Camino D-30 Days

The fall of 2014 was my target for cycling the Camino. With boys packed off to university, Lisa and I would have fewer day to day responsibilities to distract us.  Lisa was planning to join me but one of life's curve balls meant that she would be unavailable.  Now that it is only me to organise I looked more objectively at my calendar and realised that late spring would be a good time for me to be away so I bought a ticket for one to Madrid via Amsterdam.  Leaving May 16th and returning Madrid to Vancouver via New York on June 9th. 

I organised the train transport to/from the start/end of the ride resulting is an itinerary that looks like this:

• May 16 - leave Vancouver
• May 17 - arrive in Madrid, check into Ibis airport hotel, assemble my bike, store bike case 
• May 18 - train from Madrid to Pamplona
• May 19 - cycle the Camino to Santiago with no fixed itinerary - just the way I like it!
• June 8 - overnight train to Madrid, check into Ibis hotel, pack up bike
• June 9 - leave Spain

Checklists of things to do before D-Day

• Get Euros and a second band card (for back up)
• Tell the credit card company I will be in Spain
• Tune up bike
• Get second battery for camera
• Get adaptor to connect camera to tablet to download photos
• Sort out work stuff
• Arrange to and from airport
• Reschedule dentist
• More, yet to be determined I am sure

Once again I will be taking my trusty folding Bike Friday (www.bikefriday.com) which will be its fourth European tour.  Unlike the Chemin in 2010 where Chuck and I used the Bike Friday travel case/trailer and camped, this year I will be travelling light with two panniers, a handlebar bag and sleeping under roofs.

The BF is basically ready anytime to break down into its travel case and go on an extended tour.  The only extra tools or biking bits I am bringing along  that I wouldn't for a local ride from home are some extra spokes and a second spare tube.

Bike Friday with Trailer

Bike Friday with Panniers

My plan is to pack as lightly as possible.  Because I will be spending time wandering about I am mindful of taking cycling clothes that work for off bike activities.  I love road riding and have the jerseys, cleated shoes, spandex shorts, etc. but this is not that kind of ride.  Helmet, cycling gloves, rain jacket and cycling vest are coming but leaving behind the full rain pants, shoes and helmet covers (time will tell if this weigh saving move was worth it).

By not camping I will be giving up some flexibility and incurring some costs but the trade off is not need to carry the tent, sleeping pad and cooking kit.  I will bring along a light sleeping bag (my marmot chewed North Face over bag) to use in the hostels.

Electronics wise I will bring along my Samsung 3 tablet for wifi'ing, backing up photos, reading, etc.  It is a low price and versatile piece of kit for travel.  Also coming along will be my Olympus all weather camera which I have been very pleased with its combination of convenience and quality.  Both tablet and camera are 100-240  volt so do not need a heavy power converter, just the round prong Euro adaptor.  I purchased a connector to download photos from camera to tablet.

The jury is still out on my cheapo European mobile phone which can be useful for calling ahead to make reservations but sadly I am not sure that my command of the Spanish language is up to this technology. However is almost weightless and it has the European type charger.

For reference material I will be taking the Camino Frances and the Cycling Pilgrim publications available from the UK Confraternity of Saint James.  These are inexpensive, light weight, concise and very accurate because these are updated every year.

The Way of St James - A Cyclists Guide, by  John Higginson, is a small cycling guidebook that is a little out of date and quirky but I like the overview nature of it and it is the book we used for Le Puy trip in 2010.

The only map I will be taking is the Michelin map booklet 160 Camino de Santiago.  It has broken the Camino down into 34 stages of 20-30 km with the map and profile/info on opposite pages and is small enough to clip to handlebars for quick reference.

Chemin de Saint Jacques - June 2010

In June of 2010 I cycled the Chemin de Staint Jacques with my good friend Chuck.  This is one of the 'feeder' routes to the Camino Frances that start in Le Puy and finishes up in Saint Jean Pied de Port.

We had a wonderful time and this certainly whetted my interested in completing this all 'The Way' to Santiago de Compostela.

This is my journal from this tour:
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=7296&v=Fz

Some random photos:

Camino de Santiago de Compostela

I have been intrigued by the Camino de Santiago for years.

The photo above of a print on my wall that was purchased at Mount St. Michelle in 2004.

This is a route that preChristian Europeans used to cross northern Spain to what they thought was the end of the world - Finisterra.  Around 800 AD a hermit  found what he claimed to be remains of the disciple James in a forest where now stands the city of Santiago de Compostel.  This excited the Christians of Europe to no end and over the ensuing centuries thousands upon thousands travelled to Santiago de Compostela to see this in person.  Cathedrals were built as well as  the infrastructure (hostels, bridges, etc) to support this stream of travellers.  The most widely followed route became known as the Camino Frances which started in Saint Jean Pied-de-Port in the French Pyrenees, the collection point for various routes throughout Europe, and follows a westerly route for approximately 800 km to Santiago.  After the Black Death and wars of the middle ages the popularity of the Camino simmered down but never really disappeared.  By the last decades of the twentieth century this pilgrimage began to regain popularity for both spiritual/religious as well as recreational/tourist reasons.  Recent years have seen some days with over one thousand pilgrims per day arriving at Santiago!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James

The modern day pilgrim travels this route by foot, bicycle or horseback. Stamps are collected in a small book called a Credential at various points along The Way as proof of completion.  With a minimum distance of 100 km for walker and 100 km for cyclists to Santiago the pilgrim may present this credential to at the cathedral of Santigo and receive a document call a Compostela.

My stamped credential and other souvenirs from 2010

There are numerous groups around the world with a aim to promote the Camino and provide support to both pilgrims and pilgrimage infrastructure within Spain.  In Canada we have The Canadian Company of Pilgrims (www.santiago.ca).  There are chapters in every province that meet regularly and the CCOP can provide a Canadian with the official creditial booklet as well as a unique badge for your backpack or pannier.

The scallop shell is the a common symbol seen frequently on signs, etc. along the Camino.  The shell is considered a metaphor where the grooves meet at a central point representing the various travel routes converging on Santiago de Compostela.  Also, Pilgrims of the the middle ages would display the scallop shell souvenir as proof they have indeed reached the sea because unlike their modern counterpart, these folks walked both ways.  Story has it they also used the scallop shell for an eating bowl and to dip drinking water from streams.  Practical folks.