BIKING PORTIONS

[robert j toy]

Biked the camino last year (Sept-Oct) with a friend and doing it again
this year (23 Sept-Oct??) solo. Excited to see and experience it again
with more mature eyes,  fewer distractions and at a more leisurely
pace.. I'm 62, an air traffic controller by trade, well-conditioned for
the trip, and taking along my good old mountain bike that served me so
well last year. I'll stay mostly in hotels so carry only 25-30 lbs of
"stuff".For all of you who stepped aside last year and smiled upon
hearing my tinkling bell, thank you and know that had I the time , I
would gladly trade places with you. I shall see many of you along the
way who are departing in the next few days. It will be I with the red
bike, the high-toned bell, the old man with the good legs. I hope there
will be times when we're both stopped and we can talk.
I have some bicycling questions for anyone who has a bit of insight on
the subject and chooses to answer. They mostly concern portions I missed
or rode around last year. I do want to see that which I missed last
year. Of course I shall let my strength and stamina (or lack thereof),
the weather, Millan Lazaro (man, he gets it wrong occasionally, verdad?)
and your information dictate my choice of routing. Here goes:

1. Any recommendations on San Juan de Ortega - Burgos via Ages,
Atapuerca, and Olmos de Atapuerca? We took the "downhill all the way"
trail along N120 last year, because it was late in the day and we wanted
to make Burgos.
2. We missed Astorga-Ponferreda due to a storm and trained that leg
instead. I understand it is one of the more beautiful and meaningful
parts of the Camino. (We left our small stones among the small rocky
ledges inside the beautiful church in O Cebreiro). Any observations
regarding biking this leg?
3. Any recommendations regarding biking up to O Cebreiro via La Faba?
Is it do-able without a lot of walking and pushing? We  did NVI last
year through Pedrafita with no trouble other than the fact we never
really knew where we were at any one time due to Sr. Lazaro's  masterful
map-drawing.
4. The walking trail crosses the highway (C535) about three miles beyond
Sarria and becomes a small, rough road through a series of villages into
Portomarin. We did the highway last year at the reccomendation of locals
in a nearby restaurant. (it had recently stormed). Has anyone biked that
trail into Portomarin and did you survive? Would you recommend it to
someone else who wants both  to survive but still enjoy that "route of
true ethnological originality", to quote aforementioned Sr. Lazaro?

Thanks,
Bob Toy
Capitola, CA