Cycling advice

[Polite]

A few initial questions;

1. Time of year for me is likely to be August 2014 only, any advice on this as a possibility?
2. Are cyclists frowned upon plus are they less likely to find places to stay? (I understand camping not really an option)
3. Any feedback from cyclists who have done it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[newfydog]

You 'll want a mountain bike to ride the trails. Almost all hikers will gladly share them with you, a few will grumble and blame you for transgressions of local youth.

check out the cycling foum here.....more info than you can wade through.

 

[hecate105]

I haven'[t cycled the Camino Frances, but I have the Portugues, Norte and Litoral, as well as many places in Europe. If you are comfortable on your tourer and happy to use roads rather than the trail sometimes, then go for it. I used a hybrid and did trails over mountains that nearly killed me - but I would do it again! Get good maps so you have the choice of whether to cycle on road or not. Most off-road tracks are fine, it is only when they are severely steep, rocky or after a deluge that they can be tricky. There is always the option of pushing! (an option I took quite a lot..) If you ask hospitaleras and other pilgrims, they will often know the route well. Get a rack & panniers for your gear. I always take a tent as I am always on a tight budget (one must have enough cash for essentials - like wine!) I have never NOT found a place to camp - although have been at wits end a few times! Usually it is fairly easy to find a quiet, flat spot at dusk, and you are gone again in morning. Whatever you decide, enjoy!

 

[newfydog]

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/cycling-various-caminos-good-better-and-best.16273/


here's a long thread, where I blabbbed on a while about biketypes, trail traffic and etiquette etc.

 

[obinjatoo@yahoo.com]

I rode a touring bike with wider but treadless tires on the footpaths. I carried a full kit with camping gear and had no problems including crossing the Pyranees on the sendero. I walked some steep rocky sections but other than that, it was fine. You don't need suspension or a mountain bike. If you can put a nice wide tire on the Dawes you should be ok. Any more questions, feel free to ask.
I never felt frowned upon and I went very slowly and announced myself well in advance of walkers.
Be a good bicycle ambassador and noone will hate you.

 

[Polite]

Thanks for this

 

[k1ypp]

Yes, it is possible, but with some caveats. First of all, I would highly recommend a mountain bike, should you decide to use the off-road trails. There are plenty of roads from SJPDP to Santiago, and a road bike should work well there, should you really want to use a touring bike.

Jane and I rode our touring bikes from Barcelona to Logroño last summer (2013) and then onto Leon, in all, 800 km. She suffered a bad crash in Leon and needed a bunch of stitches in and on her knee, so that was the end of the bike ride. She was able to walk fine, so we shipped the bikes home and finished walking from Lisbon, Portugal, to Santiago instead. We ran into a German pilgrim there that had just started walking her Camino a few days before and was whacked by a passing bicyclist. Both were injured, but she got the worst of it and needed stitches on her face and was very sore. She bravely returned to the Camino after her medical attention, it had to be a difficult decision.

Courteous bike riders are no problem, but it seems that many that ride the Camino know nothing of how to approach and pass pedestrians. Many fly by, with no warning and the scared pedestrians jump to get out of the way, and 50% of the time, jump into the path of the rider. I found it better to not move to the right or left when I heard a bike coming and just let them work around me. If there was time to turn and look and get out of the way properly, I would. The ones that ring their bells (those that actually have them) and give plenty of warning are no problem, the others are a hazard. There is room for all, but there needs to be common sense, which sometimes is in short supply.

We found, at least from Barcelona to Logroño, that the roads were narrow and the truck traffic was very heavy. To their credit, the drivers were decent enough, but the narrow roads made it difficult for all concerned. If I were to do it again, I'd take a mountain bike and ride the off-road routes. Spain's roads are not conducive to touring bike riding. Interestingly, I found the Portuguese drivers to be much worse and not very courteous to pedestrians, and yet the people there were wonderful. It seemed the drivers have not yet discovered the brake pedal.

It's not a race, whether walking or riding, take the time to take in the sights, and use some caution and all should go well.

 

[hecate105]

Oh, meant to say - get Schwalbe marathon plus tyres - 3000 miles and NO punctures!!
Interestingly we found the Portuguese drivers the best (especially lorry drivers) then the Spanish (which surprised me after past trips to Spain!) the French were fairly bad (a man in slippers running over my husband's trailer and then driving off!, hit by several drivers glancing blows) but the most abysmal were the British drivers! As soon as we got off the ferry we had souped-up teenagers swerving us off the road (yes- we were back on the left side!) I was hit by two buses, and most traffic passed far too close for comfort, it was horrible to realise how bad our driving has become in the UK. But it did push me to undergo the new cycle instructor training, so now I can swear far more officiously at crap drivers...!!

 

[Polite]

Thanks for all the replies. My heart says walk but I just don't think I will have the holiday time. My head says bike but also that that's not really the spirit. Still undecided.

 

[wayfarer]

My head says bike but also that that's not really the spirit. Still undecided.

It's your Camino, do it your way, do not worry if it does not conform to someone else's idea of how it should be done. You can always come back and walk it when you have the time you need. Either way happy planning and Buen Camino.

 

[Cambridge Pilgrim]

Thanks for all the replies. My heart says walk but I just don't think I will have the holiday time. My head says bike but also that that's not really the spirit. Still undecided.

We had the same dilemma and so have decided on (finally we think) a hybrid walk/cycle camino. We were originally going to walk from Leon as we could only take max of 16/17 days door-to-door and wanted a little downtime in Santiago. Somehow not doing the "whole" route seemed to be lacking something (for us - appreciate it's different for others) but I did quite like the idea of walking at least a part of the way.

Plan now is to walk the first three days from SJPdP to Pamplona then, through one of the bike rental companies, pick up two bikes there and cycle the remainder in 10/11 days

There are some problems like having to carry walking boots whilst cycling (we'd rather keep our boots with us) and carrying our helmets whilst walking (we'd rather use our own than hire) but they're not exactly insurmountable - we'll be the couple walking in cycle helmets

It looks like it's going to make for an interesting packing list - but now we've decided, are really looking forward to it!

Plan is to hire mountain bikes and do as much as possible on the "foot"path.

 

[hecate105]

Brilliant! I've been cycling in Provence wearing my walking boots - as I could only bring 2 pairs of footwear. In fact they were ok - great in the really muddy areas - oh and descending the steep rock steps down to the waterfall - I think I missed the cycle route again...

 

[Tia Valeria]

A few initial questions;

1. Time of year for me is likely to be August 2014 only, any advice on this as a possibility?
2. Are cyclists frowned upon plus are they less likely to find places to stay? (I understand camping not really an option)
3. Any feedback from cyclists who have done it?

Thanks in advance.

I have only ever walked but I notice that 2 important points have not been made here.
1) Cyclists have to complete the last 200 kms into Santiago for their Compostela rather than the 100 kms for walkers.
2) Walkers have priority over cyclists in most albergues, eg. sometimes having to wait until a later time for a bed. The feeling being that they can 'move on' more easily if places fill up.
This is not meant to put you off, just aware of the situation. We know folk who cycled and had a great Camino.
Buen Camino