Has anyone ever biked the Camino while a loved one walked?

[ktchnofdngr]

Hey, everyone!

I'm currently planning my 4th Camino with a friend who has never walked before, and we plan to do the Frances. Since this is my 3rd time on the Frances, I'm thinking about biking the Camino while she walks, mostly because I seem to struggle with tendinitis in both my feet every time I walk the Camino. My first camino, I had to skip from Sahagun to O'Cebreiro as well as rest for like 5 days because I got tendinitis. On my second Camino, biking from Burgos to Astorga made it possible to finish without a trip to the Dr. Last summer, I walked from Porto, and ended up having to take a 2 week break in the middle at the 50 km mark because of that darn tendinitis, as well as had to see the Dr. at Caldas de Reis.

*Sigh* I just really, really, really want to have at least one Camino where I don't struggle with tendon issues. I'm getting physical therapy and I'm training, but I trained last year!

So, I'm wondering if anyone has biked while a friend/family member walked? If so, how well did that work? Would you recommend it or no?

Any advice/experience would be appreciated!

Ruth

 

[Former member 92300]

Most will stick together. But there are a few who do a version of what you are asking about. I would find it challenging because the person on a bike can travel faster and further than the person walking. This means the person on the bike will either have to start later in the day, take lots of breaks, or just arrive a lot earlier at the destination. The person who is walking may feel pressured to walk faster or further - if you aren't careful making sure both of your needs are met. The person who is walking may even need to taxi/bus ahead part way through the day to keep up. Discuss the challenges and benefits with your Camino partner in advance and come up with a plan for how you want to handle the distances and meeting up with each other. Are you OK with not seeing each other until the next town? Or do you want to take breaks together? Is the person on the bike willing and wanting to sit around waiting for long periods of time for the other person? Will the person walking feel pressured to keep up? Is she interested in walking alone for her first Camino? And if she is - will she form friends while she walks and will you feel left out when you aren't getting to know them the same way? Anyhow - those are just a few of my thoughts on this!

Good luck! I personally would not want to do this myself - but if this is something that both you and your Camino partner are both interested in doing - I am sure you can find a way to make it work - IF you both have the same expectations of each other with regard to how to manage the challenges. .

 

[Grousedoctor]

@jeanineonthecamino makes some very good points. As someone who has both walked and cycled caminos, it strikes me as well as a difficult arrangement to effectively coordinate. I completely empathize with you on the Tendonitis problem. My wife and I leave two weeks from today for Porto. One reason we are heading for our fourth camino together is because we are able to share this experience. With one person walking and the other riding, I’m just not sure that your Camino experiences will have much in common. Logistics aside, as you well know from your previous Caminos, so much of the experience along The Way has to do with the human interactions we have. Therefore, although walking may not your best option, has your friend considered cycling with you? I thoroughly enjoyed my VDLP ride and I know had my wife been with me, this was a solo Camino, we would have had a great trip. In fact, after doing the CP this spring, we’re planning on cycling the Norte together in 2023. My suggestion, work out a way to pilgrimage together. Good luck.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Cycling together seems like a great suggestion. Another alternative for you to consider would be walking shorter distances than you have done in the past. I presume you've checked your shoes and lightened your pack as much as possible. If all else fails, I hope you are willing to be the uber-flexible partner, travelling very short (for bikers) distances that are comfortably walkable for your friend. Then you can make it work.

 

[Xali1970]

If you don't mind being apart, I suggest meeting points during each stage so you can check on each other during the day, if only to do a shorter stage should your wife need to occasionally, and be very clear with each on setting maximum distance walked each day depending on terrain.

 

[Skinnybiker]

It works if the hiker dictates the daily stages, advantages being that the biker can wander off trail, fetch supplies from places off route, arrive early to book accommodation etc. At the end of the day you have plenty to talk about. Go for it.

 

[karlyk]

@jeanineonthecamino points and questions are excellent. I will share my experience with you and hope it helps:

​

I have done this on the CF, I the walker, my partner the biker. A lot of the time he would get off his bike and just push it (it was easy to do in low gear, the bike carrying all his gear), walking next to me. Or, he would bike alongside me at an absolute snails pace (I don't know how he did not fall over with so little momentum forward) for as much of the day as he could.

If he saw the path became too trecherous to ride his bike with me, he would take to the streets, re route himself and meet me up ahead (sometimes a half hour, sometimes 2 hours, etc). He used my guidebook and some biking apps on his phone to figure out how to reroute himself. Other times, if he thought the bit of trecherous path was short, he and I would push the bike together up a steep way or over awkward rocks, etc. then resume together. And yes, he spent a lot of time "up ahead" in a town or under some random tree on the camino, waiting for me. Was he bored or lonely? Don't know, he never complained, but I know him to be a chatterbox who made friends with anyone. And, he had a cellphone to hop on to for entertainment and for research (looking ahead at other parts of the path).

I was committed to walking & carrying my own gear despite injuries and so taking a bus or taxi up ahead was never even considered by me, or suggested by him. We stopped multiple times a day to rest because of my knee injury and tendonitis. There were many days when we stopped early altogether because I had reached my limit.

As you can see, much of this operation revolved around me, the walker.

Was any of this planned for me or him? No. We met at the halfway point on the CF and this arrangement came to be. I was a solo walker. He was on a journey to bike Spain & Portugal. It was made possible mostly by his patience, flexibility, and mutual romantic feelings. It was organic and felt right, even if you'd argue it was "inconvenient" for him or that I gave up too much of my solitude or something(?).

I don't regret walking half my solo Camino with someone else (does anyone regret embracing their "first love"?), and I don't think he regrets slowing down to do it. But I don't think I'd ever plan a journey like this, or go out of my way to try to make it work with someone else walking/biking. I think it will take a real specific type of biker and a real compatible pair of people to make it work like we did, with no conflict, complaining, bordem, resentment, etc.

If you're willing to give it a try and are prepared to deal with some of these inconveniences as the biker, and believe it will still be worth it for you & your friend, then go for it.

​

 

[karlyk]

Oh, another thing to note was that we ran into several albergues that were for walkers only or wouldn't let him take his bike inside overnight to be protected. Not sure if other bikers on the camino encountered that and how they managed it but that's something to consider, as it might mean the walker has to stay in places over night that will meet the needs of the biker.

 

[JacTx]

Here’s a book written by a guy that rode his bike and his wife walked.
I have no idea how I found this book but I do know it had to be a freebie that I loaded onto my kindle app.

 

[islandwalker]

Another possibility if you are cycling and have extra time while waiting for your walking partner each day is to explore the small roads in the area - ie, make a side trip to a village or site that is not on the camino. Take a look at the cycle routes on wikiloc.com and you will find endless possibilities.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

I’ve been trying to persuade my wife to do this but without success. I offered to carry her stuff in an extra set of panniers. That might work! Not in my case, alas.