The Pilancones Expedition - Mountain bike excursion on Gran Canaria

Amazing mountain views, flowing dirt roads and a few singletrack challenges along the way! Light lunch included.

Today’s MTB cycling tour starts with a check-in at the Free Motion Bikecenter in Playa del Inglés. After which we load up and transfer ourselves and our MTBs by minibus and trailer to the starting point of the ride. This is at the very southern part of the Gran Canaria Pilancones Nature Park at 900m. Enjoy the panoramic views of ravines, mountain tops and the ocean as we commence our steady climb northwards up to an elevation of 1200m. We then descend to Embalse de Chira, a water reservoir and dam nestled in-between the mountains. Here, we get onto a winding tarmac road for a couple of kilometres, before turning left onto a spectacular dirt road where we can admire stunning views of the surrounding mountains and ravines, and climb up towards the village of Ayacata and our lunch-stop at 1300m above sea level.

After restoring our energy levels, we begin the second part of the MTB tour. First, we descend back towards the Chira dam, on a fast-paced, winding tarmac road. We now encounter a few technical MTB challenges as we venture to the northern side of the lake. We then ride across the dam wall and commence the climb back into Pilancones Nature Park. However, this climb is on a different road to the one we came down on. We keep following this dirt road through the Park, mixing a few steady climbs with exhilarating descents, until we reach our original starting point. As we make our way back to the Free Motion Hub in Playa del Inglés, it's mainly downhill towards the coast. However, there are a few cheeky climbs thrown into the mix too. Here, we conclude today’s MTB adventure with some well-deserved refreshments!

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY (TD): Most of the ride is TD1, with a few TD2 sections in the middle. (See the Technical Difficulty scale for details.)
FITNESS LEVEL (FL): A Medium-FL is required for this MTB tour. The ride has many climbs, some of them are relatively long and/or steep. (See the Fitness Level scale for details.)