Tenerife Mountain Biking Winter 2022/2023

Exploring the trails of Tenerife this Christmas

This winter I spent 18 days mountain biking around the southern parts of Tenerife including one loop around the volcano Teide.

That's Teide (the volcano) in the background

 Contents

- Tips about where to stay on Tenerife and where the good singletrack is

- Some of the best trails with Strava links and videos

- My epic New Year's ride around the volcano

- My crash :(

Racing and cruising in Croatia, summer 2022

This summer's training and racing vacation included a trip to the island of Krk in Croatia.

I'm a bit late in writing this post, it's December and in the middle of winter, but here goes...

Mountain Biking in Covid restricted Thailand winter 2021/2022

I managed to get away to Thailand this winter. Who would've thunk it? The hoops I had to jump through... I'll describe them below. But it all worked out... well, mostly.

Croatian XC race: XC REŽANCI. First place!

Video from the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bietry7JH3g

I had time for one last mountain bike race in Croatia before leaving for Trans Alp next weekend, This race I found after another tip from my pal Marko. The race was on the Istria region of Croatia (an 1.5 hour drive away) called XC REŽANCI. All I knew really was that it was an XC race with 7 laps around a course (1hour + the last lap).

The race started at 6 o'clock in the evening which I found sort of weird. I understand that they want to have the race out of the mid day heat, but the usual way of doing it is to have it in the morning. I decided that it would be a good idea to test ride the course as it may be technical so I got there two hours before the start. Did three laps and it turned out to be a really good idea. It's a very twisty-turny lap with lots of short downhills and uphills. Very intense! A couple of drops as well.

I decided to use the Race Kings for the race but as I saw the track I realized it had some sections with lose gravel so I was afraid that perhaps I had chosen the wrong tire. Also, with the track being as tight as it was I was worried about it not playing on my strengths.

As the race started I took it sort of easy during the start loop (with a asphalt climb). On the first real lap I started advancing up the field, This turned out to be very satisfying as I was able to pass rider after rider. I think I must have passed about 20 or 30 during the race. I was only myself passed by a single rider on the last lap when I got in trouble trying to lap a back marker and had a small crash.

I crossed the finish line winning my category. Checking the other categories I would've won M40 as well and placed third in M30. In total I would've been in the top-10 which I think is really good. There were some 100 participants all in all.

Another really nice thing is that I got to meet this friendly Slovene family who were there supporting their son, Rok Jamšek. I also got to know Rok after the race. He did great in his category coming in third.

Croatian Hillclimb race: Uspon na Zavižan

After Beskidy Trophy I travelled south and arrives in Slovenia a few hours later. I biked around on my favorite trails in the Idrija area for the next five days. Then further south into Croatia where my good pal Marko Glusac had told me of a race happening on Saturday.

It was an unusual type of race, a hill-climb on mountain bike. It starts in the town Senj, right next to the harbour, at sea-level. And then we go uphill and climb the mountain called Zavizan which is 1594 meters tall. The finish is at a lodge at the top of the mountain. Strava said that I had climbed a total of 1712 meters during the race. The length of the track is 38 kilometers.

The race has two categories: Under 45 years old and 45 and older and there were 100+ starters.

It was a really really hot day. My garmin data gives an average temperature of 29 degrees C however at the start it was 39 degrees C. Going uphill means very little draft from the speed. There were three water posts and at each I just poured a bottle of water over my head. I actually didn't need to fill my 900ml bottle at any point.

When I first got the race information I was thinking about a finish time of about 1.5 hours, which of course is silly. I took just two gels in case, I didn't think I'd need them for such a short race. I met up with Marko before the race and he said that the quickest time ever recorded was just under 2 hours. I was glad I brought the gels!

My other Croatian friend, Danijel Turcic, was also there. He's a hill climb specialist so I was very curious about how I was going to perform compared to him. We were not racing in the same category however so there was no pressure. Marko said he was unsure of his recovery as he had raced the Croatian national time trial just the day before.

The race started and the pace was quite high to begin with. In races like these, with long climbs, I always race my power meter, not the other competitors. Drafting is pretty pointless as the climb is so long and there are so few flat spots. Going too hard at the start of a 2 hour climb will kill you. After just a few kilometers  I noticed 5 riders speeding away. Looking down at my power meter I saw that I was doing about 380W and so I decided to let them go. Danijel also came around shortly after and I let him go as well. He was a bit behind the leading group of riders and going solo. I was solo as well I noticed after looking behind.

After about 10k I came to a fork in the road with a water posting on the right, just at the fork. I was a bit confused because the water post was on the gravel road forking away and the main paved road continued ahead and so I stuck to it as I couldn't see any markings. The people at the water post just looked at me and so I asked them: "Am I going the right way?". The answer was: "Well, you can go that way also, it'll just be a bit longer. Both roads will get you to the finish". I realized they were joking and that I was on the wrong path. I made a u-turn and got on the gravel road instead. I found the behaviour of the officials very strange. Had I not asked they may never have had told me I was going the wrong way. At about this point I also noticed that there were not the usual kind of markins with signs or banners but just orange arrows painted on the road where one was supposed to turn. I didn't see anything about that in the race info.

Making the u-turn a group behind me had almost caught up and I had a brief thought about if I was going to let them join to get some drafting help. I decided against it and went ahead at full speed. At this point my average power was at about 320W.

A lot of solo riding continued with the track going mostly uphill on gravel roads but there were also shorter flat sections and even some downhill. At times I could glimpse Danijel far ahead of me. The group that I had seen behind where I made the bad turn I never saw again. I had a bit of a dip at this point and after 20k my average power had dropped to 290W. The heat was terrible but as we got higher up on the mountain there were more trees at the side of the road at least providing some shade. The temperature also gradually dropped just because of the altitude.

Then at 30k I took my second gel, got a big power surge from the energy, and also started to see more of Danijels back. I got the feeling that I was slowly catching him. This gave me another burst of positive energy and I felt really strong all of a sudden. I upped my power to 340-360W and it took just about a kilometer to catch Danijel.

I continued past him but Danijel upped his pace and took my wheel. This continued to about 1km before the finish when he finally let go and I was able to cross the finish line solo after the last part which was really really steep.

I was the sixth rider across the line and third in my category.

Average power at the end turned out to be 289W.

Mountain Biking on Gran Canaria in December and January

Gran Canaria Mountain Biking

This was my first time ever riding on the island. So how was it? It was very nice! Lots of nice single track, downhills and big climbs.

Summary

    Total days: 17

    Sunny days / Rainy days: 13 / 4  

    Total distance:          762 km in total, 45 km/day

    Total time:              55 hours,  3.5 hours/day

    Total climbing:          22056 m, 1300 m/day

    Total crashes:           0

    Strava KOMs:             8

The Covid situation

I feel I should write something about this, sort of a disclaimer: I live alone in Sweden. I stayed by myself on Gran Canaria. No group rides. I wore a mask everywhere, except for while riding. I did a PCR test before I was allowed to enter Spanish territory. I feel I took no unnecessary risks and didn't subject anyone else to any risks.

Also, I've been home now for 2 weeks and I'm still alive :)

GC vs Chiang Mai

For the past six years, every winter, for about two weeks, I've been bicycling around the hills are trails of Chiang Mai, Thailand. This year, due to Covid-19, Chiang Mai was not an option. I did some research and came to the conclusion that the Canary islands were a good option: 1. No travel restrictions, all you need to show was a negative Covid test. 2. Nice climate. 3. Good mountain bike terrain. The islands had two good choices: Tenerife or Gran Canaria. I could only find direct flights to Gran Canaria so that became my choice.

The Covid situation was developing and the rules were changing all through the fall of 2020 and that led to a lot of uncertainty. I didn't book my trip to Gran Canaria until late in November. I used AirBnb to get an entire apartment to myself. I didn't want to be in one of the big touristy cities by the shore line, instead somewhere up in the mountains, close to the trails: The village of Valsequillo. 

My AirBnb residence in Valsequillo

The village of Valsequillo

Costs

Flight from Sweden (inc. bike):  €500

Apartment:                       €20 per night

Food:                            Cheaper than Sweden, more expensive than Thailand

Pros and Cons (compared to Chiang Mai):

Price: Flight is 1/3 of the price compared to Chiang Mai. AirBnb/hotel about the same,

Weather: On a good day Gran Canaria was almost as warm as Chiang Mai. However there were many more cloudy and rainy days compared to a typical December in Chiang Mai.

Time Zone: No jet lag!!!

Terrain: Same as Chiang Mai. There's both good single track and downhill to be found in both places.

Mountains: Same although the peaks are higher on Gran Canaria.

Food: Thai food is much more tasty.

People: Thai people are so much more friendly.

Traffic: The Gran Canarians drive excellently and overtake bicyclists VERY carefully. I felt 100% safe.

Arriving with a Broken Seatpost

When I had assembled my bike on the first day I noticed that the seat post wouldn't stay put after I had locked it in place. The tightened the bolt that held it in place but as soon as I sat on the saddle it would just slowly lower itself. 

The BMC Fourstroke has BMC's own built-in dropper seatpost making it a bespoke technical solution. I disassembled the whole thing, pulled it out of the frame, and did a lot of thinking, googling and analysis. After many hours I came to the conclusion that the black metal thingy and the white plastic thingy should probably be attached (as seen in the photo). They were both floating around separately on the seatpost.

I fixed it, assembled the whole thing again, and it worked!! 

The BNC 'RAD' Dropper Post

This is the part that 'broke' The black metal part and white plastic part separated

The Long Climb

The Long Climb

In Chiang Mai I have a benchmark climb that I like to do each year that I come there. It's 8.6km long and you climb 893 meters all in all. The quickest that I've done it is in 55 minutes with a 300W average.

On Gran Canaria I found a similar climb starting just outside of my village. The climb is called  Haciendas 2.0 (llanetes-caldera) and is 12.4km long with an altitude gain of 1084m. 

On my third attempt I got the KOM with a time of 1:08:59 and 312W average power.

Hopefully I'll be able to return to Gran Canaria in future years to try this climb again.

Benchmark Switchback Downhill

Apart from the uphill benchmark climb that I mention in the previous section I also found a nice technical downhill just outside of the village called bajada bco. san roque. Unfortunately it took an hour of asphalt riding to get to the top of the mountain in order to do the downhill.

One of the switchback turns

The downhill was a series of switchbacks (180 degree turns) and going steeply downhill. It was very rocky. The first time I rode it it took 15 minutes and at the end I was down to 5 minutes. There were two places that I still had to get off the bike because I found them unrideable. In the end I was fifth out of 45 riders on that particular segment although far away from the KOM of 3.5 minutes.

My progress on the switchbacks segment

Very stony and hard to get around the turns

Kind of tricky on a rainy day

The Ravine

One of the really cool trails that I found was a ravine leading downhill and towards the sea from Valsequillo to Telde. The singletrack continued even after Telde and all the way to the beach. There were a bunch of segments going both uphill and downhill. I managed a Strava KOM on the uphill and a second place on the downhill. Neither were steep but a lot of fun. If you're in the area I really recomend you ride "The Ravine".

Downhill: Barranco Real desde Tecen hasta puente Mayorazgo ,bajada,🦍🇮🇨

Uphill: Chus G . Barranco real

The Ravine

The Fourstroke in Technical Terrain

I bought my BMC Fourstroke in the fall (separate post coming on that) and this trip to Gran Canaria was my first chance to ride it in really technical terrain. I have to say that it performed excellently. It felt so much more stable than my old Trek Top Fuel due to the slacker geometry (Head tube angle is 67.5 degrees compared to 70.0 for the old Trek). The dropper post also helped immensly in sections like the switchbacks that I mention above.

Photos