Motor bikes

[A J Rayson]

I do not like to see perfectly fit people using electric bikes. (Motor) on the camino. For me the reason for traveling the camino is to know you have tried to the best of your ability. You know yourself if you have done your best.

 

[dougfitz]

This sounds like a reason you wouldn't ride an electric bike. It seems unfortunate that you appear to be judging others as well. Why distract yourself?

 

[A J Rayson]

The fact that you should stretchstretch

 

[SYates]

I do not like to see perfectly fit people using electric bikes. (Motor) on the camino. For me the reason for traveling the camino is to know you have tried to the best of your ability. You know yourself if you have done your best.

It is perfectly fine that you don't like it.
It is perfectly fine that they use whatever method is best for them.

BC SY

 

[A J Rayson]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself i have no objection to electric bikes if it is the only way you can cover the distance but to see healthy and often young people using motor bikes seems to me not what the camino is all about.

 

[dougfitz]

The fact that you should stretchstretch

Definitely not a fact, just another judgement. But that might be me being judgmental!

 

[OnHellas]

For all we know, the Young fit and healthy electric bicycle rider may have already walked a Camino, ran a Camino, peddle cycled a Camino and done one in horseback too....the electric bicycle (not motorbike, that infers an internal combustion engine) is just the latest challenge???

Who knows, as long as they’re out there having an adventure.....that’s what I reckon.

 

[Anamya]

I just ignore them. Not my idea of camino either, so I won't ride one.
But I'm responsible solely for my camino, other people's caminos are their journey to go.

 

[t2andreo]

To each his or own Camino, including the method of accomplishing it. The fact remains that ANY bicycle, unicycle, or tricycle that MUST be pedaled to move forward is considered a bicycle for purposes of Compostela eligibility.

Thus, any bicycle type device with motor assist capability, that MUST be pedaled to permit the assist function to work, is also legitimate for this purpose.

We are seeing more and more of these arriving at the pilgrim office in Santiago. It is not something that can be easily stopped. We are also seeing people who might not otherwise be able do do a Camino at all, using these electric assist bicycles.

None of us has to like this, or feel compelled to undertake our Camino this way. We are however called to try to understand each pilgrim’s “backstory” and to respect their choices.

For what it’s worth, when I can no longer comfortably walk a Camino, using an electric assist bicycle is MY Plan B.

 

[Mettetäti]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself

Is it? Where did you get this idea? How about learning to accept and respect others? How about love, faith or Adventure?
And you really can't tell about peoples' health by their looks. You don't know what they carry with them or why they have chosen that or this way to do it. It's not your right or duty to judge.

 

[Camineiro]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself i have no objection to electric bikes if it is the only way you can cover the distance but to see healthy and often young people using motor bikes seems to me not what the camino is all about.

AJ ... you didn't understand, what the Camino is all about.
The Camino is not a competition or race.
Everbody can do the Camino as she/he likes to do it.

 

[Kathar1na]

Is it? Where did you get this idea?

No pain, no glory? What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? The idea that physical, mental or emotional pain can make you a better person isn't so far fetched. The idea that self-imposed physical pain and suffering is good for you and that you need to push through the threshold isn't new either and you can find it in many cultures. You can often read it between the lines in forum messages. Whether you subscribe to such ideas, or even try to impose them on others, and in connection with Camino walking to boot, is a different question altogether of course.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself i have no objection to electric bikes if it is the only way you can cover the distance but to see healthy and often young people using motor bikes seems to me not what the camino is all about.

Not an act of faith, thanks or penance then?

 

[Moorwalker]

I do not like to see perfectly fit people using electric bikes. (Motor) on the camino. For me the reason for traveling the camino is to know you have tried to the best of your ability. You know yourself if you have done your best.

You have no idea why people might use an electric assist bike. Please don't be so judgemental.

 

[RRat]

I do not like to see perfectly fit people using electric bikes. (Motor) on the camino. For me the reason for traveling the camino is to know you have tried to the best of your ability. You know yourself if you have done your best.

So many better places for an electric bike. Why would anyone want to ride a bike with so many walkers in the way?

 

[David Tallan]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself i have no objection to electric bikes if it is the only way you can cover the distance but to see healthy and often young people using motor bikes seems to me not what the camino is all about.

If you want to push yourself, there are many ways to do so. You can climb mountains, run marathons, through hike lengthy trails in many countries of the world. For many of us, it is not "pushing yourself" that makes the Camino special.

In fact, for many, pushing oneself too hard seems to be antithetical to what they come to the Camino to find. That's why you hear people say "The Camino is not a race." There are certainly people who walk 50 or more km a day. We read in these forums recently about someone who walked the final 100 km to Santiago in one day (and then had trouble getting the people in the Pilgrim's Office to believe him). They certainly pushed themselves. Is that the idea of the Camino? Not for me.

My ideas of the Camino have changed over time. Originally, my idea of the Camino was to follow a route that pilgrims had been following since the middle ages to the relics of St. James in Santiago, enjoying the current culture of Spain and the monuments from the middle ages on that have been built and remain on the route. More recently, while the appreciation of the culture and the destination remain the same, there is more of a focus on taking time away from my regular life and putting myself in the "Camino mindset" and enjoying the company of fellow pilgrims. None of that is really about pushing myself. I like to walk because it gives me more time to experience the Camino and I can experience it closer and deeper, not because I am seeking to discover my limits. (I found that having newborn babies to care for is the best way to discover that one is capable of much more than one ever thought possible. Any Camino challenges pale by comparison.)

By all means do the Camino in a way that will bring you what you seek. If pushing yourself is your idea of the Camino - push on! But recognize that yours is not a universal idea of the Camino and many go to the Camino with different conceptions of what it is and different priorities. It is, of course, up to you but I think you are likely to have better caminos if you are more open to others having different priorities and object less.

 

[malingerer]

To each his or own Camino, including the method of accomplishing it. The fact remains that ANY bicycle, unicycle, or tricycle that MUST be pedaled to move forward is considered a bicycle for purposes of Compostela eligibility.

Thus, any bicycle type device with motor assist capability, that MUST be pedaled to permit the assist function to work, is also legitimate for this purpose.

We are seeing more and more of these arriving at the pilgrim office in Santiago. It is not something that can be easily stopped. We are also seeing people who might not otherwise be able do do a Camino at all, using these electric assist bicycles.

None of us has to like this, or feel compelled to undertake our Camino this way. We are however called to try to understand each pilgrim’s “backstory” and to respect their choices.

For what it’s worth, when I can no longer comfortably walk a Camino, using an electric assist bicycle is MY Plan B.

Alas! I too at 81 would like your Plan BUT with Menieres disease, I would only fall off the damn thing! keep on truckin!

The Malingerer.

 

[Sixwheeler]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself i have no objection to electric bikes if it is the only way you can cover the distance but to see healthy and often young people using motor bikes seems to me not what the camino is all about.

Why? This is just your opinion.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I don't mind their electric bike, long as they don't want to take a spot in a donativo albergue.

 

[truthseeker]

It is not always possible to know what state of health people are in by observing them. There are many physical problems which do not show on the outside. Therefore, you must not judge people who look "perfectly fit." Their physical condition is their own, their conscience is their own, just as their camino is theirs alone.

 

[C clearly]

The idea of the camino is to push yourself

But on another thread you said you had taken "a leisurely seven weeks" to walk the Camino Frances. Was that pushing yourself? Seems a little inconsistent and selective.