A woman touring alone?

[Summer23]

Mom and I've been talking about this a lot lately. She's extremely nervous about riding in traffic at all, and loves her motorhome very much, so two thoughts we had were to 1) take a motorhome trip and take the bikes along for exploring, and/or 2) she could drive motorhome and I could ride my bike, and we could meet up in the afternoons or something to explore and all. Either might be a good start for us. We're thinking about it, anyhow.

I was also looking at the... oh, what was it called. Vermont Touring Company or something like that? Vermont something; I thought that might be fun to go do on my own sometime.

[Bad JuJu]

Either of your ideas with your mom and her motorhome sound good. You'd get to do the long-distance cycling you want to do, and your mom would feel less worried about you. Plus you'd have your very own support vehicle along--nice bonus!

Was it Vermont Bicycle Touring that you were researching? I took a short tour with them back in the late 80s, and it was great. Very friendly, supportive guides, well-researched routes and maps, wonderful B&Bs that we stayed at. I think that sort of thing is more expensive now (what isn't?), but worth considering if you want to tour but have no one to tour with and don't want to do it alone, at least your first time out. And don't forget to check out other touring companies. I highly recommend Womantours--took a nice tour with them in Maryland last spring, and I'm thinking of joining them on a longer one next year, either riding up along the Mississippi River or a week-long tour in southeast Alaska.

[Summer23]

Just got a catalogue I requested from the company I was looking at in the mail, and it was Bike Vermont. I'm checking out Womantours right now before I forget. Ooh! They have some on the west coast, and in Alaska even! Yay! Lower airfare!

[Bad JuJu]

Touring companies can be expensive, but in my experience, I really got my money's worth. This may not be true of every tour with every company, but I can highly recommend Womantours.

[DeniseGoldberg]

Sorry I missed your posting, but I was off touring on my bike (as jobob noted above).

I started touring many years ago by going on supported group tours, but I switched to solo self-supported touring in 1998, and I haven't looked back. I find that traveling alone is magic from the standpoint of meeting people who live in the areas that I am passing through, and traveling self-supported gives folks an easy opening to start conversations. From a safety standpoint, it's really no different than wandering around your home area alone.

If you have specific questions, or if you need to talk to someone who has somehow managed to calm the fears of friends and family (they're used to my travels now, but they weren't happy when I first started out on my own), please let me know. I love talking about touring!

--- Denise

[indysteel]

Denise, in researching tour companies, I've seen a couple of posts from you regarding your experiences with Backroads and Bicycle Adventures. What, in particular, didn't you like about BA? What, in particular, did you like about Backroads? I'm thinking of taking BA's trips (in particular, Crater Lake), but am also considering Backgrounds' Bryce/Zion/GC tour. My biggest issues in finding the right tour/company are daily mileage (I want to average at least 50 miles a day), itinerary (I would prefer a 7-8 day tour), price (I'll be on my one and the single supps. sting), and age/attitude of fellow travelers (I'm 37 and pretty active). I'm otherwise pretty easy to please. I don't need luxury accomodations or meals.

I just started riding this summer and am not yet comfortable with the idea of touring alone, although that might be an option for future trips. Also, I would note that I'm read some negative things about Backroads in Bicycling.com's forums. The comments suggest that perhaps Backroads has become too big/corporate. They also indicated that their bikes are in bad shape--which really concerns me since I don't think I'll be bringing my own bike along.

Anyway, I'd appreciate your advice/thought/opinions.

Kate

[DeniseGoldberg]

...I've seen a couple of posts from you regarding your experiences with Backroads and Bicycle Adventures. What, in particular, didn't you like about BA? What, in particular, did you like about Backroads? I'm thinking of taking BA's trips (in particular, Crater Lake), but am also considering Backgrounds' Bryce/Zion/GC tour.

Kate -
First, you should know that my experience with both companies is pretty dated. My last trip with Backroads was probably 6 years ago, and Bicycle Adventures was earlier than that.

I found Backroads to run very good trips, and I was happy with both their leaders and their bikes. I did both camping and inn trips with them, although my experience pre-dates their adding the less expensive inn trips (which I believe I probably would have preferred). I did the Bryce/Zion/Grand Canyon camping trip with them, and I'd say that was one of my favorite Backroads trips.

I only did one Bicycle Adventures trip; it was the first year they went to Crater Lake, and that was the trip that I did. On the positive side, there were forest fires in the area, and they did a very good job of re-routing us.

On the bad side - we stayed in some condos for 2 nights where bicycles were not allowed on the roads in the complex but were instead directed to multi-use paths. I do not ride on bike paths unless they are in areas where they get very little use; I feel that because of overuse they are less safe to ride on than the road. I suppose I shouldn't blame the tour operator for that, but I maintain that we should not have stayed someplace that didn't allow cycling on the roads. Beyond that, the level of service wasn't what I expected. For example, on Backroads inn trips, your luggage is delivered to the room. On the Bicycle Adventures tour that I did they just dumped everything next to the van - except for the gear of one woman, and hers was taken to her room. Again, I only did one tour with them, and while I enjoyed the riding, I was unhappy enough with the tour operator to not try another one.

Of course, there are probably other people who don't like Backroads and do like Bicycle Adventures - so that's probably not much help.

I agree that the singles supplements are pretty outrageous. I opted for a roommate, which is pretty much a crap-shoot when you're traveling alone. Of all the trips that I did (and there was probably a 9 to 10-year period when I was going on supported tours), I think I only had one roommate who was a problem. That said, if I do a supported tour again I will likely opt for a single.

I had a lot of the same wishes that you did - especially in terms of mileage. That, plus wanting to go places that the touring companies didn't go (or didn't go for enough time) was what started me on the road to solo self-supported touring. I would highly recommend that you ask whatever company you are considering for references, preferably of people who have done the trip you are considering in the not too distant past. I'm sure they will only give you people who they believe will give you a good reference, but I think it's still valuable to talk to someone who has experienced that company's tours.

Hope that helps; ask more questions if it doesn't!

--- Denise

[indysteel]

Denise, thanks for your prompt reply. You've helped me formulate some additional questions to ask BA if and when I move forward with making plans. I'd like to think that some of the kinks for their Crater Lake trip have been worked out.

I really like Backroads' intinerary for Bryce/Zion/GC because they almost always offer daily mileage options. And the long options are, indeed, long. There is at least one day "off" from cycling, but that might not be such a bad thing after a few days in the saddle. They do offer a "singles" week for that tour, but it's the last week of August. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing that the daily temps--at least in Zion--will be in the 90s. That's just too hot for me.

Did you have a feel for the "average" age of the people both BA and Backgrounds attract? I went on a "small boat" cruise in Alaska two summers ago. My friend and I were one of only a handful of people who weren't of retirement age. I don't want to sound like I have an age-bias, especially since I met so many nice people on the cruise. It's just that I would have preferred more of a mix.

Thanks again for your help! Sorry if I've hijacked this thread a bit!

Kate

[DeniseGoldberg]

Did you have a feel for the "average" age of the people both BA and Backgrounds attract? Kate

If I remember correctly, there were folks at all ages. But that's a question for which you should be able to get a straight answer from the touring company.

On the Backroads Bryce/Zion/Grand Canyon trip, I did take advantage of the day off in Bryce & Zion to hike. I actually biked in the area on the Grand Canyon trip. (I did the camping trip which was 9 days, and we had an option for a free day in each park.)

--- Denise