I've just completed the Madrid route and wanted to share some thoughts for anyone else considering it:
1. Bike hire: I used Bike Iberia, and although the courier company they used gave away the parcel containing my panniers/lock/puncture repair kit etc (all I had on day 1 was a bike) - they were a good choice. I had to cycle from the SEUR Depot on the outskirts of town to a nearby bike shop to buy panniers, water bottle etc, they reimbursed and apologised and helped translate on the phone. Good folk. I never got a puncture or needed tools, but deffo worth having.
2. Pack as little as possible: some days you will spend a few hours cycling along rocky /bumpy /dirt trails. Weight will really slow you down, cause you to want to walk stretches, and bare in mind your knees will likely get sore if you're cycling several hours everyday with load. Padded shorts are a must, music and earphones helps a lot (if you're solo), and a battery pack for your phone. Besides that, cycling in May as I have been the weather was sublime, no rain, occasionally headwinds but sunny /bright and not too hot. I recommend 1x cycling shorts, 1x casual short, 2x tees, 1x train jacket, shoes you can trash, flip flops, factor 50, raw unfetted grit, ideally formed in a northern town of the UK.
3. Be careful from Cercidilla - when you leave this town the official Camino website talks about cyclists needing to take an alternative 'Republic road' which veers right as the walking caminos head up the Roman road. I never saw this road, and no was it highlighted on the Buen Camino app. Thus, several hours of hauling my bike up a roman road (utter hell) I reached the top and an astonished couple thought i was foreign, crazy or stupid, i was all three. So upon checking Google maps to sanity check that I definitely could not make out this "Republic road' they clarified it was not displaying on Google maps, nor in the camino map. You may notice a dotted line that runs around thr circumference of the national park, this is basically the cyclist road, but it's not mapped. Don't be stubborn and stupid like me, just take thr highway until the info on the camino website is cleared up. This was the biggest mistake i made all week!
4. Get the Buen Camino app. V helpful for understanding profile of each day.
5. Bring knee supports or anti inflammatory gel- helped loads with recovery, as did hot baths.
6. Don't under estimate distances. I averaged 50km per day. Once you're outside Madrid you're at the mercy of varying terrain (dirt road, tractor paths, battered roads, pebble riddled country paths) - as a general rule, I added an extra hour to hour and half each day to Google maps estimation of my journey time. The bumps/bike weight /sore knees etc will. Slow you down, but it's all good fun.
Happy to answer any questions should you have them.
Enjoy and good luck.
Dave
1. Bike hire: I used Bike Iberia, and although the courier company they used gave away the parcel containing my panniers/lock/puncture repair kit etc (all I had on day 1 was a bike) - they were a good choice. I had to cycle from the SEUR Depot on the outskirts of town to a nearby bike shop to buy panniers, water bottle etc, they reimbursed and apologised and helped translate on the phone. Good folk. I never got a puncture or needed tools, but deffo worth having.
2. Pack as little as possible: some days you will spend a few hours cycling along rocky /bumpy /dirt trails. Weight will really slow you down, cause you to want to walk stretches, and bare in mind your knees will likely get sore if you're cycling several hours everyday with load. Padded shorts are a must, music and earphones helps a lot (if you're solo), and a battery pack for your phone. Besides that, cycling in May as I have been the weather was sublime, no rain, occasionally headwinds but sunny /bright and not too hot. I recommend 1x cycling shorts, 1x casual short, 2x tees, 1x train jacket, shoes you can trash, flip flops, factor 50, raw unfetted grit, ideally formed in a northern town of the UK.
3. Be careful from Cercidilla - when you leave this town the official Camino website talks about cyclists needing to take an alternative 'Republic road' which veers right as the walking caminos head up the Roman road. I never saw this road, and no was it highlighted on the Buen Camino app. Thus, several hours of hauling my bike up a roman road (utter hell) I reached the top and an astonished couple thought i was foreign, crazy or stupid, i was all three. So upon checking Google maps to sanity check that I definitely could not make out this "Republic road' they clarified it was not displaying on Google maps, nor in the camino map. You may notice a dotted line that runs around thr circumference of the national park, this is basically the cyclist road, but it's not mapped. Don't be stubborn and stupid like me, just take thr highway until the info on the camino website is cleared up. This was the biggest mistake i made all week!
4. Get the Buen Camino app. V helpful for understanding profile of each day.
5. Bring knee supports or anti inflammatory gel- helped loads with recovery, as did hot baths.
6. Don't under estimate distances. I averaged 50km per day. Once you're outside Madrid you're at the mercy of varying terrain (dirt road, tractor paths, battered roads, pebble riddled country paths) - as a general rule, I added an extra hour to hour and half each day to Google maps estimation of my journey time. The bumps/bike weight /sore knees etc will. Slow you down, but it's all good fun.
Happy to answer any questions should you have them.
Enjoy and good luck.
Dave