Lanzarote. Sunday 12 February and Monday 13 February.

Sunday 12 February, Mirador del Rio Ride

Today was a great day, sunny and clear with temperatures up to 22C. I decided on a long ride to visit Mirador del Rio again to the north of the Island.

As it was Sunday and traffic was light I took the main road up to Tias and then across to San Bartolome at 1000ft. Then a fast ride along the center of the Island to Teguise where I avoided the Sunday market crowds.

Then onwards and upwards along the Haria road to climb another 1000ft to 2000ft 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 with a good tail wind gradually climbing to 600ft and then down to Tahiche before another climb to San Bartolome and down to the coast at Playa Honda. Then back to base on the Prom/Cyclepath

63 miles for the day with 4400ft of climbing.

Edwin

Monday 13 February. New Roads ride.

Weather today was a little cooler at 18C with sunny spells and scattered cloud. I headed south to Uga and then up a dead-end road up a valley into the mountains to the little village of La Degollada. The locals don’t seem to want the uninitiated to find this as there were no signposts to it.

The road turned out to be a very smooth surface gradually climbing before rearing up to 17 or 18% coming into the village. Traffic was about a car every 5 minutes.

The road dead-ends just above the village and there is then a stony footpath. I took the bike a little way along the path and got some great views from the 1100ft height down to the volcanoes and lava flows in the El Golfo area.

After descending to Yaiza and Uga I took the road to La Geria which is the main wine growing region. The 3 miles to La Geria has deteriorated badly with the tarmac badly broken up and even the potholes seemed to have potholes. The road is currently a dead end to traffic as for the next few miles it was being renewed. I got round the barriers and cruised along the new tarmac encountering only a few cyclists coming the other way.

Then across on a backroad to La Asomada and a fast descent from 1200ft back to base.

28 miles for the day with 1800 ft of climbing.

Edwin