Solo touring - safe for a woman?

[Norm]

Blimey Slowmo, that's a silly post! Women of the world know your place: you are only safe going touring on your own if you are too old and ugly for anyone to bother pestering you. Jeez, words fail me!

I know it seems unambiguous to you, TMN, but I think you are seeing a gender bias where there is none. Slowmo's post was specifically about his problems as a 'pretty' male, your response shows your interpretation rather than any suggestion which was in Slowmo's post.

 

[MarkF]

Well, I'm not only planning to travel within Spain. That would be a bit boring (and very hilly). My biggest concern is about wild camping, which I could end up doing if I don't plan the trip down to the last detail (which I don't want to do). I don't really have any concerns about staying in B&Bs, hostels or on camp sites.

Spain is not boring, nor is it very hilly if you choose your route across it carefully. I don't plan stopovers ever, it spoils the thrill, but have never (all over Europe) not found somewhere (a bed) to sleep in.

 

[lulubel]

Spain is not boring, nor is it very hilly if you choose your route across it carefully. I don't plan stopovers ever, it spoils the thrill, but have never (all over Europe) not found somewhere (a bed) to sleep in.

Since I live in Spain, only touring within Spain would be as boring to me as only touring in the UK would be if I lived in the UK. I want to see different places, cultures and people. And, having lived in a few places now, I can confirm it's definitely hilly, unless you want to really limit where you go (which would be even more boring and would mean I couldn't start my tours from home).

I don't mind hills - if I did, I wouldn't cycle here - and I'm not intimtidated by knowing I'll have to cross the Pyrenees to leave the Iberian penninsula, but varied terrain is more appealing.

 

[jay clock]

I think the key issue here that lulubel has is fear of stealth camping, and whether it is worse for a woman. Fear is mainly just that - fear, with no basis in reality. But as a bloke who has stealth camped 3 or 4 times, I know how spooky it can be. The key is not to be spotted going into your camping spot, and to choose carefully. My plans for future tours will include much more of it though.

In reality, I guess women are seen as more vulnerable by men and a tiny minority of men will take advantage of that vulnerability. Would not stop me as a hefty bloke being scared as hell if I heard someone coming up to my tent in the middle of the night though.

Not sure any of the above helps.....? However of the people I have read about on Crazy Guy on a Bike, the number that have had any real problems/aggression/assault/theft etc whilst stealth camping is tiny.

 

[ufkacbln]

Would it be a huge "running alongside" type of dog, or a "sit in a basket" one?
[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihi4PeOZHeY[/media]

At least if your brakes fail you have a stand for the cycle in front, although the dog may find that uncomfortable!

 

[MarkF]

I think the key issue here that lulubel has is fear of stealth camping, and whether it is worse for a woman. Fear is mainly just that - fear, with no basis in reality. But as a bloke who has stealth camped 3 or 4 times, I know how spooky it can be. The key is not to be spotted going into your camping spot, and to choose carefully. My plans for future tours will include much more of it though.

In reality, I guess women are seen as more vulnerable by men and a tiny minority of men will take advantage of that vulnerability. Would not stop me as a hefty bloke being scared as hell if I heard someone coming up to my tent in the middle of the night though.

Not sure any of the above helps.....? However of the people I have read about on Crazy Guy on a Bike, the number that have had any real problems/aggression/assault/theft etc whilst stealth camping is tiny.

I agree with all this but unless she is going to go to some extremely remote area in the world then she is worrying about the miniscule possibility of having to stealth/wild camp AND have that exact moment coincide with being discovered by some madman.

BTW Cantabria is very hilly, Seville to Malaga very hilly, in-between, it's pretty flat actually.

 

[jay clock]

I agree with all this but unless she is going to go to some extremely remote area in the world then she is worrying about the miniscule possibility of having to stealth/wild camp AND have that exact moment coincide with being discovered by some madman.

that was pretty much the point I was trying to make!

 

[lulubel]

BTW Cantabria is very hilly, Seville to Malaga very hilly, in-between, it's pretty flat actually.

Spain topography map

Did you follow a fairly straight line from Bilbao to Sevilla? I can see how you ended up riding through the least hilly part of the country if you did. If I was heading across Spain to France, I'd probably head east from here (straight through the Sierra Nevada) and roughly follow the east coast all the way up to the Pyrenees. The alternative of going right across the middle of the country is barely any flatter.

Anyway, as I said, the only thing I can do is try a short tour at first and see how I feel. My aim would be to avoid wild camping wherever possible, mainly for the convenience of being able to use camp site facilities, but I think the advice to make sure no-one sees you leave the road is very good.

 

[MarkF]

Spain topography map

Did you follow a fairly straight line from Bilbao to Sevilla? I can see how you ended up riding through the least hilly part of the country if you did.

Briefly:-
Bilbao to Santander - First half v.hard & hilly.
Santander to Reinosa - Bloody painful.
South via Medina, Toro, Salamanca, Plascencia, Trujillo to 100km north of Seville - Easy peasy, see worse bumps every weekend in the Yorks Dales.