Camel

-2nd try w/ reply-

You're welcome!

Mind that I'm on a rather long tour, and am very heavily loaded (including cold weather clothes for Tibet). There wasn't anything in particular which I found more usefull. I only camped in France up to a bit before St Jean Pd De Porte, not at all in Spain.

You have the rite idea by going lightweight that's for sure! I was a bit jealous of my friends kit actually.

Preperation tips would be "the usual" for any tour with climbing. Get out and ride, and climb as much as you can before your trip. Have your bikes in good tune for the trip, and you will not need to bring along spare parts/odd tools etc.

I met some women from the US who decided to continue there trip on foot after one had injured her shoulder in a crash. I met many folks who skipped "boring" bits by hopping a bus (note that these were hikers, but I can't imagine it would be that difficult to haul a bike on the buses I saw).

Guidebooks-I don't recall the title of the one I used. I think it was "the Way of Saint James-a Cyclists Guide", but I'm not sure. It's a small sized book, allmost can fit in a pants pocket. It has hand drawn route maps which are near useless on there own, but handy as a supplement to a Micheline roadmap. The authors written route description, suggested sights and route profile are handy though. Most folks had a spanish guide which had excellent maps and descriptions (kinda like the throughhikers sectuion guide of the AT).

I'm not a vegan, so I can't say for sure how difficult it will be to maintain your diet. I did meet a Hungarian vegan a few times, and he seemed to be getting along allrite. He was a hiker who bused acrossed the meseta, rather than hiking (a bunch of folks did that). I shopped quiet a few open air markets for fresh food along the way, particularly in Spain.