A few months ago I came up with this awesome idea that I would ride my bike around Spain. I like riding bikes. So I bought a bike. Then I bought a train ticket with a bike reservation. Then I bought a helmet and rode my bike around Madrid. Then I bought a patch kit and a tire pump and panniers (yeah, two weeks ago I didn’t know what panniers were either), which are saddlebags. Below is a picture of my lovely bike with all of its lovely gear.
I am not a cyclist. I am a bike enthusiast. I know how to tighten brakes and today I learned how to change a tire thanks to a YouTube video. I can guarantee that at some point along the way I will be sitting on the side of the road crying because something is broken even though I’ve tried to fix it ten times. And it will be raining.
Then I will walk my bike 10 kilometers to the next city, enjoying every once in a while the breeze of Spanish and French cyclists as they speed past me. And it will still be raining.
There will be good days too, I know. But that’s the thing about traveling; if it’s all easy and fun then really it’s not traveling.
This is my annotated map. 800 kilometers from San Sebastian to Santiago de Compostela.
P.S. I’ll try to update when I can, with pics and more info about the camino and its history.
Anne Foster 