Cycling part of camino:Leon-Santiago

[Battygirl]

I'm Karen and this is my first post. My husband and I are going to bike the Camino in June, starting in Leon. I cannot walk the Camino because of my bad knees. After reading some of the posts, I am a little worried that we might have a problem getting into an Albergues. Anyone have any comments or suggestions?

 

[mspath]

Hi Karen,

Welcome to the Forum!

Be sure to scan the Forum topic Biking the Camino for lots of helpful tips and advice.
An informative Spanish site which is especially for cyclists is Bikeline.com . This links to a handy pdf list of private camino albergues which are particularly welcoming for cyclists and accept reservations .

Happy research and Buen camino,

Margaret Meredith

 

[daffyduck]

Karen, saw your post and decided to sign up so I could reply, so this my first post also. I cycled the Camino last year. I started in St Jean, biked to Logrono, over night bus from there to Leon, then biked from there to Santiago. It was amazing. I travelled in the last week of July and had no trouble finding a bed in the Albergues. The walkers path can get very busy during the day so I spent a lot of time on the main road that runs parallel to the path. I met a couple (husband and wife) from Holland, they had cycled form their front door and biked the entire route. I cycled alongside the husband for an hour and he explained that his wife had a battery powered bike that meant she could still cycle but at a faster speed. It may help your knees.
If I can help with anything please ask. I am considering the norde route in July this year, just need to convince my wife she thinks I should do it!

 

[Bikeguy]

Hi Karen. I cycled the camino last May/June and did not have any troubles finding a bed every night. The rules around cyclists being unable to book into albergue until late in the day to give preference to walkers seems to apply to the municipal albergues and he private ones were quite happy to accept me (and my money) whatever time I rolled up. I was very pleased with all the private albergues in which I stayed. I also stayed in small hotels and B&Bs depending on my mood.
A tip that worked for me was that I would start cycling pretty early (630-700) when the walkers were mobilizing so by 2-3 pm I was tired and done cycling for the day so would start looking for accomodation. At that relatively early time were still good but places would fill up later in the day. This would also give me time off the bike to walk around and socialize. Worked for me.

 

[newfydog]

I also stayed in small hotels and B&Bs depending on my mood.
A tip that worked for me was that I would start cycling pretty early (630-700) when the walkers were mobilizing so by 2-3 pm I was tired and done cycling for the day so would start looking for accomodation. At that relatively early time were still good but places would fill up later in the day. .

We do it just the opposite.... but we mostly stay in private accommodation and eat in restaurants.. We don't start until about 10 am, so the walkers are spread out in their albergue race. We bike until fairly late on really empty trails. By the time we find a place and get cleaned up and check out the town, we don't have to wait for ages for the late opening of Spanish restaurants. Hanging out in a bar, starving, until the restaurants open can turn out disastrously! The strategy works well if you don't stress about where you are going to stay and can afford to go more upscale when things are full.

 

[Battygirl]

Karen, saw your post and decided to sign up so I could reply, so this my first post also. I cycled the Camino last year. I started in St Jean, biked to Logrono, over night bus from there to Leon, then biked from there to Santiago. It was amazing. I travelled in the last week of July and had no trouble finding a bed in the Albergues. The walkers path can get very busy during the day so I spent a lot of time on the main road that runs parallel to the path. I met a couple (husband and wife) from Holland, they had cycled form their front door and biked the entire route. I cycled alongside the husband for an hour and he explained that his wife had a battery powered bike that meant she could still cycle but at a faster speed. It may help your knees.
If I can help with anything please ask. I am considering the norde route in July this year, just need to convince my wife she thinks I should do it!

Thanks for the info. I got a little worried when I saw a bunch of posts about crowded Albergues. I gave us 7 days to get from Leon to Santiago. Hopefully, this will give us enough time to appreciate the scenery and towns.
I'm sure I will have more questions soon!
Thanks everyone.

 

[SueSteininc]

Hi Karen,

Welcome to the Forum!

Be sure to scan the Forum topic Biking the Camino for lots of helpful tips and advice.
An informative Spanish site which is especially for cyclists is Bikeline.com . This links to a handy pdf list of private camino albergues which are particularly welcoming for cyclists and accept reservations .

Happy research and Buen camino,

Margaret Meredith

We are newbies to the Camino. We are planning to cycle the Via de la Plata route in December/January. I understand accommodation could be a problem. Is it possible to cycle at that time of the year? We want to start at Seville and finish in Caceres.

 

[mspath]

No longer a cyclist although 60 years ago I biked across the US and Canada I have never followed the Via de la Plata route. However often in winter I have walked the CF. Many albergues start to close mid October for vacation until spring, hence accommodation can be a problem. Most importantly December/January could be VERY cold and snowy. For a general discussion of winter on the caminos be sure to scan this earlier Forum thread .

 

[Saint Mike II]

We are newbies to the Camino. We are planning to cycle the Via de la Plata route in December/January. I understand accommodation could be a problem. Is it possible to cycle at that time of the year? We want to start at Seville and finish in Caceres.

Hola - not sure that I would recommend/support your plan to cycle the VDLP during the Dec/Jan period. Yes it will be a lot less crowded but many of the municiple albergue will be closed. Make some enquiries - especially in the smaller towns. Although if you only intend to do the section from Seville to Caceres it should be doable although there are some sections about 25-35 km north of Merida that may not be suitable even for mountain bikes. There is a small guide book available from the Confraternity of St James (UK based) that does provide guidance on those sections of the route that are not suitable for bikes (I think its edited by A Raju). Cheers

 

[kbravo]

I biked the same route with my son last year at the same time you are planning to cycle. We had some nights sleeping outside because my son wanted the explorer experience, but we did not find any albergues not accepting us. We found all the information we needed on http://www.bicigrino.com/en/ They have listed all albergues they have mad an agreement with, who provide all the extra need your would have as a biker, like bike storages, bike transport back home etc.
I found a blog online, written by a fellow Pilgrimmer who had walked the camino in 2013 and was about to cycle it last year. We where 1 day behind them, so every evening we logged online to see what he had written to prepare us for the next day. Have a read on his blog, I can only agree to everything he wrote.
I think you will enjoy every second of it. I tried this year to get holiday again to bike it from the france, but I where unsuccessful.

 

[Battygirl]

Thank you kbravo. Loved your information. We are less than 6 weeks away now. Just can't wait!

 

[Battygirl]

Hi Karen. I cycled the camino last May/June and did not have any troubles finding a bed every night. The rules around cyclists being unable to book into albergue until late in the day to give preference to walkers seems to apply to the municipal albergues and he private ones were quite happy to accept me (and my money) whatever time I rolled up. I was very pleased with all the private albergues in which I stayed. I also stayed in small hotels and B&Bs depending on my mood.
A tip that worked for me was that I would start cycling pretty early (630-700) when the walkers were mobilizing so by 2-3 pm I was tired and done cycling for the day so would start looking for accomodation. At that relatively early time were still good but places would fill up later in the day. This would also give me time off the bike to walk around and socialize. Worked for me.

Loved reading your response. How was the weather for you?