I had a similar situation. A workmate and I planned a cycling trip up Vancouver Island,
tour Haidi Gwaii , and then through British Columbia's mainland back to Vancouver. It
was our first long trip. He bailed out just before our departure but I went anyway. I had
a fantastic trip solo, and after listening to my adventure, he rode with me down the Pacific
Coast from Vancouver to south of San Francisco the next year, and then 2 years later,
down the Alaskan Hwy. I say go.