Cycling Spain's Camino in the North!
Cycling Spain`s Coastal Camino de Santiago from Bilboa, is a thrilling ride for cyclists looking to experience Spain's unique north which is diverse and scenic.

Cyclists are spoiled for so many great routes throughout the world, but one of the most ancient is the Way
of St. James (also known as the Camino
de Santiago or the Camino Francés) which was one of the most important Christian
pilgrimages during the Middle Ages, together with the Via Francigena to Rome
and the Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. To travel any of these routes, meant a great deal to the spiritually inclined population
of those days, as it still does to many today.
The exact story on how Compostela´s pilgrimage came to be comes from biblical times and the story goes that after the crucifixion of Jesus, his apostle, St. James became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He travelled to Spain to preach, then returned to Jerusalem where he was martyred. Following his death, his followers are said to have taken his body to the coast, where a ship was waiting to sail.
The body of St. James was interred in a tomb in his beloved north western Spain, after which its location fell into oblivion for centuries. Around the year 815, a Spanish hermit named Pelayo had a vision in which he saw a bright light shining over a spot in a forest. When investigated, a Roman-era tomb containing St. James’ body was found. A church was built on the site of the tomb. Around this shrine the city of Santiago de Compostela The shrine began attracting pilgrims, who steadily increased in number and the city grew.
A Path of Stars
Romantically the name of Compostela comes from the Latin "Campus stellae "which means “field of stars” . Interestingly there is another tie to the Camino de Santiago, which is the Milky Way galaxy of stars. The reason for this is because when walking el Camino de Santiago at night you can see the Milky Way galaxy directly overhead as you are travelling East to West this is also apparent in the daytime, when it is the biggest Star, the sun´s movements which you follow. Speaking of stars, quite a few have made the trip, including King Luis VII of France, Saint Francis of Assisi. Writers Paulo Coelho,
Stephen Hawking has completed some of it, actors Anthony Quinn and Shirley
MacLaine, Martin Sheen, and many more.
A Different and Quieter Route

The History of a Route
When the first pilgrimages started in the 9th
and 10th centuries, this was a very wild and dangerous land. The Muslim Empire and the powerful Calipah of Al-Andalus, strongly held
the entire peninsula and had done so since the 8th century. With the
Reconquest first to happen in this deepest and darkest of mountainous places you cycle, this began to be known as a safer place for Christians to
journey through than further south, in what would be the Camino Frances. The
roads were there thanks to the Romans but safety was an issue at the beginning
(the expulsion of the Moors was in 1492 in the South).
So what to pack?

ABRAHAM
LINCOLN

Why don´t you make it the year to cycle the Coastal Camino route.. or why not start earlier!
Cycling Country runs their Coastal Camino Bike Tour in June and July.
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