Cycling Camino del Norte
In spring 2022, I had my first taste of the Camino de Santiago. A trio of us, all first-time pilgrims, ventured onto the first stages of Camino del Norte and ended with a party weekend in Bilbao. A winning combination, I must say! I clocked in 130 kilometers, cycling from San Sebastián to Gernika.
Day One
I took an early morning train from Paris Montparnasse to meet my friends in San Sebastián. This was a great way to start my trip — change trains at Hendaye on the French side, and rock up to a tapas lunch in San Sebastian! We were so happy to walk around town and be in a holiday mood. San Sebastián felt like a smaller and chiller Barcelona, and I’d love to go back and spend more time here. On this day, though, I picked up my rented road bike and got ready to start cycling.
Day Two
Each stage of the Camino is usually 25-35km and it’s easiest to follow the stages to chunk up your route, since the luggage services and accommodations use it, too. Since my friends were on foot while I was on my bicycle, I had mapped quite the leisurely route for myself. There was even a beach day planned, to allow for longer distance cycling the next day.
San Sebastián to Getaria was a short ride but it was a lot hotter and hillier than what I’m used to in Paris, so it felt like just the thing to start with. Dining and exploring the town of Getaria together was a blast. We greeted each other like we hadn’t seen each other in months!
Day Three
A very short ride in the morning, which was a blessing because I was completely consumed by hay fever symptoms. Sweating, sneezing and cycling are not a good combination. I hydrated my overheated body at a bar — one of the best parts of cycling in Spain are the bars — and rode into town to find a pharmacy. I glared blearily at the sea till the cytrizine kicked in, then trudged uphill to our lodgings. My friends were exhausted, too. After a rather quiet lunch, we decided that each person would do their own thing that afternoon.
I knew what I wanted to do — head out to Ruta del Flysch along the coastline for hiking! This is part of Basque Coast Geopark and most pilgrims skip it because it is not part of the main Camino route. But part of what I learned doing the Tour du Mont Blanc was that it’s good to do some detours based on your own research. This hike in fact is part of the GR-121 and it’s truly one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen. What a treat to take all of this in in silence. I hiked, swam, and rested, filled with gratitude for everything that led to this moment.
Day Four
This was my rest day. I rode into Zumaia, treated myself to some fancy tapas and a beer, and spent the afternoon chilling on the beach. I wasn’t exhausted per se but I was glad for a break. The heat was sapping my strength.
Cycling solo, and paying attention to the route and my physical and mental condition, was taking a different kind of energy, too. It was nice to have good roads and friends to meet almost every evening — a great onramp to build my skills, so that I could do this more often, with more ease.
Day Five
This day was to have the longest ride of this trip. I felt fully rested and added a few detours to the route to get in more distance. I also left early in the morning so that I could rest at a beach during the hottest hours of the day! A fantastic day.
From a Postcard (my personal newsletter) that I wrote that day:
I’m cycling down the coast of Basque Country this week, downing a cortado and cheese tortilla at a bar each morning (second breakfast!) and coaxing a few more kilometers out of a rented bike that’s seen better days. Car traffic is minimal. Road conditions are decent. Going downhill feels like flying, racing the sun to the next beach enclave tucked against a cliff. An occasional cyclist sends the universal hand gesture for a moment of mutual recognition. We are the lucky ones.
Day Six onward
Gernika (Guernica) was our final destination on the Camino. I made one last bar stop with my bicycle, then went to the post office to ship it back to San Sebastián. The Spanish Postal Service offers an impressive array of services to make the Camino accessible to more people, including luggage transfer and bike delivery. There was a sports shop in town, so I got a pair of walking sandals to give my feet a rest. My body was in need of some maintenance… check out the tan line that ended up being a year-long reminder of this trip! Oops.
We took the train to Bilbao, where we were joined by other friends to enjoy a dizzying sequence of cultural experiences and fabulous dinners over the weekend. What a city! This was such a fantastic trip, one that I could barely imagine while still at home. The three of us agreed that we definitely wanted to do it again, sent a prayer to our good fortunes, and departed for our respective homes.
