It is not that I haven’t recorded a Bike Vlog every week in the past 3 weeks… I did record them! Watch the Vlog and I explain my sudden disappearance.
This Vlog was recorded 2 weeks ago (Friday, the 29th of April), but I had some personal issues and had no time to work on the video editing.
Via Francigena Map
So, I hope you can forgive me for not showing up in the past few weeks, as I will assume that if you are here is because you like to watch this old man talking (my children were actually relieved as they think I am making a fool of myself 🙂 )
to celebrate my next “Via Francigena” cycling project I am ordering a few pieces of customized EyeCycled clothing. For now this means: Short sleeve cycling jerseys and padded Bib shorts. Hopefully the picture below will give you some idea of what they are.
EyeCycled Cycling Clothing
They will be branded with the EyeCycled logo as you can see, but I am thinking of creating other types of designs and making them available through EyeCycled.com.
The cycling jersey Spec is:
145gsm coolmax mesh fabric (100%polyester) with sublimation print,
YKK full hidden zipper, elastic on cuff,
Silicone gripper on bottom,
3 rear pockets.
The Cycling Bib Shorts spec is:
82% nylon,
18% spandex,
Quality Gel padding
The promotional prices right now are as follows…
ITEM
UNIT PRICE
DELIVERY (*)
TOTAL
EyeCycled Cycling Jersey
£25.00
£4.50
£29.50
EyeCycled Shorts (BiB or suspender shorts)
£28.00
£4.50
£32.50
EyeCycled Clothing set (Jersey + shorts)
£50.00
£4.50
£54.50
(*) Delivery to Mainland UK only
The sizes are as follows:
Jersey Size Diagram
Sizing
(in cm)
X Small
Small
Medium
Large
X Large
XX Large
XXX Large
A
Chest
84
89
94
99
100
109
119
B
Centre Back Lenght
64
66
68
70
72
74
76
C
Sleeve
33
34.5
36
37.5
39
40.5
42
D
Sleeve Cuff
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
Bib Short Size Diagram
Sizing
(in cm)
X Small
Small
Medium
Large
X Large
XX Large
XXX Large
A
Waist-Loose
52
54.5
57
59.5
62
64.5
67
B
Front Rise
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
C
Back Rise
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
D
Inseam
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
E
Leg Opening
33
35
37
39
41
43
45
F
Full Lenght
41
43
45
47
49
51
53
Please get in touch through the contact form below to indicate if you would be interested in purchasing any of them.
This is the 1st post of 3 about the Devon Coast to Coast bike ride that I did during Easter 2016 with two good friends: Fernando and Eduardo. For the most part I stayed on the National Cycle Route 27, but in these 3 days I can say I experienced what I can closely call, the best and the worst of British Weather. Although I would understand if people say that was nowhere near as bad as the weather can get here in the UK, the 2nd day of the ride was bad enough for me, but let me focus on the 1st day.
If you don’t like reading, please watch this bike Vlog where I give a good verbal account of these 3 days of bike riding:
On this day, Friday the 25th of March, I rode from Ilfracombe on the north coast of Devon to the town of Okehampton. According to the data collected by my Garmin 810, I rode 86.43 Km or just under 54 miles in 6 h and 16 min, but the total time elapsed from start to finish was 9 h and 22 min. We had to make long stops this day due to problems on Fernando’s bike.
Ilfracombe Harbour
We left the Royal Britannia hotel in Ilfracombe just after 7:00 am, had breakfast at a nice, family run, café near the hotel, the Adeles café, and then went to get all the bikes out of the car, which we left parked at the Ilfracombe Harbour (at £10 per day).
With all the bikes out of the car, the next stop was the Ilfracombe Promenade where the video starts.
View from the Ilfracombe Promenade with the Landmark Seaview Theater to the left
Now, before you go watch the video, let me make a few remarks, so you don’t get too disappointed at the start and give up on it:
I usually use time-lapse photography to compress the time and the GoPro is usually mounted on the handlebar. This time, however, I had forgotten the camera handlebar mount at home and was forced to use the mount on my helmet, which for time-lapse is not ideal. There is a lot of head movement, especially in urban areas as I had to be aware of my surroundings. There is a limit for how much image stabilization can reduce the shakiness. It does get better on rural areas.
In a few places the camera seemed to have moved out of position and recorded mostly the sky 🙁 Sorry for that!
On the last 3 minutes of the video, as night fell (and added to the fact the time-lapse video was taken from my moving head) made the video unwatchable, but I decided to keep it anyway as a complete record of the day. Up to you if you have the eyes to watch it.
This video is a different approach from previous ones, not only because of the problems above, but because I decided not to worry about the length of the video (it’s 33 min long). I know most people watch only 3 to 5 min of video in YouTube and then give up, but I am assuming that if you are watching it is because you probably intend to ride this route also, so the more detail, the better.
Right at the start prepared to be challenged by some steep hills as you cross the town to get to the start of the route 27 cycle path. The path is very nice though, with some beautiful views of the valley below and the water reservoirs. You’ll cycle about 7 Km on cycle paths and then take right on Georgeham Road. From that point you’ll cycle on minor narrow roads (sometimes barely wide enough for a car) practically all the way to Braunton. Along the way, you’ll see some nice sea views on the distance.
Sheeps and Sea
We had to stop in Braunton because Fernando’s bike developed a rather serious disc brake issue, practically resulting in the loss of all brakes. Luckily the Southfork bike shop in Braunton was opened for business, despite being a bank holiday in the UK, and the entire hydraulic disc brake set was replaced.
View of Barnstaple from Long Bridge
It took about 1.5 h for them to complete the work which gave us enough time for some very tasty fish and chips at Squires, which I totally recommend. After the brake fault and the repair, we re-joined route 27 towards Barnstaple, one of the region’s biggest towns and the place we would come back to by train on Sunday. The ride alongside the river Taw is great and the path is smooth. Once you get to cross to the other side over the “Long Bridge”, you’ll continue to ride alongside the River Taw for several kilometres still.
Bideford Station, Tarka Trail.
The next town / village along the way is Instow, were you’ll pass by a 130 years old railway signal box on your way to Bideford. I found that after the old Bideford Station the Tarka Trail is really beautiful, with lots of old railway bridges over the river Torridge, such as the one where you can see the old Beam Aqueduct, which used to carry the Rolle Canal over the river Torrington, but is now a road bridge, and the Landcross tunnel, which I think is the longest tunnel along route 27 (in the video above I recorded these in normal video, not as time-lapse).
Landcross Tunnel
You’ll then follow the cycle path to the old Victorian railway station of Torrington which has now become the Puffing Billy Trading Co. Restaurant, really worth a rest stop (even though I didn’t).
Puffing Billy Trading Co. Restaurant
The stretch that follows after Torrington is really beautiful and I would recommend that, even if you don’t want to watch the entire 33 minutes video above, jump to about 21 min into the video and take a look at the surroundings. The cycle path follows the curvy path of little rivers and creeks with some simple, but interesting surprises along the way. If it was nice during spring time, I suppose in summer must be even nicer.
She looks so sad… Watch the video to find out why.
After that comes a long stretch of unpaved, but nicely compacted, of the Tarka trail through patches of forest. The ascent is small (perhaps 5 to 8%), but is very long. At times it gives the impression you will never stop going uphill. If you are fit and not carrying a lot of load on your bike, it will not be a challenge at all, but after 60 Km and with some 15 Kg on the bike it may not be as easy as it sounds. Looking at my Garmin stats I still managed to maintain an average speed of about 15 Km/h, peaking 22-25 Km/h at times, so it wasn’t so bad. There are some interesting sculptures along the way, which appeared to may have been created by school kids.
After that portion of the Tarka Trail ends you are back on the road, the A386 and traffic can be intense. If you’re riding with children I would advise extreme caution or find alternative routes as in some patches of the A386 there is barely any space for a bike and no hard shoulders (in some places you have a stone wall right beside the road on an incline).
As I was using Google Maps to guide me and wanted to follow the path of route 27, just before Hatherleigh the app guided me away from the A386 through some back roads of Hatherleigh. I did ask for directions, but decided to stick to Google Maps instead (it is not always advantageous to do so, listen to my Bike Vlog).
Google Maps guided me through some minor single lane farm roads and that was likely the reason why I did 4 Km more than my riding partners that day, as they stuck to the A386. All the time Google Maps was telling me I was on route 27, though, and I saw the many sign posts confirming that, so I believe I kept true to route 27’s intended path.
If it was summer time I would have arrived in Okehampton still in daylight, but as it was early spring the sun went down at around 6:30 pm and it became quite a dark night that day as stormy weather was being predicted to the next day (the arrival of storm Katie over the next 2 days).
So for about 40 min I had to use my headlight and, as mentioned before, the video became just a mess of shaky moving lights.
Okehampton Youth Hostel
As you arrive in Okehampton, in case you decide to stay in the Youth Hostel as well and having done more than 80 Km, be prepared for a long ascent as the Youth Hostel is located in the old train station in the highest part of town. So you’ll have about 2 Km uphill to go, with inclines that can reach about 10% at places. Not ashamed to say I pushed my bike on the last Km or so and that is why the video was so long at that final part. I got the Youth Hostel at around 7:30 pm in the evening and after doing the check-in, safely storing my bike in their bike shed, having a little rest and a shower I had missed dinner time, but I wasn’t hungry anyway.
To finish the account of my 1st day I’d like to thank the staff at the Okehampton Youth Hostel who went out of their way to help us and stayed until late so that when my riding partners arrived just before 10:00 pm that evening they could store their bikes too.
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I left home today with the intention of recording a bike Vlog to talk about my Via Francigena project, but I decided not to. Wasn’t really in the mood for talking today, but I thought would be nice to post some moments of the ride to Windsor. When I arrived in Windsor there was a Salvation Army parade coming in the other direction and I thought that could be interesting to show you.
Sorry, for not talking much, but I hope you can appreciate the effort. There are good days and there are bad days in life… 🙂
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Sorry for my sudden disappearance. It’s been quite busy on my professional and personal life right now, so haven’t had much time to dedicate myself to posting on EyeCycled.com during these past 2 weeks nor ride my bike. Still working on the posts and videos of the Devon Coast to Coast bike ride, though (rather slowly though).
Got some good news to share… The Via Francigena project is confirmed!
My request for an extended holiday leave has been approved by the company and I am booking my return flight from Rome this week.
I’ll be leaving the UK from the Canterbury Cathedral on Saturday the 30th of July and will have to arrive in Rome on the 8th of September, at the latest, to catch my flight back from Rome to the UK on the 9th.
This is a very exciting development for me and will be the longest bike ride of my life. I will have to do an average of 54 Km a day to cover the almost 2,200 Km from Canterbury to Rome, but I think it can be done and I am really looking forward to it.
Thank you for your support and stay tuned for more details.
This was my first bike ride of the week after returning from Devon where I completed the Devon Coast to Coast bike ride on the National Cycle Route 27.
I will be publishing posts about that ride here, but you can hear about some of my experiences on this Vlog.
If you enjoyed listening to this Vlog, please share it in social media.
Thank you for your time!
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Welcome to the post about the 14th and last day of our Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage by bike, which happened on the 7th of June 2015. We did this stage of 70.75 Km or 44 miles from Palas de Rei to Santiago de Compostela in 8h and 22 min, of which 4h 42 min were of actual moving time.
As I was in the middle of the writing of this post I decided to come back here to the top of the text again, just to let everybody know about the avalanche of emotions I feel as I write these words. Not only the emotion to have completed the “Camino de Santiago” Pilgrimage, which was in fact my 1st “real” long distance bike tour, but also about the incident which happened when we were just 19 Km away from Santiago.
I will get to that point in the text below, but first I want to go back to the subjective description of the day.
We left the hostel in Palas de Rei just after 8:00am and as we were riding out of town, on the main street, we stopped at a café for breakfast. That gave Guy, the Australian doctor who had ridden together with us the day before, time to catch up and join us again for a good portion of the day’s ride. Guy wasn’t riding all the way to Santiago this day as his scheduled called for a stop in Arzúa and the completion of his pilgrimage the next day.
The day was nice and sunny and we rode 15 Km for about 1h 45 min crossing through little villages like Carballal (just outside of Palas de Rei), San Pedro and many more (this region appears to be a densely populated area in northern Spain) until we got to the town of Melide, which had a lively Sunday market just across the road from the café we stopped for some coffee and juice. We were probably there for about 20 to 30 min and then back on the road again, the N-547, which was the only road we took this day and it brought us all the way to Santiago.
After leaving Melide, we rode another 15 km to a nice petrol station just before Arzúa (nature was calling some of us) had some water, ate some bananas and rested for a few minutes.
Picture made of coulourful leafs
Just a few hundred meters after the petrol station we stopped again at the town centre as there was some sort of religious celebration taking place (I think it was Corpus Christi as there was a huge picture frame made of colourful leafs on the floor near the church). There was a little market with religious items on sale and a nice choir / band playing. As Guy stayed in Arzúa that was the last time we saw him. We left Arzúa feeling re-energized by all the happiness around us and with a clear goal to reach Santiago this day.
Little did we know at the time that a sad moment was waiting for us up ahead.
After Arzúa we rode pretty much non-stop for 21 Km all the way to Pedrouzo. The little villages we crossed along the way were far too many to list here, so I am not even going to mention them. It was a day of mainly flat ride so we managed those 21 Km in just over 1h and 45 min.
Just before the town of Pedrouzo, few meters after a sign that indicated Santiago was 19 Km away, we witnessed something we were really not prepared for: Death!
Body of a 67 years old female pilgrim that was hit by a car while crossing the road.
There are statistics on pilgrims deaths during the Camino de Santiago. Apart from this 67 years old woman who was struck by a car, I am aware of another 41 years old American woman who, in April (2015) had gone missing for months until police found her body near the town of Astorga. She had been assaulted by a men after she got lost and apparently knocked at his door for directions (police suspects he painted fake yellow arrows to lure pilgrims to his house).
I write this not to scare anyone, as statistically speaking the number of deaths during the Camino is very, very small (about 15 to 20 every year for almost 250,000 pilgrims per year, or 0.0006%). Also keep in mind that the majority of those deaths are by natural causes (heart attacks, existing medical conditions, such as cancer, etc). I do believe there are pilgrims who know their lives are nearing the end and the pilgrimage is the last thing they want to do before passing, but many don’t make it. It is poetic though, to die trying.
So I would like to leave here a humble prayer, not only in the memory of the 2 ladies I mentioned above, but to all those who lost their life during the pilgrimage.
Please don’t be put you off by the incidents I described above! If you are thinking of doing the Camino de Santiago by foot or by bike, please keep in mind that the danger of doing it is probably NOT greater than any other dangers you might be exposed to in your normal day to day life (like crossing roads, etc), but because of the physical efforts necessary to walk or ride such a long distance carrying with you everything you will need for the journey, please be prepared, healthy and reasonably fit (nobody needs a 6 pack though), take good care of yourself and watch out for other pilgrims who you think may be struggling on their pilgrimage.
Make sure you don’t overly rely on the yellow arrows for direction. They are generally very good and are maintained by a legion of kind volunteers along the way whose only concern is to help the pilgrims, however, reports of fake yellow arrows are common, with the overwhelming majority being painted for commercial interests, like restaurants, hotels or hostels who want to attract pilgrims to come to or stay in their establishments.
After the initial shock, some of us considered not continuing the pilgrimage to Santiago that day and staying in Pedrouzo. The incident has even managed to generate a level of conflict between some of us, but thank God we didn’t stayed and moved. For me there is nothing like a bike ride to think and clear the mind of all worries.
Five kilometres later we were approaching the International Airport of Santiago and met a group of fellow cycling pilgrims whose one member had a broken chain. We tried to help as much as we could, but unfortunately were not able to and they had to proceed, presumably, pushing their bikes the rest of the way as it was Sunday and bike shops were closed.
As we got nearer to Santiago a new avalanche of emotions was starting to take place. Santiago the final destination for most Camino Pilgrims. I was firmly in the decision to extend my pilgrimage to Finisterre as I knew we would get to Santiago with time to spare, but Fernando, Marcelo and Alice ended their journeys here.We had ridden for more than 820 Km with just 3 Km to go to the Cathedral when Marcelo had a bit of bad luck and got a flat tyre. None of us had a spare inner tube that would fit his 29′ wheel and the tyre sealant spray I had brought with me didn’t help either (I came to the conclusion these things are a waste of money and time), so we had to fix the tube the old way, with a rubber patch and glue. It wasn’t perfect, as we probably were too impatient to leave and didn’t wait long enough for the glue to properly work, but it was good enough to get Marcelo the rest of the way.
The little ride from that point to the Cathedral, which is the final destination for most pilgrims, was for me a mixture of excitement and apprehension. You know when you come to the end of a journey and you are happy to be completing it, but you wish it wouldn’t end? Emotions in conflict.
Santiago is an old medieval city and the streets of the old town centre are narrow and, at first, a bit confusing to navigate, but we kept asking for directions and managed to find our way relatively quickly.The arrival at the cathedral square was a great moment. I know this is something hundreds of thousands of people do each year and millions have done it over centuries, yet, there are 7 billion people living on this planet right now and God knows how many have lived since the times of Saint James (Santiago), so it feels pretty special when you know you have done something not many humans will ever get a chance (or be willing) to do. We took pictures and enjoyed the moment before leaving the square to look for the pilgrims’ office, where the Compostela certificate is issued by the Catholic Church upon presenting your fully stamped pilgrim’s passport. Luckily the queue was not too big and we had to wait perhaps less than 30 min to get ours. Again, time for everyone in the group to take pictures of their certificates and proudly show them to the world over the internet.
We left the pilgrims’ office and went to the tourist information bureau which is just a few meters down the road. Accommodation in Santiago is pretty expensive in relation to the other places, towns and cities along the way.
The cheapest private hostel we could find, which was in the city centre, charged us 22€ each for a bed in a tiny room with 2 bunk beds (4 beds). There were a couple of showers / toilets which were OK, but not exceptional in cleanliness and functionality (please read the day 15 notes below for more recommendations about accommodation in Santiago). In strong contrast to the “5 Star” hostel we stayed in El Acebo and considering Santiago is the final destination for most pilgrims, the volume of business should justify an increase in the offer of beds in my opinion. Again, the ugly face of the system of things is always showing itself, where money and commercial interest take priority over everything else. Yes, I understand the reason for it to be so, that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
After a shower and a little rest, we left the hostel to look for a place to eat dinner. There is absolutely no shortage of restaurants, cafés and eateries in Santiago and the city, seems to be alive until late hours even on weekends (this was Sunday). After some lovely dinner and wine we walked a bit around the city centre and took many night pictures of its magnificent cathedral.
Click on the picture to see all other 110 photos in the Flickr Album.
It was the perfect end of the day, for a day full of contrasting emotions. Even the sadness of the fatal accident we’ve witnessed could be seen in a positive light, in the sense that it reinforced in us the certainty of our own mortality and how precious every moment of our physical lives is, because you never know when it will be the last.
So the lyrics of the theme song I choose for the final video are some of the last words I wish to leave you with, for this part of the post.
This was the 14th and final day of our Camino de Santiago by bike, but I think the experiences we had the next day, when we moved to a different pilgrims’ hostel might be relevant for many reading this.
I will also write at least 2 more posts: One to cover my ride from Santiago to Cape Finisterre (Fisterra) and another to perhaps summarize all the experiences and provide some extra resources and information for future pilgrims planning to do the pilgrimage themselves (they say the pilgrimage starts when you decide to do it).
Just some quick notes about the next day in Santiago.
The first thing we wanted to do was to move hostels. Marcelo and Alice had a few things to sort out in relation to the transportation of their bikes back to Brazil and decided to stay somewhere else, so this was the last time we saw them.
After some research we decided to move to a hostel maintained by a not for profit organization, the Albergue Fin del Camino or Hostel the end of the way (Click here for a flyer in Spanish), at the Rúa de Moscova (Moscow Street) near Santiago’s biggest shopping centre, the “As Cancelas“. Although this hostel is not in the city centre it is not far, about 25 min walk and if you take a bus it’s just about 10 min away. The price for the bed was 8€ and the hostel has been recently fully renovated. Everything is brand new and clean.
The hostel has 110 beds and the beds are in large dorms with up to 10 bunkbeds (20 beds) per room. Included in the price is your own bedsheet (a kind of cheap linen with stretchy borders). The mattresses are comfortable and the beds are sturdy. Another great thing about this hostel, which is different from many others in the Camino, is that in this one you can stay for as long as you like, which is quite handy if you planned some extra days and get in Santiago too early. Each pilgrim can have a large locker, but you need to pay a 5€ deposit for the key, which is returned when you return the key.
There is more detail on the links above (kitchen and laundry facilities, etc), but I would like to leave here a strong recommendation that if you are doing your pilgrimage on a budget, i.e. you are looking for good value pilgrims’ hostels to stay, this is definitely the best in Santiago (some pilgrims chose to reward themselves with a bit of comfort when they get to Santiago, and that is perfectly alright). One IMPORTANT thing about this hostel is that is almost right in the path of the pilgrims’ route to the cathedral, in fact only 2 blocks down the road you will most likely take to get to the city centre, the N-634. The problem is that there aren’t any sign postings to the hostel, so it is easy to miss. My recommendation to you would be, if you can, that as you approach the first signs for the “As Cancelas” shopping centre, go look for the hostel, or use these Google coordinates. I have highlighted in the “Video Moments” video the direction to the hostel. You can then leave everything there in your locker and then walk or cycle to the city centre, load free, but don’t forget to bring your pilgrim’s passport and other documents with you. Keep in mind the hostel opens only at 11:30am, so if you get to Santiago too early that may not be an option for you, unless you are OK waiting or perhaps walking around the shopping centre until the hostel opens.
After we were re-lodged in our new home for the next few days, Fernando and I walked to the city centre, and by sheer luck met Paula again who we met on days 2, 3 and 4 of the pilgrimage (what a small world, right?)
This day we have checked another of the pilgrims’ traditions from the list: To hug the golden statue of Saint James from behind. It seems to be the final act that closes the Camino pilgrimage. Unfortunately photography is forbidden, likely due to the high value of the gem stones engraved in the statue.
We did not witness the famous “botafumeiro” event this day, but I did witness it after my return from Finisterre and I am going to write about it in my next post.
Feel free to browse through the photos of this day in the Flickr album.
If you like this post, please indicate so clicking on the 5 stars on the bottom of the post, share it in social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), leave comments or to get in touch through the contact form, if you have questions you believe I can answer.
I was as sick as a dog this week, but I didn’t want to let it end like that. It could give the impression I don’t care and I do. So I hope you appreciate the effort and be kind in your judgement. Learning as I go… 🙂
The full EOS Video is here. To the content owners of the video, if you are not happy with me sharing it this way, please let me know and I’ll be happy to remove it from this Vlog. I am hoping you won’t mind though 🙂
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Even though I record these on Thursdays, by the time I published them in YouTube is already Friday, so perhaps I should start calling them the Friday Bike Vlogs 🙂
In this Vlog…
The Devon Coast to Coast ride during Easter with my friends Fernando and Eduardo.
Drone watching
Post about the 14th day of my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
Thanks for watching and if you like it, please hit the thumbs up button in YouTube as well as share and like in Facebook and other social media services.
‘Til next week… if it doesn’t rain 🙂
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