Tag Archives: “Camino de Santiago”

EyeCycled Bike Vlog: Question about the Camino de Santiago and London Bike Show

It’s Thursday and time for another Bike Vlog.
I must confess, when I set out to start Vlogging I was not confident I’d be able to maintain a weekly routine, but so far, so good.

In this Vlog I…

  1. Answer the question that Roberto Moro asked through the contact form in the site
  2. Talk about the London Bike Show this coming Saturday (I’ll be covering it for the blog and would like to know if there is anything you’d like me to focus my attention on)
  3. The future post about the 13th of my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage by bike.

If you like it, please hit the thumbs-up button in YouTube, rate it here and share.
Thanks!

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 2 Average: 5]

Camino de Santiago, Day 12: Las Herrerías to Sarria

Albergue Las Herreíras (Hostel)
Albergue Las Herreíras (Hostel)

Welcome to the day 12 post of our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 5th of June 2015. I did this stage of 63.82 Km or 39.7 miles from Las Herrerías to Sarria in 8h and 05 min, of which 5h 14 min were of actual moving time.

I must confess, I’ve been dreading to write this post as it reminds me of the biggest navigation error I’ve made in the entire pilgrimage. I felt (and still do) like a fool for having done that error, but if this post and video help prevent other pilgrims from doing the same mistakes than it is worth it. My ego can take it 🙂

20150605_080033
Going uphill between Las Herrerías and La Faba

I left the hostel in Las Herrerías around 7:30am, 30 min earlier than I was used to, because I knew it would be a day of challenges ahead. Fernando had left the hostel about 40 min earlier, I think (he is used to waking up with the birds).

La Laguna Sign Zommed
Decision time… La Faba or La Laguna? Should have gone to La Laguna, but went to La Faba.

Full of energy and disposition I started cycling up hill, but without my Navigator by my side (I don’t have a very good sense of direction) it wasn’t long before I made the 1st mistake.
When I came to a crossroad junction and had to decide to continue in the direction of La Faba on the small road I was on (labelled CV-125/1) or take another small road to La Laguna (labelled CV-125/15) I decided to continue to La Faba (there was no yellow sign to help out at that point).

20150605_082935
Can you cycle uphill here with a loaded touring bike?
DSC07390
One of the many obstacles bike pilgrim must overcome between La Faba and La Laguna.

I must add a note here to say that this mistake is only relevant to those who do the Camino by bike. I essentially took the same route as the walking pilgrims do, which from the village of La Faba onwards is totally unsuitable for most cycling pilgrims. It is a 4 Km long uphill track that even walking pilgrims carrying a heavy backpack would struggle with, I think, let alone those pushing a loaded bike up.
So, for anyone reading this post and planning to do the Camino, do yourself a favour and take the road to La Laguna. It is about 2 Km longer, but believe me, it’s worth it!

DSC07385
The “grey” matter left by horses along the way and the inevitable “gazillion” flies around it


The worst part of the 4 Km uphill track actually wasn’t so much having to push the bike up. It was the huge number of flies because of the amount of horse manure left in the track. In Las Herrerías it is possible to “rent” horses to carry the luggage up for you (is that cheating? I don’t think so, as you have to walk it up anyway… the horses only carry the luggage). Obviously the horses leave “stuff” behind when going uphill.

I arrived in La Laguna with a feeling of achievement, but was really tired and it was a slow ascent. So much so that some walking pilgrims that had left the hostel after me, actually caught up with me in La Laguna as I stopped for a few minutes to drink some freshly squeezed orange juice and eat a banana. La Laguna is by far not the end of the ascent to “O Cebreiro“. After La Laguna there are still another 2 Km of uphill which was steep enough to force me to get off my bike again and push (I’d say perhaps a 12% incline in places… about 150m up in 2 Km).

O Cebreiro Detail Zommed
Biggest navigation mistake of my Pilgrimage was here. I failed to see that yellow sign.
20150605_103156
The view from “O Cebreiro” is spectacular.

Well, now we come to the point that I got to the Village of “O Cebreiro” and stopped to take a few pictures. Once the pictures were taken I decided not to go into the village (which I should have done) and moved on. Somehow I missed the yellow sign that was actually pointing towards the village. Instead of entering the village, in order to get onto the LU-633 in the direction of Liñares, I continued on the small CV-125/1 and happily rode the wrong way downhill for more than 6 Km until a lady waved at me with the typical “no” gesture. Must confess, by that point I was already suspicious of having taken the wrong route, but God knows how much more I would have traveled if that lady didn’t do this small gesture and took the time to explain to me how to get back to the Camino.

Google Earth, Wrong and Right Way, O Cebreiro
In BLUE, the way I should have taken. In RED, the way I took 🙁

Angels appear in many shapes and forms. We are all angels when we help other people. Religious chatter aside, I feel I can say that for me that it was God who placed that lady there, right when I needed it, to bring me back to the right track, so “Thank you God!”.

Well, as you all can imagine the frustration of having taken the wrong direction for so long was only matched by the realization that I now had to climb another 6 Km again after an already challenging morning climb pushing my bike most of the way up, but that was what the universe wanted me to do at that point, so I did it. Thankfully the directions given by my angel were clear and precise and with some checking along the way I was able to re-join the Camino near the village of Liñares 1h and 38 min later. So the result of my mistake was a loss of about 2h and the need to ride nearly 10 Km or 6 miles more than I should have, of which 8 Km or 5 miles where of steep uphill again.

After that, you could think that the rest of the day was a breeze… Well, it wasn’t bad, but as I paid more attention to the yellow signs they led me to paths which were again not suitable for cycling pilgrims after the village of Hospital, but the worst parts of these paths were relatively short compared to what I had endured between La Faba and O Cebreiro in the morning. I would strongly advise though that if you are cycling the Camino you stick to the road (the LU-633) until about 1 Km after the village of Fonfria where you may follow the yellow signs onto the walkers path which is very smooth compared to the previous ones and it will save you some 2 Km over staying on the LU-633.

If you do take the walkers path, about 1 Km after the little village of Fillobal, you will re-join the LU-633 again. From that point onwards I decided I had had enough, no matter where the yellow signs pointed to. I knew that road would take me to Samos and Sarria, but I didn’t know at the time in which city I was going to stay for the night (was aiming Sarria though).

20150605_133034
On his trailer, he was carrying his dog.

Along the way I crossed little villages and towns, such as Pasantes, Triacastela (where I met a pilgrim on a recumbent tricycle, pulling a little trailer behind with his dog in it), San Cristovo do Real, Renche, San Martiño do Real and Samos.

20150605_140844
Samos Monastery

I didn’t know at the time, but it was in Samos that Fernando had stopped.

As I arrived in Samos at was still about 2:00pm and I decided to ride further to Sarria, the next town in the Camino. I stopped in Samos just to stamp my Pilgrim’s credential at the municipal hostel and moved on. I added some of Fernando’s pictures here, although I have not experienced the town myself. From Samos to Sarria is just another 12 Km, but I was pretty tired from all the uphill climbing this day, so my plan was to make an early stop there. Crossed through and by tiny villages with distinct Galician names such as A Ferrería, Teiguín, O Vao until arriving in Sarria around 3:00pm. Sarria is a well-developed town and I followed the yellow signs to see if they would take me to a hostel in town.

IMAG1450
Paintings at the Santa Marina Church, Sarria.

By cheer luck, as I was riding through Sarria I passed by a little souvenir shop and glimpse inside only to see Marcelo and Alice in there. I stopped to say hi and ask what their plans were. At that time they were uncertain if they were going to stay in Sarria or ride a bit further, but when I told them I was pretty tired and was going to stay they decided to stay as well. It just happened that nearby there was a private hostel named Casa Peltre. Alice went to take a look inside and came back saying she thought it was very good (and it was indeed). The overnight was €10 and the albergue is clean and comfortable with a fascinating decoration (take a look at the pictures in their web site). Maria, the “hospitalero” who received us is a really nice person. It is a small hostel and can accommodate only 22 people at once, distributed in 3 bedrooms: A big dormitory room with 14 beds on bunk-beds where we stayed and two other rooms with four beds in each (2 bunk-beds). The hostel has two spacious and very clean bathrooms, with very good and warm pressure showers. It has also a fully fitted kitchen upstairs and a dining area.

20150605_190304
Well deserved break. Marcelo in the picture.


After a warm shower Marcelo and I decided to walk around town to find something to eat (Alice was a bit tired and decided to stay and have a nap). We found a Kebab place by the Sarria river side and filled our bellies with Kebabs. With bellies full we walked around town a bit more until we got to a tapas bar called “Mesón O Tapas” and treated ourselves to some delicious Spanish beers. IMAG1456
It was a day filled with mixed emotions: The physical challenge of having to push the bike up some very steep paths full of obstacles, the frustrations of the mistakes I made along the way this day, the blessing of having an Angel direct me to the right path again and the joy to encounter good Camino friends at the end. I certainly could have lived without the mistakes, but it was a good day, in spite of them. Well, that concludes this post about the 12th day of the Pilgrimage. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or at least indicate if you liked it or not by clicking on the stars in the bottom of the post.

Day 12, Camino de Santiago, 5 Jun 2015
Click on the left and right arrows in the picture to navigate through the Slideshow —- Click on the picture to see them in higher resolution in Flickr.

<< Previous day                                                                                         Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 13 Average: 4.7]

Camino de Santiago, Day 11: El Acebo de San Miguel to Las Herreiras

If there is such a thing as a "5-Star" Pilgrim's hostel, this must be it.
If there is such a thing as a “5-Star” Pilgrim’s hostel, this must be it.

Welcome to the DAY 11 post of our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 4th of June 2015. We did this stage of 61.89 Km or 38.5 miles from El Acebo de San Miguel to Las Herrerías in 6h and 12 min, of which 3h 58 min were of actual moving time.

Picture taken from the old stone bridge over the Meruelo river in Molinaseca.
Picture taken from the old stone bridge over the Meruelo river in Molinaseca.

I left the 5-Star hostel “La casa del peregrino” about 8 in the morning as usual, and as usual Fernando had already left by then. El Acebo is located at an altitude of 1,130m according to my Garmin and in a period of just 15 min I went down nearly 500 m and covered more than 10 Km distance. The only thing preventing me to go faster was the tight curves and turns of the road, which nearly tricked me once and forced me to go over the opposite lane due to the speed I was riding. Thankfully there was no incoming traffic, or that could have been a problem. In Molinaseca the altitude evened out and remain more or less constant through the ride this day.

Molinaseca Stone Bridge
Molinaseca Stone Bridge

I crossed through the village of Molinaseca, but not before taking a couple of pictures from the old stone bridge over the Meruelo river, built in Ancient Rome times.

Next was the town of Ponferrada.

City Hall of Ponferrada
City Hall of Ponferrada

As I arrived in the town centre I found Fernando taking pictures. This town has that wonderful mix of new and old and would be worth staying for a couple of days, if you can afford it. I believe one of the main attractions is the Templars‘ Castle known as the “Castillo de los Templarios”.

Templars' Castle in Ponferrada
Templars’ Castle in Ponferrada

It’s is a well preserved and impressive middle-age edification and has all the characteristics you would expect of a middle age castle.

Main gate of the Templars' Castle
Main gate of the Templars’ Castle

Fernando and I made a Breakfast stop in one of the restaurants facing the Castle.

Breakfast is served.
Breakfast is served.

After Ponferrada we rode through small towns and villages such as Camponaraya, Cacabelos, Pieros and Villafranca del Bierzo where we stopped for about 15 min for a rest and something to eat and drink.

A Wolf on a bike
A Wolf on a bike
Villafranca Castle. Michael, one of our "Camino" friends can be seen riding his bicicle in this picture.
Villafranca Castle. Michael, one of our “Camino” friends can be seen riding his bicicle in this picture.

Villafranca de Bierzo is an old medieval town with very interesting architecture, such as the Villafranca Castle, the church of San Juan and other religious buildings such as the Collegiate of St. Maria and the convents as well as the narrow bridge over the river Burbia overlooking the town.

Picture taken from the narrow bridge over the river Burbia.
Picture taken from the narrow bridge over the river Burbia.

The route then follows the “snake” like path of the N-VI road alongside the magnificent A-6 motorway (Autovia del Noroeste) crossing under it several times. With its many tunnels and high valley bridges, whose pillars can be seen from bellow, the motorway offers an interesting and modern perspective to the views on the road (N-VI).

Mix of old and new in Vega de Valcarce.
Mix of old and new in Vega de Valcarce.

This road also follows the path of the small Valcarce river which lends its name to some of the towns and villages along the way.

As I was pedalling on the shared pedestrian / cycle path, protected from the cars by a concrete wall, I kept looking at small river below and all the green around it and thinking that the people who travel at 70 – 80 mpg on the motorway above will never know the natural beauty that was just below them. This is something you can only experience in slow forms of transportation such as cycling or if you are walking.

Along this route we crossed through the villages or towns of Pereje, Trabadelo, La Portela de Valcarce, Ambasmestas, Vega de Valcarce, Ruitelán until we finally decided to call it the day in Las Herreíras.

Albergue Las Herreíras (Hostel)
Albergue Las Herreíras (Hostel)

Las Herreiras is a tiny village just before the El Cebreiro mountain which is known as one of the greatest challenges of the Camino and we could see a storm approaching in the horizon, so it made sense to stay there. To my knowledge there is only 1 Pilgrim’s hostel in Las Herreíras, appropriately called “Albergue Las Herreíras“.

Detail in Las Herreíras.
Detail in Las Herreíras.

The hostel was 8€ for the night and is run by a nice lady who speaks many languages (I’ve overheard she talking in Spanish, German, English and French) who is a strict vegetarian. She offers evening meals, but no meat.

Las Herreíras
Las Herreíras

She cooks the meal herself and there is no menu to choose from. I believe she charged us 12€ and it had soup, some type of salad as main meal and carrot cake as desert. It was enough and delicious even for a meat eater. Other than that there is only 1 other place in the village where you can get something to eat.

Two Pilgrims of different species
Two Pilgrims of different species

There are essentially only 2 rooms. The upper floor has the main room with about 10 bunkbeds and a small individual room for 2 pilgrims or a couple which costs a bit more (12€, I believe). Downstairs there is a small reception and the common areas with two bathrooms / toilets, a laundry area with a washer / drier and the dining room with 1 big and 1 small table.

Willy is an 8 year old daschund pilgrim.
Willy is an 8 year old daschund pilgrim.

After having a shower and handwashing a few pieces of clothes I had a walk through the village and took a few pictures of the small “Las Ramas” river by the village. Moments later the storm came and a flash of lighting appeared to have been the cause of the complete power blackout in the village for more than 1 hour. The time was spent talking to other pilgrims from various parts of the world and playing cards.

It was an enjoyable evening. The “No Wi-Fi” policy of the hostel actually works 🙂

No Wi-FI in the Albergue
No Wi-FI in the Albergue. “We want you to talk to each other”.

That’s it for day 11 of the Pilgrimage. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or at least indicate if you liked it or not by clicking on the stars in the bottom of the post.

 

 

<< Previous day                                                                                         Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 5 Average: 4.6]

Camino de Santiago, Days 9 and 10: From Astorga to El Acebo de San Miguel

Episcopal Palace of Astorga
Episcopal Palace of Astorga

Welcome to another post about our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike. This one is special as it covers 2 days of our pilgrimage (well, essentially the was no pilgrimage on the 10th day). On the 2nd of June 2015 we rode 39.5 Km or 24.5 miles from Astorga to the village of El Acebo de San Miguel in 4h and 30m, of which 3h 21m were of actual moving time. On the 3rd of June we gave ourselves some time-off from the Pilgrimage. We woke up late and spent most of the day in the Hostel with a little walk around the village for lunch.

Day 9: From Astorga to El Acebo de San Miguel

Ermita del Ecce Homo Astorga just outside of Astorga
Ermita del Ecce Homo Astorga just outside of Astorga

I was the last to leave the hostel in Astorga that day, not a big surprise. Fernando had left an hour before and I left about 15 min after Marcelo and Alice did. It just took longer to pack the stuff in the bike that day, but then who cares? I wasn’t under any time pressure.

I believe this route from Astorga to El Acebo was one of the nicest in the Camino. It was also somewhat challenging as after Rabanal del Camino you are in for a long 8 Km climb of almost 500 m (from about 1,000m in Rabanal to about 1,500m just before the Iron Cross), but I am going ahead of myself again.

One of the most interesting pilgrims we encountered, at least from a dressing code point of view.
One of the most interesting pilgrims we encountered, at least from a dressing code point of view.

Just outside of Astorga on the LE-142 I came across the “Ermita del Ecce Homo” (Chapel of Ecce Homo or Jesus Christ) a house from the 17th Century where pilgrims can rest and refill their water bottles.

After Murias de Rechivaldo I left the LE-142 and took the same dirt track used by the walking pilgrims. The pilgrim traffic was quite intense which forced me to go slow, but I rode that dirt track for only about 3 Km until I reached the LE-6304 from where I rode on tarmac again to the village of Santa Catalina de Somoza.

Marcelo made a new friend.
Marcelo made a new friend.

This was likely the longest portion of dirt tracks I rode that day (plus a few minor ones not even worth mentioning). After Santa Catalina de Somoza I crossed through the village of “El Ganso” and continued on the LE-6304 towards Rabanal del Camino, where I met Fernando and stopped for something to eat and drink.

His rucksack was behind the cape.
His rucksack was behind the cape.

Few minutes later Marcelo and Alice arrived also and we all spent some time talking. It was then that a “figure” of the camino walked passed by us. I don’t know who this pilgrim was and I suspect he didn’t walk the way to Santiago as we met him a few more times until we reached Santiago, but the portions he walked he did dressed as a Templar and carrying a flag, so I guess you can understand why I called him a “figure” before.

Long climb to the Cruz de Ferro.
Long climb to the Cruz de Ferro.

After Rabanal the long climb, as mentioned before, is rewarded by the views and the wild flowers and vegetation of various colours that grow alongside the road. The climb is long, but not very steep, making it perfectible manageable at least until some 500m past Foncebadón where it becomes steeper, perhaps about 15%, but is not very long. Both Fernando and I had to push the bike on that stretch.

EyeCycled to the Cruz de Ferro.
EyeCycled to the Cruz de Ferro.

After Foncebadón we arrived at another landmark of the Camino: The “Cruz de Ferro” or Iron Cross, consisting of a wooden pole about 10m high surmounted by an iron cross. At its base there is a mound of stones that was formed over the years by Pilgrims that bring stones and leave them there. A legend says that when the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was being built, pilgrims were asked to contribute by bringing a stone.

Proud of myself.
Proud of myself.

The tradition is now to throw a stone there, brought from the place of origin of the pilgrim, symbolizing what the pilgrim wants to leave behind and get ready for rebirth on the last part of the Camino.

Proud of my friend.
Proud of my friend.

I didn’t bring any stone with me, but I think I left something behind and kept the satisfaction of having achieved it. Fernando and I arrived at the Cruz de Ferro together and Marcelo and Alice a few minutes later.

I hounor to me children, who will always be with me, no matter where I am.
In honour to my children, who will always be with me, no matter where I am.

We spent quite some time there resting, talking and watching the other pilgrims arrive.

After the Cruz de Ferro there is a long and pleasant ride down all the way to El Acebo with some magnificent views of the mountains.

Manjarin
Manjarin

Fernando and I got separated from Marcelo and Alice who stopped at Manjarín, possibly attracted by the Brazilian flag and the many signs there.

As we arrived in El Acebo, I saw an ad about a recently opened Hostel and the pictures looked very good, especially the Olympic size swimming pool of t

he hostel. Fernando and I decided to check it out and almost could not believe our eyes. If there is such a thing as a 5 star pilgrims’ hostel, that must be it, but I´ll let the explanations for day 10.

The video below is a compilation of the climb towards the Cruz de Ferro.

The next video is of a view from the Cruz de Ferro and Fernando’s testimony.

Day 10: No cycling, just lazing up at the “La casa del peregrino“, a newly built “5-star” hostel in the camino.

Entrance to the El Acebo Pilgrim's Hostel.
Entrance to the El Acebo Pilgrim’s Hostel.

Well, given the excellent facilities of this hostel and the price we decided to reward ourselves with a free day after the 520 Km of cycling since we had left Saint Jean Pied de Port 10 days earlier.

If there is such a thing as a "5-Star" Pilgrim's hostel, this must be it.
If there is such a thing as a “5-Star” Pilgrim’s hostel, this must be it.

We could afford if both financially and in time as we still had 11 days left and only about 300 Km to go until Santiago.

Up to that point we had stayed in pilgrims’ hostels that were normally very simple in nature, with overnight costs varying from 5 € to 22 € (the first one in Saint Jean), but mostly around the 8 € to 10 € mark.

Good life.
Good life.

This hostel is also 10 €, but the value you get for your money is unbelievable. Mind you, it is still a hostel, in the sense that you sleep in rooms with several bunkbeds and share them with other pilgrims, but even that was amazing in this hostel.

Dinning Room
Dinning Room

For 10 € you get a bed with your own individual light and 2 individual power sockets just for you (a luxury compared to other much older hostels) and your very own locker (reception provides a key).

Hostel Bedroom.
Hostel Bedroom.

Also Wi-Fi is available everywhere in the hostel (or at least it worked everywhere I tried, from our room to the common areas, but not in the pool).

One individual light and 2 power sockets for each Pilgrim... a luxury.
One individual light and 2 power sockets for each Pilgrim… a luxury.

You also get amazing views, laundry service (at a cost of 4 € per wash – there is also and outside washing area with clothes dryer if you, like me, want to hand wash your clothes) a little supermarket on the basement, a huge BBQ area, children’s playground, many outside sitting areas to enjoy the view, a bar, an always manned reception and believe it or not an “Olympic” size swimming pool with a crystal clear, but very cold, water that comes from the mountain.

View from the swimming pool.
View from the swimming pool.

The toilets, bathrooms, shower rooms are impeccably clean, modern and with an amazing hot water pressure. Everything is electronically controlled from the flow of water to the touch sensitive light dimmers (yeah, my geek side is taking over, sorry).

Crystal clear, but very cold water.
Crystal clear, but very cold water.

The room we stayed had 4 bunkbeds (8 beds), but on our 1st night we had the room just for us. On the 2nd night we were joined by 4 more pilgrims.

Pilgrim's Menu
Pilgrim’s Menu

Not trying to diminish the old guest houses and hostels we stayed along the Camino, but it was refreshing to stay in a newly built place with all the benefits of the 21st century at our disposal.

Now, to the food… The pilgrims menu offers, as usual, 3 choices of a 3 course meal, accompanied by bread, water and wine. I think I will just let the pictures talk for me and say it was delicious. For 10 €, this is very hard to beat anywhere in the world, I think.

On that day we woke up late and walked to the village, as the hostel is about 200 m down the road.

Starter, Main Course and Desert.
Starter, Main Course and Desert.
Main street of El Acebo
Main street of El Acebo

The village of El Acebo de San Miguel is tiny, with just a few houses along the main street, but there is an indescribable charm to it.

El Acebo
El Acebo

The houses are very old and a few appear to be in really bad shape (nothing more than a pile of stones, really). We walked to the top of the village where the water fountain is and had lunch at a place called “La Tienda”, which also offers rooms to Pilgrims. Like many other Spanish Villages along the Camino, El Acebo must be extremely dependant of the pilgrim tourism and it is likely that in high season a lot more pilgrims stay there than there are inhabitants.

View from the Hostel's Balcony
View from the Hostel’s Balcony

Well, that’s it for days 9 and 10 of the pilgrimage. I´ll add a few more pictures below. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or at least indicate if you liked it or not by clicking on the stars in the bottom of the post.

<< Previous day                                                                                         Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 12 Average: 4.4]

Camino de Santiago, Day 8: León to Astorga

León's impressive Cathedral
León’s impressive Cathedral

Welcome to the DAY 8 post of my Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 1st of June 2015. I did his stage of 50 Km or 31 miles from León to Astorga in 4h and 35m, of which 3h 22m were of actual moving time.

I left the hostel at 8:01am that morning and first rode to the Cathedral. I didn´t really need to go there, but I felt compelled to take one last look at the Cathedral. As I arrived I saw a cyclist’s couple looking at a map and when I approached them I recognised they were also from Brazil.

Leon Cathedral at 10 past 8 in the morning.
Leon Cathedral at 10 past 8 in the morning.

Marcelo and Alice are from a city in Brazil called Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, and were also doing the Camino de Santiago. We talked for a few minutes and left together to try to find our way out of town.

5 Star Hotel Parador in León, for Pilgrims with a lot of cash.
5 Star Hotel Parador in León, for Pilgrims with a lot of cash.

Little did I know at that time that we would later arrive in Santiago de Compostela together. Our friendship started at that point and continues to this day thanks to social media and the internet.

León is a reasonably large city and it took us about 1h and 20 min to reach La Virgen del Camino, which still belongs to León’s metropolitan area and is very close to León’s airport. We stopped at a place called Cafeteria Miravalles for Breakfast and 50 min later jumped back onto our bikes again and continued to ride on the already familiar N-120. We rode on the N-120 all the way to Astorga this day.

This Pilgrim slept with the birds.
This Pilgrim slept with the birds.

As we arrived in the village of Valverde de la Virgen we saw something interesting. Spain is filled with old bell towers (for the lack of a better name). In many of them you will find White Stork’s nests. In this particular one a pilgrim decided to stay overnight and slept with the birds.

Stork's Nest in Hospital de Órbigo.
Stork’s Nest in Hospital de Órbigo.

Some pilgrims actually camp throughout the entire pilgrimage, especially those with animals, and don´t stay at hostels, like most do. I don’t know if this was the case for that pilgrim, but I thought he had chosen a very interesting place to sleep, if he managed to get any sleep at all, that is.

The bridge of the honoured step (La Puente del Passo Honroso), Hospital de Órbigo
The honourable step bridge (La Puente del Passo Honroso), Hospital de Órbigo

After Valverde de la Virgen we crossed through the villages of San Miguel del Camino, Villadangos del Paramo and San Martín del Camino until we arrived at yet another landmark of the Camino:

Medieval Bridge over the River Órbigo.
Medieval Bridge over the River Órbigo.

The 13th century medieval stone bridge over the river

Órbigo in the small town of Hospital de Órbigo, which owes its name to the old pilgrim’s hospital that once stud in that place. The bridge appears to be way too big for the river, but before the construction of the reservoir Barrios de Luna, the river had a great flow.

It has 19 arches and is fairly well preserved.

Bridge over the River Órbigo (the Honourable Step Bridge)
Bridge over the River Órbigo (the Honourable Step Bridge)

We did a small pit-stop right after the bridge for some rest and water and moved on back on the N-120. The rest of the way to Astorga was relatively uneventful.

Astorga's Municipal Hostel
Astorga’s Municipal Hostel

As we arrived in Astorga Marcelo and Alice decided to stay in the Municipal Hostel straight away and I went to the town centre to find Fernando, as we had agreed to meet there and ride together the next day. Once I found Fernando we went back the municipal hostel and stayed in the same floor Marcelo and Alice were staying.

I do recommend this hostel. The overnight is 5€ and it’s clean and well organized. Most rooms have only 2 bunk beds (or 4 beds) and we shared the room with 2 pilgrims from Germany.

Town hall of Astorga
Town hall of Astorga

Be prepared for walking up quite a few stairs if you, like us, stay on the upper floor (the bikes stay in the basement). The view from our room was great though. The hostel had a fully fitted kitchen and a laundry with a drying area outside on the rear garden.

Astorga's Cathedral
Astorga’s Cathedral

After a shower we left the hostel to explore the town. Astorga is great place, with an especially interesting architecture. I know I wrote this before, but although the town is small it feels big and welcoming and has a very long history as it pre-dates León by 875 years. According to Wikipedia, artefacts dated 2750 BC were found in the area of Astorga. The local Celtic people, known as the Astures and the Cantabri, inhabited the area around 275 BC, which later in 146 BC became one of the Roman strongholds in the region called Asturica.

Episcopal Palace of Astorga
Episcopal Palace of Astorga

As in many Spanish towns Astorga has a great Cathedral, but it also has the Episcopal Palace of Astorga, which was a building designed and partially built by Gaudi, the same architect who design the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. The building now houses a museum of religious art called “Museo de los Caminos”, dedicated to the Camino de Santiago.

Cathedral and Epicopal Palace of Astorga
Cathedral and Episcopal Palace of Astorga

As we were exploring the town, the 4 of us, Fernando, Marcelo, Alice and me, decided not to eat in a restaurant that night, but to buy food in the local market and cook it in the hostel’s kitchen. Marcelo is the chef and owner of several well-known restaurants in his home city and, obviously an excellent cook. We had a great time preparing and enjoying the food that evening, together with the other Pilgrims there, all accompanied by good Galician wine.

Well, that’s it for day 8. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or at least indicate if you liked it or not by clicking on the stars in the bottom of the post.

Thank you!

<< Previous day                                                                                        Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 9 Average: 4.3]

Camino de Santiago, Day 7: Calzadilla de la Cueza to León

Municipal Hostel in Calzadilla de la Cueza
Municipal Hostel in Calzadilla de la Cueza

Welcome to the DAY 7 post of my Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 31st of May 2015. I did his stage of 81 Km or 50.33 miles from the tiny village of Calzadilla de la Cueza to León in 6h and 24m, of which 5h 16m were of moving time.

I left the hostel that morning just after 8:00am as usual. The first 18 Km on the familiar N-120 were reasonably uneventful. Passed by small villages and towns such as Ledigos, Terradillos de los Templarios, San Nicolas del Real Camino at a reasonably good pace. Just before Sahagún, however, I’ve made a mistake which I am still puzzled how I could have made.

About 2 Km from Sahagún. Immediately after crossing the river Valderaduey.
On the N-120, about 2 Km from Sahagún. Immediately after crossing the river Valderaduey.

As I was approaching Sahagún on the N-120, just after crossing the river Valderaduey, I saw one of the typical yellow arrows that guide the walking pilgrims and decided to leave the road and take the pilgrim’s route.

Stone bridge leading to the Ermita de la Virgen del Puente. Can you see the clear yellow signs?
Stone bridge leading to the Ermita de la Virgen del Puente. Can you see the clear yellow signs pointing to the chapel?

Few meters later I came to a small bridge over a creek and there was again a clear yellow sign pointing towards a small chapel passed the bridge, the “Ermita de la Virgen del Puente“. I don’t really understand what led me to ignore the sign and just continue straight ahead. That mistake cost me 35 min and an additional 7.28 Km to what could have been about 2 Km had I continued on the N-120.

A mistake with a nice view.
A mistake with a nice view. Beautiful poppie fields along the way.

Proves that if you just let your thoughts wander too much while on a pilgrimage and don’t pay attention where you are going you will pay for it physically later. There is no mistake, however, that cannot be corrected, so once I realized I was heading the wrong way I took the LE-6707 and rode back to Sahagún. As I crossed under the N-120, there was no point of entry back onto the main road, so I had to ride into the outskirts of Sahagún to get back to the N-120. This was by far not the biggest mistake I´ve made (more on that in later posts), but it got me very pissed anyway. So, if you download the GPX file with the intention of using it to guide you in your pilgrimage, please make a mental note that as you reach the river Valderaduey you should just continue on the N-120 and you will be fine. If you are walking I recommend you follow the yellow signs to avoid the roads.

Via Trajana. Pilgrim's resting place amongst the trees to the right.
Via Trajana. Pilgrim’s resting place amongst the trees to the right.

About 5 Km after I re-joined the N-120, I left it towards Calzada del Coto, crossing through this little village to take a dirt road identified in Google Maps as Via Trajana. There are no ideal road alternatives from that point onwards as the N-120 takes a turn south (and Leon is north) and it is forbidden to cycle or walk in motorways (the A-231 motorway runs parallel to the via Trajana a few Kilometres south). About 9 Km later at around 11am I reached the village of Calzadilla de los Hermanillos and stopped for late breakfast or early lunch, whatever you prefer to call it.

After Calzadilla de los Hermanillos in the direction to Reliegos.
After Calzadilla de los Hermanillos in the direction to Reliegos.

After Calzadilla de los Hermanillos I rode for another 4 Km on tarmac (not very good though) to the point where the road crosses the LE-6620 and then 14 Km on a dirt road all the way to a village called Reliegos.

Dirt road littered with stones.
Dirt road littered with stones.

Those 14 Km were somewhat challenging for me because the sun was hitting me hard and the stones on the path were shaking the bike all the time and making me change tracks from right to left and vice-versa very often. It was in one of these moments that I stopped for a few seconds thinking how much that situation reflected my life (our lives?). We are always looking for the easy way, a way with less stones. I decided then to capture these thoughts in a voice recording, originally with the intention to write about them, but I´ve taken the decision to expose myself a little and share the recording with you. Hope you won´t consider me a fool for doing so. There were several moments in this pilgrimage I felt emotional and this was just one of them.

Wild Poppies on the streets of Reliegos.
Wild Poppies on the streets of Reliegos.

After Reliegos, the remaining 24 Km to León were all on good tarmac on the LE-6615 and all pretty flat, but I was feeling tired from all the shaking of the previous 14 Km. It took me just over 2 h to reach León. In León I stayed at the Albergue del Monasterio de las Benedictinas (Carbajalas) which was 5€ a night and was very basic. The hostel is maintained by volunteers and you need the pilgrim credentials to stay. It´s essential one large room with slots of 6 bunk beds on the left separated by thin plastic walls.

Pilgrims's resting place near Mansilla de las Mulas
Pilgrims’s resting place near Mansilla de las Mulas

The hostel is relatively large with 132 beds (66 bunk beds) and the number of bathrooms didn’t seem to be enough. In terms of hygiene it was also not the best in my opinion, but it was OK. If you expect to find a power outlet to charge your electronic devices (phone, etc) good luck. I didn´t find any near to my bed and the place somehow did not inspire in me the confidence to simply leave my gadgets unattended. There is Wi-Fi outside by the reception area, but no Wi-Fi in the room. There is also no lockers or safe places to leave your stuff, but I didn’t have any problems (nothing was missing).

Arrival in León
Arrival in León

I had dinner in the restaurant in the “hospedaria” which opens at 7pm. The pilgrim’s menu was 9€ and the food was OK (not exceptional though).

Pilgrims' Menu
Pilgrims’ Menu

Before dinner I walked around the city centre for about 2h. León is a great place. I felt well there. Very interesting gothic architecture and lots of flowers. I walked around the cathedral, but I did not enter it, as I thought I was not dressed in a respectful manner for that type of venue given the mass was just about to start, but from the outside it looks very impressive in all aspects. I’ll add some pictures of my short walk around town on the bottom of the post. The next video is of the cathedral bells calling the faithful for the mass.

Well, that´s it for day 7. Please feel free to leave comments, questions or at least indicate if you like it or not by clicking on the stars on the bottom of the post. Sometimes I have the feeling I am wasting my time here, but I do enjoy the opportunity to travel back in time, in my mind, and relive all those wonderful moments in the Camino.

Photos of León

Old city wallsOld city walls

Plaza Sta Maria del Camino.Plaza Sta Maria del Camino.

Where to?Where to?

Plaza San MarceloPlaza San Marcelo.

Plaza San Marcelo Plaza San Marcelo.

3D map of León3D map of León.

The Botines Building. Designed by Gaudi.The Botines Building. Designed by Gaudi.

Before e-Bikes there were petrol head bikes.Before e-Bikes there were petrol head bikes.
 
León's impressive CathedralLeón’s impressive Cathedral.
 
10 to 610 to 6.
 
Right side of the CathedralRight side of the Cathedral.
 
 
Water Fountain at the Plaza de Santo DomingoWater Fountain at the Plaza de Santo Domingo.
 
CuteCute
 
Wonder how they taste Wonder how they taste
 
<< Previous day                                                                                        Next day >>
Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 8 Average: 4.4]

Camino de Santiago, Day 6: Hornillos del Camino to Calzadilla de la Cueza

Hornillos Meeting Point Hostel
Hornillos Meeting Point Hostel

Welcome to the 6th post about my Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 30th of May 2015. I did his stage of 70.29 Km or 44 miles from Hornillos Del Camino to the tiny village of Calzadilla de la Cueza in 6h and 29m, of which 4h 41m were of moving time.

I need to clarify a few things before I move on to report the day.

  1. The distance travelled is likely to be between 5 – 10 Km greater than the 70 Km measured by my Garmin Edge Cycling computer. This is because some 4 Km after Castrojeriz I stopped at the top of a mountain to appreciate the view and take some pictures and turned the Garmin off forgetting to turn it back on as I left. I only noticed the mistake as I arrived in Fromista some 15 Km later (zoom the map above and look for a straight line).
  2. I rode alone this day as Fernando decided to leave early and travelled more than I did that day.

After these two points, there is nothing else to add, thank you for your visit…

Just joking 🙂

I´ve added to the start of the video a short clip I took just before leaving the Hostel in Hornillos. Not a cloud in the sky, really beautiful and warm day.

I think 60% of the day´s route were “off-road” this day, and by that I mean dirt roads and some tracks. It means the speed is less, but the beauty of the landscape compensates in full.

I any attempt to describe the path in words will be a poor replacement to the pictures, so watch the video and ask me anything you want to know that is not in here.

El Puntido
El Puntido

The first stop after Hornillos was in the little village of Hontanas. I stopped at an establishment that is a café / restaurant / hostel that I had already seen pictures of before starting the pilgrimage: The El Puntido. Had just an egg sandwich and a coffee. Hontanas is small but has a certain charm and like many os the Spanish villages along the Camino is heavily dependent on the economy promoted by the pilgrims. There are likely more Pilgrims crossing it every day, than there are residents.

Breakfast done, I moved on in the direction of Castrojeriz, but this before Castrojeriz I crossed another milestone in the Camino, the ruins of the Monastery of Saint Anthony (according to Google) or San Anton according to the link (take your peek).

Ruins of the Monastery of Saint Anthony
Ruins of the Monastery of Saint Anthony

As with many of such architectural landmarks along the Camino it had served as a Hospital for Pilgrims and was the palace of King Pedro I in the past until the Ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal which left it to ruins.

Castrojeriz on the background
Castrojeriz on the background

Castrojeriz is a place I wished I could have spent some time. I think a short walk up the hill where the Ruins of Castrojeriz Castle are would be a very interesting thing to do. The view of the small place by the church also offers nice views to the valley below.

Mountain (or hill?) after Castrojeriz (far off in the background). THis was 1/2 way up.
Mountain (or hill?) after Castrojeriz (far off in the background). This was 1/2 way up.

After Castrojeriz you are in for a 3 Km climb at an ascent level of 12%. I had to push my bike most of the way up. I think it would be doable to ride it up, even on a loaded bike, if it wasn´t for the fact the dirt road that takes you up there is full of fine gravel, stones and sand, which provided little traction on the wheels. It takes a while to get up there.

Top of the Mountain (or hill?) after Castrojeriz, 1050 m.
Top of the Mountain (or hill?) after Castrojeriz, 1050 m.

At 1050m this is the highest point along this route. If you are following my posts, you´ll know there were crossings higher than this in days before, but this is is particularly challenging because of the road conditions.

Yeah... I´ve made it!
Yeah… I´ve made it!

It is by far, however, not the worst climbing conditions I had to face on the Camino, but this is a topic for future posts (probably day 12 post, when I will write about the crossing of the devilish “El Cebreiro”). I stopped there to film the surroundings, take some pictures and rest a little. The descent on the way down is even steeper, but easier because it is all cement paved. Make sure your bike brakes are good.

San Nicolas de Puente Fitero, pilgrims' hospital (is in fact a hostel)
San Nicolas de Puente Fitero, pilgrims’ hospital (is in fact a hostel)

Few kilometres later I passed by the San Nicolás de Puente Fitero pilgrim´s hospital and had to stop for a moment to take a picture and think of my son, also Nicolas. Few meters later I crossed the 11th century built Itero del Castillo bridge over the river Pisuerga and found myself in the province of Palencia. I then rode to Itero de la Vega e turned left towards Boadilla del Camino.

Canal of Castile
Canal of Castile

Short after Boadilla you will ride about 2 to 3 kilometres alongside the Canal of Castile (Canal de Castilla) until you reach the locks in Fromista. Beautiful place to walk / ride a bike.

Frómista
Frómista

The sun was high and the day was hot, so I stopped in Frómista for about 1h to rest and eat something (a pizza, which was not very appetizing actually).

From Frómista I took the P-980 road to Carrion de los Condes passing through several small villages along the way.

Carrion de los Condes
Carrion de los Condes

Carrion de los Condes is one of these small towns along the Camino that probably deserves a longer stay as well, but I decided to move on and only stopped to take a few pictures and ask for directions.

Stork's Nest in Carrion de los Condes
Stork’s Nest in Carrion de los Condes

After some 4 – 5 Km on a small asphalted road, the PP-2411, I rode another 12 Kms on a dirt road all the way to Calzadilla de la Cueza.

I had the intention of riding all the way to Ledigos this day as this was the place Fernando told me he would stop for the night, but when I arrived in Calzadilla I saw a Hostel advertised for 5€ that had a swimming pool. What more could you want, right? I was also no feeling very well (probably too much sun and too little sunscreen) so I decided to stay there. The problem, however, was that there were 2 hostels side by side. The municipal hostel (without a pool) and the hostel Camino Real, the one with the pool. They both charge 5€ a night, but I end up staying in the municipal hostel, which despite not having a swimming pool was very good also.

Municipal Hostel in Calzadilla de la Cueza
Municipal Hostel in Calzadilla de la Cueza

Good shower, with warm water and gave me the opportunity to wash some clothes by hand and the bike, which was extremely dirty from all the dirt roads I took this day.

I had dinner in the “Camino Real” restaurant down the street and met Cristina and Pete from Holland and we decided to share a table and have dinner together. As we started to talk we were joined by Michael from Devon in the UK, an experienced pilgrim, who has walked the Camino many times before and said he planned to do it every year, since he was retired and had the time to do it. The year before he did it in 29 days and this year he was giving himself 39 days.

I know that feeling...
I know that feeling…

I wish I had the means to contact some of the people I met, but strangely I have never written down their phones or email address. Hope they are doing well.

Well, that’s it for the 6th day. If you are following my Camino posts you have my promise that I will write all 14 post I plan to, but it may take some time.

Thank you very much for your time.

<< Previous day                                                                                        Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 2 Average: 5]

Camino de Santiago, Day 5: Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Hornillos del Camino

View of Santo Domingo´s Cathedral
View of Santo Domingo´s Cathedral

Hi again and welcome to the 5th day post, the 5th day of my Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 29th of May 2015. We´ve done this stage of 97.26 Km (60.5 miles) from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Hornillos Del Camino in 7h and 36m, of which 5h 38m were of moving time.

This post is likely going to be shorter than previous ones, not because there is less to say, but because I´ve been struggling in getting these done and also because we rode a lot more this day, so stopped less for pictures and so on. Please message me with any questions in case there is something you´d like to know which is not here.

I left the hostel around 8am as usual, but Fernando opted for an early start and left about 1h before I did, so we rode the first 70 Km to Burgos separately and met in Burgos for lunch later.

Post Card I posted from Villafranca Montes de Oca to my "2nd Mum".
Post Card I posted from Villafranca Montes de Oca to my “2nd Mum”.

The “Camino” is about a time to reflect as much as it is about anything else and reflection and meditation is best done alone. On the subject of inner thoughts, one of the things I noticed during the Pilgrimage was that even for people walking in pairs, they tend to be very immersed in their own thoughts and often walked in complete silence. Of course there is laughter and sharing, but for many the pilgrimage has a spiritual meaning and provides them with the time they need to reflect about their lives so far. I honestly believe this is something every one of us should schedule in our calendars from time to time.

Time to reflect about one’s life, but not seated in the living room couch feeling sorry for oneself. Walking or riding a bicycle has a strange, but wonderful effect on thinking. Something about the fact you are not only mentally, but also physically active makes the reflection a truly enjoyable and positive experience, even if there are tears involved (or for the manly men, those bugs that hit their eyes). It somehow allows people to see themselves from a different perspective as the mind is thinking, but not overly caught in an inward attention since the body is also busy avoiding the obstacles of the track/road and taking care of those things we take for granted, such as breathing, heart rate, muscle fatigue, etc. Have a walk around the block today and think about this. Take the initiative! It doesn´t need to be an 800 Km pilgrimage, but perhaps a weekend trekking a mountain or something like that. It is very therapeutic.

Now, back to day 5… and I believe this is not going to be as short as I thought 🙂

Red delight. Wild Poppies on the right.
Red delight. Wild Poppies on the right.

I left Santo Domingo on the familiar N-120 road and with the exception of 4.5 Km on a dirt road used by the walking pilgrims (which follows parallel to the N-120 though) I stayed on it all the way to Burgos. About 3.5 Km after Santo Domingo, one of the lanes of the N-120 takes a strange and rather confusing turn to the right and if you continue straight on it, like I did, you end up getting on the wrong side of the road or you take the parallel dirt road, used by the walkers, like I did. If you are not keen on doing the walkers´ path, I´d advise you to stick to the road and save about 1 Km of your journey. Even if you do take the dirt road you will be able to re-join the N-120 at a little village called Grañon, 4.5 Km later, so no big deal.

Water Fountain at the entrance to Burgos
Water Fountain at the entrance to Burgos

As for the rest of the way to Burgos, I´ll ask you to watch the video and let the pictures “talk”.

I really enjoyed this ride. The road is nice and smooth, surrounded by green fields of wheat and other plantations. It was a cool, but not cold, day… so perfect conditions. The road is mainly flat, but when you get to the locality of Villafranca Montes de Oca you have a long, but manageable (6% ascent), climb of almost 4 Km in front of you. It is the highest point in the ride at 1,155m and I managed to climb it without having to push the bike. There was a bit of fog on the top that day. After the climb, the road is pretty much flat again all the way to Burgos.

Pedestrian zone in Burgos
Pedestrian zone in Burgos

Burgos is the next big city in the Camino, the capital of the Province of Burgos and once the capital of the Crown of Castile. I arrived in Burgos shortly before 1pm and Fernando was already waiting for me there. We went to the tourist information centre to stamp our Pilgrim´s credentials and had lunch at one of the various restaurants on the footsteps of the cathedral. I wish I could have spent more time in Burgos as it looked like a really interesting city. I did not enter the cathedral, but from the outside it looks majestic.

Burgos impressive Cathedral
Burgos impressive Cathedral

Apart from the Cathedral, Burgos has also a very interesting gothic architecture such as the gateway arch of Santa Maria, the old entrance gate to the town.

Gateway arch of Santa María
Gateway arch of Santa María

After Burgos we rode another 27 Km to Hornillos del Camino were we stopped for the night. We decided to stay on the N-120, but if you want to save about 10 Km of your journey, after you pass the town of Tardajos, turn left into the minor road that leads to the village of Rabé de las Calzadas and then take the walker´s path to Hornillos del Camino. I can´t talk about the conditions of this route for cyclists, as I have not done it, but looking at Google maps it doesn´t appear too bad (looks like it is a dirt road). I think it would save you lots of time. We got there about 1/4 to 5 in the afternoon.

Hornillos Meeting Point Hostel
Hornillos Meeting Point Hostel

In Hornillos we stayed at a newly refurbished Hostel called Meeting Point. When we arrived there were already lots of people in the garden enjoying the late afternoon´s sun, playing guitar and singing. The hostel was 8€ a night and we also used the washing machine to wash some of our clothes (4€ incl. Soap) which dried quickly as there was sun light for quite a few hours after 5. The hostel was great, however, the problem we faced in Hornillos was the number of pilgrims staying there was greater than what the village appeared to be able to handle. We could find only 1 restaurant in the village and the waiting queues were huge. We end up buying a sandwich at what appeared to be the only other commercial place open that night, and eating in the hostel´s kitchen, which gave us the opportunity to share some wine and hear some more fascinating stories from some of the other pilgrims staying there (Aussies, Korean´s, Dutch, Germans, just to name a few). It was great!

Well, that´s it… so much for a short post, right? 🙂

People that know me, know I can rarely keep it short… So much to tell. I hope it was worth reading, though. I shall soon have the “day 6” post ready, likely as short as this one… 🙂

<< Previous day                                                                                        Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 6 Average: 5]

Camino de Santiago: Day 4 - From Viana to Santo Domingo de la Calzada


Church in Viana
Church in Viana

Yeah, I know, this post was well overdue, sorry. This is about the 4th day of our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike which happened on the 28th of May 2015. We´ve done this stage of 64.24 Km (40 miles) from Viana to Santo Domingo de la Calzada in 8h and 19m, of which 4h 54m were of moving time.

Entrance to the Albergue (hostel)
Entrance to the Albergue (hostel)

We left the hostel just before 8am on this beautiful sunny day. As with previous days we were not certain where we would stop. We were trying to keep an average of 60 Km per day or, failing that, stop cycling by around 5pm, which would enable us to get to a hostel early enough to find plenty of beds available, shower and get ready for an early dinner.

Stork´s Nest in the outskirts of Logroño.
Stork´s Nest in the outskirts of Logroño.

We were near Logroño, the next big city in the Camino. The initial 5 Km were on the NA-111 with another 3 Km on a very nice and wide tarmac covered, cycle path (the “red road” you see in the video).

Logroño´s Cathedral
Logroño´s Cathedral

As we arrived in Logroño we crossed the river Ebro to get to the town centre and stopped briefly at a hostel we passed by to ask for directions and stamp our pilgrim´s credentials. We then started to look for a place to have breakfast and found this nice and friendly café bar under the arches of Calle Portales called Calenda.

Breakfast at Calenda
Breakfast at Calenda

While we were waiting for breakfast to be served, we managed to contact Paula via Facebook messenger, who, unlike us, rode all the way to Logroño the day before. She was, actually staying not far from where we were. It was a pleasure to have her company for breakfast.

After a nice and fulfilling breakfast the 3 of us walked a little, pushing our bikes, to the tourist information centre to stamp our pilgrim´s credentials (again, yes). There was a small market in the square in front of the tourist information with music and lots of young people.

Marcelino´s Hermitage
Marcelino´s Hermitage

Back on the bikes again we crossed Logroño riding together as a group for another 8 or 9 Km until we reached Marcelino´s “Ermita del peregrino Pasante” (hermitage of the passing pilgrim). What a nice bloke he is. I´d recommend you buy some mementos or souvenirs to help him out.

Marcelino and me
Marcelino and me

The ride to his hermitage was really nice, on a wide shared cycle / pedestrian path. There were a lot of pedestrians and runners on the path though, so caution is advised.

Next stop was the small town of Navarrete on a mix of minor road and dirty roads/tracks with a few places in which we had to push our bikes. In Navarrete we had some water and a bite to eat.

From Navarrete we continued on the NA-120 for another 5 to 6 Km where we left the road and continued on a dirty road that followed besides the A-12 motorway for 2 to 3 Km and then turned right onto another dirty road in the direction to Ventosa. After Ventosa we took some dirt tracks that proved quite difficult in places. This dirt track actually led us back to the same dirt road that ran besides the A-12, so we later realised we had made a big detour for nothing.

We intentionally followed mostly the same way the pilgrims on foot do this day, but in retrospect, had we stayed on the N-120 we would have probably saved some time, even though we might have had ridden a few Kilometres more.

Hostel in Najera
Hostel in Najera

The next town was Najera, where we stopped at a local hostel to stamp our pilgrim´s credentials and rest for a few minutes. Najera has an interesting rock formation, almost like a wall on one side of the town which led to some climbs on a dirt road in good condition.

Rocky wall in Najera
Rocky wall in Najera

For the first time we started seeing sign posts with the distance still remaining to Santiago. I took a picture at one of them (580 Km remaining). This region has a lot of olive plantations. That is the small bush you can see in the video.

580 Km to Santiago
580 Km to Santiago

After Azofra is essentially just dirt roads but there is a long and difficult climb full of pebbles as we approached Cirueña in which we had to push the bikes up for quite a distance. With the strong sun on top of our heads that wasn´t very easy. Cirueña is small but has a big and rather luxurious (it seemed) golf camp, in which the

Near Cirueña
Near Cirueña

restaurant welcomes pilgrims with special prices, apparently (we didn´t stop, but lunch was advertised at 6€ and breakfast 3€). We stopped briefly at a restaurant in town for some rest and water.

We left Cirueña on the LR-204 which had some nice and colourful wheat fields on both sides of the road.

The LR-204 took us straight into Santo Domingo de la Calzada where we stopped for the night. Almost at the same time as we arrived in Santo Domingo so did Paula. If we had agreed on a meeting time and place it would have probably not worked so well.

Bike Pilgrims are nothing new.
Bike Pilgrims are nothing new.

Paula, Fernando and I stayed at the same Albergue, the “Abadía Cisterciense” managed by sisters of the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Anunciación. The albergue is very basic and the rooms felt a bit tight, with rooms that you have to pass through to get to other rooms sometimes. It’s a building built around 1609, 330 years old, so no wonder the design is a bit odd. The rooms I saw had no bunk beds. It was 5€ a night.

Paula, Elenice and Fernando
Paula, Elenice and Fernando

After we settled down, the 3 of us left the hostel in the early evening to find a place to eat and it was in the restaurant that we met Elenice, also from Brazil. After dinner we all had a walk around town together. Elenice was walking the Camino, so after that day we never saw her again, but we all kept in touch through Facebook ever since and I am aware that after returning home Paula and Elenice accidentally bumped into each other in São Paulo, a small city of only 25 million inhabitants… small world this one we live in, isn´t it?

View of Santo Domingo´s Cathedral
View of Santo Domingo´s Cathedral

If you visit Santo Domingo, make sure you go into the cathedral as they keep a live Hen and a Rooster by the altar in a small chicken coop, which may seem odd until you learn about the legend of the Hen that sang after being roasted.

<< Previous day                                                                                      Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 2 Average: 4]

Camino de Santiago: Day 3 - From Puente la Reina to Viana

This post is about the 3rd day of my Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike. It happened on the 27th of May 2015.

Puente la Reina (The Queen´s Bridge)
Puente la Reina (The Queen´s Bridge)

Before we get started you should know that the time-lapsed pictures for this day started about 2 Km away from Puente la Reina where we stopped the day before. I thought I had turned the camera on as I left the hostel, but it turned out I didn´t. Unfortunately the day didn´t start with a time-lapse, but with a memory-lapse, I´m afraid 🙂

We´ve done this stage of 63.67 Km from Puente la Reina to Viana in 8h and 11m, of which 4h 55m were of moving time.

As we were getting our bikes ready to leave the hostel we met Paula from Brazil. Paula was also cycling the Camino, but having started from the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris she was already on the road for much longer than we were at that point. We met Paula along the way several times this day and thereafter all the way to Santiago.

Fields near Cirauqui
Fields near Cirauqui

We left Puente la Reina around 7:40am, not quite sure where we were going to stop. Weather improved significantly as you can see and we had a wonderful sunny day all day. Like in previous days, we left the hostel without having had breakfast. We stopped for breakfast 47 min later at a little village called Cirauqui about 10 Km away from Puente la Reina.

Poppies everywhere
Poppies everywhere

One thing I learned pretty quickly is that in Spain Breakfast is not a big meal. People typically only have a cup of coffee with toast and one or 2 pastries. My strategy was, however, to eat only once during the ride and then have dinner in the early evening after the day´s ride. I don´t like to fill up with food in the middle of a bike ride. I feel heavy and drowsy and don´t perform well.

After breakfast we continued on the NA-1110 which was the road we stayed pretty much all day, with the exception of the 10Km I rode by myself following the walker´s path after Irache, but I am going ahead of myself.

Water Fountain in Estella
Water Fountain in Estella

As we arrived in Estella and crossed the river Ega we decided to enter this historic town for a quick look around. Few moments later Paula arrived there also and we took a few pictures together.

Paula, Fernando and Me in Estella
Paula, Fernando and Me in Estella

Not long after leaving Estella we arrived at another known pilgrim landmark on the Camino: The winery known as “Bodegas Irache” with its famous wine fountain. It lies right beside the Irache Monastery witch is also a Camino landmark and served as a hospital for pilgrims for many years having been also a pontifical University, between 1615 and 1824, the first university of the kingdom of Navarra.

Irache Monastery
Irache Monastery

Although it´s called a fountain, wine does not flow continuously. Like in modern water fountains, you have to press a button for the red wine to flow. Wine comes out at natural temperature. It wasn´t really to my taste. This place is usually crowded with people trying to taste the wine and take pictures or selfies of themselves at the fountain.

Wine and Water fountains of Bodegas Irache
Wine and Water fountains of Bodegas Irache

After Irache, I was keen to experience the same paths as the walker pilgrims do, so I decided to take the walkers path and Fernando continued on the road. We agreed to meet in Los Arcos later that day.

This was the most challenging ride of that day. Please read the blog post for more information about this path and make sure that if you also want to take the walker´s path with your bike you understand the consequences.

Riding the walker´s path
Riding the walker´s path

The 1st 2 Km was done through a rather narrow forest path with various degrees of difficulty. Had to push my bike quite a few times because of the boulders and other obstacles along the way. The nice thing was that it was cool as the forest provided a welcome shade from the strong sun.

The remaining 8 Km are on dirt roads full of stones, sand and generally difficult to ride. Unfortunately most of it is upwards leading to a heights of above 700m in places, which is higher than that of the Alto del Perdón. If like me, you are keen to try the walker´s path with your bicycle, beware of the consequences before you commit to it. It took me 1.5 h to cover just 10 Km on the walkers´ path to a village known as Luquin were I met asphalt again. Another 1.5 Km and I was back on the NA-1110 and decided to stick to it as I thought I had suffered enough for the day.

Los Arcos indeed
Los Arcos indeed

From that point on to Los Arcos was another 10 Km on the road which I did in 35 Minutes.

Paula and Fernando in Los Arcos
Paula and Fernando in Los Arcos

When I arrived in Los Arcos Fernando and Paula were already there for some time. Given my breakfast in the morning was poor, I was starving and the paella at the little restaurant they were seated at was simply irresistible 🙂

We spend almost an hour there… we ate, we talked, drunk lots of juice and had ice creams. A truly enjoyable moment in the company of an old and new friend (no pun intended).

Church in Viana
Church in Viana

Back on the road again after the wonderful pit-stop in Los Arcos our goal was Logroño, but it was a hot afternoon and the ups and downs of the road to Viana to took a bit of a toll on us.

We arrived in Viana just before 5 in the afternoon and the intention was initially just to get our pilgrim credentials stamped. The Tourist Information office was closed until 5:30pm so we decided to stay there for the night.

View from the ruins of the San Pedro Church
View from the ruins of the San Pedro Church

Viana was officially founded in 1219 with a clearly defensive objective against the Kingdom of Castile. It´s Perched up on a hill and the urban layout is that of a fortified square, with narrow streets surrounded by part of its thick medieval wall. We walked around before heading to the hostel and one of the most interesting thing was the ruins of the Church of San Pedro which collapsed in 1844 due to damaged caused by the 2 wars that happened between 1808 and 1840.

Door to the ruins of the San Pedro Church
Door to the ruins of the San Pedro Church

We stayed at the municipal hostel called Alberguería Andrés Muñoz, which was good and wasn´t full. We paid 8€ each for the night. There were several empty beds in the room we slept that night. We stayed in the downstairs´ room after the kitchen / dining room. The room had 4 bunk beds (8 people) and had also lockers that required a 1€ coin to operate. The room had only one or two power sockets as well. Pillows were available, but there were no sheets or blankets. You need your sleeping bag.

Entrance to the Albergue (hostel)
Entrance to the Albergue (hostel)

The bathroom / toilet was right outside the room and it was clean with a good warm shower. The bikes stayed in the laundry room. There were 2 washing machines and a dryer and we took the opportunity to wash our clothes (I think it was €4 for the machine with soap included). There was WiFi available in the hostel and it worked in our room, although signal was weak.

View from Viana
View from Viana

We had dinner in one of the many restaurants in town and paid 8€ for the Pilgrim´s menu, but were charged 3€ for a beer as we declined the wine. I was sun burned in that day which caused me sun

View from Viana
View from Viana

fever at night. The fresh breeze as we walked out of the restaurant felt more like an arctic wind for me at the time, so while

Fernando decided to walk a little after

dinner I headed straight to the hostel for some internet browsing before going to bed.

<< Previous day                                                                                     Next day >>

Please rate this post by clicking on the desired star (1 = Awful, 5 = Excellent)
[Total: 10 Average: 4.4]