michelle grech
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Walked from Astorga to SDC in May 2012.
Cycled the Frances from SJPP May 2014
Cycled the Portuguese from Lisbon May 2016
I had prepared these notes upon my return from Santiago having cycled the Frances with a friend from SJPD in May 2014 and when things were still fresh in my mind I had jotted down these salient points. I have made a video on Youtube
which might give an overview of what to expect. It was a great experience and am dying to plan the next one, so here goes ......
To get to the starting point carrying our own bikes we travelled from Malta to Madrid with Ryanair, got a pre booked bus from Madrid Airtport to Pamplona and shared a taxi to SJPD.
One of the dilemmas was the amount of time I should plan for cycling the whole Camino from SJPP. Although most people are free spirited and just walk/cycle till they feel like or are able to, I am more of a person who likes to have a plan. Not a rigid one mind you but I wanted an agenda. I also did not know whether I should stick to the walkers' path, the road or a bit of both but which bits should be cycled where? These were my biggest dilemmas I think. So I searched the net and I found a program that seemed to match my level of fitness and apatite http://camino.xacobeo.es/sites/default/files/camino/2009/12/1521_french-way_0.pdf . I think its a very good program because it stops you in iconic towns which is what I wanted. I wanted to arrive at my destination, shower and go out exploring places like Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos etc. So even though there were days were I could have cycled much more, I still stopped in these places. I tend to get a bit bored in the smaller remote villages where there isn't that much to do and see...but that's me.
In terms of the path, well I can say we cycled about 95% of the walkers' route except:
1) All of Day 1 (SJPP to Roncesvalles) - I had heard so many bad stories that I did not want to risk an injury or a bicycle problem on day 1 so we cycled the Valcarlos route ie the road. Still beautiful, still tough but doable. We also sent our bags to Roncesvalles to make things easier but I doubt there was need for that.
2) Part of Day 3- The steep descent from Alto de Pedron. We were advised by a woman selling drinks at the top that it is recommended to take the road and we did.
3) Part of Day 11 - the steep descent from Cruz de Ferro. Again, I had walked down and I knew the loose stony terrain would be a leg breaker, plus every now and then I enjoyed clocking up a bit of speed
4) Part of Day 12 - I chose to to the climb to O'Cebreiro (from Ambasmestas or thereabouts) on the road. I had walked up 2 years before on the walkers route and I knew I would be pushing the bike for most of the way
5) When the path was literally parallel to the road, not to keep ringing our bells and slaloming through walkers, we cycled on the tarmac.
Otherwise, all the route was in my opinion doable. We also found it very convenient to follow the walkers route in and out of big cities as this is where you can get confused. The walkers' path is much better signed than the road. We even road on pavements which seems to be normal practice in Spain so we weren't that bothered.
In terms of safety, we really never even thought of anything happening to the bikes. We only used our lock once, in a convent of all places, but the nun told us to lock them. I never even took any bits off like the torch or the GoPro camera holder etc. Safety was really never an issue. If we stopped for a coffee, we always chose places where the bikes could be in sight but in all the places we stayed in the bikes where well parked, usually in special designated places and really there was no problem. I do advice you rinse the chain and bits regularly as with the dust from the path things start to get a bit cranky. We also bought some oil and we used to oil the chain every few or three days.
In terms of fun, we loved every minute of it. To be honest it can be done in less time but we wanted to take our time and visit all those places. Yes there were hills, but once you're at the top you just feel great for getting over the challenge. We were lucky with the weather, but do prepare for some rainy days. Also, not having excessive weight helps. We just had about 6 kgs each. A few cycling outfits and one evening outfit plus flip flops for the warmer days. 3 pairs of underwear, 3 pairs of socks, a microfiber towel plus a silk liner. On the cooler days we wore our trainers again to wonder around the town. Another thing we did not take were our clip-on cycling shoes. I would not have felt safe being clipped in on some rougher paths so we went for normal hard sole trainers. That was another dilemma and now in hindsight I know it was the right decision.
We had some really cold morning starts and I wish I had full finger gloves. In fact I got chill blains which are very itchy and uncomfortable. One thing I was not happy with is we both got bitten by bed bugs at some Albergue so be prepared with hydrocortizone cream or something your pharmacist recommends.
Re bicycle tyres - if you're planning to cycle the walkers' path do get off-road tyres. there are a lot of arguments about getting road tyres or off road tyres and believe me there are times when you will be going on some rough terrain and you want a bit of bounce. We had Continental XKings 2.2 on our bikes. Didn't get one single puncture.
There is a good company in Santiago to pack your bikes at the end for a mere Eur21.... http://www.elvelocipedo.com/Velocipedo/Ingles/Velo_EmbalajeI.html. they did a fantastic job.
Buen Camino
Michelle
To get to the starting point carrying our own bikes we travelled from Malta to Madrid with Ryanair, got a pre booked bus from Madrid Airtport to Pamplona and shared a taxi to SJPD.
One of the dilemmas was the amount of time I should plan for cycling the whole Camino from SJPP. Although most people are free spirited and just walk/cycle till they feel like or are able to, I am more of a person who likes to have a plan. Not a rigid one mind you but I wanted an agenda. I also did not know whether I should stick to the walkers' path, the road or a bit of both but which bits should be cycled where? These were my biggest dilemmas I think. So I searched the net and I found a program that seemed to match my level of fitness and apatite http://camino.xacobeo.es/sites/default/files/camino/2009/12/1521_french-way_0.pdf . I think its a very good program because it stops you in iconic towns which is what I wanted. I wanted to arrive at my destination, shower and go out exploring places like Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos etc. So even though there were days were I could have cycled much more, I still stopped in these places. I tend to get a bit bored in the smaller remote villages where there isn't that much to do and see...but that's me.
In terms of the path, well I can say we cycled about 95% of the walkers' route except:
1) All of Day 1 (SJPP to Roncesvalles) - I had heard so many bad stories that I did not want to risk an injury or a bicycle problem on day 1 so we cycled the Valcarlos route ie the road. Still beautiful, still tough but doable. We also sent our bags to Roncesvalles to make things easier but I doubt there was need for that.
2) Part of Day 3- The steep descent from Alto de Pedron. We were advised by a woman selling drinks at the top that it is recommended to take the road and we did.
3) Part of Day 11 - the steep descent from Cruz de Ferro. Again, I had walked down and I knew the loose stony terrain would be a leg breaker, plus every now and then I enjoyed clocking up a bit of speed
4) Part of Day 12 - I chose to to the climb to O'Cebreiro (from Ambasmestas or thereabouts) on the road. I had walked up 2 years before on the walkers route and I knew I would be pushing the bike for most of the way
5) When the path was literally parallel to the road, not to keep ringing our bells and slaloming through walkers, we cycled on the tarmac.
Otherwise, all the route was in my opinion doable. We also found it very convenient to follow the walkers route in and out of big cities as this is where you can get confused. The walkers' path is much better signed than the road. We even road on pavements which seems to be normal practice in Spain so we weren't that bothered.
In terms of safety, we really never even thought of anything happening to the bikes. We only used our lock once, in a convent of all places, but the nun told us to lock them. I never even took any bits off like the torch or the GoPro camera holder etc. Safety was really never an issue. If we stopped for a coffee, we always chose places where the bikes could be in sight but in all the places we stayed in the bikes where well parked, usually in special designated places and really there was no problem. I do advice you rinse the chain and bits regularly as with the dust from the path things start to get a bit cranky. We also bought some oil and we used to oil the chain every few or three days.
In terms of fun, we loved every minute of it. To be honest it can be done in less time but we wanted to take our time and visit all those places. Yes there were hills, but once you're at the top you just feel great for getting over the challenge. We were lucky with the weather, but do prepare for some rainy days. Also, not having excessive weight helps. We just had about 6 kgs each. A few cycling outfits and one evening outfit plus flip flops for the warmer days. 3 pairs of underwear, 3 pairs of socks, a microfiber towel plus a silk liner. On the cooler days we wore our trainers again to wonder around the town. Another thing we did not take were our clip-on cycling shoes. I would not have felt safe being clipped in on some rougher paths so we went for normal hard sole trainers. That was another dilemma and now in hindsight I know it was the right decision.
We had some really cold morning starts and I wish I had full finger gloves. In fact I got chill blains which are very itchy and uncomfortable. One thing I was not happy with is we both got bitten by bed bugs at some Albergue so be prepared with hydrocortizone cream or something your pharmacist recommends.
Re bicycle tyres - if you're planning to cycle the walkers' path do get off-road tyres. there are a lot of arguments about getting road tyres or off road tyres and believe me there are times when you will be going on some rough terrain and you want a bit of bounce. We had Continental XKings 2.2 on our bikes. Didn't get one single puncture.
There is a good company in Santiago to pack your bikes at the end for a mere Eur21.... http://www.elvelocipedo.com/Velocipedo/Ingles/Velo_EmbalajeI.html. they did a fantastic job.
Buen Camino
Michelle
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