Camino by Trike?

[skelo]

Bit of a Long-shot, just wondered if anyone has done the Camino on a Trike?

I am thinking of having a go at it with a mate on two wheels, probably in April/May 2021, or more likely 2022. being 'limited mobility' and with the restrictions of a trike I like/have to plan well in advance. (as well as saving up and convincing the wife to let me go!)

The Trike won't fit in a car and wont fit on (any) public transport so I pretty much have to cycle 'round trip'. I can't pitch a tent or get in a sleeping bag so its definitely B&B or cheap hotels.

Having done a bit of route planning on Cycle Travel and have come up with a couple of possible options.
1. Ferry to Bilbao. south to Burgos to pick up the Camino route to Santiago de Compostela then return using the North coastal route via Coruna and back to Bilbao 1350km 50% of it looks pretty hilly so will take me about 4 weeks.
2. Ferry to Bilbao, hire a van one-way to take me and trike to Santiago, cycle back across to Burgos, up to Hendaye to cross into France. 'Velodysseye' up to Caen and get the ferry to UK. roughly 1600km, mostly flat but with the odd significant hump. about 4.5 weeks at my pace.

I know that back home through france will be ok obstacle-barrier wise. Any thoughts about northern spain? or general camino/route advice?

[simonineaston]

been done by donkey...

[Tigerbiten]

You're probably looking to follow the "pilgrim's route" Eurovelo 3 which is not fully developed in Spain.
So signposts may/will be patchy in some areas and some roads may/will be less than ideal.
I'd go over to "crazy guy on a bike" to find and read ride reports of that route.
That should give you a better idea as to what's the route like.

Luck .........

[skelo]

been done by donkey...

Donkey on a trike?

[tatanab]

Upright or recumbent?
I have not ridden the Camino in any great distance but have crossed the route several times. However, I have ridden an upright from Bilbao to St Malo when I was attending a tricycle race in the Deux Sevres area. I don't follow any sort of preplanned route. I knew that the coast road north from Bilbao would be very busy, and there is another big road route further inland. In between it is possible to use a minor road route which gets exciting in a few places due to some severe gradients and roads that look like concrete farm tracks with no road signs (days before GPS, but still only about 12 years ago). Having ridden the Raid Pyrenneen about 20 years before this trip, I knew that the coastal roads around Henday are very busy indeed, so I chose to travel a little way inland at that point, crossing the Spanish/French border near Ainhoa. From there I stayed a little inland through Les Landes to cross the Garonne on the ferry to Royan which is a nice 30 minute break. After that - routine riding up to St Malo. While in Les Landes area I did look at some of the cycle routes which were well surfaced being a holiday area, but they were not something I wanted to use since I was not dawdling and like to spend my time on the tiny back roads.

[jimpolaris]

I have cycled the Camino Frances 3 times on a steel hardtail mountain bike.I stuck to the walkers path where sensible.The best advice I can offer is to get yourself a copy of,The Way of St James;a cyclists guide.john higginson;cicerone press.Finally if you do it you are in for a treat.I would love to have a fourth visit but home circumstances do not permit.

[IanA]

If you are able to do the whole thing would the reverse of the second option not be better? Cycle across France and join the main Camino Frances at St John Pied de Port. Once at Santiago hire a vehicle to drive back to Santander for the ferry. This would allow you to join in the full experience of the camino, meeting the other walkers/cyclists, joining up with others for small sections, meeting up with the same group of people at different times as your paths continue to cross and finishing at the cathedral in Santiago. We did this by tandem a few years ago, making up our own route across UK/France. Across Spain we didn't follow the walking route but the closest most appropriate road/track, which in many places was also the walking route so still lots of people about. There were some sections of the walking route that would be only possible on a mountain bike and therefore I suspect not possible on a trike. We met lots of other cyclists doing similar to us and therefore still had the feeling of being on the camino. We picked up a vehicle at Santiago airport which is just out of town, and you pass on the way in, and dropped it off at Santander Airport, again just a short cycle ride from the ferry terminal. There is lots of information and web sites on the net if you do some searching, including camino discussion forums with cycling sub-forums. We found a Michelin map of the walking route in a small book format was useful. We met a few Dutch/German cyclists using the Bikeline Jakobs Radweg guide which although in German has detailed maps of what is becoming a well used cyclists version of the camino route. A very comprehensive guide, principally for walkers but with masses of information for anybody travelling the route, is "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino De Santiago: St. Jean - Roncevalles - Santiago" by John Brierly. This is updated annually so get the latest edition. Accommodation on the route is relatively easy as long as you are not at a busy time. There are very few people who camp with many of the pilgrims staying in dormitory style hostels/Albergues. We avoided these as they have a reputation of being noisy, with walkers leaving very early to make sure they get a place at the next one. There are plenty of small hotels and rooms available along the route mainly meeting the needs of the pilgrims. We mainly used Booking.com to book a few days ahead although there are plenty of lists of accommodation and other facilities available. For food, everywhere offers a cheap 3 course Pilgrim menu which is generally good if a bit repetitive at times.
In conclusion, yes perfectly possible by trike but following a cycling version of the walking route. Have a great time.

Photo of parallel walking and cycling route on the way to Leon.

[skelo]

Upright or recumbent?
I have not ridden the Camino in any great distance but have crossed the route several times. However, I have ridden an upright from Bilbao to St Malo when I was attending a tricycle race in the Deux Sevres area. I don't follow any sort of preplanned route. I knew that the coast road north from Bilbao would be very busy, and there is another big road route further inland. In between it is possible to use a minor road route which gets exciting in a few places due to some severe gradients and roads that look like concrete farm tracks with no road signs (days before GPS, but still only about 12 years ago). Having ridden the Raid Pyrenneen about 20 years before this trip, I knew that the coastal roads around Henday are very busy indeed, so I chose to travel a little way inland at that point, crossing the Spanish/French border near Ainhoa. From there I stayed a little inland through Les Landes to cross the Garonne on the ferry to Royan which is a nice 30 minute break. After that - routine riding up to St Malo. While in Les Landes area I did look at some of the cycle routes which were well surfaced being a holiday area, but they were not something I wanted to use since I was not dawdling and like to spend my time on the tiny back roads.

useful info Thanks

Recumbent with a bit of e-assist (necesarry for anyrthing steeper than 10%) happy to go inland and do some hills to avoid busy roads and better scenery. sadly coastal roads always seem to busy.

[skelo]

If you are able to do the whole thing would the reverse of the second option not be better? Cycle across France and join the main Camino Frances at St John Pied de Port. Once at Santiago hire a vehicle to drive back to Santander for the ferry. This would allow you to join in the full experience of the camino, meeting the other walkers/cyclists, joining up with others for small sections, meeting up with the same group of people at different times as your paths continue to cross and finishing at the cathedral in Santiago. We did this by tandem a few years ago, making up our own route across UK/France. Across Spain we didn't follow the walking route but the closest most appropriate road/track, which in many places was also the walking route so still lots of people about. There were some sections of the walking route that would be only possible on a mountain bike and therefore I suspect not possible on a trike. We met lots of other cyclists doing similar to us and therefore still had the feeling of being on the camino. We picked up a vehicle at Santiago airport which is just out of town, and you pass on the way in, and dropped it off at Santander Airport, again just a short cycle ride from the ferry terminal. There is lots of information and web sites on the net if you do some searching, including camino discussion forums with cycling sub-forums. We found a Michelin map of the walking route in a small book format was useful. We met a few Dutch/German cyclists using the Bikeline Jakobs Radweg guide which although in German has detailed maps of what is becoming a well used cyclists version of the camino route. A very comprehensive guide, principally for walkers but with masses of information for anybody travelling the route, is "A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino De Santiago: St. Jean - Roncevalles - Santiago" by John Brierly. This is updated annually so get the latest edition. Accommodation on the route is relatively easy as long as you are not at a busy time. There are very few people who camp with many of the pilgrims staying in dormitory style hostels/Albergues. We avoided these as they have a reputation of being noisy, with walkers leaving very early to make sure they get a place at the next one. There are plenty of small hotels and rooms available along the route mainly meeting the needs of the pilgrims. We mainly used Booking.com to book a few days ahead although there are plenty of lists of accommodation and other facilities available. For food, everywhere offers a cheap 3 course Pilgrim menu which is generally good if a bit repetitive at times.
In conclusion, yes perfectly possible by trike but following a cycling version of the walking route. Have a great time.

Photo of parallel walking and cycling route on the way to Leon.

Thanks, really useful info!
Yes would love to meet people on the way, I have now looked at a lot of the route on street view and there is often a walker or cyclist in frame so I don't expect to be alone! Is it normally a one-direction experience? i.e. to Santiago, not from?

Its a long way off so all options are open Including cycling to/from York to Portsmouth, or indeed Hull and then cycling to/from Rotterdam/Zeebrugge.

from the responses it seems like a goer to me as long as i can squeeze it into a month. and work out how to do it at reasonable cost (which I doubt!)

[IanA]

Yes would love to meet people on the way, I have now looked at a lot of the route on street view and there is often a walker or cyclist in frame so I don't expect to be alone! Is it normally a one-direction experience? i.e. to Santiago, not from?

Yes it is very much a one way experience, historically carrying out a pilgrimage to the bones of St James supposedly held in the cathedral. I suspect a large proportion of the people are not now following it for religious reasons, we weren't, but many are. We did however attend one of the pilgrim services held at the cathedral in Santiago which made a good end to the trip.

Only you will know whether you can do it in a month. We are what I refer to as long distance potterers. We spent a week in the UK, 3 across France and 3 across Spain to Santiago, although that included a few days with friends in the UK, days off and half days for rest, tourist things etc. We then spent a week continuing to Finisterre, on to Muxia and back to Santiago, and a week with car back to Santander. A bit of an early retirement trip.

[HarryD]

I found 'El Camino Frances: Camino de Santiago en Bicicleta' by Mardones and Datcharry to be excellent. Although written in Spanish its maps and graphics are very clear and need no translation. Apart from the main route there are alternatives for tricky bits and nearby roads are shown to give even more choice. Accommodation detail is comprehensive. I've used the guide to the Camino Frances and the Via de la Plata from Sevilla and have not found anything better. GPS downloads are also available. Highly recommended.

We usually stayed in local pensions and hostals which we found to be cheap and often with very good value meals. A couple of nights in pilgrim accommodation which was perfectly fine and we did get a good nights sleep and meals. In both cases there was no charge but a donation was welcome but with no pressure to do so whatsoever. We needed the pilgrim passports to get in which are easy to get and you will need if you want your compostela. Even if you only do a couple of nights they may be the ones you remember.

Definately do it towards Santiago, Whatever your beliefs you will find it a special journey. Approx 770km from Roncesvalles.

[Tilley]

How do people organise the return leg? Especially interested as I too am a trike rider.

[Tigerbiten]

Bent trike and trailer user here.
I've always done a round trip when on tour.
I cycle out to the most distant point.
The cycle home by a different route for more variation.
Ferries are used as needed.

Luck ............

[Tilley]

I would agree I much prefer a circular route. Especially as transporting the trike on public transport is difficult.

[skelo]

[quote="Tilley"]How do people organise the return leg? Especially interested as I too am a trike rider.[/quot

I guess the return leg is always difficult with a trike. Mine is a non-folding Kettweisel so any public transport is a definite no-no.

I am in York so can cycle to the Hull Ferries which is handy.

2019 did a 10-day tour of Holland and Belgium via Hull simple round trip home-home

2017 did York to Lucca one way over 35 days. Lucky to have a best mate who is a Housebuilder who sent a one of his guys in a Transit van on a 3000 mile round to pick my trike up allowing me to drink a lot of wine and then fly home.

Spent a life doing people favours so I'm not embarrassed about calling them in now I need it!