What kind of trip?
Experienced bike-tourers vary enormously in the extent to which they prepare for a tour. So much depends on the person and their lifestyle. Much more may depend on where you are going and for how long; often, oddly, the shorter trips sometimes demand more planning. A three-week summer tour, for example, might be planned down to each day in order to maximize riding time and see all the sights. Getting into fitness training makes a lot of sense if you have a trip to the Alps planned, or you can expect sore muscles for the first week. It’s usually the short tours where you want to do 100km-plus days from the moment you arrive that can be a shock to the system. On a short trip, too, you will want to get your gear just right. It’s a bore to waste time shopping for essentials when you should be riding. There is therefore no one answer or magic list that covers all the problems of planning for every bike trip.
If you are setting out on a long ride across a continent, on the other hand, you might instead start the trip off with a low daily mileage and build up stamina gradually. A longer-term traveller can also afford to wait and see what gear and clothing works for them and how much of it they really need. People on long tours often end up sending back a lot of unwanted or unused stuff. It’s better to build a collection of touring and camping equipment prior to departure rather than buying everything in one major shopping expedition where you’re bound to make mistakes as shop assistants tempt you with camping espresso makers and folding toasters. You’re more likely to find out what gear and clothing you like and what you don’t really need while on the road. The really long tours are likely to involve all sorts of climates and terrain and therefore changing needs but you can afford to put off those actions or decisions – clothing, kit changes and visa issues – till later in the trip.
The following is a general pre-departure plan of action to help start you off on your adventure:
Pre-departure timetable
Three months before a trip
– Book flights
– Identify what visas/permits are required
– Work out who is going to look after your home/cat/mortgage
– Check your passport (have you at the very least nine months before it expires?)
– Check up on inoculations, etc
– Prepare a basic list of any kit you don’t have but think you will need
– If necessary, start thinking about a fitness regime
One month before
– Give your bike/kit some test rides
– Final shopping for spares (allowing time if parts need to be ordered)
– Final service for your bike
– Purchase any medicines (malaria prophylactics etc)
Two weeks before
– Get a bike box from a bike shop
– Start packing
– Tell your wife/husband/partner what you are doing
Alone or with friends?
Most people don’t have to decide whether to set off on their bike trip alone or with a friend; the circumstances of their life will make it very clear that there is, or is not, an obvious companion who is as excited to go as they are. And it is also going to become clear that persuading a reluctant partner to pack up and go with you is fraught with danger. Bike touring is hard work and so are all the non-biking aspects of the trip – finding accommodation, maintaining your health, watching your money, staying in some rough places etc. You will be tested, even if you are going away only for a couple of weeks. Make sure you call for volunteers only and don’t press-gang your partner into joining you. But if you are wondering whether to go on a long trip alone or not, the following are some ideas to bear in mind.
Travelling solo
Travelling on your own is harder work than with company; you feel the good times and the bad times all the more because there is no one to share them with. You have to become emotionally self-reliant, calling forth reserves of physical and emotional energy to get you over the hills and through the inevitable hassles. You may know already if you are the type to enjoy a holiday on your own, or the freedom of enjoying your own company may come to you while on the trip. It’s not set in stone: you may learn the valuable skills of becoming your own emotional support group while on the road. In fact you will have to, if you have a ‘knock-down’ experience such as a wallet theft or an accident. Getting over this can take a lot longer when you are on your own, but challenges like these can see you come out of the experience a lot stronger and wiser. These are all good reasons for seeing the trip as a challenge and a chance to grow as you find the resources within you to look after yourself.
Solo travelling is therefore potentially a lot more rewarding in terms of personal growth as well as the freedom you experience. At first you may feel free but quickly tire of having to make every decision, large and small. It is actually a bit of a bore to go through the day thinking ‘Shall I stop for a coffee now or in ten minutes?’, and until you can still that mental chatter, you are going to feel a little uncomfortable. The urge to talk to others and enjoy their company can overcome shyness in solo travellers and that way you’ll find yourself speaking up and making friends. Being on your own, you are far more likely to make the effort, and people are much more likely to befriend you or offer you a meal or a place to stay in the same way that people stop to pick up solo hitchhikers more often than they pick up couples. You will have plenty of quiet nights too, but you’ll also get lots of invitations and make many friends on the road. This is especially true among cyclists. Travelling on a bike is an instant conversation piece and other bikers will be on your side. It’s very natural to strike up a conversation with other bikers to share information, join them for dinner or ride with them for a few days. In many parts of the world that are popular among cyclists, you will never lack for company.
The last major advantage of travelling alone is that you will never be held back by anyone else’s weakness or lack of enthusiasm. You are riding at your own pace, finding it neither fast nor slow, but just right, though it may take a while before you stop pushing yourself and stop measuring yourself by how many miles or ‘clicks’ you ride each day. Because you are riding where you want at the speed you want, you will never hear a word of complaint and you can slow down and stop whenever you want.
Generally, solo riders travel further each day than couples or groups. There is simply less distraction and not as much reason to hang around. Many otherwise gregarious people take to solo riding quite quickly and would find it difficult to ride with others for more than a few days. The rest, if you’ll pardon the self-help claptrap, have to ‘learn to be their own best friend’. Once you do that, life on the road becomes a trip with the best riding partner you could hope for.
Despite the many intangible benefits of travelling alone, never fool yourself that it is as safe as travelling with a friend or in a group. If you are planning a great adventure like crossing the Taklamakan Desert in Western China, no doubt you have already developed the skills to make that trip and do not need any advice. However, travelling solo is far less safe, especially so in extreme environments. You have less margin of error, no back-up and little hope of rescue if you get into difficulties. You cannot share essentials like a stove, tools or tent. Be careful not to bite off more than you can chew and even if you are riding on your own, try to get in a group to travel through dangerous or remote areas.
Two’s company
You may be planning your trip with your partner or riding buddy and do not need to make a decision about travelling alone or with someone else, but it helps to look at the pros and cons. Travelling with a friend is just like having a long-term relationship back at home – it involves having some limits on your freedom in the hope of greater happiness together. Certainly you are limiting the downsides, because you are there to support each other in times of illness, weakness and loneliness. Having a partner on your trip will give you a lot of support and company at dinnertime every night. Tasks are shared and problems lightened, if not halved. Certainly the weight of the tent is halved, though as discussed later on, a single person is best off with a cosy two-person tent and a couple will appreciate having a two- to three-person tent after just a few days on the road.
Going with a friend is therefore a very practical decision. Safer, easier and a little less intimidating. But like a long-term relationship, you have to be well matched, otherwise it’s going to feel like the three-legged race you did at school – slow, ungainly and painful. This is why you need to be on guard against persuading someone to come with you. If they are not as gung-ho as you are, watch out. They may just want to be with you or part of your adventure, but deep inside not be as excited about the trip and be relying on you to take responsibility and make major decisions. At the first sign of trouble a reluctant rider might want to bale out – and besides that trauma, you’ll be stuck with a large tent you don’t need!
This might be contentious, but the successful couples I have seen on long trips were well matched in terms of abilities and strength. For couples of dissimilar strength but similar aspirations, there are tandems (see p.29). Going with a friend rather than your partner may be a lot easier in that the relationship is simpler and not so demanding. As long as your riding partner is relaxed and easygoing, life will be a lot less stressful. For women, travelling with another woman makes the trip a lot safer.
It is a lot more convenient travelling with other people. There is someone to watch your bike so you can go into a shop or find a toilet in a village. Several times a day the solo rider has to leave his bike to do these necessary things. With a pair of riders, these chores are simpler and safer. I find that two people are less likely to make mistakes if they share all the major decisions. You are forced to verbalize and rationalize what you decide to do. You have two pairs of eyes to look out for road signs and remember the way. Being able to talk through problems will lead to better decisions.
Differences in strength are common and should not be allowed to divide the two of you. If the stronger rider can learn to be patient, he or she can look at the upside of their position. It’s not that they have to wait for their riding partner but that they are being less stressed physically and can afford to take longer breaks while waiting for their partner to catch up, which in turn makes them even stronger. You have to learn to look at the good side of whatever situation you are in, and having to wait for someone is no problem at all. The slower rider needs to stand their ground and not push themselves beyond their limits. It’s their trip too and they should not put themselves at risk by overdoing it. Couples and pairs sometimes end up riding a mile apart, but I think this gives up some of the advantages of riding together and introduces the extra hazard of accidentally losing each other. As a couple, it’s best to stay within eyesight. A pair of friends might space out a little further than that, but if the slower rider has a puncture or the person in front takes a wrong turn, it is an entirely avoidable but serious hassle to be in. Keeping within eyesight and perhaps having mirrors on your bikes works best to give some time alone during the day and let your friendship recharge a little. If there are still difficulties or differences after all this enforced reasonableness on both sides, a temporary split may not hurt.
Taking a guided tour
‘We have only 45 minutes at this château and there’s another two to see this afternoon!’, Hurried comment from a bike tour group member in the Loire Valley.
Walking down the cobbled streets of the mediaeval Austrian village of Dürnstein, I was confronted by a swarm of guided bike tourists (guided missiles, more like!) buzzing by, none bothering to stop and see the village, even though it’s probably the only time in their lives they will have the chance to do so. Guided bike tours tend to offer a lot of activity in their brochures because that’s what sells tours to their busy clients on the basis that more is better. If you are reading this book, you are probably of a mind to go touring independently and want the tools and know-how to do it, whereas guided bike tours do everything for you except ride the bike – and even then, many of them have space in the van for you.
Guided bike touring should not automatically be ruled out as inferior, though, just as independent, loaded touring shouldn’t be regarded as the ultimate form of travel (though it’s well up there!). Have a look at the advantages of a guided bike trip:
– Less organization and research required for the trip
– Probably no need to bring your bike or any gear except clothing
– No need to carry your bags while riding
– A better chance of seeing the best areas without having to ride through the bad ones
– No worries about reservations each night
Those are the good points; everything is done for you and if you’re short of time and out of shape, they are significant advantages. If you are working and have only a few weeks, you can pack a lot into a guided tour but whether you see a lot is another matter. You are giving up a lot: the freedom to stop whenever you want and to change your mind or change plans because you met someone, for example, or it rained; and you’re also giving up the satisfaction of hauling your own gear and having access to it any time you want. These are all good things.
There are other times, however, when you’ll be on your bike, sweating up a long hill loaded to the gunwales and a tour group’s sag wagon flies by and perhaps some unloaded and carefree bikers glide past too. Then you might reconsider and think of the reasons why, in some cases, an organized tour makes sense. It may be that, for some rides, you simply cannot carry enough water to make a mountain-bike tour work. The Kokopelli Trail across Utah to Moab is one such trail. It’s high desert and, for parts of the route, the only water is in the Colorado River and it’s not drinkable no matter what you do to it. At other times, a bike tour organizer or outfitter might have local contacts and expertise that enables them to take you to places you could not get to as an individual. For instance, cycling from Kathmandu to Lhasa (and only in that direction) almost invariably needs group permits. There are also tour groups that let you make the plans and maybe provide a sag wagon too. These outfits might also encourage you to bring your own gear. They will solve your logistical problems and let you keep your freedom and it can be an occasional chance to lighten up from carrying those bags and try something different.
Getting information
The internet has its role to play, particularly around matters of detail, but be careful – a lot of nonsense is written there too. The internet costs nothing and the information you get from it may be worth exactly that.
A few hours spent in the travel section at a bookshop may be a better way to get basic information on countries: what to see, how things work and what they cost, and where to stay in the big cities. Bookshop shelves have never been fuller with travel books and your time may be better spent reading ‘offline’, considering your options and then filling in the details with research on the internet, especially as regards destinations and roads if you want that level of detail.
Besides internet forums, some governments also keep their information up to date and are surprisingly candid, if a little conservative. The UK’s Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) is excellent, while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/travel) is first class for health issues. Don’t laugh, but the CIA is actually very knowledgeable in some areas and surprisingly up to date. Try www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook.
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