A quick review of road cycling on Gran Canaria

Five rides through the north and center of the island
Our base was in the north of the island (which is quite unusual, as most tourists stay on the southern shore). While the North is less touristy and much greener, it’s also more populated and has more unpredictable weather. 

In general riding on the island is either up or down and climbs can be very long if you ride into the center of the island. There are many roads starting at sea level and going up to 1.500m and even further up to the highest summit of 1.900m. In my experience the quality of the tarmac is either superb or super rough - not much in between. However most roads in the center of the island are very good and the landscape is super beautiful.

Climbs mostly average below 6% but tend to undulate quite a bit with steeper sections from time to time. The climbs are long enough for any kind of training session (with more 1.500 meters of elevation even Pog could do a full hour) and the descends technical enough to be engaging but not sketchy. 

A good option for a rental bike is Bananabikes, who will deliver the bike right to your accommodation.

A few highlights were: 

- The center of the island in general and the long climbs up from Tamaraceite and Santa Brigida in particular.
- The roads around and up to the Bandame volcano 
- Getting absolutely smoked by a Uno X rider doing intervals, catching him again and getting unceremoniously rode off the wheel
- Trail running the vertical kilometer in the Valle de Agaete (no ride but still works the legs and lungs!)

I did cover quite a bit of ground during my five days of riding and in my opinion the island is good destination if you are looking to seriously train (with easily hour long climbs) but even better as a “holiday with some riding” outing as the sights and other activities are also worth the visit.