

My return route took the other road down to the village of Ye and then a long descent back to sea level on the other coast at Arrieta. From here I took a fast route on the smooth surface of the new coast road gradually climbing to 600ft and then down to Tahiche before another climb to San Bartolome and down via Tias to base.

64 quality miles for the day with 4500ft of climbing.

Edwin