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Please, get a bell for your bike!

Ullamae

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2021
After just returning home from walking the Camino Frances I would like to urge all bikers to get a bell for your bikes. So many times a was scared by bikers "sneaking" up from behind. I know you are not really sneaking up, it's just that we couldn't hear you coming, and when the trail is narrow dangerous things can happen. So, please get a bell and use it to pass walking pilgrims. Buen Camino!
 
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After just returning home from walking the Camino Frances I would like to urge all bikers to get a bell for your bikes. So many times a was scared by bikers "sneaking" up from behind. I know you are not really sneaking up, it's just that we couldn't hear you coming, and when the trail is narrow dangerous things can happen. So, please get a bell and use it to pass walking pilgrims. Buen Camino!
I often found I could hear the first, but not the second biker. Those were the ones that nearly got me a couple of times.
 
Ooooyyyye! Cyclists will defend themselves to the hilt when it comes to using the narrow parts of the Camino ......... only a few will ever admit to not having a bell. HOWEVER , I have come to the conclusion that most of the inconsiderate cyclists are locals on training runs. Training equals speed. I will never walk from Logrono to Naverette again , thousands of trainers spoilt it for me the last time.
On a positive note , I was delighted with one pilgrim who had an electronic 'bell' which chimed a loud and happy tune. Not only did it alert me but it had me giggling as well.
 
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I don't think any recommendation on bicycle bells in an English language forum will have an effect! In Italian, French, or Spanish, it will fall on deaf ears. Good luck with the idea, but be prepared to be careful. :)
 
I have just done the camino from Leon on bike with my son. And because of reading this forum before we started we went out and bought two bells... And I would say that 90% never heard us.. Despite my son was a bit keen on the bells... I can't recommend not to buy a bell, it did help the few times someone actually acknowledge our signal.
 
And I would say that 90% never heard us. I can't recommend not to buy a bell, it did help the few times someone actually acknowledge our signal.
Human ears hear sound mostly from the front and side. Sound from behind does not generally get through. But thanks for helping; fast moving bicycles can give hikers a heart attack.;)
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
The one time I lost my temper on my last pilgrimage was when a biker decided to cut the corner on the trail. Everyone who was walking was expected to stop, get off the trail and let him speed by. I was hot, tired, and incredibly irritated by the condition of the trail, rutted by bicycles that I stopped in the middle of the trail and yelled, "you don't have a right to push hikers off the trail." Lot of good that did. I stayed grumpy for several days, then realized my opinions were only effecting my mood. I continued walking and let it go to the thrill of riding the downhill track. With all that said, one thing we did see that was very much appreciated was the last cyclist in a group who carried a flag saying he was the last.


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Bikers:- remember too that when walkers who have been doing much road walking on the Camino do hear you they will most likely step to the left as in a traffic situation. Just as you would expect a car to pass you safely in Spain please pass walkers on their right. Walkers if you have not thought about this then please give it consideration too and keep left - which is probably what Spanish bikers expect. The situation where people go in different directions to what is expected is part of the problem I think. Bells were appreciated by us as were the shout of 'x' number more - or a thanks from the last biker.
Edited to try to clarify my confusing wording. See more below.
 
Last edited:
It takes both a bell and a verbal cue...Buen Camino works well and also an indication of which side you are passing and the number of bikes following you. Our group has little interest in speed, in fact you may be walking faster than we can bike. And usually if the path is narrow, it's also steep and we are more likely to be on a road route instead. I wish the arrogant speed demons would stop giving us bicigrinos a bad reputation!

Tia, I am a bit confused regarding your advice to pass on the right. Don't cars drive on the right side of the road in Spain and so it is more natural to pass on the left?
 
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it's also steep and we are more likely to be on a road route instead.

From your lips to God's ears!
 
There are two things which especially irked me about bikers:

a) that on a very narrow trail, they would expect you to move into the sometimes rather high and wet grass or bushes next to the trail

b) that when on a broader trail – and having found the most viable trace (avoiding the ruts) – they would furiously chime their bells to follow the same trace – understandably but a great irritant.

That being said, I had many nice encounters with bikers. Once I chose a detour along the road (the descent looked mighty steep!) And on my lonely walk there, a number of bikers yelled 'buen camino' at me when hurtling down.

annelise
 
Tia, I am a bit confused regarding your advice to pass on the right. Don't cars drive on the right side of the road in Spain and so it is more natural to pass on the left?
Sorry , yes I realise that my wording is confusing. Of course on the road the cars will pass the bike to the left. However the pedestrian should be walking facing the oncoming traffic which means that all traffic, including bikes will pass them in either direction on the pedestrians right.
Thanks for raising the point.
 
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Having just got back from cycling part of the camino I can sympathise with walkers and cyclists on this issue.

I haven’t seen this commented on in many places but if you cycle in the evening, say 5pm – 8pm the camino is a totally different place. The pilgrims disappear to be replaced by a few locals takng a stroll/riding their bikes and the occasional incredibly free spirited pilgrim who is walking to their own rhythm. Basically you get the camino to yourself and on a beautiful evening it’s a wonderful experience - and you can tear downhill as fast as you want without bothering anyone, no bells needed!

Of course, if you do cycle in the evening you get out of the camino routine and arriving ‘late’ at an albergue means you miss out on the social experience but the cycling experience more than compensates for this (in my experience).
 
Having just got back from cycling part of the camino I can sympathise with walkers and cyclists on this issue.

I haven’t seen this commented on in many places but if you cycle in the evening, say 5pm – 8pm the camino is a totally different place. The pilgrims disappear to be replaced by a few locals takng a stroll/riding their bikes and the occasional incredibly free spirited pilgrim who is walking to their own rhythm. Basically you get the camino to yourself

You don't even need to be that late. The hikers leave early. We have a casual morning and leave at 10:30 am, by which time the walking pilgrims are quite spread out.

We have a long lunch and ride until 6, and stay somewhere that is not an albergue. While the albergues are locking up, we are ordering at a restaurant, glad to see they are finally open at 10 pm.

I realize not everyone can afford that routine, but it is cheap compared to many bike tours, and allows for good co-existence.
 
Bikers:- remember too that when walkers who have been doing much road walking on the Camino do hear you they will most likely step to the left as in a traffic situation. Just as you would expect a car to pass you safely in Spain please pass walkers on their right. Walkers if you have not thought about this then please give it consideration too and keep left - which is probably what Spanish bikers expect. The situation where people go in different directions to what is expected is part of the problem I think. Bells were appreciated by us as were the shout of 'x' number more - or a thanks from the last biker.
Edited to try to clarify my confusing wording. See more below.

Hi Tia Valeria, I am a little confused. I thought driving on Spain roads is on the right so overtaking is on the left, and on that basis cyclists would also overtake on the left. .? Regards Geoff
 
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Hi Tia Valeria, I am a little confused. I thought driving on Spain roads is on the right so overtaking is on the left, and on that basis cyclists would also overtake on the left. .? Regards Geoff
I say again:- pedestrians should be walking facing the traffic when on the road. This means that they are walking on the left hand side of the road and when keeping out of the way of traffic will step to their left and be passed on their right. This may create a reaction when being passed anywhere by wheeled transport to move out of the way, to the left, and expecting to be passed on the right. This is regardless of which way the wheeled transport is travelling, towards or in the same direction as the pedestrian.
 
In Spain, in roads with cars, pedestrians must walk on the left. In unpaved tracks with no cars, cyclists and pedestrians usually walk on the right side. This rule is not an obligation but it is more and more accepted.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Yes, thanks Pelegrin. I also believe that is the natural reaction, to move to the right as someone is passing on the path since it is a path, not a road. It seems people would behave more as they do on a city sidewalk than on a road with cars when walking on the path, and that would be to move right so the bike should pass on the left.
 
This brings it all back to the original post - cyclists need a bell and to consider the pedestrians. They will need good brakes too.
This all begins to remind me of a joke I heard many years ago.
"The government of an un-named country announced that as from the next day there was to be a traffic experiment. All cars would be required to drive on the left, not the right. If the experiment proved successful then buses and lorries would be required to do the same next year." :)
Bowing out of discussion.
 
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I liked the idea of radio/music with the bike. When I heard music from behind, I naturally looked back out of curiosity, not forced to look back. That way, bikers do not have to announce "buen camino" (I think it means, "Hey, I am behind you, please move.") everytime they see pilgrims. Batteries cost too much?
 
Bikers:- remember too that when walkers who have been doing much road walking on the Camino do hear you they will most likely step to the left as in a traffic situation. Just as you would expect a car to pass you safely in Spain please pass walkers on their right. Walkers if you have not thought about this then please give it consideration too and keep left - which is probably what Spanish bikers expect. The situation where people go in different directions to what is expected is part of the problem I think. Bells were appreciated by us as were the shout of 'x' number more - or a thanks from the last biker.
Edited to try to clarify my confusing wording. See more below.
I suppose if you're from the UK that confuses the situation even further! Right - left?
 
What side pilgrims walk on and bicigrinos go past depends on the experience of both parties, naturally I walk on the left and this can lead to confusion with people used to going on the right side coming the other way. Try to take into account whats happening in situations but if its a long day and you need to get somewhere then it can have its moments.

Too many cyclists fly by at fast speeds from behind you, now I can be a bit of wanderer suddenly braking off from my line to look at something nearby so far this has not led to an encounter with a cyclist but if I did step in the way of one what would they say 'he walked into me' well yes but as I did not hear them or they did not announce their arrival then the responsibility lies with them always.
 
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I just finished walking the Camino and am a trail biker. I would like to say that I was very frustrated with the bikers on the Camino. Most did not have bells. They did come up on you fast and didn't acknowledge that they were behind you until it was too late for either to have courtesy for the other. There were numerous times when the bikers flew past me at great speeds, especially on the trails from Sarria to Santiago through the forests, and I found it amazed that someone did not get hurt or run over! The bikers were very inconsiderate during this phase.....and they were not the local cyclists.
 
Some of us are hearing impaired too. So we might not hear you at all. Try to use a strong voice when passing.
 
My wife and I have cycled thousands of km on these trails. We have passed thousands of walkers. We have never ever been close to an accident.

We seldom ring a bell. We pass on whatever side looks best. There is no subsitute for slowing down, saying hello, and using some intelligence and consideration.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
There was a bicycle and jogger collision which resulted in death in Texas a couple years ago. The jogger had her ear phones on. The biker was apparently going fast enough to inflict major damage on the walker. Just remember those are people up there, not objects to be passed. They need the respect you would give when driving a car, which means slowing down and passing with care.
 
Hi.
I've biked the Portuguese camino almost twice.
The first time it never occurred to me to take a bell, the second time, because it was short notice (abandoned walking it for the bike), I again didn't not take a bell.
I was more aware of the issues walkers have with us bikers and took care slow down, to whistle or say "bom caminho" before hand. Almost always this still startled walkers. They were appreciative for the most part.
I will be biking it again this August and this time we're taking a bell and maybe even portable speakers for my ipod, so hopefully we'll be the walker friendliest bikers out there :)

I think its also important to realized that for the amount of traffic and testimony of bad experiences, there seem to have been few accidents. On the camino, at least in the Portuguese it seems to be mostly mountain bikers. MTB has been very popular together with local MTB races. So bikers are used to taking small gaps and keeping a line, travelling at speed. In the races its good etiquette for slower bikers to take the rougher ground if a fast biker is coming behind, this way the overtaking is done more quickly.

I'm not trying to excuse bikers, and totally understand that it very easy to be startled by bikes. It is up to bikers to understand they must change behaviour because the context of their travel is different from a race. It is up to everyone to be courteous and accommodating (within reason) to their fellow pilgrim.
 
I'm just back from the Camino. Finished in Santiago on 7/20. Here's what I saw/heard. First, it was very rare for anyone to use bells. To those who used bells and/or spoke some type of warning, thank you very much. I would say that only 2% of bikers used bells. More commonly, bikers would either not say anything, or would wait until after they had passed to say "Buen Camino". It does not help to hear "Buen Camino" after you pass as it gives us no guidance that you were there when passing. My son was nearly hit by a biker with no warning whatsoever that he was there. Bikes were passing very close to walkers. I had some only a foot away from me as they passed and I was not aware they were there until they passed. I watched a biker close in on a lady and her 7 year old daughter. He could have easily passed to the left, but instead rode up behind them and insisted that they move to either side of the trail, thereby splitting them so he could ride between. As someone with limited hearing in my right ear, I stayed to the right and listened with my left. Sometimes I heard bikes, sometimes I didn't. A simple "Passing" or other warning said from behind would have let me know to stay right. I walk many trails besides the Camino and it's common courtesy to speak some type of warning before passing with a bike. It's also common to say how many bikes there are in your group.
 
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I suppose if you're from the UK that confuses the situation even further! Right - left?

I'm from the UK but travel in many countries. Wherever I walk I follow the assumption that when walking always walk on the side of approaching traffic. That means if the traffic is driving on their right then I approach them by walking on my left, and vice-versa for the UK and the few other countries that drive on the left.

Having said that I have been shouted at several times when walking on some combined cycle/walking trails in the USA where (idiotically) walkers are expected to walk on the same side as the cycles, meaning that cyclists come-up silently behind you, with all the surprises that brings
 

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