Tenerife - where to stay?

[quickerbybike.com]

Hiya

I'm organising a training camp for about 20 fellow racers in March. I do it every year. Previously Costa Blanca, Andalucia and Mallorca.

This year we thought we'd try something a bit different and guarantee ourselves sunshine. Tenerife.

Looked up where Telekom used to stay. Same place Astana stay. Playa de Los Americanos. However, I hear the town is properly horrible and naff. The very worst of Brits abroad.

Anyone have any suggestions? Somewhere with access to good riding. Either a hotel with good food or preferebly two or three apartments in a self-catering block or two villas next door to each other.

We can usually arrange the whole week for £350 each, including flights and airport parking - just so you have an idea of the sort of budget I'm aiming at.

Any help gratefully received.

Many thanks

Martin

 

[Squares]

Hiya

I'm organising a training camp for about 20 fellow racers in March. I do it every year. Previously Costa Blanca, Andalucia and Mallorca.

This year we thought we'd try something a bit different and guarantee ourselves sunshine. Tenerife.

Looked up where Telekom used to stay. Same place Astana stay. Playa de Los Americanos. However, I hear the town is properly horrible and naff. The very worst of Brits abroad.

Anyone have any suggestions? Somewhere with access to good riding. Either a hotel with good food or preferebly two or three apartments in a self-catering block or two villas next door to each other.

We can usually arrange the whole week for £350 each, including flights and airport parking - just so you have an idea of the sort of budget I'm aiming at.

Any help gratefully received.

Many thanks

Martin

Putting your guys on a beef diet in Tenerife will have them dropping weight and building lean muscle. It works wonders

 

[LugHugger]

Hiya

I'm organising a training camp for about 20 fellow racers in March. I do it every year. Previously Costa Blanca, Andalucia and Mallorca.

This year we thought we'd try something a bit different and guarantee ourselves sunshine. Tenerife.

Looked up where Telekom used to stay. Same place Astana stay. Playa de Los Americanos. However, I hear the town is properly horrible and naff. The very worst of Brits abroad.

Anyone have any suggestions? Somewhere with access to good riding. Either a hotel with good food or preferebly two or three apartments in a self-catering block or two villas next door to each other.

We can usually arrange the whole week for £350 each, including flights and airport parking - just so you have an idea of the sort of budget I'm aiming at.

Any help gratefully received.

Many thanks

Martin

Hi Martin, I can thoroughly recommend Medano as a base for a training camp. It is in the south of the island with excellent beaches and a good range of restaraunts and bars. It's only a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport. It's got a chilled out vibe and is popular with windsurfers and kiteboarders.
Medano also has an excellent bike shop http://www.medanobike.com/ which hires well specced Ridleys at a reasonable rate.
The road out of town leads straight up Teide via a manageable gradient. What's not to like!?

 

[quickerbybike.com]

Thank you very much indeed lughugger. Medano is where I'll start searching. Sounds ideal.

Squares - I'm quite lean enough already for time trials on the A31!

 

[straydog]

Medano is a pretty good start. Although I would also ask have you also thought of lanzarote? Even Club le santa? Which will take all of the arrangement hassles away fro you. But, my instinct says that, for your budget, the canaries in general might be hard to get something decent for what you are prepared to pay.

The upside is the weather at that time of year compared to say Majorca (which would be my suggestion, but you have already been), Tuscany (again great), Girona, or even Beziers in France, or Nice and it's environs, where the riding is simply unparalleled.

Let us know how your search goes.

 

[straydog]

Sorry P.S. Los americanos is a bit of a hole by the way.

 

[LugHugger]

On budgets, Ryanair currently have flights at £110 return first week in March. There are numerous villas in Medano available sleeping 6 at a cost of c.€500. Airport parking c. £90/week. Airport transfer on arrival, round trip €35. Equates to roughly £240 pp.

Straydog is right that there are other areas that you might consider. SW France near the Spanish border, is fantastic cycling country. Graham Fife covers this under chapters Ravines and High Woods and Judgement Mountains in his The Great Road Climbs of the Pyrenees. I can highly recommend Prades and Ceret as bases for this part of the world.

I'm fortunate that I have relatives who live near Callian in the Var and the Tour du Haut Var and Paris-Nice pass by the end of their drive. The weather in early March can be a bit hit or miss but the roads are spectacular. In particular, the Gorge du Verdon should be on all cyclists itineraries. It's my favourite place in the world to ride

 

[straydog]

Ok...what about Ryanair's cost of taking bikes? Both ways....plus a villa sleeping six for 500 a week I can guarantee will include two in the sitting room. My point isn't that you can't do it for your budget, it's just that in the canaries I think your budget isn't going to gaurantee you anything that nice or relaxing when you are off the bike, and the cycling is far far superior, as has been said above, in the south of France generally and in Italy. I was in Tuscany and Umbria two years ago at the end of feb, I had very little rain, some fantastic sunshine and really pleasant temperatures and one freakish day of snow in the mountains.

I would definitely rather head to Europe than the canaries if my main intent is the roads and some really decent cycling.

If you want to be able to top up your tan, or have a swim when you are relaxing, then the canaries might be better suited.

 

[LugHugger]

Ok...what about Ryanair's cost of taking bikes? Both ways....plus a villa sleeping six for 500 a week I can guarantee will include two in the sitting room. My point isn't that you can't do it for your budget, it's just that in the canaries I think your budget isn't going to gaurantee you anything that nice or relaxing when you are off the bike, and the cycling is far far superior, as has been said above, in the south of France generally and in Italy. I was in Tuscany and Umbria two years ago at the end of feb, I had very little rain, some fantastic sunshine and really pleasant temperatures and one freakish day of snow in the mountains.

I would definitely rather head to Europe than the canaries if my main intent is the roads and some really decent cycling.

If you want to be able to top up your tan, or have a swim when you are relaxing, then the canaries might be better suited.

Ah, I forgot bike carriage Add another £30 each way. A cursory google search brings up 3 double bedroomed villas in Medano at that price point with a private pool. Martin specified Tenerife and alluded that he and his group had been elsewhere in Europe and were looking for a change of scenery.
Anyway, I apologise for splitting hairs since I think that both you and I would choose elsewhere for a dedicated training camp.

 

[straydog]

Ah, I forgot bike carriage Add another £30 each way. A cursory google search brings up 3 double bedroomed villas in Medano at that price point with a private pool. Martin specified Tenerife and alluded that he and his group had been elsewhere in Europe and were looking for a change of scenery.
Anyway, I apologise for splitting hairs since I think that both you and I would choose elsewhere for a dedicated training camp.

No need to apologise....splitting hairs is perfectly valid here

I would also genuinely investigate your holiday insurance if you fly Ryan Air and their chuckers....I mean baggage handlers.... lose or damage your bike. They also charge extra each way for any checked luggage. Hey, I don't mean to hate on O'Leary, but the dude also wanted to start charging passengers for using the toilets on his flights, which is gonna get a bit costly on a four hour flight to Tenerife!

I would thoroughly recommend Tenerife and Lanzarote for Tri training camps at that time of year but, like you I think, if it is just cycling you are after then Europe has much better options.

 

[Boeing]

Hi Martin, I can thoroughly recommend Medano as a base for a training camp. It is in the south of the island with excellent beaches and a good range of restaraunts and bars. It's only a 10 minute taxi ride from the airport. It's got a chilled out vibe and is popular with windsurfers and kiteboarders.
Medano also has an excellent bike shop http://www.medanobike.com/ which hires well specced Ridleys at a reasonable rate.
The road out of town leads straight up Teide via a manageable gradient. What's not to like!?

I have had this same question lingering in my mind for some time.

Good lead on the shop and the hires.

Crazy question they can answer via email but do you know if they rent 29ers?

 

[LugHugger]

I have had this same question lingering in my mind for some time.

Good lead on the shop and the hires.

Crazy question they can answer via email but do you know if they rent 29ers?

I don't remember seeing any in January but they have just about every other type of bike including choppers - so maybe! There are a couple of German guys that I emailed before arriving who are very helpful - Harry (Harold) and Christophe. Bon chance.

Edit: They also advertise self-catering accommodation on their site. This accommodation was next door to the hotel at which we were staying and looked very new and well-maintained and was right on the beach with nothing but sand between you and the ocean.

 

[straydog]

I have had this same question lingering in my mind for some time.

Good lead on the shop and the hires.

Crazy question they can answer via email but do you know if they rent 29ers?

Boeing, are you travelling from far away? If not, I would definitely say bring your own. You will be able to get some pretty low specced 29ers from a lot of bike shops in tenerife, but they aren't particularly well priced or reliable. Actually, kind of like most hire bikes if I am honest.

Last time I hired a bike, I popped two spokes on the front wheel ten minutes out of the shop and the guy wanted me to pay the repair out of my deposit.

 

[straydog]

Also, if you are a mountain biker have you thought of Majorca? Apologies if you have already been.