The only thing worse than doing a tour solo is doing it with someone. When you ride with someone, there is almost always a speed differential. The other person is too slow on the uphills or on the flats or too fast on the downhills or on the flats. You have two people to worry about, two bikes, two sets of gear, food for two people. One of you may be able to ride 80 miles without breaking a sweat but the other person might not want to go further than 30 miles a day. One of you might be a vegetarian, one only eats meat. Maybe one of you snores like an old bear. Maybe one of you smells like an old bear! One likes coffee and one likes tea. It's harder to tell lies about the trip to other people because there's a witness. The combinations are endless as are the problems.

But at the end of the day, you have someone to share the experience with. At the end of the trip you share something that no one else can share. You have seen the same sights, you've eaten the same bad food, ridden the same bad rain storms or heat waves. You have also seen in the other person things that you never thought was possible. You share a bond that is like none other.


And the only thing worse than doing a tour with someone is doing it solo. You go too fast. You go too far. You hurt yourself. You are alone in the world and there is no one to share with at the end of the day. You experience the pain of loneliness. You experience depression and doubt and, a little, fear. You are on your own. If something breaks, you have to figure out how to fix it. If you crash, you have to treat your own wounds. If you hear someone snoring like an old bear, it is likely an old bear!

But at the end of the day, the pain and loneliness drive you to create. You want to share with others and the only way to do that is to create the story to tell them. You paint the scenes, you make yourself heroic. You battle storms and heat and bears. You also find, within yourself something you never knew you had. You find strength and purpose. You have done something that few others dare to do. You've met the world and spit in it's eye! You are who you are and you know what you can do! And there aren't any witnesses.