GranGuanche Audax Gravel is a non-stop self-catering bikepacking adventure across five Canary Islands: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and El Hierro.
This adds up to about 700 kilometers and nearly 16,00 meters of elevation gain.
The islands are mountainous, the terrain is demanding.
There are no flats here.
You start together and ride mainly against yourself and the clock.
The islands are connected by ferries.
Henning Bommel and I rode GranGuanche as a team.
The fact that we were there together at the start was more due to a coincidence than planned in the long term.
We more or less decided this over coffee and cake during our coffee break while graveling.
I had only been to Tenerife once before and therefore found the idea – to cross five islands in only two and a half days – pretty good.
Incidentally, we also had to make it in the two and a half days, since we had booked the return flights to Germany a bit sporty and were therefore under time pressure.
I had heard a lot about the individual islands beforehand, with the exception of El Hierro, which turned out to be a gravel paradise.
Photos: Stefan Haehnel
Lanzarote 110km/1.850m
Fuerteventura 154km/2.190m
Gran Canaria 140km/3.500m
Tenerife 168km/4.220m
El Hierro 117km/3.860m
