Cycling from Ponferrada

[Alasdair Williamson]

I'm planning to cycle from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela next March. I would appreciate any advice as to whether I should take my own bicycle or hire one through one of the hire companies. I would also like to know the logistics of transporting my own bicycle from the UK and back.
Thanks.

 

[Maxy]

I recently returned from the Camino having cycled the Norte. My route out was through Plymouth to Santander using Brittany Ferries where I started my Camino. My bike was a touring bike and I took too much kit imaging that I would be camping on many of the stages. My first night when my tent was flooded put me off this notion as did having to get off on a downhill section because the wind and rain were too strong in my face! That said I completed - did little bits on the actual trail and took to the roads when it became too much (I also left two front panniers and 50% of my load at a marvellous pension in Oyambre!). I returned from Santiago to Bilbao by bus for a ferry back to Portsmouth. I was told that you could not take bikes on Spanish trains but you can, if you book, on the buses. The travel office and bus operator in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago were very helpful. It cost Eu10 to bring the bike back to Bilbao to catch ferry back to Portsmouth (Eu50ish in total for a 10 hour trip) and you get a small discount as a pilgrim. The big lesson I learned was that - it is a personal thing the Camino - it is your Camino and you make of it what you want to. By the way you have to take your front wheel off and put at back and then wrap the whole bike in clingfilm to get it on the bus - a 100 metre roll was more than enough. Buen Camino.