My Way: biking the Fisterra Camino

Cycling the Camino is not the cushy ride most walking pilgrims assume. Wandering away from the walking track and it's wonderful system of posts and yellow spraypainted arrows can be difficult: even with the help of a GPS.
Well, why not just follow the Camino? Easy. Firstly because it is often tough off-road cycling demanding exemplary skill and a well set-up VTT bike. Don't even think about it in the Galician wet.
Secondly, a basic incompatibility between the cyclists and walkers. Cyclists forget the fundumental courtesy of ringing a bell(if they have one) while trying to prevent themselves from crashing. Thus walkers, generally lost in thought about the nature of God, think them rude as the leap sideways off the track.
And, while it is possible to follow the walkers way, over the years, more of it is being converted back to what it should be: a tree sheltered nature trail well away from the roar of the modern world.
The other extreme is to follow the main roads and do battle with the trucks and speeding cars. This makes navigation a cinche but also guarantees that you see nothing petrol stations and the rubbish that the Spanish think it is alright to chuck out of their car windows.
The third way is to take the mini-minor roads, almost always tarred and pothole-free that service the many farms and former villages turned residential commuter clusters. Wayfaring along them is nice in theory but difficult in fact because they seem to be made up of interections with other link roads and cul-de-sacs. Google Maps was completely confused giving bad advice with monotonous regularity. Worse the Spanish don't waste much money on signposting.

Screen shot of our wandering. We almost never make this kind of error.

Sights like this are difficult to find if you aren't on the walking trail

And above is the result: a five km figure of eight before we decided to join the parade of traffic on the mainland. And, out of time, coughed up the cash for a taxi to get us to our reservation for the night.
Someday someone will blaze the midrange route neither dirt or tour de whatever, bu for now, I have to stamp the Santiago-Finisterre Camino as unsuitable for real touring.