I am going to agree with Annie here, though as with everything on the Camino, each person makes their own decisions about how they want to walk.
When I picked up my info for Spain from the Pilgrim Office in SJPP, they recommended the road route to descend into Roncesvalles.
I had been walking for nearly six weeks by the time I reached SJPP, so I was comparatively fit. And I chose to have a break at Orisson, as I had heard a lot about how tough the climb over the Pyrenees was. It took me about two and three quarter hours to reach Orisson, with time to stop and watch some eagles soaring along the way.
I am really glad I broke it there. The weather was just right, and that evening in Orisson it happened that we got to view the most exquisite rainbow with the mountains behind, truly one of life's treasured experiences.
Since I was quite fit, I wasn't expecting the next day from Orisson to Roncesvalles to be especially difficult. And I chose the right-handed road descent. But even with my fitness, and the break at Orisson, I found I was feeling very tired by the time I reached Roncesvalles.
I recovered quickly from my exertions though, as I was quite fit at this stage. But there were some others, just starting out, for whom the trek over from SJPP in one day really was too much. Some of them ended up taking the bus for some subsequent sections just to recover.
I don't think you always have to have 'valiant effort' on the Camino - though that is my personal opinion of course. The French had a saying I often heard when starting out on the Le Puy route, "Il faut aller doucement, doucement, pour aller a St Jacques" - You need to go gently, gently, to reach Santiago. When I started walking from Le Puy, people were very very conscious of how great a distance lay ahead, and most tried to 'pace' themselves for the long walk ahead.
Margaret