BIKING PORTIONS comments

[Marty Patton-Volz]

Bob -
my husband John & I biked the Camino in 1996 and again in 2000.  I will
research your questions from our notes and maps and get back to you off
list, unless there are other cyclists who would be interested in the
comments (let me know if you are).

We from Pamplona in 1996 and from Paris in 2000.  Most of 1996 and all of
2000 we traveled with a Dutch couple and between their excellent Dutch cycle
route book and the two camino route books we carried, we tried several
different routings, mostly off the main roads, but not on the walkers path.
My note book from each trip details the roads we took, esp when we left the
N route.  Will post soon.

Regards, Marty Volz
Santa Rosa, CA




----- Original Message -----
From: "robert j toy" <rjtbetoyaNETSCAPE.NET>
To: <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2003 4:56 PM
Subject: BIKING PORTIONS


> 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
>