Northern Spain

colm ó maonaigh

Hello All,
Am heading off in just over 10 days for my annual trek in France, this time from Rennes to Santander for about 3 weeks. I am not worried about the route to San Sebastien as I have done this before but am a little unsure of the next stage along the coast (well as much as possible) to Santander so I am wondering if any of the members have done this stretch before...in particular Caroline as I know this is your neck of the bois (close to).
We (de missus and I) are getting on in years so any unnecessary Cols are to be avoided, apart from the Pyrenees. I do realise this is an anathema to the hard core (apart from 'godihatehills') but the oul knees are creaking a lot of late.

p

We did the Camino de Santiago route a few years back. It's further inland than you mentioned but very very nice, with some amazing little towns along the way. Also, it's very well documented because of that. There's a book "Cycling the Camino" that we followed which is a road route parallel to the walking route which is nice to use as a base. Could be worth checking out.

Also, if yo're going through the pyrnnees, try say in St Jean Pied de Port, it's a really beautiful french town at the foot of the pyranees.



Also, for next years cycle, go to denmark, the flattest country in Europe.

blorg

The Camino Francés route is very nice all right and worth considering but so is the northern coast, I did La Coruna-Finisterre-Santiago-Bayonne ten years ago via the northern coast. The northern coast is actually an alternative Camino route although not half as popular as the Francés.

You can follow the coast pretty much all the way, the roads were not crazy busy IIRC. Lots of campsites if that is your thing (very few on the Camino route.) The Camino route would be tougher (hillier.) From Asturias east on the coast they are quite into using viaducts to cross valleys so it is pretty easy, got across the Basque Country pretty quick.

The Francés route would probably be a bit of a detour if going to Santander.

Caroline_ie

No I've never done it ... i left France i was 18 ... i wasn't cycling back then
It's funny you mention it though, because I am planning to tackle that part when i head back in October ... never toured before ( nothing certain yet though )

colm ó maonaigh

I just want to thank all for their contribution to this thread, especially Blorg for going to the trouble of uploading the map. I do remember your pics and account of the Camino trip but never realised I would be close to that route this time round.
Thanks also to p but we will be hugging the coast, altho the Denmark tip sounds promising. Will pencil it in after the Danube.
Apologies Caroline, I thought I read last year you were planning to cycle Bordeaux/Biarritz or sumptn similar.
Getting to the anxious stage now of what to bring or more like, what not to bring. Also the hardy annual of how to present the bikes.
I see Aer Lingus now mention ''Bicycles must be boxed or bagged. These can be purchased at the airport.(???) To pack bicycles passengers are advised to remove the front wheel and secure it to the frame, lower the handlebars and saddle and place in line with the frame and invert the pedals''.
This is a new policy as in previous years I just presented bike with pedals removed, saddle lowered and handlebars removed and attached to crossbar.

rughdh

Just got back from Spain with Mrs Rughdh. Flew into and out of Alicante with Aer Lingus. We turned the handlebars sideways, lowered the saddle, removed the pedals and let a biteen of air out of the tyres. No need to deflate them fully, because the pressure doesn't increase that much.

The handlers said that there was no need to remove the pedals, but this can depend on who's on. They take care of the bikes at this end (usually), but at Alicante they put them on the carousel.:eek: It is a good idea to go straight to the carousel after landing, just in case the bikes are left in a dodgy place as they are usually taken off first. They were left in front of the trolleys in Dublin on the way back, so we had to leg it to them to prevent other passengers from inadvertently wrecking them in an anxious attempt to get at a trolley.

Bikes can get scratched/damaged unbagged/unboxed, so for that reason I wouldn't bring my favourite road bike like that.

As for the Pilgrim route, I don't know much about it except that we saw many pilgrims in Jaca and Sabinanigo (Aragón) and a sign 'Camino de Santiago' on the road from the Portalet to Sabinanigo. Whether pilgrims climb the Portalet or not, I have no idea. The scenery is breathtaking, though.

FergusF

Hi Colm, I cycled from Carcasonne to Santander 3 years ago, following the Camino del Norte route more or less. Some useful discussions here about the route which might help you out.

I found the route quite hilly as far as Bilbao, you'll need some low gears. I did it on a Kona Smoke, carrying about 12kg of gear in panniers and a bar bag. I averaged about 80km per day, my longest day was 125km as far as Bilbao, after that spent 2 days relaxing and sightseeing there.

The route has some nice scenery, very light traffic and courteous drivers. Food is good and cheap, look out for 'menú del dia' signs, a full 3 or 4 course meal for about 7/8 euros. Laredo was one of the highlights of the trip for me, nice medieval old part and a massive beach.

I stayed mostly in youth hostels, if you have the 'pilgrim's passport' they give you a special pilgrim's price, around 12 euros I think.

I am planning to complete the trip from Santander to Santiago this autumn, looking forward to it.

Good luck, sure you will enjoy the trip.

FergusF

colm ó maonaigh wrote: »

Getting to the anxious stage now of what to bring or more like, what not to bring. Also the hardy annual of how to present the bikes.
I see Aer Lingus now mention ''Bicycles must be boxed or bagged. These can be purchased at the airport.(???) To pack bicycles passengers are advised to remove the front wheel and secure it to the frame, lower the handlebars and saddle and place in line with the frame and invert the pedals''.
This is a new policy as in previous years I just presented bike with pedals removed, saddle lowered and handlebars removed and attached to crossbar.

Forgot to mention in my earlier mail, I brought the bike on Ryanair - removed the pedals and front wheel, lowered saddle and lowered & rotated the bars. Added some bubble wrap to protect the frame from scratches. Secured the pedals and front wheel to the frame. Then wrapped the whole lot up in a clear plastic sheet that I recycled from a builder's providers, and sealed it with some packing tape. This fulfilled their 'bagged' requirement and meant not having to carry a bike bag, just chucked the wrapping in a bin on arrival.

Re what to bring, don't go overboard. You shouldn't need much in the way of heavy clothes this time of year. I traveled in April, brought full rain gear which I never used. And just the basic 2X shorts, socks, jerseys & wash the used ones in the sink each night. Also brought a pair of trekking pants and a long sleeve shirt for going out in the evenings.

No need to overdo the spares either, there are bike shops in most towns that will have tyres, etc if you are stuck. I carried allen keys, one tube, repair kit and pump, didn't end up using any of them fortunately.

blorg

FergusF wrote: »

look out for 'menú del dia' signs, a full 3 or 4 course meal for about 7/8 euros.

...including a bottle of wine. My shortest day was a boozy 2km in 45C heat after lunch outside Bilbao.

Regarding the boxing and bagging, I doubt that is actually enforced. It is generally down to the airport rather than the airline in any case and previously Aer Lingus stated boxing was only required out of Amsterdam. Most recent flight with an unboxed bike was Ryanair to and from Alghero last month and there were no problems, no removal of pedals, wheels, etc., only requirement at all was to remove a bit of air from the tyres.