And a couple more days in paradise have passed and it just gets better.
I did a pretty short spin yesterday, because we went hiking and stargazing on mount Teide. I can really recommend doing that when you’re here, it’s pretty spectacular!
Didn’t take any pictures, as I had done the exact route through the banafields when I did Teide the day before, so just a picture of the sun Setting from Mount Teide:
Today I did another big ride. Setting out from the hotel to Los Gigantes. From there, it’s a long, winding and beautiful climb to get to Santiago del Teide. Once you pass over the mountains, the landscape gets a lot more green and lush. These mountains „protect“ the south western coast from the rain and therefore get a lot more irrigation. Luckily, not today!
Once I reached the coast, its a few „flat“ kilometers to Buenavista del Norte. Following this road further, you’d get to a beautiful climb along the coast and eventually to a lighthouse. I decided for a shorter ride and turned left, to get back to Santiago del Teide, through Masca.
Besides the Teide itself, this is probably the most (in-)famous climb of Tenerife, and rightfully so.
The first 12k are relatively steady, and easy to handle. I was a little gassed by the time I got there though.
Then there is a pass with a short downhill, another short steep climb, before you pass into The Valley of Masca.
A marvel of natural beauty, and really reminiscent of the green mountains of west Maui, Hawaii.
I then bumped into pro cyclist Maciej Bodnar, whom I knew from being a helper of Contador a few years back and a very good TTist on Bora. He now looks a lot like Sagan, being on the same team 
.
We had a short chat, he liked my helmet and bike, and said the mountains are not for him.
And yeah, that next mountain, especially after 2300m in the legs is brutal. The climb out of Masca is 4.5k, over 10% average in gradient, with many, many pitches of 14 and 15%, riddled with cars. I even had to stop for a car being towed, after the driver fried the clutch (European cars still have that 
).
The climb was really beautiful, but I was clinging on to dear life here.
The view at the top is a good reimbursement though:
the descent to Santiago is not great, on pretty terrible roads and full of cars still. From there, I took the upper roads, that are much quieter to get back to the hotel. I am regaining some confidence in my descending, but try to be mindful here. Tenerife is hella windy.
All in all, a great last ride of the year, and an amazing experience!
