Originally Posted by
Wogsterca
Placing a limit may annoy your travelling companion, and that can make the trip unpleasant. It can also hurt a relationship, so if this is someone you really like, you may not want to go there. Probably better to see how you want to plan the tour, if touring together is even possible. For example if your one of those guys who wants to be up a 5AM and on the road at 5:30 and ride constantly until 8PM before collapsing in camp, and she wants to ride 4-5 hours a day, with lots of down time, it isn't going to work.
+1
I would be annoyed if Rowan told me I had to limit my typing to 8 sentences. I could see making a deal where we would spend 30 minutes at a library in the middle of the afternoon, during which time (in our case) we would both get on computers and do our thing for the 30 minutes. If Airwick isn't a computer person, then maybe he and his partner could go to the library, agree to 30 minutes, and he could read a newspaper or flip through a magazine or something during that time.
It can be nice to take a break like that in the middle of the day, but I could see agreeing to limit the time in that way so that you don't end up spending several hours at the library in the middle of the afternoon, and thus arrive at the campsite really late.
And yes, before discussing gear, bicycles, or anything like that, partners need to determine the following types of information ... and come to an agreement on it all that works for both partners:
-- what time do you feel comfortable getting up in the morning?
-- how long do you think it will take to get ready to ride?
-- do you like a fairly long lunch break in the middle of the day? Or not?
-- would you like to stop and visit tourist attractions along the way? Do you prefer to stay in one place a couple nights in order to take in a particular tourist attraction? Or are you more interested in riding than seeing the sights?
-- are you the type of cycletourist who likes to ride pretty much every day ... your "rest days" might be a 30 mile day instead of the usual 80 mile days? Or do you like to arrange a pattern of 3 days of riding and 1 day off, or something similar?
-- how many hours of riding would you like to do each day? (or how far could you see yourself riding each day?)
-- what time would you like to arrive at the campsite?
-- what are some things you might like to do between arriving at the campsite and going to sleep? Do you need to eat immediately upon arrival at the campsite? Do you like to relax at the campsite in the evenings? Do you prefer to seek out some night life in a nearby town?
-- what time would you like to go to sleep?