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Gravel Ground La Palma: Changing conditions, constant joy

When Gravel Ground appeared in our inbox for the first time, we knew straight away it would be a successful event. It had all the essentials to thrive even within an already congested calendar: experienced organizers, a unique location, and a clear description of how a non-competitive event looks like.

“A gravel adventure is more than cycling: It is enjoying the gastronomy, the landscapes and discovering a new territory” – NSN, Gravel Ground organizers

The first edition of Gravel Ground took place in La Palma, Canary Islands. It was the first time that a gravel event took place entirely on the island, and despite the logistical challenges, the 50 participants enjoyed four days of riding – October 24th-27th – in “La Isla Bonita”, as it is commonly referred to.

There are some evident challenges in organizing an event from a distance, but the Barcelona-based NSN partnered with Cabildo de La Palma to make the most of their knowledge of the island. Several businesses, like food suppliers, were also involved, making sure that the event had a positive impact on the local economy. Guava joined the project as the main sponsor, and we got to ride their Spot gravel model during our stay.

Despite the social approach, the route was a remarkable challenge; almost 8,000 meters of elevation gain in barely 250 kilometers. That mileage was spread over four stages, each one presenting its own challenges due to its particular terrain.

By the end of the event, we made a whole loop of the island in an anti-clockwise direction, covering all the rideable forest paths. La Palma was known until now for its Enduro trails, but we discovered that it can become the next go-to gravel destination too.

With some experience on how unpredictable the weather in the Canary Islands is, we arrived in La Palma with an open mind and expecting the unexpected. We were going to spend three nights outside, sleeping in teepee tents shared with fellow participants. Together with our sleeping bag and sleeping mat, we brought clothing for all types of weather conditions, and we are so glad we did, even if on day one it looked like it would be all about blue skies.

Stars Ride

Gravel Ground La Palma kicked off from Santa Cruz, at sea level. After a warm-up on tarmac, where we took advantage to fine-tune our Guava, we hit the Puntallana gravel path that would bring us to 2.000 m of elevation. It was pretty much covered all the way, with dense vegetation that one can only find on this side of the world.

At the end of the path, we were suddenly above the clouds, with the magnificent El Teide in the background, located on the neighboring island of Tenerife. From then on we would proceed with our ascent on a perfectly paved road, with only a brief stop at the provisioning point.

The last kilometers to the top were hard but rewarding. We rode past the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory. At that moment we did not know it, but later we were told that the site features the largest optical-infrared telescope in the world, in addition to other smaller infrastructures to observe and analyze the universe.

There we were, at the top of the island, trying to process everything we could see around us. According to locals, we were lucky with the sky conditions for the day, which made us feel even more privileged to be there with fellow participants whom we already considered to be friends.

We returned to the feed station, where we took a left turn to proceed with the long descent, first on concrete road and then on gravel. The Pista Gallegos was entertaining and forced us to be focused during the whole downhill section. It featured an exposed stretch with views down to the sea, a beautiful concatenate of gravel hairpins, and a last segment riding over the fallen pine tree leaves, which provided extra grip.

The finish was in Laguna de Barlovento, more concretely in the Recreativo Laguna de Barlovento Park. The camp, including the teepees and the hot outdoor showers, was already in place thanks to the hard work of the organizers and MountainRide, a local bike business. Despite arriving in the middle of the afternoon, we were given lunch, so in addition to all the food and drinks available at the feed stops, we were being really taken care of.

During the day we already got to know some of the other people we were sharing this gravel adventure with, but the time at the camp while waiting for dinner was the perfect occasion to discover who were the other participants that made the trip to La Palma.

Jungle Ride

Every stage was given a name based on the characteristics of the terrain and the views along the way. “Jungle Ride” was a very fitting tag for the second day of riding, as the first kilometers were very humid and through tropical vegetation.

This time we started climbing from the very beginning, accumulating 750 meters of elevation in the initial 10 kilometers while heading in southwest direction. Once the gradients flattened, we started heading back to the eastern coast of the island through a descent that at first was fast but then turned into a challenging task due to its technicality and the lianas hanging from the trees.

The first feed station marked the end of the off-road section of the day. From then on we would first continue descending until Puerto Espíndola and its natural pools, and then climb back through the Mimbreras road to a similar elevation to where we started the day.

We rode past thousands of banana trees, and we even engaged in a conversation with a local merchant so he could explain to us the process of collecting bananas and shipping them to continental Europe.

Once at the itinerant camp, we proceeded with our newly acquired routine: collect our bags, place them in our tent, take a shower, and handwash our kit. There was a restaurant at the campsite from where we would get local dishes for lunch and dinner. In between meal times, we entertained ourselves by playing frisbee or simply talking about non-bike-related matters.

Banana Ride

The rain and wind we faced overnight, even if the teepees repelled the water better than expected, truncated our sleep. If you factor in the fact that a car rally taking place on that day forced us to start at 7.30 AM to make sure we reached a road before it closed, it is fair to say we tackled the Banana Ride in suboptimal conditions.

Riding at night, with some raindrops but tolerable temperatures, had its charm. We stayed as a group until we hit the first gravel section. There were some splits, but aware that we had all the time in the world to complete the 75 km and 2,400 m of elevation, we ended up gathering all again at the first feed stop.

For the following couple of hours, we rode in south directions along the track adjacent to the National Park of Caldera de Taburiente, featuring forests of high pine trees and periodical views to the west coast of La Palma. It was probably the first segment in the whole event without notable climbs or descents, but the terrain was nonetheless undulating and always fluctuating around the 1,000-meter elevation mark. We took a short deviation to check the Mirador del Time viewpoint, from where we could observe the Aridane Valley and the lava flows of the eruption that took place in 2021.

Once again, parts of the descent were trickier than expected, but the final stretch following the main road to Tazocorte was jaw-dropping, with views of the rugged peaks of La Palma. We improvised a coffee stop by the sea, even if the real feed station, the MountainRide store in Los Llanos, was only a handful of kilometers away.

Down there, the sun was shining, but looking at where we were heading, it was clear we would encounter challenging weather conditions. We started feeling the first raindrops even when there were no clouds above, but the gusts of wind were so noticeable that they transported the rain from further inland.

The last 30 kilometers were uphill. We left MountainRide with a small group but soon everyone would start climbing at their own pace. The gradients hit the double digits when riding past some vegetable fields, and at some point, we saw the first traces of volcanic ashes.

During the previous night’s briefing, we were told there was a 2 km hike-a-bike section, but we didn’t know exactly where. We thought we would be able to ride all of it, as it was technical but still somewhat rideable. However, we had to put our feet on the ground when we hit a sandpit of volcanic ashes. Black sand. We had never thought we would be riding over the traces of a recent eruption, and once again Gravel Ground delighted us with some unique moments.

It was truly epic, not only for the surface below us but the sudden rain and wind that we encountered, as if it was a different microclimate. We wanted to stay there, waiting for the others so we could share those priceless moments together, but we were getting cold and exited the volcanic section to tackle the couple of paved kilometers that separated us from the finish.

The camp, located in the heart of the Caldera de Taburiente National Parks, was as minimalistic as it could get: a couple of open sheds where to light a fire, some benches, and not much more. It was quite cold, and the rain, albeit in low intensity, was still present, so we created a cozy environment around the fireplace while waiting for dinner time.

Volcano Ride

We consider ourselves early risers, but that day we didn’t want to get out of our sleeping bag. The night had been cold, and the rain had continued overnight. We dragged ourselves to the startline, where the high pine trees had created the perfect misty environment.

Luckily, the weather changed not long after we started spinning the legs. The rain turned into drizzle and then stopped for good. The perfect condition of the gravel paths also raised our mood. We reminded ourselves of how privileged we were to be doing what we love the most in a place like La Palma, and even if we ended up getting used to riding over volcanic sand, it was a unique situation we will never forget.

The Volcano Ride consisted of a 40 km loop around the Cumbre Vieja Natural Park, fully on gravel, before descending to Los Cancajos, where our bike adventure would come to an end.

We made sure we shared some final kilometers with each one of the individuals who made our stay on the island even more rewarding. We would have time back at the hotel to process together everything we went through, but every pedal stroke that brought us closer to the line also distanced us from the camp, the volcano, the jungle, the ashes.

Where next?

Gravel Ground La Palma 2024 was the perfect example of how a non-competitive gravel event should be organized. We returned home with much more than 20 hours on the saddle. In addition to riding bikes, we learned about the local culture and tasted the Canarian gastronomy. We hope that La Palma preserves its natural gems, but we also want more cyclists to discover this magic island.

The organizers will surely find the perfect balance, and although Gravel Ground is not exclusively linked to La Palma, this successful first edition must have triggered NSN to start planning the next one. We brainstormed possible locations where they could organize the next multi-stage gravel event, but the truth is that La Palma will always be remembered as the place where everything started.

Photos: Javi Angulo