Cycling holiday- on your own or not?

[ufkacbln]

not only am i excellent at not being very good at starting conversations with strangers, I'm a genius when it comes to failing to maintain the conversations strangers start with me... but i wouldn't let that completely put me off a few days solo touring. I'm happy enough with my own company.

I find that most conversations are beneficial, and you gain a lot of experiences, local knowledge and see sights you would miss but for these chats

It can also be quite fun, I once spent a fine evening with two charming young ladies after I commented in the pub that a local church had been closed and I had fancied seeing a particular green man. One of the young lady's Grandmother apparently held the keys, so off we went to unlock the church, I then got a guided tour and repaid the good turn by buying them a couple of drinks.

I have also been pointed to roadside memorials, detoured to churches , standing stones and burial chambers, camped in Alnwick Castle (pre Harry Potter), spent evenings with a couple of famous people, (and some less famous), been waylaid by rugby clubs, lifeboat crews, folk nights, and a thousand other experiences that make cycle touring what it is.

 

[mcshroom]

I've tried touring in big, and small groups, and touring solo. All of them are great but in different ways. With the group tours you ride in a bubble of friends all the way along, and have a great time, but solo you (or at least I) get more integrated into the places your actually touring.

What I like most about solo touring, however is the freedom to make it up as I go along. Last year I rode with the LonJOG group (around 40 of us) up to John O Groats, and then rode around the top of the highlands on my own. All I had booked on the solo section was a train ticket home from Mallaig and in the end I went island hopping which I'd not even considered before setting off. The downside of solo touring is what you do with the bike when you want to go into a shop etc. It's fine in the countryside, but in cities it's a bit unnerving leaving your steed locked up with only a light-weight lock holding it there.

 

[MontyVeda]

This is clearly not the case!

I was being considerate and doing a Recce to see if it was one a route we can do together.

I have done quite a few tours with my Wife where I have already done the route, but we have then missed out the grotty bits, or taken a better route thus improving her experience................ or at least that is what I tell her!

Sorry, I was thinking only in terms of my mate "doing it without him" (I'm not gay)... not making assumptions about anyone else here. Apologies for any crossed wires.

 

[MontyVeda]

I find that most conversations are beneficial, and you gain a lot of experiences, local knowledge and see sights you would miss but for these chats

....

yes... I was empathising with Mr Jamie... i feel i find it hard to strike up a natter with complete strangers... but i don't actively avoid them and often struggle to maintain them when they occur. (there's only so much one can say about the weather).

It's a lot easier to strike up a natter in a country pub or cafe than it is in a town or city pub/cafe... and being out of town always gives one an angle/interest... where you going?, where you bin?, on a bike? etc.... i pretty much edited out a four paragraph version of that from post #30 because it got way too rambly, replacing it all with "i wouldn't let it put me off"

 

[snorri]

The downside of solo touring is what you do with the bike when you want to go into a shop etc. It's fine in the countryside, but in cities it's a bit unnerving leaving your steed locked up with only a light-weight lock holding it there.

This is the downside indeed, I usually find a shop outside of bandit territory and pretend not to worry.
I have missed out on visiting certain attractions, museums, imposing buildings etc. but even if I had had company, the other party could not be expected to stand guard on my bike for the hour or two it would take me to look around inside.

 

[MontyVeda]

...
I have missed out on visiting certain attractions, museums, imposing buildings etc. but even if I had had company, the other party could not be expected to stand guard on my bike for the hour or two it would take me to look around inside.

this is one of the reasons i bought them there plastic BikeBins panniers for the back... the lids lock and i added a bit of fettling to lock them to the pannier rack... but a half decent kick would render all security useless.

back i my youth in the late 80's, early 90's... one would just put their kit in a train station left luggage thingy.. but then at some point in the 90's, they seemed to disappear on the off chance than someone would leave a bomb and ruined it for the rest of us (even the litter bins went from Preston station to curb the 'bomb threat'!)... did left luggage ever return?

 

[mcshroom]

I left my panniers in the left luggage lockers at Inverness a couple years ago.

 

[vernon]

Would you advise on whether or not it's safe for Lancastrian to do a solo tour through Yorkshire

As long as you keep your gob shut you'll be fine.

 

[vernon]

I left my panniers in the left luggage lockers at Inverness a couple years ago.

Are they still there?

 

[vernon]

The downside of solo touring is what you do with the bike when you want to go into a shop etc. It's fine in the countryside, but in cities it's a bit unnerving leaving your steed locked up with only a light-weight lock holding it there.

The answer to the problem is self evident. I leave my cherished Woodrup immobilized with two heavy duty locks and a cable when leaving it for a substantial amount of time.

 

[Milo]

I hate the idea of having to haul massive locks when touring but inevitably just end up taking my U lock anyway.

 

[vernon]

I hate the idea of having to haul massive locks when touring but inevitably just end up taking my U lock anyway.

I love the idea that massive locks protect my pride and joy from thieves and see them as an essential part of my cycle camping inventory as my tent. They're a value for money contribution to my peace of mind.

 

[Sara_H]

I'm a modern, independant woman and as such I've done a couple of mini tours alone. Have to admit to feeling lonely though - even if it's just for a couple of days

I'm a bit sad really.

 

[Herr-B]

Best of both worlds - have a friend(s) tag along for the first and/or last few days, leaving you to your own touring devices in the middle.

 

[Jen5656]

I'm a modern, independant woman and as such I've done a couple of mini tours alone. Have to admit to feeling lonely though - even if it's just for a couple of days

I'm a bit sad really.

I think it's great you have went on your own.
Wish I had the confidence to go away for few days cycling holiday on my own