The island of Gran Canary isn't as steep as some of the other volcanic islands nearby. We were soon to fly over to La Palma which is known as the steepest island in the world...not a place to ride a bike up, maybe? Perhaps that's why I decided to mountain bike on this one...plus there was a wonderful bike rental shop called Free Motion in Playa Del Ingles. They kitted me out out with a brand-new-looking 2012 Cannondale 29er mountain bike, and a map of a demanding but ridable route up into the mountains. Since I ride a Gary Fischer Paragon 29er I was hoping they would feel about the same. I wasn't disappointed, the bike was a dream to ride. At least, once I got over my disappointment of not being able to rent a full-suspension 29er as those 2012 bikes hadn't arrived in the shop yet :( 
The wind was howling on the shore but once into the canyons is was sunny, warm, and calm. My route took me up a paved road in a pretty canyon to Ayagaures, then climbed above a reservoir on a gravel track. The wide dry track then wound in and out of the canyon, climbing and descending but too steeply, at around 500 meters a.s.l. The area is known as the Grand Canyon, perhaps becuase we were on "Grand" Canary but it truly did look like the Grand Canyon in Arizona (ok, on a very small scale). After 20 miles I reached the descent road back into town, but wanted to extend my ride a little, and so diverted up to Arteara instead. That still wasn't enough mileage on such a beautiful sunny afternoon, so I retraced my route along the Grand Canyon, foregoing the gravel descent to town. Once back at the reservoir and pavement, I climbed steeply up the other side to Los Palmitos, then it was a lovely fast descent all the way back into town. As you can tell, I'm only half a mountain biker....I love the paved roads just as much!
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