Bedtime! (Part 2)

Over the past couple of days, I've been getting in touch with the managers of the various hotels, hostels and campsites where we'll be staying along the Trans-Iberian Express. I won't provide a day-by-day breakdown here, since it's not like the options are totally that different, but to give you an idea of what's available where, here's how the nights break down according to category.

YOUTH HOSTELS: Irún (March 21st and 22nd, just before we leave;) San Sebastián (Day 1 - March 23rd); Pamplona (Day 4 - March 26th); Estella (Day 5 - March 27th); Burgo de Osma (Day 11 - April 2nd); Toledo (Day 18 - April 9th); and Jaén (Days 24 and 25 - April 15th and 16th).

CAMPSITES: Lekunberri, Navarra (Day 3 - March 25th); Estella (if we can't get into the youth hostel on Day 5 - March 27th); Fuenmayor, La Rioja (Day 6 - March 28th), Haro, La Rioja (Days 7 and 8), Retortillo de Soria, Soria (Day 12 - April 3rd), Aranjuez (Days 16 and 17 - April 7 and 8), Arcos de la Frontera (Day 30 - April 22nd), Medina Sidonia (Day 31 - April 22rd), Zahara de los Atunes (Day 32 - April 23th) and Tarifa (Day 33 - April 24th).

Keep in mind that most of the towns we'll be staying in also have some kind of hotel or hostal, so if you're not into the idea of camping, there's usually another kind of alternative.

HOTELS, HOSTALES AND OTHER PRIVATE ACCOMMODATION: We've got several options in the following places: Atapuerca, Burgos (Day 9 - March 31); Salas de los Infantes (Day 10 - April 1st); Brihuega (Day 14 - April 5th); Estremera (Day 15 - April 6th); Consuegra (Day 19 - April 10); Castellar de Santiago, Ciudad Real (Day 21 - April 12); Aldeaquemada, Jaén (Day 22 - April 13th); Úbeda, Jaén (Day 23 - April 14th), Luque (Day 26 - April 17); Puente-Genil (Day 27 - April 18); Osuna (Day 28 - April 19); and Coripe (Day 29 - April 20).

The great question is what we're going to do in Andoain, just south of San Sebastian. When I was planning the route, I wasn't aware that Andoain is famous for only having one hotel, and unless we can make some kind of arrangement to stay in the sports centre or some kind of rural tourism centre, we may have to give Andoain a pass. Hopefully the Consorcio of the Plazaola Vía Verde can help us find a solution!

Bedtime! (Part 1)

One of the biggest concerns that potential participants have - rightly enough - is where we're going to sleep. So that's been this week's project: find the beds and the places where we're going to stay.

In planning where we would sleep, there were two problems: first of all, guaranteeing that there would be beds or places to sleep when we got there; and, secondly, making sure that there was as much of a variety of places to stay as possible.

Campsites and youth hostels give us the greatest amount of flexibility; if it should come to pass that the group gets really big, we know that, in most places, we won't have a problem getting everyone a place to sleep for the night. But there are limitations. Not everybody is crazy about camping, and there are going to be some days when people are going to want the comfort of a warm bed and a hot shower after a hard day's riding.

At the same time, none of us is made of money. Being on the road for an entire month is going to mean spending at least €350 on places to stay (and that's being conservative.) So there'll be a need to keep costs down, as well as being able to cook for ourselves. No one is going to want to survive on restaurant food every day. There's nothing like being able to cook for yourself while you're on the road, and staying in campsites and youth hostels will give us a better chance of cooking our own meals.

So what I've done is try to get a good mix of places and options. Where possible, we'll stay in campsites; and it's worth noting that any town that's big enough to have a campsite will have other accommodation options, so you're not obliged to sleep outside if you don't want to. In Sunday's post, I'll set out the options that we've got, and where we'll be staying when.

We're Out There!

Great news: articles have started appearing in the press about the Trans-Iberian Advenutre, including a feature on the website of Canada's PEDAL Magazine (http://www.pedalmag.com/index.php?module=Section&action=viewdetail&item_id=12041).

We're also featured in the November edition of SPORT LIFE (www.sportlife.es), a Spanish magazine dedicated to health and wellness; this will be followed up by a four- to five-page report on the Trans-Iberian in SPORT LIFE WOMAN, in May of 2008.

And Bicycling Australia's planning to carry something in their mag about the trip, too, which will be VERY cool.

Slowly but surely, word's getting out there!