La Palma is a canary island, just like Gran Canaria or Tenerife. Many consider it “the steepest island in the world”.
It has two of the most difficult road climbs in the world.
One is the major mountain in the island. Roque de Los Muchachos. It goes from sea level all the way to 2400m, where the world’s biggest telescope can be found.
The crazy part is, it’s a 7.5% average climb.
What’s even crazier, it’s a much easier climb than the most difficult climb of the island: Llano de las Animas.
I have never done it, but read this, if you want to have nightmares:
This came up when I googled it, it makes Tenerife seem flat 
La Palma is 1/3rd the size of Tenerife, but the highest road is around 90m higher, so yeah, it is pretty mountainous. Pico del Teide is much higher than La Palma’s highest peak, but there is no road.
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We are heading to Alicante for two weeks this Christmas, first time 
Staying in Calpe. Any tips would be appreciated!
Usually been to GC during winter but got tired of the same roads all the time, also been to Mallorca a lot and getting a bit bored there as well.
So will be fun with something new!
Still haven’t been to Girona, so thats on the list as well when its a bit warmer.
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Hmmm. Good point re: location! Never thought about Soller before, but it makes sense…
Quite surprised by how little love Andalucia is getting.
Marbella/ Estepona is super easy to reach, has tons of hotels/ rentals, the warmest *winter weather in continental Europe, and the longest winter evenings there, too. Also, the climbs are beautiful and varied. I’ve been there 3 times last year, twice in Marbella, once in Sierra Nevada. Not at all inferior to Mallorca in terms of riding, but warmer and longer evenings.
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Do we need warmer summers than Mallorca? Hehe
I can tell you that 44c in the shade is plenty for me when doing tempo intervals up Puig Major 
Got any routes you can post from those places?
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Yeah, winter was what I meant 
- summers on the coast of Andalusia aren’t actually so bad. Granada is pretty bad though (45C+ isn’t a terribly rare sight there).
A few rides I did:
https://www.strava.com/activities/6996514429
https://www.strava.com/activities/7017685308
https://www.strava.com/activities/7414257345
This a cool inspiration (and cycling club) for the Sierra Nevada area:
And GCN did this in Estepona:
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Would you bring a gravel bike, or a road (Roubaix) for grande canária?
I’m looking to hitch a ride from Portugal to there on a sailboat in Feb. Only room for 1 bike (would then fly back to the UK)
That looks horrendous, in a weird I want to do it way. 2km @ almost 21% is insane 
Had thought about that island but no direct flights so Gran Canaria or Tenerife for me and GC wins hands down.
Unless you want to bring 2 wheel sets, I’d definitely go road. The canaries have some of the best roads, and climbs are all manageable with road gearing.
I wouldn’t want to ride those on knobby bumpy tires.
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Thanks! Yes, only 1 bike / 1 set of wheels (they have not-too-different gearing, with the Roubaix having a 11-34 and I have either a 48-32, or a 46-30, and the gravel having 11-34 with 1X (42T and classified system giving another 30T)
Are there reports of Patagonia?
I might go on a hiking trip something between Jan-March, and staying an extra week or so to cycle sounds appealing, but I know next to nothing about how the cycling is.
48/32 front and 11-34 rear is plenty for GC at least Of course cadence will suffer when you get to Valley of Tears, but thats a different story 
I manage to keep it Z2 (under LT1 of 240w) with 50/34 and 11-34 on GC. But wouldn’t want to have any heavier gearing.
Bit of low cadence can’t hurt! (well, maybe not if being littéral).
I’ve used the 30-46 for the marmotte and didn’t regret it a single moment. They are direct mount so swapping is really fast (and I’ve seem to have been lucky and the chain accommodates well both).
I did a cycling tour in Chile’s Patagonia region in March of this year. It was an amazing experience. Mostly gravel, but quite a bit of paved road too. It’s my understanding that more and more of the Carretera Austral gets paved each year.
I highly recommend this group for help planning or guiding.
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Thank you!!
A pity that wasn’t closer to me in the UK it looks awesome 
March is too early to be in Mallorca and hope for near guaranteed good weather. I’ve been 8 years now in mid-late April with only a couple of days of warm wet and windy weather in there. Nothing you couldn’t cycle in happily. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons the 312 sportive is always scheduled in late April.
I’ll be staying in Club Pollentia, near Alcudia, again this April and I can’t wait.
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