Alternate route for bikes worth it?

[Former member 110584]

The Buen Camino app shows alt routes for cyclists. I missed one and was glad I did. It was totally doable and the most beautiful part of the stage. Anyone have advice for taking/not taking alt routes? Heading out from Ponte de Lima in the morning. Thanks.

 

[good_old_shoes]

The Buen Camino app shows alt routes for cyclists. I missed one and was glad I did. It was totally doable and the most beautiful part of the stage. Anyone have advice for taking/not taking alt routes? Heading out from Ponte de Lima in the morning. Thanks.

I don't know about that particular route, but on the Francés the "alternatives" for bikes often make sense, because the hiking path is too narrow for bikes to safely pass by walkers, so even though it might be "doable" for the cyclist in a technical sense, it would be dangerous for both the cyclist and the walkers.

If, for example, you go downhill a narrow, rocky path with the bike and there's no room for a walker to get out of the way, that's asking for an accident to happen.

Please note that tired walkers with heavy backpacks can't always react quickly enough to jump out of the way to let the much faster bikes pass, even if there's enough room in theory and you ring your bell and/or shout in advance.

I got run over by a bike on the Camino once. It's not funny.

If there's an alternative for cyclists, I'd assume it makes sense to use it.

Buen Camino, bicigrino!

 

[Former member 110584]

Thanks for your reply. It’s awful to be hit by a bike or even startled by one going too fast. I’m not a fast cyclist and always slow down and alert walkers when I need to pass. The doable path I took was not narrow, just steep and rocky. Buen Camino!

 

[dbier]

Can't answer for the Frances, but on day 2 of the Primitivo (I think it was after Corellana), there was one downhill stretch, narrow, with switchbacks, that I swear was nothing but rocks, tree roots, and mud. I've posted less detail elsewhere, but I cannot in good conscience invite you to assume that all walking sections are suitable for bikers.

 

[dougfitz]

The Buen Camino app shows alt routes for cyclists. I missed one and was glad I did. It was totally doable and the most beautiful part of the stage. Anyone have advice for taking/not taking alt routes? Heading out from Ponte de Lima in the morning. Thanks.

The Alto do Portela would be the one place that you need to think carefully about after Ponte de Lima. There is at at least one section where you might find yourself walking your bike close to the summit.

 

[byrdie444]

I don't know about that particular route, but on the Francés the "alternatives" for bikes often make sense, because the hiking path is too narrow for bikes to safely pass by walkers, so even though it might be "doable" for the cyclist in a technical sense, it would be dangerous for both the cyclist and the walkers.

If, for example, you go downhill a narrow, rocky path with the bike and there's no room for a walker to get out of the way, that's asking for an accident to happen.

Please note that tired walkers with heavy backpacks can't always react quickly enough to jump out of the way to let the much faster bikes pass, even if there's enough room in theory and you ring your bell and/or shout in advance.

I got run over by a bike on the Camino once. It's not funny.

If there's an alternative for cyclists, I'd assume it makes sense to use it.

Buen Camino, bicigrino!

Agreed!! I also had an experience walking out of Astorga where a cyclist ran into me. Exactly as you said, it was hard for me to react quickly, as it was raining which made it hard to hear plus wearing a poncho blocked some visibility on the sides, plus the cyclist did not give enough advance notice with some sort of bell. To make things worse, after the cyclist ran into me, he stopped and aggressively yelled at me in Spanish (which I did not understand) until I was in tears. I am 66 years old and was walking alone. Some other pilgrims on the trail witnessed it and started to yell back at him and came over to console me. On this particular path, there was an alternate route for cyclists in the road adjacent to the walker's path, but he was not on it. I know that all cyclists are not like this, but like you said, getting run into by a bike is not fun.

 

[good_old_shoes]

Agreed!! I also had an experience walking out of Astorga where a cyclist ran into me. Exactly as you said, it was hard for me to react quickly, as it was raining which made it hard to hear plus wearing a poncho blocked some visibility on the sides, plus the cyclist did not give enough advance notice with some sort of bell. To make things worse, after the cyclist ran into me, he stopped and aggressively yelled at me in Spanish (which I did not understand) until I was in tears. I am 66 years old and was walking alone. Some other pilgrims on the trail witnessed it and started to yell back at him and came over to console me. On this particular path, there was an alternate route for cyclists in the road adjacent to the walker's path, but he was not on it. I know that all cyclists are not like this, but like you said, getting run into by a bike is not fun.

Sorry that happened to you.

The cyclist that collided with me was truly sorry and apologized immediately, and it was him who was hurt, not me (I was the one who got angry, and in hindsight, I'm sorry for that). It was in a path that was wide enough, but we were two pilgrims walking next to each other, and I made the mistake of jumping to the wrong direction, as there was not enough time to find out which way the bike would pass (he yelled, but didn't say which direction to jump to, and approached too quickly to find out). We both learned something from it, I guess, and nobody was hurt too badly, only some scratches.

I still think it is possible to share the same path with bikes most of the time, but lots of respect for the others is needed, and sometimes when using the walker's path a cyclist will need to push the bike because there's no way to ride the bike without danger to walkers.

 

[byrdie444]

Sorry that happened to you.

The cyclist that collided with me was truly sorry and apologized immediately, and it was him who was hurt, not me (I was the one who got angry, and in hindsight, I'm sorry for that). It was in a path that was wide enough, but we were two pilgrims walking next to each other, and I made the mistake of jumping to the wrong direction, as there was not enough time to find out which way the bike would pass (he yelled, but didn't say which direction to jump to, and approached too quickly to find out). We both learned something from it, I guess, and nobody was hurt too badly, only some scratches.

I still think it is possible to share the same path with bikes most of the time, but lots of respect for the others is needed, and sometimes when using the walker's path a cyclist will need to push the bike because there's no way to ride the bike without danger to walkers.

Well said! The same happened to me, in that I jumped to the wrong direction because I did not have enough time or visibility to find out which way he would pass me. I wasn't hurt, but I let out a scream on impact. All other times during my Camino, whenever a stream of cyclists were behind me, and I had advance notice, I always stopped and moved to the side to let them pass, and waved to them exchanging our Buen Caminos!

 

[hikentravel1234]

The Buen Camino app shows alt routes for cyclists. I missed one and was glad I did. It was totally doable and the most beautiful part of the stage. Anyone have advice for taking/not taking alt routes? Heading out from Ponte de Lima in the morning. Thanks.

about 8 to 10 years ago, I decided to bicycle from Burgos to Leon. I didn't realize there was an alternative bicycle route. I had a bicycle delivered to me in Burgos. On day one I did two stages, on the trail. It was absolutely horrible. Trying to bike through sand and gravel, and occasionally really big rocky steps going down.
Late in the day, I finally made it to my destination. Luckily, I ran into two bicyclists that I had met prior to Burgos. They explained there was an alternative route, and were able to draw it on my John Brierley book map. I then followed the alternative route to Leon.
However, I also walked earlier this year and saw a lot more cyclists than I did 8 to 10 years ago. So if off road cycling does not bother you, go for it. Or you could try the traditional route and then switch over to the bicycle route if you prefer.

 

[Xali1970]

depends on the bicycle.
Touring bikes with narrow slick tyres will have a very hard time on anything but hardened surfaces.
MTB-touring hybrids with wide tyres (general purposes or all terrain knobblies) are quite well suited to pretty much anything you'll find on most caminos terrain wise, but you need to get used to handle them in rough terrain, especially when you add (heavy) luggage to them.
Do bear in mind that just because you can barrel down the way doesn't mean you should. Caution and good judgement are the order of the day.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Depending upon your off-road cycle skills, then there are sections of the Camino Frances where you can follow the walking pilgrims trail. There are also, imho, sections where the cyclists should stick to the road. Brielery’s guide, again my opinion, does not take into account the sections cyclists should avoid. There are two other guides , one produced by Michelin that shows a number of secondary roads that cyclists might choose to follow. There is also a guide, in French, that provides a number of roads for cyclists. Best wishes.