From UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, is an ancient pilgrimage with roots in the 9th Century.  A shepherd found remains of a body and a local Bishop declared the remains those of the Apostle St. James the Greater and with this the Camino de Santiago was born.  The bishop ordered a church to be built on the site to house the remains of St. James or as it’s now called, Santiago.  As word spread, pilgrims started walking from all across Europe and even further away to visit the sacred burial site of one of Jesus’s apostles.  Over the years that small church grew to the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela that it is today.  The Way of St. James is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages that many follow as part of a spiritual path but it’s also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and tour groups.

Although we met pilgrims who walked more than 500 kilometers, we chose to cycle the final 220 miles on the Northern Route from the large sea-side city of Gijon, Spain to Santiago de Compostela.  We worked with the tour company Camino Ways to help us plan our Camino.  They provided maps and route information, great bicycles, luggage transfer and our hotels, but otherwise we were on our own.

We began our first day in Gijon, excited about the adventure and then promptly got lost and spent an hour getting back on track.  The path out of Gijon was hard to follow as it went through an industrial area.  It was a relief when we finally saw the scallop shell marker and knew we were on the right track.  It ended up taking us over nine hours to cover 39 miles but that included a lot of time stopping to consult the maps.  When we finally arrived at our hotel, it was after seven and no dinner for us because the restaurant

After climbing this grade, I couldn’t muster a smile.

closed at five.  We were tired, hungry and had seven for days of riding ahead of us.

The Scallop Shell is used as a symbol of direction along the Camino, pointing pilgrims towards Santiago.

But wait! It definitely got better as the next two days took us along the coast through charming Spanish villages and past gorgeous views of the sea.  After a two night stay at the coast in Ribadeo we knew we were going to have to turn south and ride up and over the coastal mountains.  So we spent the next three days climbing our way southwest toward Santiago.

We rode on all kinds of surfaces like cobbles, dirt, sad broken up pavement, as well as nicely paved streets and lanes.  In addition to riding, our days included time for getting lost, consulting the maps, resting from the climbs, taking pictures, visiting churches, talking to strangers and stopping for coffee and pastries.

Because the Camino began as a religious pilgrimage, the trail wound its way past many churches. On the Camino, churches varied from very small to quite grand, open and available, to locked up and dilapidated, to restored.

We Made it ti Santiago de Compostela!

From day to day we chose whether or not to ride on the actual Camino or on the road near it.  Sometimes it was just a rocky single track and not very friendly for bike riding.  On day eight, our final day, we decided to ride just the Camino trail. With only twelve and a half miles to go, I was psychologically prepared for a leisurely day. But no, with 1,152 feet of gain, I walked more hills than the whole rest of the ride. It was very cool to experience the increase in walkers and cyclists as the Camino trails from Portugal, France and other parts of Spain converged outside of Santiago. Although we did the Camino by ourselves, I really felt like we were part of something much larger than just a bike ride as we arrived at the end.