Touring on your bill

[sam_g]

Just found out that I have a few days off next week, the weather looks beautiful and I'm wondering whats stopping me going into the lakes for a few days, or even just a night. Normally I would see if any pals fancied it and go on from there but none are about.

Should I just head out on my todd? I am used to riding alone on weekdays but I usually listen to music, and tbh, I'm concerned that I'd just get a bit lonely! I'd take a book etc to keep me occupied but just looking for a bit of reassurance.

Any comments?

Cheers, Sam.

 

[TheDoctor]

Do it. I've done a couple of solo tours, and am planning another for May.
If the loneliness is unbearable, you can always bail and go home.
I bet you'll be fine though. A few days of pleasing yourself - what's not to like?

 

[mcshroom]

I've done a couple solo tours and it's great in that you end up talking to the people around you (in the cafes, asking for directions, etc.) and getting immersed in where you are cycling.

 

[vernon]

I've spent a total of over nine months touring spread over the past eight years and only three weeks of them have been with a companion or companions.

I've found that folk are more likely to talk to solo cyclists than a pair of cyclists. There's always enough to keep you occupied during the day and...what's wrong with a bit of solitude on an evening? Make the most of it!

I've got four weeks worth of touring pencilled in for this summer. Four days of that will be with a friend and it will not be a stereotypical peaceful tour. It will be random, a bundle of laughs and unforgettable but I will be looking forward to the ensuring three and a bit weeks of solo touring in Europe some of it in areas where I don't expect to be able to communicate effectively in English as my Croatian, Serbian and Hungarian are somewhat underdeveloped.

 

[jonathanw]

I've done a few short trips like this. I usually take my kindle or a book to a pub or restaurant in the evening and then get an early night. On your own you will tend to cycle further or longer during the day.

Enjoy

 

[toroddf]

OK, people may want to detain me under the mental health act for what I am now writing.... but in my view; bike touring is all about the bikeriding, the landscape and the synergy between the bikerider and the road/the landscape. Riding with others would just spoil this unique synergy and connection. Bikeriding on your own is a borderline religious experience and that explains my many bikerides on my own (see my link below). Do I feel lonely on my own ? Nope. Just immerse yourself in the landscape and the bikeriding. Enjoy the many cows, sheep and other wildlife you will encounter and say hello to the other cyclists. Heck, I live for my bikerides on my own.

Pass me the nurses with their syringes...

 

[sam_g]

Haha, not mental at all, who doesn't talk to the sheep?

Cheers guys, just the responces I was hoping for...

 

[rollinstok]

OK, people may want to detain me under the mental health act for what I am now writing.... but in my view; bike touring is all about the bikeriding, the landscape and the synergy between the bikerider and the road/the landscape. Riding with others would just spoil this unique synergy and connection. Bikeriding on your own is a borderline religious experience and that explains my many bikerides on my own (see my link below). Do I feel lonely on my own ? Nope. Just immerse yourself in the landscape and the bikeriding. Enjoy the many cows, sheep and other wildlife you will encounter and say hello to the other cyclists. Heck, I live for my bikerides on my own.

Pass me the nurses with their syringes...

Spot on there toroddf... the nurses can keep their syringes because its not us who need a cure !
Plus you can go at your own pace, stop where you want when you want
Sam... you definitely wont be lonely in the Lake District, its full of lone backpackers/cyclists who are usually as grateful as you for the company.

 

[TheDoctor]

Looking at toroddf's post up there^^, I take it all back.
Solo touring obviously sends one insane!

 

[Ajay]

I enjoy touring alone, but I'd draw the line at immersing myself in sheep and enjoying cows or whatever it is that toroddf gets upto on tour ;-)

 

[Muddyfox]

I enjoy touring alone, but I'd draw the line at immersing myself in sheep and enjoying cows or whatever it is that toroddf gets upto on tour ;-)

I think its illegal anyway .. except in Wales

 

[toroddf]

Last year, I met a guy on a small road between Stewarton and Neilston. So we started to talk. I had noticed the big highland cows some hundred meters away from me on a farmfield. But I did not think more about it as I was immersed in a talk about this and that road. Then I felt some was licking my elbow. I turned around and stared straight into the herd of highland cows. Not only that, but they had actually surrounded me from three sides and I was in effect a hostage. The other guy fell over laughing while I had to amuse the cows with smalltalk and scratching their heads while trying to extract myself from the hostage situation. Highland cows has as we all know big horns and a fearsome physique and I was most definate their hostage. Friendly, but they can be persistent when looking for amusement and company. After many minutes, they had got their entertainment of the day and drifted off. The other guy had got a good story to tell his grandchildren and I had got a useful lesson about highland cows.

As a bikerider, you are never alone. Midges, highland cows, sheep, rams....... Oh yes, I have been chased by rams many times. I stood at the side of the road up outside Aberfoyle one day while eating a chocolate bar when I suddenly heard a hell of a noise behind my back. It turned out that a ram had spotted me, did not like what he saw and charged straight at me at speed. Only the fence saved my legs and torso from a painful rebuild at the local hospital. That fence was of no use anylonger after that wooly testosterone bomb had detonated and I made a very hasty retreat up the road before the ram could finish me off. That too teached me a lesson.

You never cycle alone......

 

[ufkacbln]

I am in South Wales at the moment - all on my lonesome!
It is brilliant.

I can just do as I like, For instance I saw an interesting church spire in the distance so headed for it) no need to plan, timetable, or worry about anyone else.

Tomorrow I will get up, head out of Newport, an end up somewhere in the region of Bridgend, that is as far as I have planned.

 

[TheDoctor]

There's no-one to object if you decide that it's too hot right now, and I want to go to Decathlon and cool off in the aircon look at tents or sommat for two hours. Equally, there's no-one to mention that the reason why you're lost and the roadsigns don't make sense is that the map is upside down...

 

[saoirse50]

I almost always tour alone. Last year I rode from Dungeness to Durness, over a circuitous route of almost 1800 miles, on my own, apart from half a days riding in Norfolk with a friend and a weekend crossing the Yorkshire Dales with another. The rest of the month, I rode alone. I love it. I'm a teacher, so I relish the fact I don't have to talk, explain, discuss, adjust my plans, compromise, or accommodate anybody unless I choose to, for that time. However, we are all different. I have friends who say they know they would hate spending their holidays the way I do.
But, a short trip away on your own is a good way of testing this out. Do it for a few days and you'll know if it's for you or not. You can always come home if you really hate it.