Que tal en bicicleta?

[pecomo]

What about in a bicycle? how long will take to do all the trip??,from Saint Jean Pied de port??
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Saludos !!!!!!!!

Pedro.

[HuskyNerd]

I've heard of people doing the entire Camino by bike from SJPDP in 8 days or less. You have to recognize, though, that this is often via road rather than the more remote and difficult trails that make up parts of the camino.

On my Camino I felt sorry for mountain bikers at various times -- like before Pamplona and near Cirauqui in the mud -- because they were up and down steep and difficult trails and not having a ton of fun. I also sometimes felt sorry for road bikers in the meseta and in Galicia. They were often relegated to busy auto roads and missed out on the pace and serenity of Camino life as they competed with cars for lane space. At other times I longed to be a biker as they sped past on the flats or downhills shouting, "Buen Camino!"

Mary Wallis' book, Among the Pilgrims, describes her first Camino, which was with her husband on bikes, and her second Camino, intentionally done "Among the Pilgrims" in order to absorb the spirituality and rhythm of the walk. I think she had a super time in both settings. While she is Canadian there clearly are lots of Europeans (seemed to me like mostly Spaniards and Italians) who bike the Camino and love it.

Buen Camino!

[Covey]

A lot of the cyclists ride the trail as a club activity, so they are all friends before they set out.

There are the organised tour groups who have a large support van/mobile workshop and some are just individuals doing it their way.

I always like to look at the hardware. Some of the mountain type bikes are very serious money with GPS and heart rate monitors, and others are simple "home" bikes with a wicker basket on the front.

The saying "it is your Camino and you do it your way" applies to the cyclists just as much as the walkers.