Bicycling the Camino Plus

[Jean Seeler & Dave Gifford]

Anote to all peregrinosand some advice for bicycle peregrinos:

You will start out, no matter where, full of enthusiasm and hope.  By the
3rd or 4th day you may be wondering why you are on the Camino. You may be
discouraged at how slow you are progressing.   You legs will hurt, you will
have blisters on the feet or (figuratively) on your butt, you will be tired.
Have faith this happens to everyone.  Many people on long treks quit after 3
or 4 days.  Don't quit!  It will get better.   You are getting stronger and
getting used to stresses your body has not had to endure recently.  And it
gets easier.  There is no rule that you cannot lay over a day in an
interesting place.

As for those on bicycles,  I strongly suggest you go to the nearest large
chain book store and have them order  this book:   "The Way of St. James -
Le Puy to Santiago - A Cyclist's Guide" by John Higginson, published in
England by Cicerone Press,  ISBN # 1-85284-274-1.  It lists reasonable
stages by bike, all the way from the middle of France, thru SJPP and
Roncesvalles, to Santiago.  Shows distances, and more important
topographical maps so you know where and how high you must climb.  It also
lists where there are food/cafes/repair shops/hostals/refugios etc.,  where
to stick to the walking path, where to stay on the road.   This is a small
paperback that will not add much weight to your panniers.

Higginson suggests 17 stages from Roncesvalles to Santiago, taking into
consideration the altitude gained on some stretches.

We also took "The Pilgrim's Road to Santiago" by Millan Bravo Lozano,
available free from the Spanish National Tourist Office.  The nearest USA
office  may be out of stock, but the NYC office should be able to provide a
copy, 212-265-8822.  It is big and heavy.  I tore out all unnecessary pages
(Alternate routes, etc) before our starting point.  After we completed a
section we discarded those pages as we went along. This book provides a
route closer to the true Camino, but it is sometimes more arduous than
taking the parallel, usually not heavily travelled, roads.   Often we
covered 2 pages of Lozano in one day, but only 1 from Higginson.  (This
peregrina was a  woman of 62 who was reasonably active but a few pounds
heavier than she should have been. )

The only problems we encountered were entering the bigger cities, Logrono,
Burgos and Leon because on a bike it is very easy to loose the Camino signs
(the yellow stylized clam shell and the yellow arrows).

Buen Camino
       jean seeler   jeandaveamindspring.com