rene beets
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- september oktober 2015
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I cycled in 2016 the Camino Frances. I used a book from the Dutch author Clemens Sweerman. for the route. He wrote that the walking path were not suitable for bicycles and I believed him. I found myself cycling mainly on N 120 roads with cars passing by with high speed. I disliked it but believed the author. The last part in Galicia I start following the yellow arrows and had a great time.
This year I walked the Camino Frances and saw with my own eyes how absolutely wrong the author is. The whole route is perfectly suitable for a simple MTB bike. Of course you have to walk some parts but this is not more than around 5 % of the whole distance. So good walking/cycling shoes are important.
There are a few parts not so suitable that is the last part before Roncesvalles where a few trees fall over the walking path and were not taking away jet the stage from Rabanal del Camino to Molinaseca I would not take the walking path because it is very narrow and steep climbing and descending. For the rest the whole walking route perfectly suitable for cycling.
What honestly gets to me is the might has right attitude of some (not all!) cyclists. A heartfelt thanks to those of you who don't assume that the right of way is yours just because you're bigger and going faster.
As the Camino Francés (and other caminos) get more and more popular, what happens is that the governments flatten the rough terrain and spread on gravel. As I understand it, this is the quick and easy way to deal with erosion and water management. It is bad for pedestrians and great for cyclists. For instance, the Primitivo, at least from Galician border onward, is now perfectly fine terrain for mountain bikes. I expect this will encourage more bikes, so not only does this improvement mean more shin splints for walkers, but also more injuries from cyclists. As others have said, collisions are inevitable when both pedestrians and cyclists occupy the same space. I've found that the best strategy is to look for some original terrain (dirt) along the sides of these paths to keep my shins happy and to keep me out of the cyclists' striking distance.
I cycled in 2016 the Camino Frances. I used a book from the Dutch author Clemens Sweerman. for the route. He wrote that the walking path were not suitable for bicycles and I believed him. I found myself cycling mainly on N 120 roads with cars passing by with high speed. I disliked it but believed the author. The last part in Galicia I start following the yellow arrows and had a great time.
This year I walked the Camino Frances and saw with my own eyes how absolutely wrong the author is. The whole route is perfectly suitable for a simple MTB bike. Of course you have to walk some parts but this is not more than around 5 % of the whole distance. So good walking/cycling shoes are important.
There are a few parts not so suitable that is the last part before Roncesvalles where a few trees fall over the walking path and were not taking away jet the stage from Rabanal del Camino to Molinaseca I would not take the walking path because it is very narrow and steep climbing and descending. For the rest the whole walking route perfectly suitable for cycling.
I presume the opposite. Always give way to walkers. Not such a sacrifice when you're old and slow.What honestly gets to me is the might has right attitude of some (not all!) cyclists. A heartfelt thanks to those of you who don't assume that the right of way is yours just because you're bigger and going faster.
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