Pico de Las Nieves
And yet again, you turn a corner and this island absolutely takes your breath away…
Over the last 12 months I’ve made a habit of riding from sea level to the top of a volcano: Teide in Tenerife, Etna in Sicily, Mount Olympus in Cyprus. Pico de Las Nieves felt different to all of them.
With Etna and Teide you can’t help but be aware of their presence, looming very, very large in the background. While the summit of both may be obscured, the topography is broadly similar in that the slopes rise immediately and evenly straight from the sea up to the crater and you set out knowing that all you’re doing today is riding up.
Gran Canaria is not like that.
It is more ‘wrinkled’, with deep valleys cut out of jagged ridges that sprawl from the centre to the sea.
It is older than the other two. Much, much older. The volcanic activity started millions of years earlier, and the erosion, rain and wind have carved deep ridges into the terrain over time.
Riding from Meloneras toward the highest point feels more like a day of exploration than a single challenge.
The climbing starts quickly, and the first viewpoint, the Mirador Astronómico, is stunning. But after 20+ minutes of climbing, you realise there’s still a long way to go.
This ride is a series of climbs rather than one continuous ascent, which I actually preferred — it takes the pressure off and lets you stop to enjoy the views. The Fataga to San Bartolomé climb was a particular favourite, always full of cyclists.
Before you know it you’re at 1400 metres, and as was often the case when riding out here, you turn a corner and an insane view opens up before you.
But it’s not all fun and games.
The climbing up to this point has been pretty steady with a few sharp pitches early on but now you’re entering a world of mounting fatigue, altitude and a steep and unrelenting climb up from Ayacata on the GC-600.
Hard going, beautiful, that classic cycling contradiction that keeps you coming back to do it again and again.
In a theme that runs through most of these big days out, you hit the next section and it all changes.
Like moving through levels in a video game, and I was playing Super Mario World on the way out so maybe that’s why it felt like that, but I half expected to find Bowser lurking in the pine forest as I worked my way through the lush trees.
And yet again, you turn a corner and this island absolutely takes your breath away…
The climb through the clouds, whilst beautiful on the way up does make for cold descending, but now is probably not the best time to remind you to bring a jacket, should have done that at the start.
The summit is incredible. And in my opinion the best of the climbs I’ve done this year, save perhaps for the Col du Tourmalet.
You can see the top of Teide, you’re above the clouds, you have a full panoramic view if you venture up the rock carved steps in cleats, and there is a very welcome food truck selling sweet stuff and Aquarius.
I got chatting to a local who was up in the mountains on a camping adventure on his mountain bike, which confirmed that of all of the islands and volcanoes I have ridden, this one has perhaps the most potential to keep coming back to again and again.
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