Walking and Biking the CF

[Humbertico]

I was curious to see if individuals have done the CF walking and biking conbination during different stages and if so where can you rent a bike and turn in at another town so as to not carry with you all the time. This would seem to help those that may be pressed for time or get injured or May not have the endurance. I would appreciate all feedback and experiences. My wife and I will be doing the CF Sept-Oct 2018.
Gracias Peregrinos!

 

[Andres Cano]

We rented bikes in St. Jean Pied de Port and finished in Santiago May 3. Use bicigrinos. Reserve an albergue or pension where you want to pick up and another reservation where you want to drop off. They will deliver the bikes there. The meseta is very boring but the people in the towns were wonderful to us. There is nothing but endless wheat fields (trigo). The should really call it the Mesetas not meseta because it is just one mesa. Go up the mesa, flat for awhile, then go down the mesa, flat then up the mesa. It's just a plateau which has been cut dozens of times by rivers and streams. Every downhill run ends at a river. Do NOT use bikeiberia. We used them and they delivered 7 year old bikes that were broken down and we had to pay to have them fixed. They wouldn't respond to our complaints. Bicigrinos replaces their bikes every year.

 

[David Tallan]

My son and I rented bikes in O Cebreiro and rode to Triacastela where we handed them in. I was having real trouble with my knees and had heard that stretch would be particularly hard on them. So we did one day as bicigrinos. Based on our experience, some tips:
- If you are just using a bike for a section and not the whole thing, think of what you will do with your stuff. People who bike the whole Camino have proper panniers. People who walk have backpacks. Maybe you want to use a service to carry your backpack ahead of you if you know where you will be staying. I ended up fastening mine to the metal carrier at the back with bungee cords. That didn't work for my son and he ended up wearing his, which raised his centre of gravity a bit and made it harder on his seat.
- If you are carrying your stuff on the bike, uphills are *really hard*, much tougher than when it is just you. That extra weight made a lot of difference and I gained a lot of respect for bicigrinos who ride up hills. Although the stretch I rode was mostly downhill, there was a lot of up and down for the first 5 km. I ended up walking my bike for the uphill portions.
- Think about whether you want to ride on the trail or the road. Initially we planned to ride the trail but, perhaps because of the weight of his backpack or the bike we had rented wasn't fitting him just right, my son found that too hard on his seat so we took the road. The road was much smoother and still very scenic but it wasn't marked with the yellow arrows.

 

[Humbertico]

We rented bikes in St. Jean Pied de Port and finished in Santiago May 3. Use bicigrinos. Reserve an albergue or pension where you want to pick up and another reservation where you want to drop off. They will deliver the bikes there. The meseta is very boring but the people in the towns were wonderful to us. There is nothing but endless wheat fields (trigo). The should really call it the Mesetas not meseta because it is just one mesa. Go up the mesa, flat for awhile, then go down the mesa, flat then up the mesa. It's just a plateau which has been cut dozens of times by rivers and streams. Every downhill run ends at a river. Do NOT use bikeiberia. We used them and they delivered 7 year old bikes that were broken down and we had to pay to have them fixed. They wouldn't respond to our complaints. Bicigrinos replaces their bikes every year.

Thank you

 

[Humbertico]

We rented bikes in St. Jean Pied de Port and finished in Santiago May 3. Use bicigrinos. Reserve an albergue or pension where you want to pick up and another reservation where you want to drop off. They will deliver the bikes there. The meseta is very boring but the people in the towns were wonderful to us. There is nothing but endless wheat fields (trigo). The should really call it the Mesetas not meseta because it is just one mesa. Go up the mesa, flat for awhile, then go down the mesa, flat then up the mesa. It's just a plateau which has been cut dozens of times by rivers and streams. Every downhill run ends at a river. Do NOT use bikeiberia. We used them and they delivered 7 year old bikes that were broken down and we had to pay to have them fixed. They wouldn't respond to our complaints. Bicigrinos replaces their bikes every year.

Gracias