Recently I have been seeking out blogs of people from around the world who have been on the Camino de Santiago del Norte. I served my mission for 2 years along the northern coast of Spain and lived in many cities that the Camino went through, including nearly 4 months in Santiago de Compostela, which is the final destination to most of the routes.
I met a LDS Spaniard from Barcelona when I was serving in Santiago de Compostela back in the summer of 2001. He had just completed riding his mountain bike from the boarder of France all the way to Santiago in 10 days. I was blown away by how much strength this guy had and it has since lit a fire in me that has been with me ever since. I knew that someday I wanted to return to do the Camino, but I didn't know how or when, because I wasn't into cycling, and I knew there would be no way that I would be able to get a full month off work to be able to walk it.
I've been back to Spain a handful of times since coming home from Spain from my 2 year mission, but have only returned to the Northern Coast 2 times.
This year I decided to by a bicycle and get into a new sport to keep me in shape. I didn't know what I wanted to do between mountain bike and road biking, so I bought a Schwinn Hybrid bike from Walmart, so I can have a little of both. Since then, my roommate Caz has been a big inspiration to me, since he works at a bicycle shop and has several types of very nice and costly bikes. He showed me Strava and how addicting it is.
I've been doing anywhere from 15 to 30 plus mile biking trips each time I get on my bike. I recently cycled 31 miles one Saturday evening and another 50 miles the following Sunday morning in order to complete the 131km Strava Gran Fondo challenge in July. I don't have a light bike with toe clips, I don't have a cool skin tight jersey, though I have some nice gel padded cycling shorts, but I find that I am able to keep pushing myself. The more I do it, the further I want to go, even though I must say, the 50 miles after doing 30 was killer on my legs turning them into jello. I had over 2,500 ft elevation gain between the two days. I later recovered from sore legs 2 days later and was ready for more.
The following weekend I did a 14 mile round trip hike to the top of Mt. Timponogos with a Spanish friend who had never been. We went up Saturday evening and camped in the meadows and then finished on Sunday. It was pretty tough carrying such a heavy pack with tent and sleeping gear, but I did it and feel my legs are much stronger now because of it. We took our time, but I think we did it round trip in around 8-9 hours. Keep in mind you are also going up at least a mile in elevation.
All the exercise is getting me excited to do the Camino which I have been planning for a couple of months now. I already booked my bike rental in Spain and hotel in Bilbao where I will be starting. It's becoming more and more real every day.
I have put a lot of thought an planning into the trip and been keeping track of web pages I come across, such as blogs and other important forum information with details about the Camino from others who have done it. A month from today I will be flying to Spain to start the Camino in hopes of crossing off another item from my bucket list.
Reading others' blogs has been motivational to want to do the same, but I don't know if I want to do do live blogging, because I am the type who is always on the go with little time to stop and want to write. I will for sure keep a journal, but I'm not exactly sure yet when I will transcribe.
Overall, I am thinking about writing on this blog again more often to be able share my experiences on the Camino, because I have found it so helpful to read from other bloggers doing the same.
On our way back we went through Midway and stopped at the Crater at Midway. Jeremy had never been there before, so he was excited to see it. I was surprised nobody said anything to us. We just walked in and took some pics and left. It was somewhat crowded in there. Seemed about 20 people were floating around in it.
