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Hi Sean,
I biked the CF last year at about the same time as you but I am not an experienced cyclist, so I found the distance and weight in my paniers difficult. Good choice on using the roads, I did the same mainly because the track probably requires about 30% more effort. However in some areas, the track is unavoidable unless you are prepared to make reasonably long detours.
I left SJPDP on 15 September 2017 and found several places were booked full on arrival, so you should probably have a couple of albergues in mind at the destination where you want to stay. Also not all albergues accept bikes, so make a list.
Choice of bike is probably up to you, I used a mountain bike package from Bike Iberia and it worked well.
You might like to check reports that Jenny and I made in the biking section of this forum.
In response to your questions @SeanG
1. Are you intent on reaching SdC in 7 days? A daily average of 65 ml/104 km may be too ambitious if you are (a) carrying a heavy load (b) finding the heat or the hills hard going (c) wanting to spend time in some of the places you are passing through at speed. While you should have no difficulty going the distance across the Meseta, other sections of the route may demand more time and attention. I am quite capable of covering daily distances of > 60 ml/ 100 km on my home terrain, but I would not normally exceed 50 ml/80 km on the Camino. Don’t be misled by tour guide itineraries that presuppose luggage and even bike transfers.
2. Is it important to you to know where you will spend each night? Booking accommodation in advance may relieve the uncertainty, but it may also increase the pressure to stick rigidly to your plan. Only on a single occasion did I fail to find a bed in an albergue, not because I was a cyclist but because all the accommodation was full. Private albergues are less likely than municipal to observe the so-called pilgrim hierarchy.
3. An all-terrain bike is not necessary for road riding. Choose a road bike if that’s what you prefer, but make sure it has the carrying capacity that you will need.
Buen Camino bicigrino!
Accomodation - don't bother booking. Ride as long as you feel when the legs are good and see where you end up at the end of the day. One advantage of cycling is that the next town is much closer that it is for those walking at the end of the day making it easier to be flexible.
Enjoy your ride bicigrino!
Pamplona - Los Arcos - Santo Domingo - Burgos - Carrion de los Condes - Leon - Rabanal - Villafranca - Sarria - Melide - Santiago. That was 10 days for us. You could cut the number of days but if you want to see around places like Leon and Burgos etc 7 days will be tight and they might not fit in your 100km/day schedule.
Booking as you go should be fine, perhaps a day ahead so you know there will be a bed if you are stretching each stage as some nights will be in small towns or villages.
If you are sticking to the roads a road/audax/touring bike will be good if you are using some of the path, as we did in the safer sections, a hybrid.
. And a large part of why I am doing this is for the physical challenge and solitude of long hours on the bike. I'm also hoping that a nice light road bike, sticking to roads, and limited gear will help me make time.
It strikes me that you're picking a great route.... for the wrong reasons.
If you're looking for solitude, then I'd recommend a road based version of the Norte route. I cycled a lot of this in reverse and found the roads quieter and the scenery fantastic.
It's relatively easy to knock out longer mileage days. There are fewer pilgrims (solitude) and fewer albergues (a bit more planning required), but still lots of other accommodation options. (After Santiago I did not use any albergues - as far as I was concerned my pigrimage was finished, so I camped).
Unless you travel at night, it will be very hard to be alone on your planned route - there will always be other pilgrims either on bikes, in cars, buses and every place will be full of pilgrims. Are you planning on staying in albergues? They are the definition of the opposite of solitude!
The only other advice I would give you is to try, as much as is humanly possible, not to be in a rush. Whatever your spiritual leanings, the places, the people, the food, the drinks, the coffee.... are special. If you rush through it, you'll either miss so much you won't notice or you'll regret it until you can go back again!On the CF there are places every 10 km to stop and savour. On the Norte, especially on the road, there are less distractions, but still some fantastic places to stop and appreciate.
Buen Camino!
Interesting... I had assumed that the terrain on the Norte would be too much for me given my time constraints (10ish days) and hauling gear (I typically cycle unencumbered, but know how much a couple of panniers can change the equation!)... Maybe I'll check back into that, though, given your input. I'm less familiar with that route - what's the starting point and what was your itinerary?
Regarding solitude - I'm not expecting a human-less experience - perhaps I used the wrong term... I'm just looking forward to spending my days more or less on my own, with my thoughts. I figured the bike would facilitate that - there are fewer cyclists, and cyclists paces vary more than walkers paces do, so I wouldn't be "with" anyone for any measure of time.
I am a bit concerned about to social aspect of the albuerges... I guess I figured that I'd be in the mood for SOME social activity after a day of cycling alone, but also that I could slink away as necessary and also wouldn't run into the same crew over and over again. These assumptions may be FAR from reality, though!
The itinerary I've re-tooled averages around 50 miles a day - a couple of days at ~65mi on the Meseta, and a couple at ~40mi for big climbs. At a 10 mph pace and planning 8-9 hours start to finish each day still gives time for several good stops. On paper at least.
That's where I'm at right now at least!
Thanks for your response!!!
Thank you. I think I'm going to push for 9 days now. Looking at your itinerary, I noticed that your last day was relatively short - do you advise this, because of terrain, traffic, or just wanting to get in early? Honestly, I was thinking about making the final stage longer than average.
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