Yesterday I decided to actually go and do a loop on the bike. The fresh tarmac road from Parques Hollandes, I found the other day, intrigued me so I decided to ride south through the dunes again, pick up the new road and climb up to Villaverde and gravel it all the way back via, what I call, Volcano Alley.
With the route dialled in I headed out just after 10am. The wind was up again but it felt no where near as strong as the day before. It seemed to be coming from a more NE direction too which meant it was in my face until I got out of town and into the dunes.
The legs took a bit of time to wake up. The short ramps that pepper the dunes road and a lack of monster tailwind meant I had to work a bit on some of them. I didn’t push too hard though. Freewheeling at times soaking up the coastal views.
At Parques Hollandes I turned off the roundabout and immediately hit the steep ramps of the new road. As I clicked down the gears I began to gain height quite quickly, enjoying the carpet smooth road surface and cross tailwind too!.
It seems the new road follows the old gravel road and it became clear why as I rolled over the top, it’s a local link road to the new motorway. Quiet though, only a couple of cars passed me. Over the motorway and the tarmac ran out and it was long drag now upto Villaverde.
Up here it feels pretty remote despite the fact you’re only a couple of km from the town. The washboard gravel was back but not as bad as the coast road. It’s a popular route for the dune buggy excursions and I did see them ahead but I turned off before they were able to pass and deluge me in dust. Here I met a herd of goats ambling across the field and track before a final kicker upto the village and some welcome, smooth tarmac again.
A quick blast through Villaverde and the tarmac was over again and straight onto a gravel descent that meets up with the main road to Lajares. At the bottom a road cyclist was part way up stopped and checking his phone probably wondering where the asphalt was.
Here I had to take a left for a bit so I decided to cross over, pop through a hole in the wall and ride a trail that ran parallel to the road. You see it quite a lot here. Trails MTB riders have created themselves parallel to roads. After a few hundred yards I turned right and now it was another draggy gravel road climb with a final short but really steep climb to the Hondo volcano.
This road is quite popular with tourists so a few cars did pass me. Some nice and slow to reduce the inevitable dust cloud that would engulf me, some just didn’t give a shit either. They were probably British lol. As you top out the view to the north coast opens up.
It’s at this point you descend and ride through what I call volcano alley. It starts at the Hondo volcano and you can see a couple towards the coast and just before you drop back into Corralejo, Volcano Bayuyo has a little treat if you take the time to look and wait. Up a shortmtrack into the crater, the chipmunks here will run over and check you out to see if you have any food. They’re quite cute and inquisitive. When I got there a young child was running around I couldn’t see any. Then when they walked off I went down on a knee and made a kissing noise and one popped out, stood up to survey the land and came running over, then as he did his mates did too. Then in a blink of an eye you have a few running around your feet. They literally live in the volcano crater.
There wasn’t much gravel left now and it was all mainly downhill back into town where I scraped in just under 2hrs of riding and bagged 45km. Decent.
Last night we both had a couple of cocktails to warm us up before dinner. It didn’t take long for them to kick in. Nice but very strong. We both had gourmet burgers after and I tried the hottest chilli sauce I’ve ever tasted. I literally dabbed a tiny bit on my finger and tasted it. Holy shit!….hot! hot! hot! The kind of hot that makes you blaspheme! I have no idea how people eat the stuff.
Today I’m undecided on a ride. Might be a short one later this afternoon.
Anyway it’s steak tonight
Adios
You’re having a ball 🙂