2021 Camino Route Summary
That was a fun ride :)
So how did it all end up?
- 18 days total with 15 riding and 3 resting. One rest day was unplanned. (compared to 16 days riding on my Burgundy France tour).
- 836km ridden on this trip (compared to 1,062km on the Burgundy trip).
- 56 hours of biking over the trip (compared to 52 hours in Burgundy). And, I probably pushed the bike another 4 hours on top of that (especially in the early days of the tour as I was trying to do a hiking track).
- 10,584 meters climbed… (compared to 2,789 in Burgundy).
- The average speed was around 15km an hour when riding… (so 9.3 miles an hour).
- And, I set an all-time record for most altitude in one day, followed by 2nd and 3rd spots as well… (this trip had more altitude than I’ve ever done!)
This ride was fantastic although some of the gradients got on my nerves.
On the Burgundy tour, I was using a rental bike and it was a pleasure to be on my own bike this time. My bike is amazing and I am so happy with it. I didn’t have any flats (lucky) or issues and only had to pump up the back tire a little once (which is good as I don’t like the mini-pump I brought). I am glad I put new tires on it as they are flat resistant and I’ve been super happy with them.
On the Burgundy tour, my seat bruised the shit out of my butt which made riding extra hard, and I was glad to avoid that this time. I had brought my own seat from home that I had worn in, but I didn’t realize that it was not a good seat for the shape of my butt. The only issue I had this time was some lite chaffing around the end of the tour and some petroleum jelly fixed that right up. Always good to finish a tour without pain or issue.
What would I do differently on packing?
- I should have left the spare battery, headlamp, and paper notebook. I also had too much food in the early days (canned tuna is heavy).
- Two pairs of socks worked pretty well but I need to bring newer socks (the ones I brought look like a 90-year-old sheep on it’s last days).
- I could probably get away with one pair of cycling shorts, as they dried overnight every day except one. But, it was nice to have two pairs. And, I like the bibs as they were super comfy. I need to get in the habit of riding without shorts too.
- Flip-flops would have been nice so I didn’t have to wear my cycling shoes around town at the end of the day. Or some super-light compactable shoes.
- I need a new rain jacket, I love the one I have but it is 20 years old and the Goretex is gone.
- I only used the warm pants twice after riding. That said they don’t take up much room and it was nice to have them in case of emergency. I used the 3/4th zip a few times and def needed it.
- I think the Escape-lite bivy was worth it… I didn’t use it, but if I had wiped out and broken a leg it was nice to know I could climb in there for a night if I got in trouble. Plus it is super small compared to the
- I hope on a future tour I can leave my laptop at home. It is heavy.
- I could have dumped one of the athletic shirts if I wanted.
- I brought a nice pair of shorts and a nice t-shirt. Those were nice to have.
- Next time bring nail clippers and a razor hippie.
What would I do differently or think about doing differently?
- I would dump the two front bags, and switch those to water mounts so that I have two water mounts on the outside and one on the inside.
- I’d like to try to do a tour while staying within Paleo AIP 80% of the time. I think I can maintain my energy with a little planning.
- I am going to rethink mapping. Komoot was ok but not great. I want to plan my own routes that are more around beautiful rides and history. And, leave me enough energy after the ride to go check out things locally. I’d like to plan out some rides along beautiful routes that also roughly follow some of Napolean’s campaigns, the band of brothers into Europe in WW2, Roman history, Caesar’s campaign in Gaul, or castles on the border of France, or other historic events. I also might plan routes along specific routes like eco via or converted train path that goes xxx km.
- I really needed a break and it took me about 5 or 6 days to get to that point. That is pretty normal and it is nice to downshift my brain to whatever state that is. I think in the future another option would be to plan a 5 to 7-day ride, then a 5-day rest, and then a 5 to 7-day ride. That works better.
I am not sure how many books I read, but this was a way more intense ride with the altitude so less.
Recent Comments