• Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here.

Search 74,075 Camino Questions

We worry about grams ... then there is Clara Wilkes ...

David

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
First one in 2005 from Moissac, France.
Hi all - I have often wondered about the whole cutting grams, going as light as .. (I do it too!!) .. thinking about the "real" world with soldiers on the march and what they carry .. Roman legions ...
now I have discovered Clara Wilkes - and she puts us all to shame. No special and expensive 'outdoor costumes' (no gears on that bike either!)
Oh my ... and here is me posting on other threads about not buying backpacks that weigh 1.2 kilos when you can get one that weighs 900gms ... oh dear ..... I hold a candle to my shame!

photo taken in 1915 when she was nineteen.

"A determined young woman, dressed in practical travel attire, navigates her heavily loaded bicycle along a scenic route. The year is 1915, and her spirit of adventure is as vibrant as the landscape she traverses.
In the summer of 1915, Clara Wilkes was not the typical young woman of her time. While others were content with the comforts of home, Clara yearned for the open road and the thrill of discovery. At just 19, she had already planned a solo journey that few would dare to undertake—a tour of the countryside on her trusty bicycle.
Her bike, though heavy with supplies, was her ticket to freedom. Laden with a tent, a small cooking set, and a few essentials, the steel frame groaned under the weight. But to Clara, it was more than just a mode of transportation; it was a symbol of her independence and courage.
Each morning, she would set off at dawn, the early light casting long shadows on the winding roads. The world around her was awakening—birds singing, leaves rustling in the breeze, and the distant sound of a stream trickling through the forest. As she pedalled, the landscape changed from rolling hills to dense woods and then to wide-open meadows, each new view more breath-taking than the last.
Clara’s journey was not without its challenges. The roads were rough, often no more than dirt paths, and the weight of her bike made every incline a test of strength. But she welcomed each challenge with a smile, her eyes alight with determination. Every mile brought her closer to something new—a village she had never visited, a mountain she had never climbed, or a river she had never crossed.
At night, she would find a quiet spot to set up camp, often near a river or under the shelter of tall trees. As the stars emerged, Clara would sit by her small fire, the warmth a comfort after a long day of travel. She would write in her journal, capturing the day’s events, the people she met, and the thoughts that filled her mind as she explored the world on two wheels."

467151743_1348679343213350_3593781989826093596_n.webp
 
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
A determined young woman, dressed in practical travel attire, navigates her heavily loaded bicycle along a scenic route.
Thanks, @David, for posting this fascinating introduction to Clara's travels.
Her "practical" travel attire baffles me, and I wonder if she occasionally encountered any rain while packing up her "kit" in the mornings.🤔
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Well, 1915 and all that .. can't see her getting away with trousers but I bet there is an oilskin somewhere!

I think gender clothing was more fixed back then .. I am always amazed at how much female history never made it even into the newspapers, let alone history books - what it must be like to be female today and know that I cannot even imagine.

_98654320_gettyimages-3292698.webp
 
Last edited:
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Where was she travelling David? All the web pages I could find give the same information but nobody mentions where.
She seems to have been cut from the same cloth as Dervla Murphy (who came along later).
No idea, I searched too - is possible she didn't exist, though does seem like a real photo but fiction or fact, still inspiring I think. AI says she was real, said Europe so think France as mentioned the war.
 
Last edited:
It still is in some ways: you should hear Mrs. Purky ranting and carrying on about the absence of pockets in women's pants.
Or even their trousers and skirts. After my successful foray into installing "pit-zips" in my Altus I am now taking commissions for pockets in skirts from my daughter and they are SO easy to install.

Women's apparel did use to include pockets of course:

1731941422640.webp

worn on the hips of course, not on the "fanny".
 
Last edited:
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Aside from the weight issue, I can only partly imagine how difficult it must have been for a woman of her age, in those days, to do such things, deciding for herself and without looking anyone in the face. I can imagine how many people regarded her as crazy, unconscious, or even a scandal. Instead, she was just a brave and independent person, decades ahead of others. No technical clothes, no advanced gears. Not even... gearbox!

Hats off - of straw, perhaps - toward people like her!
 
Join the Camino cleanup. Logroño to Burgos May 2025 & Astorga to OCebreiro in June
That's why I find it comical some of the almost irrational extremism of gram reducing done by some pilgrims walking the Camino. Drilling holes in toothbrush handles and tearing pages out of guidebooks. 😆
It's the Camino, not the north face.
Medieval pilgrims walked it wearing heavy wool whilst being chronically dehydrated and malnourished.
 
If you believe this story, you'll believe anything.
Yep, maybe something fake. But this probably apply to 99% of what you read in this forum too. Maybe you never walked Le Puy - SdC, Podiensis, Frances, Invierno 2012-23. Nevertheless, we give some room to trusting others, in the hope there is something to learn anyway.
That's why I find it comical some of the almost irrational extremism of gram reducing done by some pilgrims walking the Camino. Drilling holes in toothbrush handles and tearing pages out of guidebooks. 😆
It's the Camino, not the north face.
Medieval pilgrims walked it wearing heavy wool whilst being chronically dehydrated and malnourished.
when I look at a picture of former Antarctic explorers, like Shackleton, Mawson, Scott, etc., I wonder, based on the experience I gained there, how they could do that. Hauling a sled with 100 kg of cargo for half a km on Antarctic ice, with today's equipment and clothing, in decent weather conditions, on level ground, and fed by a modern diet, is a tremendous effort. Yet these people have traveled thousands of kilometers doing it.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Yep, maybe something fake. But this probably apply to 99% of what you read in this forum too. Maybe you never walked Le Puy - SdC, Podiensis, Frances, Invierno 2012-23. Nevertheless, we give some room to trusting others, in the hope there is something to learn anyway.
😳 Wow, I take issue with this. All of my own Camino walking "Live threads" have been 100% truthful and I have never thought otherwise of anyone else's account of their pilgrimages.
I am normally a very trusting person, so hope I have not been gullible or duped when reading posts on this forum.
 
😳 Wow, I take issue with this. All of my own Camino walking "Live threads" have been 100% truthful and I have never thought otherwise of anyone else's account of their pilgrimages.
I am normally a very trusting person, so hope I have not been gullible or duped when reading posts on this forum.
Of course I trust you and any one else here. Why shouldn't I? But the message I commented on made fun of the person who wrote the initial message in this thread and all those who commented afterwards, as if we were all gullible, which is not very nice in my opinion.

My apologies if I have been misinterpreted or if I have misinterpreted myself the message I commented. I let to the moderators to decide if my message should be removed. Sorry about that, eventually.
 
Last edited:
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
I take it that you speak from personal experience. Perhaps you might tell us which three of the nearly 300 posts you have made so far haven't been fake. I would love to know.
again: I do not think that 99% of what is written here is fake. Absolutely! Sorry if I have been not clear. I think that if one assumes that "If you believe this story, you'll believe anything." the same can be said about almost everything online.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
…and where are the men wearing skirts, apart from Scots, Greeks, and….
Scots and skirts?? For shame pelerine. I saw a sign when I was in Glencoe, Scotland last Spring. "KILT".....What happened to the last person who called it a skirt" :) ;)
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I've done a lot of long-distance cycle-touring.

If the bike in that picture tipped over, getting it upright again would be almost impossible for even a very strong determined person.

Any gust of wind would affect balance a lot.

And with that load, pneumatic tires would get snake-bite punctures quickly on the rough roads of the era.
 
A nice story, however I doubt its veracity. There is no reference I can find except for this photograph, even on sites about famous women cyclists, and if you look closely her left foot is pedalling in thin air without the pedal being attached to the bike. This error and the clarity of the photo suggest AI generated.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
A nice story, however I doubt its veracity. There is no reference I can find except for this photograph, even on sites about famous women cyclists, and if you look closely her left foot is pedalling in thin air without the pedal being attached to the bike. This error and the clarity of the photo suggest AI generated.
Well spotted - I've heard of cotterless cranks but never crankless cotters!
 
AI generated.
Story and photo are doing the rounds on Facebook. Both story and photo may not be older than September 2024. An amazing number of people believe it and are inspired. Somebody described it as AI-BS. It's just the start. Plenty more to come.

PS: The story is too long for social media. Most people will look at the photo and read only the first few lines of the story. Immediately followed by "like" and "share". ☺️
 
Last edited:
Whether she existed or not David, the key for me was age. And at 19, I too could have marched with a 40 lb. backpack and ran marathons, and played at a national level in a team sport. But alas in my 70’s, yes, I unapolgetically need to obsess on the weight of everything I am carrying ,or even, sometimes need to send stuff ahead. Such is life….😉
 
Perfect memento/gift in a presentation box. Engraving available, 25 character max.
A nice story, however I doubt its veracity. There is no reference I can find except for this photograph, even on sites about famous women cyclists, and if you look closely her left foot is pedalling in thin air without the pedal being attached to the bike. This error and the clarity of the photo suggest AI generated.

No brake cables either. And worst of all .... no bell ... which everyone knows is the main giveaway.

Off topic. Was talking to my son about AI as he has access to the test site for the newest commercial offerings. He demonstrated some of the features including asking AI to 'roast' him. It was funnier than some stand-up comedians.
 

Attachments

  • 5050489e-f08a-4f3b-ac48-0cd5261d772f.webp
    5050489e-f08a-4f3b-ac48-0cd5261d772f.webp
    80.7 KB · Views: 56
Last edited:
No brake cables either. And worst of all .... no bell ... which everyone knows is the main giveaway.

Off topic. Was talking to my son about AI as he has access to the test site for the newest commercial offerings. He demonstrated some of the features including asking AI to 'roast' him. It was funnier than some stand-up comedians.
No cranks at all here! It's the little things that give it away like 7 fingers on one hand or two knees on the same leg . . . but some of them are frightfully good,
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Story and photo are doing the rounds on Facebook. Both story and photo may not be older than September 2024. An amazing number of people believe it and are inspired. Somebody described it as AI-BS. It's just the start. Plenty more to come.

PS: The story is too long for social media consumption. Most people will not have read more than the first few lines and viewed the photo. Immediately followed by "like" and "share". ☺️
It was the "summer of 1915" that gave me pause for thought. Mind you it was the era of "a good thick skirt, a waterproof and a large umbrella" (Gertrude Bell) so anything was possible.
 
A nice story, however I doubt its veracity. There is no reference I can find except for this photograph, even on sites about famous women cyclists, and if you look closely her left foot is pedalling in thin air without the pedal being attached to the bike. This error and the clarity of the photo suggest AI generated.
Yeah... I was going to say the same... but go busy with stuff..
There's a ton of this stuff on the web now... Here we call it "AI Slop" and while it might be conceptually harmless, it does waste enormous bandwidth... and sometimes there are trojan issues with widely circulating items, so I do just try to stay away from it all.
 
Last edited:
Here we call it "AI Slop" and while it might be conceptually harmless, it does waste enormous bandwidth... and sometimes there are trojan issues with widely circulating items, so I do just try to stay away from it all.
Thank you for your contribution, @Perambulating Griffin. I didn't know that there is an established term for it: "AI Slop". I know now. It is discussed in news articles and has an entry in Wikipedia:

AI slop is low-quality media - including writing and images - made using generative artificial intelligence technology. It has been variously defined as "digital clutter", "filler content produced by AI tools that prioritize speed and quantity over substance and quality", and "shoddy or unwanted AI content in social media, art, books and, increasingly, in search results".

I am not concerned about virus carrying software when I see this stuff online. It is this latter point - that this stuff becomes part of human "knowledge" and turns up in search results where it is not presented as what it is, namely feeble attempts in literature and art but as a distorting and misleading historical "fact", whether supposedly inspirational or not.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Was talking to my son about AI as he has access to the test site for the newest commercial offerings.

I guess that your son had the photo of this girl on a bike generated by AI? It's impressive. Are the hands and feet often a give-away or did he have it done like this on purpose? 😂

The Clara Wilkes Intrepid Young Female Cyclist of 1915 story appears to be not much older than two months and was perhaps fabricated in September 2024. There is a similar story that was published on Facebook (where else?) in July 2024 - see below. I did not investigate it further. Perhaps it is "true". But look at the fingers of her hands, and the feet and the pedals. Presumably produced at the same AI factory?

I give you Mary Collins, a 19-year-old from a small town in Pennsylvania, The Intrepid Girl and Her Heavy-Loaded Bike: A 1915 Journey.
Presumably more fictive inspirational crap.webp
 
I have recently been noticing these AI generated overviews on some of the things I google search. At least they are now letting us know, which I appreciate.
View attachment 181091

AI photos are great fun - like the Clara Wilkes one - but they aren't human so they make silly mistakes - the Clara photo for instance .. a few mistakes, my favourite is - can you imagine that much weight on the rear of a bicycle without the rear tyre being flattened?
 
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19
Thank you for your contribution, @Perambulating Griffin. I didn't know that there is an established term for it: "AI Slop". I know now. It is discussed in news articles and has an entry in Wikipedia:

AI slop is low-quality media - including writing and images - made using generative artificial intelligence technology. It has been variously defined as "digital clutter", "filler content produced by AI tools that prioritize speed and quantity over substance and quality", and "shoddy or unwanted AI content in social media, art, books and, increasingly, in search results".

I am not concerned about virus carrying software when I see this stuff online. It is this latter point - that this stuff becomes part of human "knowledge" and turns up in search results where it is not presented as what it is, namely feeble attempts in literature and art but as a distorting and misleading historical "fact", whether supposedly inspirational or not.
Absolutely agree about the distortion of historical fact… it’s a way of twisting people’s perceptions and appealing to nostalgia and sentiment (I have seen my share of inane images of a supposed couple who fought the odds and lived happily on modest means for 70 years until dying together… with their 7 fingered hands and 5 feet shared between them, extra knees etc). An environmental disaster on par with blockchain mining and, as you note, the chipping away at what is real, supplanting it with convenient fantasy…
I am surprised I have not encountered more slop about *locations* to visit. Perhaps others on the forum have, but I do dread the idea that there could be pilgrimage slop out there.
 
I have recently been noticing these AI generated overviews on some of the things I google search. At least they are now letting us know, which I appreciate.
View attachment 181092
Beware the Beastie that is AI Overview. There was a report in the UK a week or so ago of somebody who clicked on a link in one overview and was taken straight to a scam site. Apparently AI Overview doesn't do much checking on content, it just scrapes the internet and repackages what it finds. Remember GIGO? Garbage In, Garbage Out.
 
Beware the Beastie that is AI Overview. There was a report in the UK a week or so ago of somebody who clicked on a link in one overview and was taken straight to a scam site. Apparently AI Overview doesn't do much checking on content, it just scrapes the internet and repackages what it finds. Remember GIGO? Garbage In, Garbage Out.
I hear ya, Jeff. I actually beware of anything AI. I see it as Regurgitated Ramblings...RR.
 
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
I hear ya, Jeff. I actually beware of anything AI. I see it as Regurgitated Ramblings...RR.

Well. Yes and No. The underlying LLM is OK and getting better. The issue is that the training material (the internet) is so full of nonsense/scams/off the wall theories, that GIGO applies.

If you have a clean database of vetted and comprehensive content, like this site then a LLM would be able to answer most questions, even the obscure ones, with high levels of accuracy. So well moderated sites with deep levels of information on a specialist subject could be valuable. All you need is $billion LLM.
 
The sycophantic tone of the article aroused my suspicion. There are, however, several well-documented female touring cyclists dating from the late nineteenth century. The American writer Elizabeth Robins Pennell, for instance, crossed the Alps on a tricycle in the 1890s, albeit accompanied by her irascible husband, the artist Joseph Pennell. Her accounts of their various travels are well worth reading.
 
The sycophantic tone of the article aroused my suspicion. There are, however, several well-documented female touring cyclists dating from the late nineteenth century. The American writer Elizabeth Robins Pennell, for instance, crossed the Alps on a tricycle in the 1890s, albeit accompanied by her irascible husband, the artist Joseph Pennell. Her accounts of their various travels are well worth reading.
Neat... and yes... many years ago I attended a Victorian Studies conference (with spouse who was presenting) and went to a session about the advent of the camera, the relatively new genre of naturalist writing, and *mountain climbing* in the French Alps. Fascinating to see the confluence of cameras and new types of shoes, and infrastructure to support ladies in multi-layered skirts, tweed blazers, etc hauling their cameras and tripods and large, leather backpacks up to Chammonix and Mont Blanc in order to write the stories and provide the photos that would go back to urban audiences in London and Paris (mostly). It's not my field so the details of the. adventure writers escapes my memory now, but the topic was fascinating to me.
 
Join the Camino cleanup. Logroño to Burgos May 2025 & Astorga to OCebreiro in June
Neat... and yes... many years ago I attended a Victorian Studies conference (with spouse who was presenting) and went to a session about the advent of the camera, the relatively new genre of naturalist writing, and *mountain climbing* in the French Alps. Fascinating to see the confluence of cameras and new types of shoes, and infrastructure to support ladies in multi-layered skirts, tweed blazers, etc hauling their cameras and tripods and large, leather backpacks up to Chammonix and Mont Blanc in order to write the stories and provide the photos that would go back to urban audiences in London and Paris (mostly). It's not my field so the details of the. adventure writers escapes my memory now, but the topic was fascinating to me.
I have a particular affection for Gertrude Bell: explorer, linguist, Arabist, archaeologist, diplomat, political officer, mountaineer . . . There's a story about how she and two guides roped themselves to a mountain in a blizzard with no shelter for 48 hours and how she "eased off" on her mountaineering after that. Lots of people have heard of Lawrence of Arabia but sadly few know of Gertrude "Queen of the Desert" Bell.
They DO still make them like that, they just never get the coverage.
 
Here’s my contribution to the loaded bike thread – 2019, not 1915.
I’ve cropped his face because he might not want me sending his image into cyberspace.
Well, it might be 2019, but after "Clara" it looks very suspicious to me for several reasons that I will not mention. If it is real, maybe it was just a one-off for a photo, and they laughed about it afterward.
 
Perfect memento/gift in a presentation box. Engraving available, 25 character max.

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Most read last week in this forum

I was hoping to do a walk over ninety days so I researched a long stay visa. This walk would have gone through four countries but the majority of the time would have been in France. So I applied...
Hi all - I have often wondered about the whole cutting grams, going as light as .. (I do it too!!) .. thinking about the "real" world with soldiers on the march and what they carry .. Roman...
Hi everyone! Probably more of a niche post but i’m starting my camino next week from Porto and i decided that i’ll be wild/stealth camping along my route. Packing my 1 person tent and sleeping...
My wife and I are planning to buy a house in the north-west of Spain for our retirement. Today, while scrolling through the ads, I noticed this: https://www.idealista.com/inmueble/106560131/...
Moderator note: This post and several following ones have been moved from another thread on a slightly different topic. But as you say it does not work without a data connection, so why not use...
Apologies to those who detest frivolous questions - please move on; nothing to see here. When I walked my first camino from Chartres to SdC (autumn/winter, 1998), no matter where I stayed -...

Featured threads

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Featured threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Back
Top