CTC Cambridge

Saturday 30 May 2026 

It's what pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago say. "Ultreia!" is the greeting, and "Suseia!" is the response. Nobody seems quite sure what language it is, but agree it means something like "Onwards and Upwards".

The Camino is the latest excursion of the Flatlands Four and like the Via Francigena undertaken in 2023 is a pilgrimage. Also it's an excuse for an unsupported 1,700km (1050 miles) cycle tour to Santiago de Compostela.

The route on the continent shadows the traditional pilgrim routes, down the West coast of France, and then along the North Spanish coast before cutting inland for a final mountainous flourish. We have pre-booked all the accommodation; a necessity given the sparsity of it for portions of the route.

About the Flatlands Four

There are three of us this time: me, Bill P and John J. We've been described as "senior cyclists" and since we're just the right side of 60, 80 and 70 respectively this seems incontrovertibly true. Repeat offender Glyn is adventuring in the Arctic this year, and since he's our weather talisman, we have some trepidation about what conditions to expect.

As usual while this is not a "charity ride", we're taking the opportunity to raise some money for a good cause.

Reading?

The official UK start point for the Camino is Reading, where pilgrim passports get their first stamp. So Day 0 is all about getting in position for the pilgrimage itself, and what better way to do this than by bike?

It's quite a long way for a tour day though, and the network of unfriendly roads and the obstacle of The Chilterns made for what looked like a challenging day on Paper.

And so it turned out, compounded by the heat which hovered around 30C for much of the day. With some deft routing by the routemeister (me) we were able to dodge most of the worst of the traffic, if not the hills.

The highlights of the day were a stop at the legendary Hub cycle café in Rebourn and a cycle path amble past the Thames at Henley. But by the end of the day we were glad to arrive at the Travelodge where we could nurse the assorted cramps and nausea resulting from the day's exertions.