Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Wynne]

I am planning to do the pilgrimedge in September.

Flying into Bilbao and out of Santiago. Using two airlines.

Never taken a bike on a plane before and thought that I would just have to turn up. I now understand that I need a bag. I have seen some of these bags and they all seem to be too bulky to carry on the bike whilst on the road.

Any suggestions as to how I can resolve this?

Is there a friendly bike shop in Santiago who will supply me with a cardboard bike box for the return trip?

[sillydoll]

Perhaps you should post your query on the Santiago bicycle list.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Santiago_Bicicleta/

OR: You could try Tour'nRide

http://www.tournride.com/english/index.php

Good luck.

Sil

[William Marques]

All airlines have different bike policies. You need to check the airline you are using. If it is Ryanair be sure to check that they have the space for your bike before you book as they only have space for a limited number of bikes per plane, unless there is a group or some bike race going on at the other end this is not usually a problem. Some airlines do require bikes to be bagged or boxed. If you go to your local bike shop they will often have cardboard boxes you can discard when you get to your destination, you would not want to carry a bag on the camino.
Yes there is a shop in santiago who will box it the information is on the santiago Bicicleta site.

Buen Camino
William

[vester]

Planning on biking all the way to Santiago and take the plane home. Now the questions is:

Is there a way to ship a bike bag a head to Santiago ?

[William Marques]

If you want to post stuff ahead to Santiago the address to send post to "the lista" (a poste restante service) in Santiago for collection when you get there is:

Officina del Correos
Lista del Correos
Peregrino VESTER (whatever your name is)
Santiago de Compostella 15780

Remember to ask for packages under both your First and Surname when you get there as there may be confusion and take your passport for identification and receipt if you were given one.
I do not know how long they will hold things for but am told that up to a month is OK.
Buen Camino
William

Additional information:
"Finally found the info on WHAT the post office will accept on the
Spanish PTT web site.
(Maybe more than you ever wanted to know about listas de correos but it
may help someone.)
Maximum weight. 20 kilos
Dimensions .. the sum of the dimensions cannot exceed 200 cm. (about
80 inches) and the largest cannot exceed 100 cm
Cost. If you use the "paquete azul" tariff they recommend a package
3 feet by 2 feet by 1 foot costs about 10 euros
Suitcases. in response to my concern, they don't accept them as such.
However they will either provide a carton to put it in OR will accept
it if it is enveloped in protective paper or in a bag of some sort.
That's all I have to say about this
Nick"

[vester]

Thanks for the info. I think I need to get someone to post it from me, becauce I think the 3000 km well take be around 1 month to complete.

[Rutchka]

My husband and I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. The bike bags we purchased were too bulky to bike with and we ended up having to persuade a hotel to hang on to them for us (which also meant that we had to have a circular route!).

When we were cycling through New Zealand we came accross a company called Ground Effect - amongst their great gear they make a bike bag which folds up into something like A4 size, light and easy to carry on a bike (they also double as pillows and seats!). I have a Giant Explorer and the bike fitted in perfectly.

As an aside, I can also recomend their hooded waterproof cycling jackets.

Go to http://www.groundeffect.co.nz

[barbaraj45]

I travelled with BA to Bilbao. They did not require me to put my bike in a bag so I just turned pedals and wrapped it, etc. However, the bike arrived damaged. I had no difficulty getting it onto the cheap airport bus into Bilbao centre - I was staying at the youth hostel -but the bike shops were shut for siesta by the time I arrived!
However, I finally found a very helpful bike shop who repaired it, I booked myself and bike onto the bus to Pamplona the next day, and was all set.
I needed to return to Bilbao anyway so I hired a car in Santiago - in advance - to get me there
Barbara

[oneleft]

I know this isn't for everyone but I looked at the cost of bags, the hassle and just decided to buy a bike over there. Got a mountain bike for around $400 and it was perfect, no troubles. Took my panniers with me all was well. My feeling was that a $300 mountain bike would have been good enough.

I was going to sell it for whatever I could get for it but fortunately I ran into someone who was willing to store it for me so now if I want to bike when I'm there I go pick it up.

[William Marques]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6061504.stm

This might be of interest - it seems Ryan Air are being forced to
accept liability for damage to sports equipment including bikes.
Could apply to other airlines too.

Previously the small print on the web site excluded bikes etc from
baggage claims but I have just made a successful claim for £180 worth
of damage caused to my bike this summer.

Jess

(from Santiago Bicicleta)