Thanks for sharing your video. It was very well done. I appreciate that you kept your focus primarily on what the road was like. I'm considering doing a similar route, so your video helps to visualize what I'd encounter.
Great video! Did all of the albergues you stayed in have secure storage for your bikes? I'm bringing my bike over in a week and would sleep easier knowing it was out of the grasp of those with sticky fingers.
Yes. We always chose places with storage for bikes as we didn't want to lose them. We had a guide book to the Camino which listed the accommodation with bike storage.
The book we used is " Camino de Santiago - Camino Frances " a " Village to village guide " by Anna Dintaman and David Landis. It is a convenient size to carry on a bike.
Thank you for a great video - we are going in June and it's nice to see what the route looks like. I noticed that you ride with flat pedals, would you advise against riding with cleats? We are bringing out own bikes.
Thanks for your comment. We rented the bikes and thats the pedals they came with. If you are used to cleats you could use them. We had to walk up a lot of the climbs so we wore hiking sandals. You may be fitter and able to ride uphill better than us. The downhills were fun. Enjoy the ride.
I am looking at bring a group from New Zealand to bike a trail, about 8-10 days , We are farmers and just want an easy ride with 30 to 40 km per day- maybe even a day in a vehicle. What would be the best route please, I was thinking Portugal ?? also Can anyone help with a self guided bike tour business please.. Thanks
We took 15 days from Burgos to Santiago, 13 days riding and two days off to explore. We started at sunrise and rode until around midday, found accommodation then spent the afternoon eating, drinking and sightseeing. We had two days off in Santiago then rode for three days to Finisterre. So we had 16 days riding and 4 days off, 20 days all up.
Andy. What app did you used to follow the route and yes I had that book too and I like it a lot. I have been writing notes on the pages like for example tough hill and the %; where there are a lot of rocks...Gracias a puertorrican from Ocala, Florida USA. Oh I am planning to go either in August -September 2021 or May 2022.
Hola Luis We didn't use an app, just the book was enough as the route is well marked. There are also many other people doing the journey at the same time so it would be hard to get lost. Have fun and enjoy your adventure when you can do it.
Hi Andy, great video, thanks for sharing! Please can I check, which book did you use, to help you find suitable places to stay with bikes? We are off in August, and will be cycling from home (England), then France and finally El Camino. We are unsure on good places where to lock our bike.
Hi Jack Sounds like an amazing journey you have ahead. The guide book we used is "Village to Village guide Camino De Santiago by Anna Dintaman and David Lantis" It covers the whole route from St. Jean to Santiago and to Finisterre. There are many other books available but we chose this because it is small and is a convenient size to carry in a pouch on the handlebars or frame so it is readily accessible. We got it from "Book Depository" Take it easy and enjoy the ride. cheers Andy
@@andybuchanvideo7924 Hi again Andy, Thank you very much - we are now waiting excitedly for the village to vilage guide! Really appreciate you sharing your experince and tips! Cheers, J
Thanks Ray Some sections of the walking trail are too narrow and some are too rocky for a trike but you could take the road to bypass those areas. It would be possible to do most of the journey.
Merci pour votre commentaire. I didn't want to take a big heavy video camera on a long bike ride so I shot the video on my Samsung S9 phone. I wasn't sure how good the pictures would be but it turned out ok. I edited it on my laptop when I got home.
@@andybuchanvideo7924 Thank you very much for your answer. L'image est vraiment stable, je suis épatée, le film est magnifique et bien commenté. I hope i'll can do the same travel with my bike. It's m'y dream...
It is mainly trails and some minor roads. Occasionally crossing a major road or going along side it on a trail. There was not much traffic to worry about. cheers
Thanks Amir. We followed the walking route which was ok for bikes. We always watched out for walkers and went slowly near them. They had some good stories to tell.
We didn't do the Portuguese part but are planning on doing it next year. We have been to Porto though and the bridges are spectacular, a lot of traffic sometimes though. Have fun
I am not familiar with all the specialised models. We rented them and were very happy with them. They were the Chisel model, aluminium frame with 29 inch wheels and front shocks. Yours is a gravel bike which should be ok. A lot of the trail is smooth dirt surface and some gravel roads. There are some rough sections which are very rocky but if you take it easy should be ok. Have fun.
Wow!! This is truly inspirational, very relaxed feel. Although those hills looked brutal! Adding this to the list - many thanks :-) Check out some of my Bikepacking trips South England if you're interested...... it get's a bit muddier than the Camino I suspect haha!!
Thanks, It's a fantastic journey to do on a bike. There are lots of places to stay and places to eat along the way so you don't need to carry too much with you. I will have a look at your Bikepacking trips in South England, you never know we may get there one day.
Where did you rent bikes from. I am going in September and would like to rent bikes for part of the journey. Is there a list of rental locations posted somewhere? Do I need to reserve in advance? How much did it cost? What stretch of the Camino would you recommend not biking?
We didn't need to do much. We ride bikes regularly but shorter distances so we just did a few 20km rides as prep. We only rode for half the day, found accommodation, then relaxed. A pilgrims meal, look around the town, and early to bed. Early to rise, and ride in the cool part of the day helps too. It was fun and easy most of the time. Some of the uphills were hard work but racing down them again was fun. It was an amazing journey, so good we are on our way to do the coastal camino from porto in portugal to Santiago right now. Have fun.
It's a great way to do the Camino if you don't have the time to walk it. We would rent electric bikes to make the hill climbs easier if we do it again.
We took 2 weeks to do the 600km from Burgos to Finisterre. We only rode in the mornings and had a few days off too. You could do it quicker but wouldn't have time to explore and enjoy the journey. You can take as long as you like.
We are heading over in June to do St Jean through to Santiago. You mentioned "We had a guide book to the Camino" where did you obtain it? What was the name of the guide book? Lastly, how many kms per day were you riding?
There are a lot of good guide books available and I'm not saying this is the best. The one we used is called "Camino de Santiago Village to village guide" by Anna Dintaman and David Landis. It covers the full route from StJean to Santiago and on to Finisterre. We got it online from Book Depository. We rode about 40 to 50 kilometres a day.
We bought the book online in Australia from the "Book Depositry" website in the UK. It has free postage worldwide. It is a convenient size and has some bike specific information. You can buy it in Spain but it has some good information to read before you go.
We had a great time! One of the best journeys we have done. We met lots of interesting people along the way, I just didn't film them. I just tried to give people an impression of the countryside and the towns they will pass through as I wasn't able to get a good Idea of that from other peoples videos when I was researching before we set out. We are thinking about doing it again.
Not the best video! Guy needs a shot of adrenalin to up his enthusiasm. Five hundred kilometers! Not really a challenge on a bike. Bumpy? What did he expect riding over cobble. I don't think this video will motivate many to follow suite. This is the problem riding a bike. You miss a lot of things as you hurry by. El Acebo deserves more than a "it's a nice place to get a coffee. It's name means holly and is one of the coolest pueblecito along the Camino. It's elevation keeps it cool in the summer. Thanks anyway for forwarding the video. It's the thought that matters.
