Biking the Camino de Santiago

Mary - Here is a liknk that might help. www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/biking-the-camino.24.

Was going to do that about ten years ago and have a ton of materials include the bike maps. Recently moved but will find it for you.
P.S. Should have asked. How serious are you about cycling?

Thanks, Frank, for your kind offer!

Hi Mary, I walked the Camino 4 years ago, what I can pass along about cycling is cyclists are welcome to stay in the alburgues though some will only let the cyclists in later in the evening after the majority of the walkers have checked in. I roomed with 3 cyclists one time, 2 men from Barcelona and a young woman from Basque country. I got to know them well since we all shared a 4 bed room in a private alburgue. There are basically three types of alburgues available, municipal, church and private, the private ones are becoming more and more common as way for Spaniards to make a living, the daily rate for them was anywhere from 5-10 euro with the majority in the 7 euro range, whereas the municipal and church ones are just a donation (donativo) whatever the pilgrim desires to pay to about 5 or 6 euro, also this is based on my Camino of 4 years ago so they may have gone up in price a bit.
You can also stay in hotels though those will be a lot pricier. If you're not familiar you will need a pilgrims passport for the alburgues and to get your Compostela when you arrive in Santiago, also since you're cycling you will also need to ride at least 200 km to qualify for your Compostela, walkers have to complete the final 100 km and get two stamps per day in their Pilgrims Passport. The cyclists I encountered pretty much all rode mountain bikes, the majority of the Camino is not paved and some is true mountain biking type trails, I've heard some do ride road bikes but I didn't encounter anyone doing that. As you can imagine you will need to pack light, for the most part as a point of reference most walkers carry about 10% of their body weight, there is no nee for camping gear except for maybe headlamps. my clothing consisted of 2 pair of pants, 4 shirts, the underarmor type because they're so light, my hiking boots and a pair of light weight shoes to wear in the evening, the alburgues do not allow people to wear their hiking boots or shoes worn on the Camino inside, they want to keep the floors clean from what could be tracked in. I don't have any specifics as far as renting bikes. If you have any specific questions about the Camino please feel free to contact me here or by PM, I also have numerous websites I can forward to you. Another website with a cycling board is http://www.caminoforums.com/cycling-camino-de-santiago/. I also have a blog I kept if you're interested in reading it, http://www.bhcamino2010.blogspot.com

Buen Camino!

Thanks for the great info everyone!
MB

Have not found the bike map for the trip. We moved last year and, of course, I thought I have everything well inventory. Found everything but the bike maps. Still looking.

As you are aware there are really a number of different roads to Santiago. The most common one is the Royal French road but there are others including the English road, Coastal Road, Eastern Road, etc. The bike route generally follows the French road but uses local roads and highways when the hiking path is to rugged for bikes. I am sure the travel section of the Spanish consulate in Chicago would send the map. I think that is where I got it when we were planning the trip. The bike route is suitable for good touring bikes and, of course, mountain bikes would work also. A standard, narrow tire, road bike would not.