Mogán is the inland village that gives the south-west of Gran Canaria its name, and it is a good example of how this island works: a sunny, busy coast, and just behind it a mountain world that feels like another country. The village sits some distance up a barranco, one of the deep, dry ravines that fan out from the central peaks to the sea. The better-known place is the harbour town of Puerto de Mogán on the coast, with its canals and bougainvillea, but the older settlement up the valley has a quieter pace and a more rural feel.
The municipality has around 21,000 people, spread between the resorts and the hills, and Puerto Rico is the larger neighbour down the coast. There is fuel and food in the area, and the road into the valley is one you will want to ride at a deliberate speed. It climbs in bends that tighten and widen as the valley narrows, with the rock walls turning from ochre to rust and the vegetation changing from sun-baked scrub to patches of palms, fruit trees and little farms. In the valleys here you will see mango, avocado and papaya growing where water allows.
Gran Canaria is sometimes called a continent in miniature, and the claim has some truth: the island is a volcanic cone, and the weather varies sharply with altitude and side. The south-west is dry and warm for much of the year, but once you climb toward the central highlands the temperature drops and mist can roll over the ridges. This makes spring and autumn the best seasons, when the heat is moderate and the light is clear. Midsummer afternoons can be hot, and the winter north is cloudier.
Take care with surfaces. Mountain roads here are narrow, occasionally rough, and shared with cyclists, goats and hire cars driven by people still learning the width of the car. Watch for gravel on the inside of bends after rain, and for rockfall on the steeper cuttings. Stop in the village for a coffee, look up at the barranco walls, and take note of how quickly the road drops back toward the sea afterwards.