Lanzarote Winter Gravel Camp
22 - 27 Nov 2023
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Join us for a winter escape to the sunny Canary Islands!
Back for it’s second year, our Lanzarote Gravel Camp brings you 5 nights/5 days of mixed terrain gravel riding, all set out of our basecamp house in the heart of the island of Lanzarote.
From coastal gravel trails, to volcanic singletrack, to dreamy tarmac, this little island will surprise you with how much it can pack in. The riding is stunning, and whether you’re just finding your feet in gravel riding or looking to take on some epic full day rides, we’ll have an riding option for you.
There’ll be a couple of different routes to choose from each day, with a SITW ride leader out on each. You can choose whether you want to ride with the group, solo, or with buddies, but either way we’ll make sure we share the best swim spots, and tapas and cerveza stops along the way. Regardless of your route choice, we’ll all be back together in the evenings for communal dinners and to share stories of the day.
A community spirit and supportive space to explore together will be at the heart of the camp. We’ll get cosy round the campfire in the evening, and share most breakfasts and dinners together back at basecamp, with some optional skills sessions and chats around the rides.
Read all about last year’s event in bikepacking.com
Each camp is limited to 20 spots, with a couple of different sleeping options available.
Cost: £655 (bed in twin room) or £555/£595 (bed in an 8/3 bed dorm room).
Secure with a £150 non-refundable deposit via Eventbrite (+eventbrite fees)
Full booking T&C’s here
Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive to basecamp from 2pm and settle in. Short afternoon all-group ride at party-pace! Communal dinner at basecamp, where we’ll get to know everyone and talk about the week.
Day 2 - 5: We’ll start the day with breakfast at basecamp, and chat about the two route options for the day. We’ll set a time for group ride departure over dinner the previous day, and hit the trails, spending most of the day out exploring. Rides will return to basecamp by late afternoon, with time to relax and shower before dinner. We’ll eat most dinners together at basecamp (included), with one day where we’ll give you some options for dinner via a night ride, delivery, or cooking for yourself.
Day 6 - Breakfast at basecamp. Pack up and depart by 10:30am.
Basecamp Location
Our basecamp is located on Finca Tisalaya, a unique agro-turismo in the middle of the island, just outside of the Parque Natural de los Volcanes. It’s a beautiful setting which will make you feel a world away from civilisation! The closest villages are Masdache and Tiagua, about 3 miles/15 min cycle away.
Expect a rustic glamping-meets-hostel vibe. We’ll have a simple house with 4 twin rooms, and a very spacious shared room bunk room for 8. We’ll have a kitchen, inside common area and lots of outside space for eating, campfires, cooking, and relaxing between rides. On our doorstep we’ll have access to incredible off-road riding that feels like you’re on another planet, and some of the best sunset views on the island.
It’s about a 20 minute taxi ride from the airport.
What’s included?
Sisters in the Wild hosts and guides
Gravel camp will be hosted by two of our Sisters in the Wild guides and hosts, who’re local experts when it comes to Lanzarote’s best trails. With them, comes a wealth of experience of creating a supportive space for people to build community, skills and confidence in a fun and friendly atmosphere. Between them, they’ve spent weeks exploring the island of Lanzarote to come up with the best routes for a wide range of experiences and abilities.
Accommodation
Five nights simple accommodation included. Choose from:
Twin room (two beds) in the main house
Dorm bed (no bunk beds!) in the annexe building
Food
Breakfast: A simple, filling breakfast everyday at basecamp
Dinners: Four dinners included. One dinner will be on you, we’ll recommend some local spots for takeaway or a night ride to a local restaurant.
Lunch: Not included. We’ll make sure you know where you can pick up food on the ride.
Ride Routes and on-ride support
Each participant will be provided with a specially curated collection of routes and route briefings via Komoot, and a free map bundle to access/navigate them. Riders are free to ride the routes at their own pace or with a ride guide.
There will be an experienced ride guide out on each route, and riders are welcome to ride with them. If you choose this option, this will be at the group pace, which will be the slowest pace of the group. You are free to follow the routes independently at your own pace.
Ride guides will be there to help cheer-lead, navigate and troubleshoot issues. However, please consider the riding element of the camp is self-supported. Riders should be self sufficient to ride without the ride leader if needed. This means carry your own navigation device, basic tools, and equipment to resolve any issues encountered. There is no support vehicle on this ride. Should you encounter an issue, we will be on hand to help you troubleshoot and find the best solution, but you will be responsible for getting back to basecamp/bike shop if needed.
Access to our gear library
We have a library of navigation devices we can loan you for the weekend, included in the ticket price.
Key things not included:
Transport to/from basecamp at start and end
A bike, tools and spares to fix it
Lunches
Travel/personal injury or liability insurance
Type of riding
The two route options offered each day will both be mixed terrain, which includes a mix of all things! Expect some super smooth tarmac, well graded gravel tracks, some rougher trails sections of volcanic single track, with some loser gravel descents . The more challenging option for each day may involve more technical/steeper bits of riding, aimed at more experienced gravel/off-road riders. The shorter route will have less of this stuff, but there may still be short stretches of more technical riding (sandy trails, rocky tracks etc) that can be walked. We keep these in where we think they help get you to the best scenery!
We fully embrace walking parts of the route that feel a little out of your comfort zone! We can be straight with you about which route we think might suite you better. Where possible, we try to keep both of the days routes in the same area, and give all riders a chance to cross paths on the trails.
The island is hilly in places, and some of our rides will have decent elevation gains. There are many many short cut routes cross-crossing the island if you ever feel like you want to cut a route short. We’ll give you more info in our rider briefings
Example daily ride options:
Shorter option: 25 - 35 miles; 400 - 800 meters of elevation gain.
Longer option: 40 - 60 miles; 900 - 1500 meters of elevation gain
Experience/fitness required:
In order to make the most of the riding on offer, we’d suggest that you are comfortable riding 30+ miles in a day in reasonably hilly terrain (e.g. around 700m of elevation gain). There is no pressure to ride fast! Days are long, and you are free to start as early as you want. However, we feel like this is a good target to be able to enjoy the camp and the rides.
Some prior experience of riding offroad is recommended, but our shorter routes will be geared towards people with less experience riding off-road who are looking to build their experience and confidence. Feel free to drop us an email if you have any questions on this!
Bikes/Bike Hire
A suitable off-road bike is required for this trip, and is not included. We recommend wither a gravel bike with 38mm+ tyres or hardtail MTB which must be in a good state of repair (a pre-camp basic service is highly recommended to avoid encountering any surprises on the ride!). If travelling with your bikes, bike bags/boxes can be stored at basecamp.
You may prefer to hire a bike on Lanzarote. Rental is available at many places in Puerto del Carmen about 15kmfrom our basecamp, and we’ve contacted Evolution Bicyles who have offered delivery to our Finca. Get in touch with them asap to secure a bike - November is a busy time!
If hiring, for most fun and comfort on the off-road stuff, we recommend a “hardtail” mountain bike. I.e. one that has suspension just at the front.
FAQ
Payment
A spot can be secured via a 150 pound non-refundable deposit paid via eventbrite. We’ll then ask for the remaining balance to be paid 45 days before the event. Cancellation between 45 days and 28 days, you’ll get 50% of your balance back. Cancellation within 28 days is non-refundable, but you can transfer your booking to another person should you find one. View the full l booking terms and conditions here
Flights
Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed the minimum trip number has been reached. Last year, the trips filled up in a week, so we expect to be able to let you know pretty soon! Latest will be 45 days prior to the event.
Lanzarote Airport (ACE) is well served by budget airlines, and there are lots of sub £50 flights kicking around at the moment!
Group Size
We’ll have a max group size of 20, minimum group size of 8 to run.
Travelling with your bike
Check your airlines bike carraige policy. Most require a bike to be added as a speciifc piece of Sports Lugagge, but often you get a higher weight allowance. Usually costs in the region of £40 - 50
Getting to basecamp
Taxi is the easiest option and should cost around 40 euro. We’ll set an optional whatsapp group up for people to share travel plans. There is a bus to Masdache from Arreciefe, but from there it is a 45 minute along a road (no pavement) to basecamp.
Dietary Requirements
For our meal at basecamp, we will try to accomodate dietary requirements shared at time of booking. Vegan, Veggie and Gluten Free will be fine. However due to the small food prep area, we may unfortunately struggle to accomodate serious allergies due to the risk of cross contamination. feel free to drop us an email with any questions.
Insurance
It is mandatory that you get personal travel/health insurance for this trip, that includes cycling on it’s policy. E.g. with Yellow Jersey
Storing bike boxes
Bike boxes/bags can be stored at basecamp,
Can I leave things at basecamp before/after the camp?
We won’t be able to store anything before the camp, but can keep luggage/boxes for the day of the end of camp (27th).
Can I arrive late/leave early?
Yep! We know it’s a long one . So if you want to arrive later or duck out early, that’s fine. Our ride on day one will be very chilled, so don’t worry if you miss it, and if you want to catch a Sunday evening flight, that’s cool. We won’t be able to offer any discount on the price unfortunately.
