A Cyclist’s Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

People are often suprised at the respect drivers have for cyclists while riding in Tenerife. They’ll move completely over to the other side of the road when overtaking; if there isn’t at least 1.5m of extra space, they patiently wait until its safe to do so. You never get beeped just because you are a cyclist -even on single lane roads without a cycle lane! Why is this so?

We all know that in Australia, the UK and USA, things are very different indeed. Its as if motorists resent the very presence of cyclists. I have cycled here in Tenerife for 2 years and I’m yet to see an angry motorist. After observing the local Spanish driving culture in general, I believe I can speculate about why this is so:

Firstly, there’s a notoriously difficult theory test, even for native spanish speakers. The average student sits in class for some 10-20 hours before they are able to pass!! All aspects of road theory are drummed into students from the beginning. They are told that anything with more than two wheels is considered a VEHICLE. There are many many references to situations involving cyclists. In total, our instructor must have lectured about the safety of overtaking bikes for probably an hour or so. I’m actually currently enduring many Spanish driving lessons, and since then, the pieces are all falling into place. [Read more →]

Tags: Island Life, Ride the Volcano! by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Know any online cycling resources that are not already linked directly to our website?

For example: cycling holiday websites or directories, official cycling organisations, online cycling news information sources, online magazines, private cycling clubs, online bike shops, cycling forums, or personal cycling weblogs.

You can either suggest to the webmaster they add a link to our site (preferable if its a foreign language site), or simply send us their website url or contact details and we’ll chase them up.

Based on their usefulness to us, and to make things interesting, we’ll tally your score with the following points system:

• Each in-link originating from Czech or Slovak Republic = 5 points!!!
• Each in-link originating from the UK/Ireland/Scotland, Holland, Benelux, Germany = 3 points
• Each in-link originating from Spain, Sweden, Finland, rest of Europe = 2 points
• Each in-link originating from USA, Canada, Australia, NZ + rest of the world = 1 point

The person with the most points accrued wins a free set of new vertebrae ceramic gear cables (in black colour). These are valued at US$140 RRP, and are custom-made to the exact length of cable housing that you specify.

Competition closes midnight (GMT) 12th september, so go get gathering & send those entries in to win!

**THIS PROMOTION IS NOW CLOSED**

Tags: Sales Pitch by Dr. Leslie Brown
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My day normally starts anywhere between 6:00and 9:00am. I never set the alarm clock; for years its never been able to actually get me out of bed. When I’m motivated, I wake up earlier.

I usually go straight to the computer for 5-10 minutes to get the brain ticking over & see what needs to be done today and for the next few days. Then I go downstairs and make a decent coffee using the ubiquitous spanish cafetera method. There’s no such thing as a good Australian coffee, so I’m always grateful for that (prior to coming here I was a black tea drinker).

There’s usually sooooo many things to do, I need to manage my time so I begin by prioritising what needs to be done. I can’t trust my memory, so a great level of organisation becomes the key. I make a lists of everything; I make a list of other tasks grouped separately: Administration (answering e-mails and bookings), Bike Maintenance & Delivery, Updating Website Content & Maintenance, The rest of my time is devoted to marketing, publicity & financial side of running a business.

So what normally happens is,  I go back to work on one or all of these things until my stomach rumbles. Then I go and make myself some late breakfast and look at the view of the Atlantic ocean for usually less than a minute. Then I go back inside and work until I need to make another coffee. Repeat with lunch and dinner, and now you start to get the idea.

I’ve been so busy busy busy with the new website features & other things, I haven’t had time for any bike rides lately. I usually call it a day somewhere between 9:00 and 11:00pm. I must be putting in 80-90 hours plus of work each week, 7 days a week. It takes a lot of work to run a successful business. Quite honestly, there are not enough hours in the day, and its time to go to bed before I know it. Hopefully business will pick up again over the winter, and I won’t have to try so hard to convince cyclists all over the world “Hey, come to Tenerife, hire a road bike and ride up a mountain!”

Of course I do LOVE the job I have created for myself, but believe me its not easy. Canarians have a saying, which I only learned last week: “No es un moco de pavo”. Believe it or not, but the direct translation is “Its not a turkey’s snot”. What it actually means is that its a lot more difficult than it appears, and so it is with Tenerife-Training.

Tags: Island Life, That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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