Mount Teide ascent, 2 up on a Daelim Roadwin..

[Dusty]

At 3717m above sea level and approximately 7000m above the adjacent sea bed, Mount Teide is the highest mountain in Spain, the highest mountain of any Atlantic island, and the third largest volcano on Earth. Suffice to say it's pretty big. Not wanting to do the typical tourist thing and take a jeep tour we decided to take the hire bike, a Daelim Roadwin (although Roadkill may have been a more appropriate name) and tackle it on our own terms. Starting at sea level (pretty much) we did a quick oil check and set out.

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Unfortunately the indicators on the bike had broken the day before and the hire place didn't speak much English but assured me they were not compulsory on the Spanish roads, so dodgy arm signals by me or the pillion were our best/only option. The first bit of the journey was a tad sketchy with the bike topping out at 110kph on the motorway and the speed limit being 120kph, but soon we were off and onto the twisting minor roads travelling up into the foothills. The Daelim's suspension was worse than any bike I've ridden with the smallest mid corner bump causing serious seesawing action, but somehow we managed to make progress and even get in a few overtakes.

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By about 11am we were starting to leave behind the cactus strewn desert like terrain of the lower ground and get into the forests that cover the ground nearer the cloud line. The higher we got the better the road surfaces got but the drop on the edge of the road seemed to get nastier too (strange that..). After passing the first layer of clouds we pulled off the road to check out a signposted attraction, this proved to be a mistake as the bike didn't like the dirt track and promptly cut out and refused to start again. 20 Minutes later after cooling down a bit the trusty Daelim 'roared' back to life and we set off again, trying to hold as much speed as possible to prevent further overheating. Several groups of bikers passed us on real bikes with proper suspension and tyres as we waited, a decent sports bike on these roads would be great, but not sure how long I'd live for.

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By this point we had about passed the last of the clouds and some of the views were amazing. The tiered landscapes stretching out beneath the forested bit of the climb. As much as I disliked the Daelim, I must admit by this point I was quite glad it was equipped with a seemingly fairly accurate fuel gauge, as we hadn't seen a petrol station for miles. We stopped briefly for lunch at a random log cabin place and a further stop so some Russian girls who were amazed by Anthony's dreads could have their picture taken with him, then got onto the road leading to the old crater of the volcano. At this point the trees thinned out again and the tarmac improved further, encouraging me to go a little faster on the corners. I have no idea why the Spanish authorities bothered with twisty road signs placed here and there, straight road sign on the few non twisty bits would have been more apt imo.

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Coming over a crest we descended into the old crater of the volcano, the lunar landscape like nothing I've seen before. Before us towered the the true peak created by more recent explosions and it became apparent we wouldn't be able to go much further by bike. At this point we were (I think) about 2300m above sea level. Covering the next few miles on some very straight flat roads in the base of the crater we arrived at the cable car base station. After a few enquiries we were told the only way up was in one of the cars or climbing.. which with 1000 odd metres straight up still to go we decided to avoid the latter option. So we purchased cable car tickets and sat back and relaxed (as much as we could in a cable car being buffeted by fairly high winds).

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Reaching the top the view was stunning, with the highest clouds a long way below us. It was also damn cold and after 20 minutes shivering in our shorts we jumped on the next car back down. Firing the Daelim up and sighing with relief when it actually started we began the decent, stopping briefly to laugh at some camels. Going down the mountain was slightly more fun, but worryingly the single disc front brake started to fade a bit toward the lower areas. All in all a great day, if you go to the Canaries check it out, tis like nothing else on earth. The rest of me holiday pictures are here: Gallery

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Gallery

[Gazdaman]

Then you went and got pissed in Las Americas...

Ridden down mount tide on a mountain bike, was fun.
Also spent two weeks in a drunken stuper somewhere near the beach.

Good times.

Gaz

[ram_doom]

Looks like a fantastic place to ride
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TL1000s, KDX200

[Rob-B]

Wow, the photos look great! Shame it wasnt a better bike though.

[Dusty]

[quacker_boy]

Whoa, a white rasta! What a legend...i've only ever seen one of them, what a dude!

Sounds like a really awesome trip mate, you should come do Dubai sometime, there's an area called Hatta which is great ride...albeit short...takes an hour or so pushing hard.

Too hot to wear full leathers out here though there is a place where you can rent a couple of CBR600 RRs

Do it, you know you want to
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wizzzard wrote: Imagine God just stopping by, tidying your front room up and then quietly letting himself out again. Statisticly more likely to happen than Korn being on here.

[Gazdaman]

Yeah it was organised, called something weird, like mountain rafting or something.

They take you to the top in a car, stick you on a mountain bike with a massive saddle, and you glide down.

Was fun actually.

Gaz

[Dusty]

[colin1]

looks great, can you remember the name of the place you hired the bike from ?
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Dusty]

[colin1]

possibly. i fancy escaping to somewhere warm at some point, but it might be more like feb or march.

i went a few years ago, but only did the bars. its good to know the name of the place in case i do go. thanks

so is the weather that good now, or were those pics from earlier in the year ?

i know it stays fairly good most of the year. it rained a lot on a few days when i went about easter time last year tho.
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Dusty]

[quacker_boy]

[JonB]

Cool stuff! Was that bike a 125?

How much did it cost to rent? Would I be able to rent one at 18 with a full UK licence?
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Dusty]