Watching videos on YouTube of people touring solo is bad for my stress levels. Whether they are riding faraway exotic locations or simply enjoying twisting roads in warm and sunny climates, the fact that I’m watching it rather than living it is why my stress levels rise.
Inevitably I’m prompted into one of two actions. Either I turn YouTube off and start planning a trip somewhere, or the more likely outcome is I go for a ride, even if it is just around the local area.
On one of these rides, I started thinking about the freedoms riding solo brings rather than riding with a group. Are they real, or does Charly Sinewan just make it look good?
Touring Solo
Riding a motorcycle – the actual act of riding – is a solitary activity. There are other road users around you – or if we are lucky, the roads are empty – but the actual riding is a singular activity.
When we stop, the differences between riding solo or in a group become apparent, and where we stop is usually the first big difference.
Coffee to Go
For me, the key to solo riding ironically came when out for a ride with colleagues. I drank a bottle of water when we stopped while Roger pulled a Coleman Firestorm out of his top box and brewed up.
I had one on order from Amazon about 10 minutes later.
My version of exploring isn’t going to inspire people to quit jobs and ride solo across the world, but being able to heat noodles and brew a coffee wherever I choose has seen me stop in some beautiful – and sometimes strange – places just because I could.
Having been stung for about £7 for two posh coffees and a bun at Starbucks, roadside brew-ups are more cost-effective and always have a better view than the average McDonald’s car park.
Billy No Mates
Of the stops we make, night stops highlight the most significant difference in touring tastes. If you are happy with your own company, then free camping in the back end of nowhere is most likely your destination.
Wishing to talk about motorcycles and listen to other people’s adventure stories, I usually look for a motorcycle-friendly bed and breakfast. I’ve done my travelling for the day; it is time to stop. Others prefer more life in their night stops, to each their own. There are hundreds of permutations.
Organising a Tour
If you have ever organised a tour – even for friends – you will know the amount of work that goes into it. Having volunteered for the job, you have no one to blame but yourself.
Things will go wrong – if they didn’t, it wouldn’t be an adventure – but be it in the planning or execution stage, you are often juggling multiple desires, tastes and suggestions.
Off-the-shelf tours by professional tour companies are something different. Everyone who joined the tour decided they wanted what the tour was offering. Perhaps these are the perfect way to ride with friends, as you can all “blame” the tour company rather than your riding buddy if the hotel is rough or the route is not what you wanted.
If you are organising something casual, you will at some point be trying to keep everyone happy at the same time. For a week-long trip, this isn’t too bad. However, for ten days around Europe, you will learn to accept that someone will get pissed off at some point.
The longer the tour, the greater the effort required. There is definitely something to be said for adopting the day-by-day approach. With an overall destination in mind, which might be several days’ ride away, you organise tomorrow the night before.
The downside can be you never get the best deals, but the upside is no issue lasts more than one day. Bad overnight stop? You are gone eight hours later.
Another method is to agree on where you will spend the night and meet there. The route you then take and how long you take are all up to you.
Other than knowing who you will be drinking a beer with at the end of the day, essentially, it is touring solo.
Never Really Alone
Besides standing at the roadside waiting for a breakdown recovery van, you are never really alone when riding.
In the middle of some faraway place, Itchy Boots takes 1.25 million people along for the ride, and OnHerBike has 250,000 pillion passengers. I’m not belittling the commitment of any of these riders. It takes a lot of effort from them so that I can travel around the world from the comfort of my armchair. I’m just wondering if they ever feel “alone”, and I think the answer is a resounding no.
More likely, they worked out a long time ago that touring solo is much more relaxing and enjoyable than group travel, and I think I’m beginning to agree with them.
And on that bombshell – I’m off for a group ride, hunting down tea and cake on the Lincolnshire coast. I’m beyond help.
