Sometimes you just have to sit back and take it all in. And, for most of the day, that’s exactly what I was doing. I wasn’t relaxing on a beautiful beach sipping umbrella drinks while watching the sun set; nor was I high atop some splendid mountain taking in the vast expanse of the surrounding wilderness. I was in fact riding a motorcycle while constantly turning my head to view as much of the scenery as possible.
Rain had fallen the night before, but not enough to spoil any of the routes that had been mapped out for us. When we left the hotel in the morning, I wasn’t sure what to expect except for the very tropical coastal scenery that we were afforded on our bus ride to the hotel from the airport. I had been to the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands once before and I was expecting a similar landscape, but there was much more to Tenerife then I expected.
As we started up the mountain and came upon a more Sierra-type forestry climate, I soon realized just how beautiful and diverse the island of Tenerife really is.
“Snap out of it Tom, you’re here for Cycle News not Conde Nast,” I told myself. Okay, okay, but I really couldn’t imagine a better place to blast a motorcycle around, and the new 2014 Monster 1200s that Ducati provided was icing on the cake. With such great scenery and a brand new bike under me, I knew I was in for a treat.
We soon reached the end of tree line and were now climbing higher into an area that was referred to by most of the group as the surface of the moon. Tenerife is an island volcano jetting up from the button of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Africa. As with most volcanoes the surface is covered with lava flows and crazy rock formations of days gone by. The Monster, like Tenerife, was full of pleasant surprises that I was able and willing to exploit.
With a host of different climates and road conditions, Tenerife would be an excellent proving ground to showcase the adaptive and high-performance nature of the newest Monster. I’m guessing that’s why Ducati chose the island for the world launch of its all-new Monster 1200.
To read the rest of the Ducati Monster 1200/1200S first ride in this week’s Cycle News, click here
For more Cycle News Sport Bike motorcycle reviews, click HERE.
For more Ducati motorcycle reviews, click HERE.
