The queue at check-in is very long. And yet I immediately notice the guy with his cap at the front of the queue. The STRAVA logo is clearly visible on his cap. A racing cyclist? A biker? Never mind, I think, apart from a perverse love of bikes and the destination of Gran Canaria, we won't have anything in common. In fact, I bet the Strava disciple wouldn't even consider our planned off-road traverse. The route is steep and rocky, the trails are technical - not for the racer forum community, where people compete for seconds and tenths of a second. We didn't give a single thought to crossing the Canary Island at race pace. And yet, ironically, we chose a race track. The one of the toughest ultra-marathon race in the world: the Transgrancanaria.
When I catch just a whiff of good trails, I completely ignore the potential for pain that such a multi-day tour usually entails. But I should know better. It's only three years since I rode the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in the Italian Dolomites on my bike. But the pain has long since faded, only the brilliant trails still glow in my mind. So when the Gran Canaria variant flashed up on my radar, I immediately made the wrong calculation again: So, if you can do the 90 kilometre route as a runner in under twelve hours - what's the problem for bikers?
My two English mates James and James and Celestino Alonso, a local from the island, and I warm up early in the morning on the Las Palmas beach promenade. To our right, a churning Atlantic lashes against the quay wall, and straight ahead my eyes focus on our destination on the horizon: Gran Canaria's volcanic interior. Towering and alarmingly steep, the mountains loom in the sky. And we want to leave that behind us in three days? 90 kilometres and 5,000 metres in altitude with plenty of stretches in between - but we really wanted to do the advanced version of the ultra trail race from 2013.
Under a warm subtropical sun, we barely notice the first metres in altitude. The Pico de las Nieves, the highest peak on the island at 1949 metres, is always in view. We turn from one flatland village to the next, cross scrubland and make the acquaintance of the first cactus thorns. At lunchtime, we arrive in the small town of Teror, where we treat ourselves to a sandwich break. Somehow the panorama hasn't really changed and, considering that we want to be standing on the island's summit tomorrow, we've hardly got any closer to it. At least the altimeter reports some progress: 600 metres in altitude! After all. Our stage finish is at 1500 - so 900 metres of altitude to go. Theoretically, on paper. In reality, however, if you add up all the ups and downs along the trail, then at the end of the day it's a total of 2150 metres in altitude. We've covered a lot of this on a 30-minute carrying section and my legs are burning when we finally reach our stage destination of Cruz de Tejeda.
As we enter the lobby of the Hotel Parador, it becomes clear that this hotel is used to more refined guests. Dusty, tired and dehydrated as we are, we probably look more like African boat people. But the man at reception doesn't let on. After the shower, we hardly stand out in the spa area, not until we return to the chic restaurant, because no one else is wearing a fleece jumper and slippers. But the next morning we are happy to have our light rucksacks packed with just the essentials.
The trail starts directly behind the hotel door and winds its way through a tangle of bushes in which the fog has become entangled today. Local Celestino takes over the GPS function. Tracking down race routes like this one on the internet is no longer a big problem, and neither is transferring them to the topo map. But Celestino's trail knowledge saves us from several hours of hiking, which would have jeopardised our three-day plan. His advice to generally cycle the route in a different direction was also spot on. We also had to organise the stages so that we could reach a place with accommodation in the evening, and that's not so easy on Gran Canaria, beyond the hotel castles on the coast. In the interior of the island, mountain villages are few and far between. This requires localised planning.
We deviate from the TGC route with the loop over the Pico de las Nieves, but it seems sacrilegious to cross the island without its highest point. So we push the bikes up to the summit through hordes of day trippers. But on the downhill trail, we have already left the sandal wearers behind us. The riding becomes more technical. Loose gravel and high-grip volcanic rock alternate. We zigzag downhill, jump over steps and are soon ironing over seemingly endless clay traverses.
Unfortunately, our assumption that it can only go downhill from the highest point is wrong. Once again, to get from A to B, you have to go via C and D. Our trail even makes detours to the edges of craters. At times we hump our bikes to climb over vertical boulders while trying to keep the tyres away from cactus spines. But every climb rewards us with a wild descent. The last one of the day spits us out at dusk in front of a cave house in Artenara. It sounds a bit like the Flintstones, but this oasis in the volcanic mountain is definitely the quietest place I've ever slept. On the morning of the third day, the hamster wheel of uphill-downhill-uphill-downhill through this Jurassic Park scenery is much tougher. Our legs are tired. But eventually we roll up to the start ramp of the last descent. The trail zigzags down a rock face until it shakes off the mountain far below and rolls out like a carpet over gentle waves towards the coastal town of Agaete. 25 hours of pure riding time, says the speedometer. That's crazy when you consider that the fastest TGC runner finished in less than ten hours.
Note on the GPS download Transgrancanaria
The route is an ultra trail course. Because of our story, mountain bikers were now also making their way along the route. As a result, the route was very busy and the organisers of the running competition feared that the route would be closed. Unfortunately, we can therefore no longer offer the GPS data. Various trail closures are currently being discussed in the Canary Islands and have already been implemented in Tenerife. We ask for your understanding.
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