worth the effort or recipe for misery?

i can not remember the last time i had a fulfilling day on the bike in an exciting new place and the bug is biting really hard. i’m absolutely gagging to get away somewhere but being based in newcastle most stuff is a proper journey to get to. not a problem in itself as i have a van to sleep in and a week off work.

my problem is getting anyone to ride with. it’s hard enough to get a two or three people to glentress or hamsterley forest for a few hours so a 3 or 4 day trip is not going to happen. this is why i’ve been thinking about going solo.

i’ve only ridden alone for a few hours at a time in familiar surroundings. will i just be bored to death? i imagine that a lot of the fun of discovering a new spot will be lost by not having anyone to share it with. also all of the on trail dogfights and banter will be missing. but i’m still dying to get away for a few days and can’t help thinking that it might be amazing. i’ll be free to go as fast or as slow as i like with no discussions about which direction we go or what music to listen to on the road.

i want to visit places i’ve never been to so i’m, thinking of starting at the FOD then working my way back to the northeast via antur stiniog and lee quarry. i’m just worried that it’ll be the most miserable few days of riding i’ve ever done and i’ll be crying into my pot noodles at night.

anyone ever done anything similar?

I planned and went on a solo trip from Kent to Wales. Arranged places to stay for a few days. Planned where to ride, to get food. On my first ride I crashed and broke my arm. My brother had to drive out with his wife to pick me up from the hospital, and collect my car. He wasn’t all that pleased.

I ride solo 99.9% of the time.Including some 2-3 day bike packing trips.
But then again I hate people.

i did a 4-day road tour once, staying in B&B’s daily milage was around 90ish, really enjoyed it and the weather was shit….wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it were any longer though. Done a few 10-day tours with others, helps when you have others when the going gets tough. Do it! 😉

I drove to Scotland, from SE England, on my own the year before last and rode Glentress and Innerleithen.

I usually ride on my own anyway, so that bit was fine; it was just the apres ride that I found a little awkward, including getting a table for one in the hotel restaurant.

Being away on your own is great for clearing the head and getting some thinking done, or for just thinking about nothing and going at your own pace, stopping when you want etc. I usually have a solo trip every few weeks – I always need to have the next one planned 🙂

I ride on my own alot of the time as I don’t have any friends (road/MTB). I would enjoy a roadtrip on the road bike though, solo, because I could set myself a time limit, not distance, and just go where ever I wanted.

I camped in Bradwell in the Peak last year for a week, with just a road bike and myself. I posted most of the kit i needed to an aunt and uncle who lived nearby. Rode down from Manchester, uncle dropped my kit off at the campsite. Rode lots of miles, had some books and an ipod; was lovely. I guess you do need to be pretty at ease with your own company. Visit my relatives near Bergen most years for a couple of weeks and happily disappear off for 3 or 4 nights with a tent or bivi and the bike; love it, it’s great to get some proper space and good miles.

Edit – i guess if you like to feel a bit more ‘in touch’, you could take photo’s and blog it, or just write up a piece to post on here or somewhere similar; those threads always put some smiles on faces.

I always treat myself to a few days alone in the hills every year. It helps to clear my head. I tend to visit bothys. Empty landscapes appeal to me. I’ll seldom really push the gnarr though, getting properly hurt in the middle of nowhere is likely to be very inconvenient to quite a few people.

I’ve done a couple of solo road trips. Last month I did the Sustrans Lon Las Cymru Welsh C2C route, and extended it down through the south of England back to the Isle of Wight where I live.

There’s a lot to be said for not having anyone else yanking your chain, setting the pace, slowing you down, going too fast. As long as the weather stayed good my morale was pretty high.

I’m a fairly shy and retiring type but being on your own takes you out of your comfort zone a bit and you end up falling into conversations you might not otherwise have had if you’d been away in a small group.

Dunno about camping on my own though. The thing about staying in B&Bs, inns and hostels was that it propelled you into the orbit of other people in a way that you might not be if you were just pitching a tent every night.

Go for it, I say. Although as Ambrose points out, you might want to avoid anywhere too backcountry-ish, unfamiliar and over-technical.

Depends on the weather I would say. There is nothing worse than getting drenched then dossing in a van. It also depends on your personality.

I spent a lot of the last 18 months road tripping through France on my own and for the most part had a great time. The only exception being November when the weather was F-in awful and I got marooned for a week in a carpark by flooding 😥 Chill out, bring plenty of books, beer and music, pray for good weather and it should be cool.

If I lived in Newcastle though, I don’t think it would be worth the drive down as far as the FOD.

Travelling by yourself is ace…. You get lost in your thoughts, you will ride further than you expect.

Mentally it very cleansing, a simple life…. And I just chat away with the thoughts (voices?) in my head

right i think you’ve talked me into it. (you know when you want to do something and you’ll probably do it anyway but you just want to hear some opinions)

i’m thinking the quantocks as the furthest point and i’ve got a tour guide for that part so i won’t be alone for the riding. don’t want to head out on any serious ‘back of beyond’ type terrain i just really need some bike time and some new scenery. i’ll plot myself a proper route when i’m not stuck at work.

i think the weather, as some of you mentioned, will have the biggest effect on morale but we can’t do anything about that.

I’m off to France on Wednesday for a week on my own, MTB during the day, road riding in the evening, staying at a mate’s house (who isn’t there). Just ride sensibly and don’t take risks.

I ride alone all the time. I normally do a road trip once a year at least.

I did the lakes a little while ago, absolutely loved it. Weather was terrible and I was permanently wet and cold but I didn’t mind. (Although putting clothes still wet from the pervious day wasn’t very pleasant.)

Riding alone is great if you’re a socially crippled weirdo who thinks everyone hates you.

On my second day I started in Windermere, rode up Kirkstone pass, then Whinlatter pass, then Hardknott pass and then Wrynose pass (and all the hilly bits inbetween). It rained virtually all day and I was half dead when I got back to the B&B. Brilliant!!

Here’s the look back at the top of Hardknott. I was quite emotional at this stage as that is a bitch of a climb with ‘enthusiast’ gearing and a pannier on the bike. It stopped raining for a few brief minutes too which was nice.

hardknott pass by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

i am suitably inspired by your tales of bicycling independence. if nothing else it will be good practice for the ’round the world’ trip that i keep threatening to take off on.

Solo riding is awesome, tours, day rides, whatever.

Do it.

I did a weekend recently on my own. Found a small hotel, rode a couple of loops in the area, didn’t feel a massive urge to have people with me. I did check in with loved ones to tell them I was okay and to tell them approximate routes in case I vanished but that’s about it. That said, I’m quite happy with my own company (side effect of being an only child etc.) so being on my own isn’t an issue. I have friends who would have gone mental being on their own for a weekend.

Do it! I’ve done a week’s holiday on my own several times – rented a cottage somewhere nice in a nice part of the country. Am happy with my own company, regularly ride on my own anyway, so it was not a big deal. Cooked my own food though, wouldn’t have felt comfortable eating in a pub on my own!

The second time I was in an area with very little mobile coverage but, quite frankly, life’s too short to worry when you’re out on the hills. Just adjust your riding accordingly.

Solo riding is awesome, tours, day rides, whatever.

Do it.

This ^^ ,and what druidh said about getting your head in a good place.
When you get in the zone ,it’s like a form of meditation .

I would go for a luxury trip first to give you a taste for it,so book up a few B+Bs and don’t load yourself up with too much stuff.

Youth Hostels are a good option if you want to do it on the cheap, yet need people around.