NoMikeM
New member
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2023
- Location
- Brentwood CA.
- Moto(s)
- 2021 Yamaha Tracer 9 GT
2015 Kawa KLR 650
1986 Yamaha SRX600
Kind of a plug for Edelweiss bike tours. Last month I took their tour of the Canary Islands. What an incredible adventure with incredible people and incredible roads. If you're not familiar with Edelweiss, they have been conducting motorcycle tours around the world for the last 40 years and currently run 2300 tours in 180 locations. They provide a tour guide, the bikes, various levels of insurance, routes, hotels, dinners and in most cases, breakfast at what I thought was a reasonable cost. All I had to do was add airfare. (Travel Tip - Don't use Expedia).
Turns out the Canaries are a worldwide riding destination for motorcyclists. Also, the Canaries are to Europeans what Hawaii is to us West Coasters. About a 5 hour flight from Heathrow, many Brits and Germans escape the winter on the Canaries. While the main language is Spanish, most everyone I ran into can communicate very well in English.
I flew in a day early to get some rest from the 23-hour journey. I planned to hang out by the pool, admire the views, drink and rest up for the Sunday night group meeting, dinner and bike handoff.
The real adventure part began with my luggage not arriving….(until the next Saturday when I flew out.) So, I had to spend Sunday shopping for shirts, socks, undies, toiletries etc. Unfortunately, my riding gear was in my luggage that did not show up. I did carry my helmet, so I was covered there. There were a surprising number of Bike shops on the main island of Tenerife, but of course none were open on a Sunday.
Monday morning, we all got on the bikes and headed to the ferry port as the trip began on the island of La Gomera. The plan was for the group to have breakfast and hop on the ferry. The group did and I stayed on Tenerife to go shopping for riding gear. Robert from Pennsylvania loaned me an extra pair of gloves. Ben from the UK loaned me a lightweight jacket (turns out I needed it all week) and later in the week, Christian from Munich loaned me a rain Jacket.
Did I say the group was incredible? Ten people North America and Europe. We all bonded within 10 minutes of meeting and were laughing and joking around with everyone excited about the upcoming ride.
The bike I rode was a BMW GS1250. Not sure what year, but the bike was in great shape with 42,000 kilometers on the clock. My usual ride is a KLR650 so needless to say, I was blown away by 136 horsepower, the handling and the comfort.
Many of the roads have been recently repaved and are in great shape. Traffic is pretty lite except in the tourist areas. Canarian drivers all think they're F1 drivers and take their driving seriously. They are very fast and tailgate like crazy but seemed to be mainly safe. Beware the tourist drivers which are the same all over. Nice thing is they drive on the “right" side of the road.
Five days of: Wake up, have coffee and pastries, ride in the morning, stop at a café and have another coffee and maybe a pastry, ride some more, stop for lunch, ride some more, stop in the afternoon for another coffee, ride some more, fill up the gas tank, get to the hotel, meet for drinks then dinner, and repeat.
We rode anywhere from 150 to 200 kilometers per day. That may not seem like much but trust me, at the end of the day we were all pretty beat. Between the thousands of corners, other cars and motorcycles, the goat herds, and the absolute amazing scenery, it was a completely engaging experience.
These Canary Island trip pictures are in no particular order as they come from different sources at different times. But one thing you will see is incredible scenery.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtlYWJL1zXJxgcVArL6DgpIf0cQrpg
Oh! I will do more Edelweiss tours.
Turns out the Canaries are a worldwide riding destination for motorcyclists. Also, the Canaries are to Europeans what Hawaii is to us West Coasters. About a 5 hour flight from Heathrow, many Brits and Germans escape the winter on the Canaries. While the main language is Spanish, most everyone I ran into can communicate very well in English.
I flew in a day early to get some rest from the 23-hour journey. I planned to hang out by the pool, admire the views, drink and rest up for the Sunday night group meeting, dinner and bike handoff.
The real adventure part began with my luggage not arriving….(until the next Saturday when I flew out.) So, I had to spend Sunday shopping for shirts, socks, undies, toiletries etc. Unfortunately, my riding gear was in my luggage that did not show up. I did carry my helmet, so I was covered there. There were a surprising number of Bike shops on the main island of Tenerife, but of course none were open on a Sunday.
Monday morning, we all got on the bikes and headed to the ferry port as the trip began on the island of La Gomera. The plan was for the group to have breakfast and hop on the ferry. The group did and I stayed on Tenerife to go shopping for riding gear. Robert from Pennsylvania loaned me an extra pair of gloves. Ben from the UK loaned me a lightweight jacket (turns out I needed it all week) and later in the week, Christian from Munich loaned me a rain Jacket.
Did I say the group was incredible? Ten people North America and Europe. We all bonded within 10 minutes of meeting and were laughing and joking around with everyone excited about the upcoming ride.
The bike I rode was a BMW GS1250. Not sure what year, but the bike was in great shape with 42,000 kilometers on the clock. My usual ride is a KLR650 so needless to say, I was blown away by 136 horsepower, the handling and the comfort.
Many of the roads have been recently repaved and are in great shape. Traffic is pretty lite except in the tourist areas. Canarian drivers all think they're F1 drivers and take their driving seriously. They are very fast and tailgate like crazy but seemed to be mainly safe. Beware the tourist drivers which are the same all over. Nice thing is they drive on the “right" side of the road.
Five days of: Wake up, have coffee and pastries, ride in the morning, stop at a café and have another coffee and maybe a pastry, ride some more, stop for lunch, ride some more, stop in the afternoon for another coffee, ride some more, fill up the gas tank, get to the hotel, meet for drinks then dinner, and repeat.
We rode anywhere from 150 to 200 kilometers per day. That may not seem like much but trust me, at the end of the day we were all pretty beat. Between the thousands of corners, other cars and motorcycles, the goat herds, and the absolute amazing scenery, it was a completely engaging experience.
These Canary Island trip pictures are in no particular order as they come from different sources at different times. But one thing you will see is incredible scenery.
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtlYWJL1zXJxgcVArL6DgpIf0cQrpg
Oh! I will do more Edelweiss tours.
