Tenerife
 

I just got back from a trip to Tenerife. Had one day to rent a bike and have an adventure.

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My FZ6 rental. *Fun bike but a bit uncomfortable. *Cost about 18 Euros to fill the tank. *It was almost empty and the tank holds about 5 gallons or 20 liters. *It lasted the entire day but I didn't track how many miles I travelled, my guess is the mpg isn't very good.

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A door in Vilaflor!

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Stumbled upon a local parade. *All were encouraged to march with the group including myself. *I followed for some time but had no idea what all the excitement was about. *There were no floats just an array of costumed townspeople from the very young to adults. *It was followed by a van that was blatting out music from a roof mounted PA system. *I was told later that this was the remnants of the Carnaval festival that had ended as we arrived to the island.

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One last view of Vilaflor. *Note the clouds, the weather at the coast is probably in the 70's. *In the cloud as you ascend it gets very cold and when you are on the north end usually some precipitation. *Once you break through the clouds it warms up again, that day it was in the low 60's as long as you are in sunlight.

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This is a combined photo. *The bike did not move I just shot the road from in front and behind, trying to illustrate the twisty nature of the roads.

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Look at the dark volcanic soil. *The forest was just starting to thin out as I was reaching the plateau.

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Once you get to the top it looks like an alien world.

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There is still variety in the landscape and some amazing rock formations.

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The pink church, highest in the land resting at 7,700 feet above sea level.

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Passing the mountain and heading to the north side of the island I came across a lunar type landscape. *Sandy with rocks scattered about unlike the very rocky southern section of the mountain plateau.

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Standing above the clouds. *A nice German couple took my photo. *Made fun of me as I ran my hands over my head to fluff up what little hair I had left, I thought it might be mushed down from the helmet.

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My last moments in the sun for quite some time.

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Looking back at El Teide one more time before my descent.

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I was about to head down the mountain and into the clouds. *I chose this route based upon the map. *While twisty it seemed far less tight with more straights than my other options. *It was true for the most part, there is just no avoiding the switchbacks.

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The ride down was cold and foggy/cloudy. *There were times when I couldn't see more than ten feet in front of me. *Then the stinging ice crystals and sharp rain drops attacked me. *Even with the discomfort it was beautiful. *I stopped along the way hopping the I could photo the fog and clouds rolling off the side of the cliffs and over the road. *The camera did an okay job capturing the scene but it was much more dramatic to the naked eye.

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Along the other side I visited the coastal town of Candelaria. *Stepped inside this beautiful church. *This was the only town where I ran into a beggar and he was sitting on the church steps as you exited.

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Outside the church along the sea wall is a row of eight statues. *They represent the original inhabitants of the Canary Islands.

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Time to eat, I had octopus with potatoes.

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And small fried fish. *Never know what you are going to get when you can't quite read the menu. *You eat the fish head and all.

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In the coastal town of Garachino is the Castillo de San Miguel. *Constructed in 1575 as a fortress.

I went back up the mountain afterwards, there are four main roads so I did a convoluted figure eight across the island. *The way back up was even colder than the way down. *I was completely uncomfortable and wanted nothing more than to break into the sunlight once again. *My arms were so tired by then and the constant shivering had me in an awful state. *While there were some gorgeous views I simply wanted to press on and get out of the cloud bank.

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I stopped at a restaurant near El Teide and had a bowl of chicken soup to warm me up. *So glad to be back in the sunlight.

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The incredibly winding roads near Masca.

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The village of Masca built along the cliff walls. *Later that week Serena and I would take a four hour hike from the village down to the sea.

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More of the bluffs near Masca.

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After I returned my bike I was greeted to a beautiful sunset.

Tenerife is a beautiful place with gracious people, delicious food and diverse landscape. *Depending on what kind of connections you can get the flight time is around eight to ten hours. *Most people speak English as it is a popular destination for UK travelers as well as other European visitors. *It isn't horribly expensive, prices for food and services are slightly more than the US but not out of line. *A great place to rent a bike and explore!

Very nice. Thanks for the pics.

On the subject of "cold": a friend came up with a saying, that I'm fond of repeating - "It's not a true ADventure without a little ADversity - otherwise, it's just a long trip..."

Thanks for posting-up, I always intend to do something like this for other moto-trip voyeurs, but often fail to do so.

Really nice! Thanks!

Looks like great fun, and the country looks gorgeous.