Road bike beyond Burgos

[Aquitaine]

Last week I set off from Saint Jean Pied de Port for Santiago via the Camino Frances, riding a road bike – not a mountain bike.

In Pamplona, a passer-by asserted that I was not actually following the Camino de Santiago because I couldn’t, on that bike. I would have to ride on the metalled roads. I agreed.

Having arrived in Burgos, I realised that beyond that city there are no roads leading to Santiago which are suitable for a road bike. I went back via San Sebastian and I will take the Northern route next year.

My question is, why do the guide books not make this implacable fact clear? If they do, I have missed it. On my journey I met several people professionally engaged with the Camino – albergue staff, B&B hosts, tourist information, pilgrim information and so on. None of them said “You won’t get there in the first place on that bike”.

Odd

 

[newfydog]

Odd indeed. It seems that people that ride a road bike roughly parallel to the the Camino Frances love to write about it on blogs, forums, write guide books, etc.. I tell people over and over on this board that one can do that entire trail quite nicely on a mountain bike, but that on a road bike they will be looking at an entirely different experience.

I think many of them don't care. They are there for a bike ride, not a pilgrimage, cultural or spiritual, and they are not into mountain bikes. Bikers are a stubborn independant group, and it is often not very productive giving them advice. Maybe that is why no one thought to tell you what type of bike you should have.

When we started the trip in LePuy, there was a huge group of cyclists starting the same day. We worried they would crowd the facilities, until we found they were on road bikes, going 150 km a day. It took us three days to go that far, and from my point of view, we saw 1/10th of the cars and trucks, and 10X the scenery and culture.

Some routes are not so easy on a mountain biking. Some work for very skilled mountain bikers, but would not be good for a first mountain bike tour I don't know about the Norte, but I'd look for a blog or something from someone who has done it.

 

[Aquitaine]

Newfydog misses my point. I was not looking for advice on what kind of bike to buy; I've got a bike. I wasn't looking for advice on anything, really. I am perfectly content to have what Newfydog calls "an entirely different experience". I was just surprised that I hadn't read, or heard, about the conditions for biking beyond Burgos. I am sorry, though, that Newfydog thinks that by taking a route "roughly parallel" to the Camino Frances I am denying myself the experience of a pilgrimage, cultural or spiritual.

 

[newfydog]

I am sorry, though, that Newfydog thinks that by taking a route "roughly parallel" to the Camino Frances I am denying myself the experience of a pilgrimage, cultural or spiritual.

You are right. there is no reason a road bike ride can't be a great pilgrimage, and I'm sorry that I implied that in your case.

My point was that there are many out there on bikes who are not looking for that. I've seen it on mountainbikes as well. I actually had this discussion: "hows your trip going?" "Not bad, but I prefer the riding around Moab, Utah"

Perhaps the reason none of the guidebooks, or the people engaged professionally with the Camino said “You won’t get there in the first place on that bike”, is that they have been dealing with cyclist who were perfectly happy to ride the paved roads to the major towns, and assumed you would be as well.

It now sounds as though you would have been happy on the roads, but somehow thought that, as we say in Maine, "you can't get there from here".

Your claim that there are no roads from Burgos to Santiago suitable for a road bike is odd. There are many paved variations possible, and thousands of people have done it. Most spend more time on N120 than I would prefer, but some people love the route. I ordered a guidebook I threw out when I found it had nothing but paved routes.The entire group of 40 Swiss cyclists with whom I attended mass in LePuy were on racing bikes, and they were all going to parallel the hiking route all the way to Santiago, even the portion past Burgos.

 

[William Marques]

All the routes as described in guides now are recent inventions, at the peak of the pilgrimage’s popularity in the middle ages the walkers would have followed the road as foot traffic was most of the traffic. Over the years many of those roads have become places you would not want to walk any more so quieter paths have been provided for pilgrims. The walkers' path is just that, the walkers' path, and although in some places it follows an "historical route" especially in the old parts of towns and villages it is no more authentic than the road.

 

[newfydog]

The walkers' path is just that, the walkers' path, and although in some places it follows an "historical route" especially in the old parts of towns and villages it is no more authentic than the road.

I think there is a difference between authenic and accurate. I first started thinking about the concept when reading a guidebook to the route from Geneva to LePuy. That route is not a mainstream historical route, but the route designers argued they could provide a more "authentic" experience by following a route which resembled a historical camino, rather than putting it next to an autoroute, which may be more geographically accurate, but bears no resemblance to the trails which pilgrims historically travelled upon.

The Camino Frances is a good mix. There are pieces where they have made a nice dirt trail about a kilometer from the autoroute, providing an authentic surface and a nearly accurate route. There are pieces of Roman road, where you know for certain you are following the pilgrim's footsteps. Then there are enough pieces along a really big road to think about just how much the world has changed.

There is some magic to staying on the official path. You share it with fellow pilgrims, isolated from the outside world at times. The new trails blend fairly well with the old ones, and you gain a real appreciation of the past experiences.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

The back of my house touches on the N120, a not-much-used road that will take you almost the whole way to Santiago. Dozens and dozens of bike pilgrims pass us that way every day, on road and mountain bikes. The hiker camino, a tractor road through the fields, is also perfectly navigable. Anyone who says you cannot road-bike after Burgos is bogus -- ask any of the many networked "Bike Line" hostels and albergues that cater to bicigrinos, all the way to the end!

 

[Aquitaine]

Bogus. That's a strong word.

I set out to ride, as Newfy Dog puts it, on roads parallel to the Camino. But I also wanted to visit pilgrimage churches, stay at pilgrim hostels and fall into conversation with pilgrims I met on route. So it had to be roads parallel to, and close to, the Camino.

There are roads like that as far as Burgos. Indeed, the N120 is one of them. After Burgos, for much of the way to Santiago, there are not.

But enough of that. I have a different question, now. Why the violent language? Why the scorn? Is that an outcome of the religious and cultural pilgrimages that Newfy Dog talks about? If so, perhaps we should all stay at home.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Bogus. That's a strong word. But enough of that. I have a different question, now. Why the violent language? Why the scorn? Is that an outcome of the religious and cultural pilgrimages that Newfy Dog talks about? If so, perhaps we should all stay at home.

All that I took from that comment was that the information that was given that a road bike could not be used was wrong. Cyclists regularly arrive in Santiago using road bikes.

Best wishes

John

 

[newfydog]

Bogus. That's a strong word.

But I also wanted to visit pilgrimage churches, stay at pilgrim hostels and fall into conversation with pilgrims I met on route. So it had to be roads parallel to, and close to, the Camino.

There are roads like that as far as Burgos. Indeed, the N120 is one of them. After Burgos, for much of the way to Santiago, there are not.

.

That is simply not true. Virtually every major town and church can be reached by some sort of paved road. You apparently have a very narrow criteria of what is suitable which none of us can understand, or didn't study the maps and Google Earth beyond Burgos very well. There may be a detour or two away from the trail, but for the most part, the paved roads are very close by, and the places where the N-120 is that road, it is much better than it used to be because the autoroute is finished.

As far as the "scorn" you feel. well you came here spouting some strange concept, and complaining that no one told you otherwise. People who actually know the route become defensive when accused of misleading someone.

Perhaps you have confused Burgos with Finistierre.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I hearby swear off "bogus." I did not know it was violent.

Aquitaine, you are welcome here. I didn´t mean to put you off. You simply got hold of some bad information. Feel free to ride your bike all the way down the camino-side, from France to Santiago... you won´t have any trouble finding a rideable Way.

 

[Aquitaine]

Thank you, Rebekah

 

[newfydog]

I found the guidebook I had which details a tarmac route. Thought I threw it out.

The Way of St James
LePuy to Santiago-A Cyclist's Guide
John Higginson Cicerone Press 1999

It details a special cycle track near the N120 leaving Burgos.Take the N 120 with a side trip to the Monastary of Las Huelgas., then on to Castrojeriz, one of our favorite towns. Past Castrojerez, it takes smaller roads, BU 400, BU403, and P432.

 

[Aquitaine]

Thank you, I have bought the book. Next time!