Touring - What makes you decide to go on a bike tour?

Hi there,

I was just curious to find out what motivates and makes people to decide to take time off work or, in some cases even quit their job and sell their house, and embark on a bike adventure? It's something that a lot of people have trouble understanding, since it can be a very challenging thing to do and is pretty far away from a "typical" vacation that most are accustomed to.

Would be very interested in hearing stories of people that have made the leap and the circumstances that led up to that.

Boris

For me it was a dream to do Bikecentennial (now the Trans America) since 1976.

In 2007 I decided I was going to actually tour and do the Pacific Coast from Seattle to San Francisco. My daughter decided to do a bike tour that year and invited me. She and one of her college apartment mates were thinking of doing the Trans America. How could there even be any need to think about that? It was a pure no-brainer. The Pacific coast was put off for later and we did the TA.

I wanted to go see the United States. Had never been west of the Appalacians before. Turns out we live in a great country full of nice people. It's no wonder people want to live here.

I just plain like touring. When I have some time off, or a long weekend comes along... I start thinking of where I can ride.

Ascii(027)

Hi there,

I was just curious to find out what motivates and makes people to decide .....
Boris


I just love cycling, and touring makes the most of that. I like traveling in an environmentally and physically fit manner. I like meeting people in the country, instead of the morons who live in cities. I like travelling and having an alternative to the "lonely planet" concept of sightseeing.

So now, whenever i see myself having alot of time on my hands in the summer or whenever, off a-cycling I do go!

roughstuff

First, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. I've been cycling since I was 6 years old, and "seriously" since I was 23.

Second, when I was 17 my father rode from Jasper to Banff in three days, and I joined him for the last day. It took me 11 years to get around to it, but my first tour was Jasper to Banff in three days.

Third, I'm one of the ones who quit her job, gave up her apartment, sold, gave away, and tossed about half my stuff ... and hit the road.

What motivated me to do that? A friend suggested that we tour the world for 5 years. My first reaction was, "no way, that would be impossible!!" But it planted the seed of an idea in my head and I began to wonder how to make it possible ..... and then began to make plans to make it possible. When I hit the road, it was just for a 3-month trial tour, and then I hit the books. I'll be graduating soon with a degree I can use in many places to support myself. And then I'll be off.

I have no desire to settle down forever in one place ... that simply does not appeal to me at all. But being a bit of a nomad does appeal to me. :)

It is a hidden secret. You learn why/has meaning when you go yourself.

for me, its cheap, remote, a challenge, adventure, gorgeous scenery at 10 miles an hour, and there is never failure only success or death.

Ascii(027)

Good one! :roflmao2:


Valygrl you are such a nerd! I had to look that one up and I am the king of the nerds. :)

Hi there,

I was just curious to find out what motivates and makes people to decide to take time off work or, in some cases even quit their job and sell their house, and embark on a bike adventure? It's something that a lot of people have trouble understanding, since it can be a very challenging thing to do and is pretty far away from a "typical" vacation that most are accustomed to.

Would be very interested in hearing stories of people that have made the leap and the circumstances that led up to that.

Boris

I think you mentioned the very reason why I do it. Challenging. My vacations have rarely been easy. Previous vacations usually involved chartering 15 meter sailing yachts. A lot of responsibility being captain but I have always enjoyed it.

I enjoy touring for the physical challenge but also the mental challenge of getting from point A to point B on roads where bicycles are allowed to travel.

Good one! :roflmao2:


Valygrl you are such a nerd! I had to look that one up and I am the king of the nerds. :)

hee hee. I saw it on a license plate once.

(it's "Escape" in prehistoric geek-speek)

I'm a thru-hiker and I wanted to try something new and exciting. I've been a bike messenger for awhile and I ride a fixed gear bike. I wanted something fresh and with gears. I also wanted to prove to my friends and family I'm capable of being a Renaissance Man.

We get asked that question all the time - Why? How??

Honestly, I think making the decision to take this trip was by far the hardest part of it all. We are raised in a society that considers it "responsible parenting" to get up early, drop the kids at day care, work in an office all day, pick up the kids, cook a quick dinner, take the kids to soccer practice, and then collapse into bed exhausted. That's what's expected of us.

So to make the decision to chuck it all and march to our own drummer was tough - very tough. We had to overcome all our ideas of what being responsible was all about.

In the end, however, we came to the conclusion that perhaps we are being even more responsible in that we are spending TIME with our children. We are giving our boys the gift of MEMORIES of being WITH their parents. And is that really so bad??

I would say the main reason I'm on this tour is time. Time with my husband and kids. Time to stop and smell the roses. Time to see the world we live in. Time to meet the wonderful people who populate the earth. Time. That's the currency of life.

I was just curious to find out what motivates and makes people to decide to take time off work or, in some cases even quit their job and sell their house, and embark on a bike adventure?

It is addicting, and I've been working up to it over time. Frequently the weeks just after returning from a trip are the most "dangerous" in thinking of all the wonderful places to go visit on the next trip :)

Grew up in Colorado doing lots of hiking, camping and trekking through the mountains. Went to college in a very urban setting in Boston metro without owning an automobile. A bicycle was a great way to escape the city and New England is pretty compact, 60 miles from here gets me to Laramie, Wyoming but 60 miles from Boston gets to three different states.

After college "settled down" and did some less touring. However, some unforeseen circumstances gave me a chance to do something I always wanted to so - bicycle across the US. Enjoyed that so much that worked towards doing something similar, bicycling across Canada five years later...and so on with many short trips as well.

Good one! :roflmao2:


Valygrl you are such a nerd! I had to look that one up and I am the king of the nerds. :)


A true nerd would point out that 027 has a leading zero and therefore means octal 27 (decimal 23), the ASCII value of which is "End of Trans. Block". Good enough reason to tour, I suppose ;)

A true nerd would point out that 027 has a leading zero and therefore means octal 27 (decimal 23), the ASCII value of which is "End of Trans. Block". Good enough reason to tour, I suppose ;)

oops, i've been outed. I'm not really a nerd, I'm play one on the internet. don't tell my boss, m'kay?

I've been obese since childhood. I never learned to ride a bike. In my 40th year I lost more than 100 pounds of weight, and went from someone who couldn't walk a city block without stopping for breath to someone who could hike four or five miles. However, I have crooked legs, with a knock in the right knee that has to be seen to be disbelieved. Long-distance or loaded hiking is out of the question for me. I'd always wanted to learn to ride a bike, so I purchased one at the end of 2006 and taught myself to ride.

I was very sedentary and isolated for much of my adult life, one of the drawbacks of being 400 pounds. Cycling is a great way to overcome the isolation I suffered. Bike touring lets me celebrate the world that I was previously kept from by my wall of fat, and helps me keep my weight in check so I never build that wall up again.

I've been obese since childhood. I never learned to ride a bike. In my 40th year I lost more than 100 pounds of weight, and went from someone who couldn't walk a city block without stopping for breath to someone who could hike four or five miles. However, I have crooked legs, with a knock in the right knee that has to be seen to be disbelieved. Long-distance or loaded hiking is out of the question for me. I'd always wanted to learn to ride a bike, so I purchased one at the end of 2006 and taught myself to ride.

I was very sedentary and isolated for much of my adult life, one of the drawbacks of being 400 pounds. Cycling is a great way to overcome the isolation I suffered. Bike touring lets me celebrate the world that I was previously kept from by my wall of fat, and helps me keep my weight in check so I never build that wall up again.

Congrats on your accomplishments! :thumb: :beer:

tourdafrique, have you done the Tour d’Afrique? Did you like the group that organizes that event? Was it well organized?

I'm only mildly interested in the Tour d’Afrique, but the Vuelta Sudamericana, Orient Express and Silk Route interest me more.

http://www.tourdafrique.com/southamerica/route.html
http://www.tourdafrique.com/orientexpress/route.html
http://www.tourdafrique.com/silkroute/route.html

we get asked that question all the time - why? How??

Honestly, i think making the decision to take this trip was by far the hardest part of it all. We are raised in a society that considers it "responsible parenting" to get up early, drop the kids at day care, work in an office all day, pick up the kids, cook a quick dinner, take the kids to soccer practice, and then collapse into bed exhausted. That's what's expected of us.

So to make the decision to chuck it all and march to our own drummer was tough - very tough. We had to overcome all our ideas of what being responsible was all about.

In the end, however, we came to the conclusion that perhaps we are being even more responsible in that we are spending time with our children. We are giving our boys the gift of memories of being with their parents. And is that really so bad??

I would say the main reason i'm on this tour is time. Time with my husband and kids. Time to stop and smell the roses. Time to see the world we live in. Time to meet the wonderful people who populate the earth. Time. That's the currency of life.

+1 :)

>pretty far away from a "typical" vacation that most are accustomed to.

"Typical" anything is lame.

Steve

It's one of the few situations where one can feel truly independent and self-sufficient. Add the physical challenge, new landscapes, new cultures, new friends, and the fact that even cardboard tastes great after a hard day on the bike - it's a great break from 'normal' life.

What's not to like. A couple weeks on the road.. A time to complete one's head adjustments and make us think the world a perfect place. The key to long distance cycling. Take one day off in seven and just enjoy the scenery. I know a guy who talked divorce in order to do his Pan American Highway adventure. Get rid of the bad marriage and a mortgage and just go. Never did, but always his dream. Instead he got a kid.

I haven't really had a chance to do a tour yet. Been working on building up my confidence and the stamina of both me and my husky.

But I would love to take a bike tour for the same reason that I love packing up food and water for an all day ride. Finding and seeing new things, places I've never been, and the huge sense of accomplishment I get from the fact that I got there all under my own power. I have countless pictures of old churches (oldest from 1100's), manor houses, a castle, ruins, rune stones, grave mounds, open air museums with old wooden farmstead buildings, and some just simply nice views along the roads or flowers in the spring. There's so much more you can see from a bike (or recumbent trike in my case) than you can with a car. I know this area far better than my husband does and he was born and raised around here. I've discovered things he was completely clueless of.

Next spring or so, I fully intend to ride along the Sverigeleden (Sweden Route) for a few days, just me, the trike, camping gear and a hyperactive husky. See what I can find further out than the 30 mile radius from home I'm already so familiar with.

Then who knows, maybe some other part of Europe. Norway? Finland?

And this itch to explore via bike is nothing new. Even when I was about 8 years old, I still did my all-day trips on a bike. Pitch a ham sandwich and a soda into my handlebar basket and vanish for the day. Turned my mother's hair gray when she'd ask where I'd been and I'd tell her of someplace 20 or more miles from home.

For me the seed was planted while having a few beers with a cousin in Greece and talking about what crazy thing each of us wanted to do. Since I've always loved riding my bike I said I would like to cycle from my home in Holland to my other home in Greece. A few weeks later I did some research on the net and found a whole new world of cycle touring. After reading the book by Ann Mustoe: A bike ride, and other journals at crazyguyonabike, it sealed my fate.
Sometime later when I lost my job I got permision from my beter half and rode the 3000kms to Greece. After hearing the stories and seeing the pictures my wife wanted to give it a try so the following year we rode to Barcelona, and now we are both hooked :)

Flying into Maastrict this coming Thursday on Ryan AIr.. We're on our way to the Mosel.. How's the cycling there.?.... About Greece,were were there a couple weeks ago... We loved it. But, we did not feel safe in a car , yet on a bike.?..... The motorists there, must be on speed. There certainly is a need to stop at those roadside memorials to dead motorists and have a conversation with St. Christopher.....Or maybe it was just a Peloponnese thing.?.

Hi Boris,


take time off work or, in some cases even quit their job and sell their house

I made about 20 bike trips in foreign countries in the last years. I just use my normal holidays for that. And may be once I'll make a big trip (see Dream tour thread) and have to quit my job or sell my house for that.

So it's just a question of priorities. Currently a save job, a good income has for me a higher priority than biking. I'm so far satisfied with my 40-50 bike travel days per year to see foreign countries from the saddle.

Thomas

Flying into Maastrict this coming Thursday on Ryan AIr.. We're on our way to the Mosel.. How's the cycling there.?.... About Greece,were were there a couple weeks ago... We loved it. But, we did not feel safe in a car , yet on a bike.?..... The motorists there, must be on speed. There certainly is a need to stop at those roadside memorials to dead motorists and have a conversation with St. Christopher.....Or maybe it was just a Peloponnese thing.?.

Hi, nice to hear you're coming to Maastricht, if you need a tourguide around town or recomended cycling routes to the Mosel let me know (e-mail address on my page below) it'll cost you a cup of coffee :)
I hope your not camping as it's expected to drop to -2c thursday and friday night. It's also supposed to stay dry for several days. Good riding though, I've been out last weekend and its great with fall colors all around.
I think Greece is like a lot of other places, in roads around and inbetween big citys you really need to be carefull, in the countryside its very safe. Another point is that they are not familiar with cyclists on the road so they give extra room, unlike some places in Italy and France where they fly by very close.

Congrats on your accomplishments! :thumb: :beer:

Thank you.

One additional reason I tour is that there's not a lot else I can do on a bike. I'm too slow for most club riders, and casual riders are intimidated to ride with me. :)

Thank you.

One additional reason I tour is that there's not a lot else I can do on a bike. I'm too slow for most club riders, and casual riders are intimidated to ride with me. :)

Neil, I think you would fit in and keep up just fine on a lot of the club rides here if you so chose.

Neil, I think you would fit in and keep up just fine on a lot of the club rides here if you so chose.

Perhaps, but then again, I've discovered my taste in riding differs from most club riders. Over Labor Day my bike club had a ride to a local horse show that ran near my house. I tried to meet the riders for the last part of the ride, thinking we would see the horse show together. I missed them, and didn't see them in the hour I was at the show. Instead they turned around at a service station a mile from the show grounds - too much trouble to ride to the show. I took the trouble and had a great time.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2838248479_c79f8a4b92_b.jpg

I wanted to go see the United States. Had never been west of the Appalacians before. Turns out we live in a great country full of nice people. It's no wonder people want to live here.

I can relate with this. I try to share this very sentiment with people that ask about my touring habit. So many people seem to think this country is inhabited by lunatics and psychopaths out to do harm to everyone at every opportunity. Of course, all those evil people live on the other side of somewhere else down the road, not in the local community. I suppose this is partly due to our society's propensity to collapse in front of the television and get a healthy daily dose of media coverage of the bad and unfortunate (hey..it sells!).

My touring experience has exposed me to the most wonderful people in all parts of the country. (Well, I haven't been to California yet, but I hear there's a few nice folks out there, too.) I have yet to meet anyone threatening. I suppose these experiences help keep me on the bike and eager for the next tour.

I'm the most free when I'm on my bike, even more so than when I surf. On tour I can drop off the grid, similar to being at Burning Man, yet still in the world. I love getting up, sitting at breakfast, looking over the map and thinking about where I might end up that night. So much potential, so much unknown, so many interesting people along the way. Or I can spend my time without human contact and be free of everything except my responsibility to myself. And I can even neglect that if I so please. It is not being on the road that is difficult or stressful, it's the return to the default world that causes issues. I haven't been in a few years, but the plan is to build a new bike and hit the road for two weeks in the coming summer, along with a few weekend trips with my wife.

I thought cycle touring would be a nice way to take a holiday without losing my fitness, or indeed, to gain even more fitness. You can feel a lot more "immersed" in the environment you're travelling through than you can from behind the glass of a bus or a train. The smells, the sounds, the sunlight, or rain, the wind, of course, the views, and the well earned beer at the end of the day. The feeling of freedom, you can stop where you want; You're not limited by some tour company's itinerary. And the opportunity to meet people and experience local culture in a way that possibly even backpackers rarely experience, if they take the tour bus too...

Anyway, they're some of the reasons I tour on a bicycle.

tourdafrique, have you done the Tour d’Afrique? Did you like the group that organizes that event? Was it well organized?

I'm only mildly interested in the Tour d’Afrique, but the Vuelta Sudamericana, Orient Express and Silk Route interest me more.

http://www.tourdafrique.com/southamerica/route.html
http://www.tourdafrique.com/orientexpress/route.html
http://www.tourdafrique.com/silkroute/route.html

I am not tourdafrique, but I bicycled the last 4000km of the Silk Route with Tour D'Afrique last year. My trip report is described here: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/mevchina2007

In my opinion, the company was well organized and did a good job of adapting to circumstances on a trip like that. Ours was the first trip. This year the Silk Route trip got re-routed to pass over Georgia and the Africa trip skipped Kenya. Those are some significant changes and it takes a good company to be able to adjust and adapt. I would tour with them again.

With that said, I think you need to figure out what type of trip you like to do, and realize there are some differences in style and what you get in doing an organized ride with a group like TDA vs. going yourself. Last year, I had a chance to try a little of both by first doing my own self-supported bike ride across Eurasia - primarily Russia for six months; followed immediately thereafter by the TDA trip. By the time I finished my Russia ride, I was looking forward to riding with a larger group, but by the time I finished China with TDA I was looking forward to riding by myself on my own trip :) Some of the sorts of tradeoffs I noted in comparing the two trips back to back:

= The TDA trip was great for helping take care of logistics. My biggest task for the riding days was getting breakfast, figuring out enough of the route instructions and then riding. Logistics like breakfast/dinner, finding water, choosing where to stay each night were taken care of. My luggage was carried. The staff included a cook and a nurse. If I needed to, I could have SAG'd. I didn't cross borders with them, but I would have been given some pointers on visas.
= I was more immersed with Russia and its people because I was taking care of logistics, e.g. finding water, seeing where I could camp, picking and adjusting routes. I enjoy doing some of those tasks rather than having them taken care of and enjoy the flexibility that provides. If you are cycling alone and for any reason need to adjust what/where you cycle that day; you can do it to take a shorter or longer day. If you ride with the group, the distances are more constrained and your choices are to ride or to SAG.
= There is value in the camaraderie of traveling with the group, but also nice to be by yourself. As a solo traveler, you'll get more approached by locals and a better sense of what life is like for them.

I've cycled across four continents with the two that I am capable of still riding are Africa and South America. The way my preferences go, I will most likely do them in two different styles:
= cycling across Africa with TDA. The logistics of crossing 10 countries is a bit daunting and I like the extra support and organization. I've already put down a deposit for the 2013 TDA trip.
= cycling across South America on my own. I am learning Spanish now. There are fewer countries and borders and two primary languages to worry about. I value the freedom and flexibility of riding this by myself or perhaps with one or two others.

I mostly like it for the "to get away from it all" aspect.

The simplicity, the quiet (assuming low volume roads :) ), and the solitude.

Same reasons I camp, but being able to cover so much scenery is nice.

My desire for adventure and accomplishment outweighs my aversion to hard exercise, comfort deprivation, etc. When confronted with a tale of an arduous adventure, some people say, "Cool!" and immediately start imagining themselves doing something similar. Others say, "Why?" and dismiss the idea with some degree of repugnance. I've always been the former.

My development into a bicycle tourer came in many stages.

As a kid I lived on an island that had a perimeter road that was about 22 miles long. Our summer goal was to ride all the way around without stopping. We'd put sandwiches in our baskets, pass them to each other, and eat without stopping. ("Look, I'm riding with one hand and eating a sandwich!")
When I was in junior high my older brother and a pal rode their 10-speeds about 70 miles to a state park with sleeping bags on the racks. They slept under a picnic table and rode home the next day. I was impressed. Who'd-a-thunk such a thing was possible?
Also in junior high I joined the Boy Scouts and started backpacking. I really liked the idea of going places completely self-sustained with everything I needed for survival on my back, transported by myself with no motor.
In college I got a 10-speed and started riding around. I was happy to discover that longer rides weren't so hard - 30 miles, 40 miles, even 70 miles!
At my old junior high, a teacher started taking groups of 8th and 9th graders on bike trips across the country during the summers (the "Cyclemates".) My buddy's little brother was in the first group. I wished I had had the opportunity. Those kids were like celebrities in our little town, with journals in the paper each week, and a big welcoming parade when they flew home. (And they got to meet President Nixon! Oh, joy!)
I became poverty-stricken in college. The ability to go camping without paying for gas or campsites (I was stealth camping) had great appeal.


I started bike touring during college - weekend trips at first, then for a whole week at a time. I loved it. When I finally got a teaching job I decided to go on a longer trip - the west coast - during summer vacation. I had money for a better bike, lightweight camping gear, rain gear, camping, food, etc. It was luxurious compared to my stealth trips in college. I had the best experience of my life, up to that point. I was hooked!

When the voices in my head get so loud that I can't think,I know it's time.

I was reading about the Vuelta Sudamericana, and about what kind of bike to bring. They said that a front suspension mountain bike worked well in Africa, and the Vuelta Sudamericana would be similar but with more road riding. It go through jungle, desert, mountain and more.

Then it said that you'd have plenty of time to enjoy the towns you went through because you'd be riding 5-8 hours ( about 120k a day, so that's like 75 miles, right?), six days a week.

Is this really possible on a front suspension mountain bike? Isn't that the energy equivalent of about 120 miles a day? Especially if it was not on pavement? They also said the longest day would be 200k.

Tired of traveling through the landscape at 65mph. 5-20mph is so pleasant. so much more to see at the speed.

I did my first bike tour at the age of 17. I had jsut graduated from high school and wanted to do something big that would in one way or another, make me more independent.

It certainly worked, because that first bike tour totally changed my life. I've gone on a tour every single year since then and this year will be traveling around Europe on my bike for at least 5 months.

Whatever you sacrifice to make your bike tour a reality, it'll be worth it!

Hello, my name is Lisa Harris I am interested in doing a cooperative tour with women. I Live in southern middle Tn. At the Farm Community. It is located near the Natchez Trace Pwky. I can have visitors here, there are lots of accommodations and places to see. Please look at the web site at The Farm Community . com. Thanks, Lisa

Hello, my name is Lisa Harris I am interested in doing a cooperative tour with women. I Live in southern middle Tn. At the Farm Community. It is located near the Natchez Trace Pwky. I can have visitors here, there are lots of accommodations and places to see. Please look at the web site at The Farm Community . com. Thanks, Lisa

Try Warmshowers.org and starting your own post for more responses.

I guess what inspired me was seeing three hippie bike tourists come through my town once, and it inspired me to look into bike travel and touring.

I think that's what inspired me for the most part.

I have not actually toured yet but I get my bike in two days. I have had a travel bug since I was a kid. I have been searching cheap ways of travel since I have relatively no money and I first came across crewing for a sailboat. So I did that. I sailed with some guy I meet online from the Bahamas-Jamaica and finally Panama (http://www.panoramio.com/user/2120562). It was a bit scary and the company was terrible, it also made me want to travel more.

A few months after I returned I was walking through REI and I saw a picture of a loaded bike on the front cover of a book called "Spoked Dreams". Now here I am with a bike on the way and an endless amount of routes in my head.

I won't be doing my first big tour until this next spring but I know why I will be going. I've become restless and dissatisfied with my life. (I'm young, go figure!) Moving to the city, joining the military-industrial complex fresh out of college served to radicalize some of my ideas and has given me new impetus to find my own way in life. I've pinched my pennies and will be spending an indeterminant amount of time traveling across the country and world trying to learn and grow as a person while trying to find a calling since designing wasteful tools of death didn't work out too well.

Plugged into the rat race for 30 plus years - raised kids, paid for colleges, bought nice cars, bought houses and in the end I wondered if it was it worth it. I kind of got lost in all of it. It's kind of wierd saying this, but I wanted to feel alive again - and put my priorities of living in a more positive focus. After taking a year and a half off I went back to work again - I found I missed the people interaction, but I am a changed person. It's now just a job which I'll keep till I take my next cross country trip in 2011.

I was a backpacker first, and fond of sleeping outside. In 1978, a college roommate sold me his bike and I began to pedal further and further around Tucson, and found myself turning back solely because I had to return home for the night. What I really wanted was to see what lay around the next bend in the road.

It was an easy transition from hiking to biking: just strap the same gear onto the bike. And I discovered that I enjoyed meeting people as much as I liked camping alone. On the bike, I could do both.

I am not tourdafrique, but I bicycled the last 4000km of the Silk Route with Tour D'Afrique last year. ...

The TDA trip was great for helping take care of logistics. My biggest task for the riding days was getting breakfast, figuring out enough of the route instructions and then riding. Logistics like breakfast/dinner, finding water, choosing where to stay each night were taken care of. My luggage was carried. The staff included a cook and a nurse. If I needed to, I could have SAG'd. ...

There is value in the camaraderie of traveling with the group, but also nice to be by yourself. As a solo traveler, you'll get more approached by locals and a better sense of what life is like for them.



I am now involved with Tour d'Afrique, but I cycled from Arusha Tanzania to Cape Town in 2008 with them on my own nickel. I had worked in Africa on relief and development projects and in alternative sports (disc golf) before, but I had no previous formal cycling yet alone long distance cycling experience. Here are some insights into what I found, much of which mirrors Merv's experience:
- with some training (mostly interval training on a stationary bike last winter) anyone in half decent shape can do a Tour d'Afrique Ltd tour. As a newbie with years of experience working in Africa this tour intimidated me (you're going to do what??!) so I took my training fairly seriously and it paid off.
- not having to do anything on the riding days (about 6 out of 7) except eat, drink, RIDE, basic bike maintenance (TdA also provides a mechanic), sleep, set-up/take down my tent, and occasional dish duty was really cool. The food was also excellent for the most part, maybe not for Europe but certainly for Africa, and I was amazed at what the tour leaders could find for us along the route. Mostly a supported tour meant my bike was light and so I could pedal as fast as my body allowed or at a much more relaxed pace, stopping for chai and a chapati and immersing in the local culture. Cycling down the open African road without the weight of baggage was probably the most intense feeling of freedom I have ever experienced. That is not to say that solo bike tourers or couples don't experience the same thing, of course they do!, maybe even more so ... it's simply a case of to each his or her own ... But having since read the stories of cycling with luggage notably the strain on the bike including breakdowns and on the bod this is my preference, although the cost per day is of course higher.
- if you are competitive and like to race, as I do, then a light bike (I had an Arkell bag on my rear rack) is a must
- the larger group also provides options. The camaraderie Merv mentions is the most obvious. Sharing your adventure and its challenges - there are a lot of TOUGH days on TdA - with others doing the same is cool. In terms of biking I could leave camp at dawn and cycle hard by myself trying to stay ahead of the small group of hard core racers; I could cycle with 1 or 2 riders of similar capability in a small group taking turns leading and saving ourselves work on the big km days; I could ride in a larger peleton of mostly young strong non-competitive cyclists and take in the sights and sounds of the day, not to mention a few beers ... Having friends meant help was at hand when I needed a tricky gears adjustment which was easily repaid by handing them a guava juice or a few cookies when they finished a long day in the heat after I did. In many parts of the route there is also considerable distance between towns/villages and TdA bushcamps - unless you prefer your own company to that of others, its nice not to be alone. Being in a group also reduces vulnerability ... but as Merv also said there are some fabulous adventures and experiences that only happen when you are solo ... so as he said there are mostly pros and a few cons to each ...
- Of course having a big group can also mean some folk dont always get along, and others can become uniquely challenging as they meet their limits, but all in all I had an absolute blast and I cant wait for my next ride ...