The road to Santiago ...or why bike the el Camino?

XXX_er · 09-17-2012, 05:34 PM

well its way easier than walking 800kms

we are on sched to ride what would be a 30 to 50 day walk in 15 days, there are guide books on biking or walking and the route is totaly marked with signs & yellow arrows, there is lots of cheap food, booze & accomadation

I spent > 300$ on waterproof gear so of course the weather has been awesume but still september in spain looks pretty good trees all have leaves flowers are still blooming and the temp has been 25 to 33 c

sanrensho · 09-17-2012, 06:25 PM

Sounds great.

Request for lots of food pics.

Mic · 09-17-2012, 08:48 PM

Just start a blog-ish thread here on nsmb.

RossputiN · 09-17-2012, 10:23 PM

Don't be afraid to try/eat manteca, especially if it has jamon and fried onions in it!

XXX_er · 09-24-2012, 06:20 PM

not so much a blog cuz you all can google better pictures than I can take and since you should get out and be all you can be ... more of a thread recommending the trip as an easy destination mtn bike trip and to answer any questions on how to go about doing it

The Camino is 800kms of mostly easy off road trails which is done by 160,000 pilgrams a year on foot/bike/horseback so it is totally set up with every class of food/accomadation you can think of from a free bunk in a monestry to full on luxury, you can even get your gear moved to your next nights stay by a service for 7eu and ride or walk with NO gear

we finished yesturday in the 15 days and had a great ride but on the last day St James wasn't quite finished with us and the weather went for a total shit ... high winds,heavy rain but the new MEC rain gear worked pretty good

tungsten · 09-28-2012, 02:11 AM

My wife talks about this as she has friends who've done it.

If I could convince her to take a bike..........fat chance.

XXX_er · 10-01-2012, 03:12 AM

It takes a VERY long time to walk 800kms it will take more than a month of your time during which you are spending twice as much money to live out on the route instead of working/making money at home than you would if you rode a bike

AND it looks like walking hurts cuz we seen lots of pilgrims with knee bandages, feet covered in blisters/plasters/moleskin ect and limping, I seen a guy in Santiago Cathedral at the end unable to walk so he had to be helped in for the pilgrims mass

whereas on a bike you can easily average 55kms a day, its just a nice easy pain free ride to knock off the 800kms in only 15 days so the Camino on a 3 week vacation is doable during which you will spend half as much money on food/accomadations than if you had walked

the best time to go is probably september during which we had high 20-s to low 30's temps which is nice for riding but we talked to some kiwis who had started walking in august when the temps were 40-50C

the route is easy to find besides there are so many signs & yellow arrows painted everywhere, also a lot of women do the Camino SO you could easily find your way across northern spain by just following all the pieces of toilet paper beside the trail

Since we toured in france 5 years ago its has become more expensive to bring your bike as luggage so IME don't bother bringing your own bike I would rent

http://www.bikeiberia.com/rentals_rates.html

we ran into a girl several times who had rented from bike Iberia^^ and she was pretty happy with the bike which was a new looking giant HT she rented for 240Euro which is > what we paid to shlep around the bikes on airplanes & buses let alone the extra hassle. The HT with 4" fork is plenty for the easy trails on the Camino a set of rear saddle bags a minimal set of clothes and you are good to go

food & lodgings: great coffee & food is everywhere, the "pilgrims dinner" as they call it would be 8-15 euros for a starter & main with desert and a bottle of wine so not too expensive, the local bread/sausage/cheese for lunch or breaky ias great

there are not many camping facilities in Spain so altho we brought a tent/bags/thermarest we mostly just got a room, doing it again I would forget the camping completely and get a room which was 35-45 Euro for a room with private bathroom, we didn't book ahead and it was always possible to find a room

we would be on the road by 8am, 2 or 3 coffee/beer/lunch breaks do our distance and be able to find a room by 3pm

we spent about 2K on the ground for the 15 day trip with a little time on each end

its nice to be back in small town BC

09-17-2012, 05:34 PM	#1
XXX_er Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: central B.C. Posts: 11,068 Rep Power: 7536894	The road to Santiago ...or why bike the el Camino? well its way easier than walking 800kms we are on sched to ride what would be a 30 to 50 day walk in 15 days, there are guide books on biking or walking and the route is totaly marked with signs & yellow arrows, there is lots of cheap food, booze & accomadation I spent > 300$ on waterproof gear so of course the weather has been awesume but still september in spain looks pretty good trees all have leaves flowers are still blooming and the temp has been 25 to 33 c

09-17-2012, 06:25 PM	#2
sanrensho Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: NV Posts: 7,142 Rep Power: 592699	Sounds great. Request for lots of food pics. __________________ "The song of a bird...We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds..."-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem "We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk

09-17-2012, 08:48 PM	#3
Mic The Diaper Diaries Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Plantation Nation Posts: 11,200 Rep Power: 8020552	Just start a blog-ish thread here on nsmb. __________________ "You don't learn from experience. You learn from reflecting on the experience." - Kristen Ulmer

09-28-2012, 02:11 AM	#6
tungsten Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 3,073 Rep Power: 1553250	My wife talks about this as she has friends who've done it. If I could convince her to take a bike..........fat chance. __________________ "Always remember, a cat looks down on man, a dog looks up to man, but a pig will look man right in the eye and see his equal."

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09-24-2012, 06:20 PM	#5
XXX_er Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: central B.C. Posts: 11,068 Rep Power: 7536894	not so much a blog cuz you all can google better pictures than I can take and since you should get out and be all you can be ... more of a thread recommending the trip as an easy destination mtn bike trip and to answer any questions on how to go about doing it The Camino is 800kms of mostly easy off road trails which is done by 160,000 pilgrams a year on foot/bike/horseback so it is totally set up with every class of food/accomadation you can think of from a free bunk in a monestry to full on luxury, you can even get your gear moved to your next nights stay by a service for 7eu and ride or walk with NO gear we finished yesturday in the 15 days and had a great ride but on the last day St James wasn't quite finished with us and the weather went for a total shit ... high winds,heavy rain but the new MEC rain gear worked pretty good

10-01-2012, 03:12 AM	#7
XXX_er Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: central B.C. Posts: 11,068 Rep Power: 7536894	It takes a VERY long time to walk 800kms it will take more than a month of your time during which you are spending twice as much money to live out on the route instead of working/making money at home than you would if you rode a bike AND it looks like walking hurts cuz we seen lots of pilgrims with knee bandages, feet covered in blisters/plasters/moleskin ect and limping, I seen a guy in Santiago Cathedral at the end unable to walk so he had to be helped in for the pilgrims mass whereas on a bike you can easily average 55kms a day, its just a nice easy pain free ride to knock off the 800kms in only 15 days so the Camino on a 3 week vacation is doable during which you will spend half as much money on food/accomadations than if you had walked the best time to go is probably september during which we had high 20-s to low 30's temps which is nice for riding but we talked to some kiwis who had started walking in august when the temps were 40-50C the route is easy to find besides there are so many signs & yellow arrows painted everywhere, also a lot of women do the Camino SO you could easily find your way across northern spain by just following all the pieces of toilet paper beside the trail Since we toured in france 5 years ago its has become more expensive to bring your bike as luggage so IME don't bother bringing your own bike I would rent http://www.bikeiberia.com/rentals_rates.html we ran into a girl several times who had rented from bike Iberia^^ and she was pretty happy with the bike which was a new looking giant HT she rented for 240Euro which is > what we paid to shlep around the bikes on airplanes & buses let alone the extra hassle. The HT with 4" fork is plenty for the easy trails on the Camino a set of rear saddle bags a minimal set of clothes and you are good to go food & lodgings: great coffee & food is everywhere, the "pilgrims dinner" as they call it would be 8-15 euros for a starter & main with desert and a bottle of wine so not too expensive, the local bread/sausage/cheese for lunch or breaky ias great there are not many camping facilities in Spain so altho we brought a tent/bags/thermarest we mostly just got a room, doing it again I would forget the camping completely and get a room which was 35-45 Euro for a room with private bathroom, we didn't book ahead and it was always possible to find a room we would be on the road by 8am, 2 or 3 coffee/beer/lunch breaks do our distance and be able to find a room by 3pm we spent about 2K on the ground for the 15 day trip with a little time on each end its nice to be back in small town BC

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