Originally Posted by
erbfarm
am planning my first self-supported tour for the Lake Champlain bikeway in mid August. Since this is my first tour and since I'm a female, I'd really like to have another woman along for the ride for company and to share camping fees, but I'm really having a hard time finding someone who wants to go. I've posted to Adventure Cycling and to Crazy guy, but haven't had any responses. And people that I know in "real life" either don't have the time to go (I've got a 10 day tour planned) or don't have any interest in carrying gear and camping. What's a girl to do? I may end up going by myself, I guess, but 10 days of it doesn't sound as much fun as 2 or 3 days on my own. Is it usually pretty tough to find a cycling mate? or am I just going at the wrong time, too long, unappealing destination? what? If I had the cash ($1,000) I would probably just sign up for the ACA Adirondack tour or something, but my budget is more like $200 and I can do this tour on a shoestring even if on my own. Why doesn't the low budget haul it yourself idea seem to appeal to more people?
It might appeal to more people if they knew more about it.
If you tour alone (alone initially at least) on routes that are reasonably well traveled by other touring cyclists, there are often many opportunities for meeting people. The problems of coordinating times off and touring routes are already largely sorted out; and you can be somewhat selective -- meet people, and get to know them a bit before any sort of commitment. And the initial commitment can be a short one (an hour, a day) that serves as a trial period. You aren't stuck with someone; and breaking it off is relatively easy.
You can meet a lot of people while out on tour.
There are also places along some routes that are especially good for meeting people -- certain campsites and cafes, for example. There are ways of increasing the numbers, if you want a better chance of finding someone, or of spotting a likely or promising possibility.