We know the European attitude towards cycling as a sport, a recreation and a mode of transport is way ahead of ours. Years, probably decades even. Its a shame but change is coming. The Cycle Superhighways in London have proved, beyond doubt, people will use them, congestion is less and the air-quality improves despite the nay-sayers bemoaning them at the time. Birmingham and Manchester are about to embark on similar journeys themselves which can only be repeated up and down the country. I hope change is sooner rather than later.
Corralejo, a former fishing village now a busy tourist destination on the island of Fuerteventura just a few miles off the west-African coast is no different when it comes to looking out for cyclists. They recognise its an important mode of travel that should be supported and across the island in general, cycling as a recreation or sport is seen as an economic benefit too
My legs were very tired today after three hard days in the saddle. Today was a rest day so I decided to go for a pootle around town and take some photos of the cycling infrastructure here.
The cycle paths here I would say come in three forms.
- Terracotta colour, marked 2-way lanes. NEW.
- Wide tarmac, unmarked but will take 2-way traffic.
- Single lane tarmac, unmarked.
The newest path is for 2-way traffic and is coloured and marked. It runs for about 3km dead straight. Its very smooth and its a nice example of a good, segregated cycle path.
The tarmac cycle paths seem older and are probably the original infrastructure around town. They are the most popular with most residential areas benefitting from them in some form. Sometimes only on one side of the road, sometimes they are on both. Even the worse ones that could do with some new tarmac are decent, segregatd paths.
Interestingly, the busiest cycle lane in the town isn’t segregated fully. Its a marked path on a wide pavement that runs right down the main street or strip. Pedestrians do wander into it but generally its observed and is used a lot. It crosses several T-junctions too which are observed by cars. Bikes and pedestrians take priority. We get it so wrong in the UK.
Further afield this is repeated in smaller villages which have paths in and around the village or lengthy paths that run way outside the Village limits usually running in parallel to the main road that comes in and out.
There are also a number of dedicated offroad cycle routes littered around the island. A couple of which I have done (without knowing) while I’ve been doing my own riding here. I googled them and found this list.
Cycling in Fuerteventura is popular. The further south you go on the Island, you see more roadies as the terrain is a bit more hillier and mountainous. Cycle tours and bike rental seems very popular up North and in Corralejo I’d say mountain biking is the most popular due to nature of the terrain around the town.
Last day tomorrow with the bike. I’m just going to do some intervals and take it back so I can spend the rest of my holiday taking it easy while my legs rest and recuperate