Cycling Holidays

Nullzzz · 5 Nov 2016 at 12:40

Shamrock said:
Nice! I might borrow that first route if you can export a GPX?

What bike did you hire? I'm renting a SuperSix Evo Ultegra Di2 from Freemotion over Christmas.

I'll sort out the route I plotted on Strava, because I took a wrong turn on the descent, which meant me turning around and grinding back up - probably added another 800ft or so of climbing up a pretty poor road. My language was rather colourful.

Take some arm warmers, the first 20 minutes or so of the descent you will be freezing. I had a BH Quartz Ultegra, which is an endurance type bike; given the general great condition of the roads, the supersix is probably a better choice. Let me know if you don't have dropbox.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p21tdonaid78y3g/GC%20PICO%2060.tcx?dl=0

Shamrock · 5 Nov 2016 at 12:46

Thanks.

How was the climate and weather? In December it's supposed to average around 20C so I expect at the summits of climbs it'll be much colder. I'll have a windproof jacket for descending.

Nullzzz · 5 Nov 2016 at 14:25

Hotter than expected 27-29 (should have been around 24) with a little rain late afternoon / evening. It was mercifully cooler & overcast on the Pico climb.

BennyC · 8 Nov 2016 at 12:41

Nullzzz said:
Really enjoyed it, some real breathtaking views. Tenerife in May, so I better try & learn to love climbing a bit more.

Tenerife has just popped up on my radar. Where about did you decide to stay?

SoliD · 8 Nov 2016 at 14:43

BennyC said:
Tenerife has just popped up on my radar. Where about did you decide to stay?

The only thing about Tenerife is that there is Teide, or Teide. I'm thinking Gran Canaria or Southern Spain next March, and group of friends planning Marmotte for July.

Shamrock · 8 Nov 2016 at 15:21

Lanzarote has more varied terrain but no HC or Cat 1s, just Cat 2-4 climbs. It is also very exposed to the wind.

Nullzzz · 10 Nov 2016 at 13:44

BennyC said:
Tenerife has just popped up on my radar. Where about did you decide to stay?

I'm yet to visit Tenerife, and again it's not a cycling holiday (32 of us!) just a holiday where I plan to do a bit. We are staying in Costa Adeje. A lot of routes seem to start in that area.

SoliD said:
The only thing about Tenerife is that there is Teide, or Teide. I'm thinking Gran Canaria or Southern Spain next March, and group of friends planning Marmotte for July.

I was very impressed with Gran Canaria, most (but not all) roads in very good condition and decent variety of terrain if you are based around say Maspalomas.

touch · 10 Nov 2016 at 14:15

Nullzzz said:
I'm yet to visit Tenerife, and again it's not a cycling holiday (32 of us!) just a holiday where I plan to do a bit. We are staying in Costa Adeje. A lot of routes seem to start in that area.

I stayed in Las Americas when I was there. We found a bike shop which seemed to have decent hire bikes (we had our own bikes so didnt pay that much attention to the hire options). Called Bike Point Tenerife, it was on the Adeje side of town so might be walkable from where you are.

There is a lot more to the island than just the Teide climb, but there's no flat roads. It'll be great if you're only going to get a couple of days riding.

Nullzzz · 10 Nov 2016 at 18:22

I used http://www.free-motion.com in Gran Canaria, bike was a brand new & unused BH Quartz Ultegra (I had to bed the pads / rotors in before I made any big descents), so I'm tempted to use them again.

That said, I've always liked BMC bikes & that Roadmachine RM02 Ultegra Di2 looks quite tasty.

Edinho · 10 Nov 2016 at 21:00

Shamrock said:
It's not cheap but if you want a full tour of the Alps...

http://pyreneesmultisport.com/raid-alpine/

There is an optional day to join the 'Club des Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux'.

We used them this year to do the Raid Pyrenees. Great if you just want to ride and no have to worry about anything else. Good value for what you get at the price. I would use them again.

Shamrock · 11 Nov 2016 at 09:30

Edinho said:
We used them this year to do the Raid Pyrenees. Great if you just want to ride and no have to worry about anything else. Good value for what you get at the price. I would use them again.

I've stayed at their HQ in Luscan for a self-guided tour and oli collett did the Raid Alpine this year with them. I'd definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a reasonably priced, fully supported tour.

#Chri5# · 11 Nov 2016 at 22:36

Booked the ferry (outbound) and Eurotunnel (coming home) this week for a trip to France next June.

A week in Provence cycling, staying on a vineyard about 25k from Bedoin... :cool:

SoliD · 14 Nov 2016 at 19:59

Registered for Marmotte! Now to find some accomodation.

SoliD · 16 Nov 2016 at 13:57

SoliD said:
Registered for Marmotte! Now to find some accomodation.

Trip coming together now, ferry out on the wednesday evening, going down on the Thursday, staying until the Tuesday near Bourg D'oisans, then going up to near La Planche Des Belles Filles on the Tuesday to ride to the tour stage on the Wednesday, home on the Thursday.

topgun06 · 16 Nov 2016 at 14:49

Le Bourg D'oisans is beautiful. My father stays there a few times a year right at the bottom of Alpe d'Huez. I'll need to take along one year.

SoliD · 16 Nov 2016 at 22:33

topgun06 said:
Le Bourg D'oisans is beautiful. My father stays there a few times a year right at the bottom of Alpe d'Huez. I'll need to take along one year.

From everything I've read, it is the best place to stay in the Alps with all the major climbs within riding distance.

Hopefully got all our accomodation booked now. 5 nights near Bourg and then 2 up near Les Planches Des Belles Filles. Hopefully get in 7 days of riding.

topgun06 · 17 Nov 2016 at 10:28

And even for the climbs which may just be out of reach, you can always drive a bit closer, do a route, and then drive back.

Roady · 17 Nov 2016 at 12:40

BennyC said:
Does anyone have recomendations for holidays in the French Alps?

Very interested in what you find out mate, not that I'd ride with you, just to give an idea of pricing/schedules for that kinda trip so I can pitch it to the other half to check viability in the future...!

Nullzzz said:
I was very impressed with Gran Canaria, most (but not all) roads in very good condition and decent variety of terrain if you are based around say Maspalomas.

Did a non-cycling holiday in Gran Canaria 4-5 years ago and the roads from the south (Puerto Rico) to the middle were amazing, although to really get to the highest points (did a 'Volcano tour') required a 4x4 so I wouldn't think a road bike ideal. 99% of the rest of the riding you'd be fine though. Roads seemed really wide & very quiet, even peak season (was June/July IIRC).

SoliD said:
The only thing about Tenerife is that there is Teide, or Teide.

Not strictly true, there's tons of riding which the tourists supposedly don't know about. Did a group ride a couple of months back and one of the girls along was living out there (teaching English) and had got really into regular riding as a way to integrate with some of the locals. She's a bit of a mountain goat and regularly see QOM's on her rides. Based in Santa Cruz, think her profile is public if you wanted to take a look at some of the riding - https://www.strava.com/athletes/5011893

Shamrock · 7 Dec 2016 at 12:42

Getting excited, I've been playing around with routes for GC.

Gonna be a tough 6 days.

BennyC · 7 Dec 2016 at 14:26

100ft/mile for 420~ miles is going to be tough going. Not dissimilar ratio for my trip to Majorca though it was a 'holiday', included a day off the bike and 1 recovery ride and about half the distance/elevation