picosrider
Active Member
The statistics show that 12% of those travelling the caminos do so on a bike. My guess is that most of those are on mountain bikes. Ideal for their ruggedness and for carrying lots of heavy luggage. However ruggedness does not mean problem free! As a cyclist are you a competent bike fixer? Do you carry the necessary tools and know how to use them? There may be times when something goes wrong that you are not able to fix. Do you know enough Spanish to get help, and to get the bike fixed?
It is experiences of my own and other cyclists with whom I have been riding, that have prompted me to start this thread.
A couple of years back one of my party had a crankshaft bearing go (bottom bracket in English speak). That is a workshop job, so we needed to find a bike shop and get a replacement bearing fitted. This required us to use a bit of “how to get by with simple Spanish”. But we managed it! Once again it taught me that knowing a few useful phrases are well worth the time taken to learn them.
As a result I have been posting items about how to learn some easy Spanish, just enough to get by and to make your Camino more rewarding and enjoyable.
See frequently-asked-questions/topic14029.html
Now I am starting a new thread specific to cyclists. Some Spanish phrases and other topics which I hope will be useful!
The first phrase that I needed with the bearing problem: Is there a bicycle shop near here? Hay una tienda de bicicletas cerca de aqui?
Or: Where is the nearest (most near) bicycle shop? Donde esta la tienda de bicicletas más cercana?
Then having found the bike shop we had to explain the problem. Naturally we had no idea what a bottom bracket bearing was in Spanish!
But I did know how to say “It is broken (pointing), are you able to change it?” – Está roto, puede cambiar-lo? Are you able to repair it now? – Puede reparar-lo ahora?
This all happened along the Camino del Norte. The bike shop is in Llanes. Great service!
And as you can see from the smiles all round, 14 year old Luke got his bike fixed whilst we waited!
It is experiences of my own and other cyclists with whom I have been riding, that have prompted me to start this thread.
A couple of years back one of my party had a crankshaft bearing go (bottom bracket in English speak). That is a workshop job, so we needed to find a bike shop and get a replacement bearing fitted. This required us to use a bit of “how to get by with simple Spanish”. But we managed it! Once again it taught me that knowing a few useful phrases are well worth the time taken to learn them.
As a result I have been posting items about how to learn some easy Spanish, just enough to get by and to make your Camino more rewarding and enjoyable.
See frequently-asked-questions/topic14029.html
Now I am starting a new thread specific to cyclists. Some Spanish phrases and other topics which I hope will be useful!
The first phrase that I needed with the bearing problem: Is there a bicycle shop near here? Hay una tienda de bicicletas cerca de aqui?
Or: Where is the nearest (most near) bicycle shop? Donde esta la tienda de bicicletas más cercana?
Then having found the bike shop we had to explain the problem. Naturally we had no idea what a bottom bracket bearing was in Spanish!
But I did know how to say “It is broken (pointing), are you able to change it?” – Está roto, puede cambiar-lo? Are you able to repair it now? – Puede reparar-lo ahora?
This all happened along the Camino del Norte. The bike shop is in Llanes. Great service!
And as you can see from the smiles all round, 14 year old Luke got his bike fixed whilst we waited!