I have often made friends along the way and camped with them, but didn't typically ride with them. Sometimes we planned our days and met up each day for camp. Other trips it was more just bumping into each other when we happened to. When I planned to ride with someone at the start we usually rode together for the duration.

On the TA we knew other folks from various forums (mostly cgoab) and were excited when we happened to run into them unplanned. We also met and made friends with others. Then we tended to meet again and again along the way. Sometimes we planned to stay together for a while and sometimes the paces were not compatible.

On the TA I met a quite a few young riders many were recent college grads doing a post college trip. On other tours I think they tended to be skewed more toward older rider. I guess the Pacific Coast had quite a few youngish riders too.