Bike Touring w Others?! Here's our Super Simple Advice 

We love hearing your own tips (and maybe some on the road stories?!). Share please!

Another thing to do is find a friend who is just on your wavelength. Other than my wife, my favourite touring companion is my friend Alison. We have an almost identical attitude to riding. We can spin along together for hours, chatting and good-naturedly bickering, but are also happy riding half a mile or so apart, just regrouping for junctions and directions. We've done several fantastic tours and long day rides together, just us, or with both or either of our spouses. Downside, her French is worse than mine, and mine is appalling!

It’s awesome to know what it’s like to travel with another. Thanks for sharing. I drove-camp in New Zealand for a month, backpack the whole of central EU and Peru, walked the width of Spain, and hiked on the PCT but did it all alone/ solo. I met with lots of people, maybe travelled together a day or two then back to solo. I see myself as the weak link and found it easier to just wring it solo. Somedays I may just want to be lazy and stop for couple of days in between because the journey can sometimes be hard or painful and I can be lame and a brat so for me, it’s easier to just manage myself and my own quirks that way without causing too much grieve or compromise to another. 😁

Good luck Ryan with making that transition. It was a real treat meeting you in September.

Make a "do/don't" list for things you want to do on the trip, instead of feeling like everyone has to go to every important tourist stop. If one thing is a "do" for one person and a "don't" for the other, you can use it as alone time. It also pares down decisions as you plan.

ok, this is too cute! No way! And no fair! How come u 2 found each other and get to have such a beautiful friendship/relationship even thru grumpy-times! While the rest of us search a lifetime and finally figured. A bike is your best, best friend. Drama free. lol.

I'm so glad to see you back on the RU-vids! I've often said that it's one thing to ride bikes with your friends, it's another thing to spend a week (or longer) with them. :-)

Hike or bike trip, especially during physically exhausting activities in the wild, is a process of emotional and mental detoxication. Hence, trip partners should consider these emotional outbursts as simply emotional and mental toxines coming out of each other. In other words, those layers of crap a person accumulates while living in cities are just dumped outside. So no need to worry if it happens. It has nothing to do with true feeling towards each other.

Number one: Let go of the "It's my way or the highway!" Never good.

"To much time together", that is a excellent statement. Keep Safe!

Thank you! So much I’ve never thought of

Good recommendations. Thanks!

Great advice, same points are applicable to planning a backpacking trip, thanks for sharing!

Yay! Welcome back!! These are such good and practical tips. I totally agree with your point about flexibility! I'd even add that when planning the route it's important to add points on the route where you could be flexible (stop sooner/later than planned, plenty of resupply stations, options to drop out/turn around), especially when riding with a group of varying fitness/experience levels. Loved the vid, looking forward to next week!

Great to have you back on line. Hope all is good now

Thanks for this video! Great tips!!

Great advice, for all of life!! Thanks for all of the great insights!!!!!

So the takeaway is to communicate, be fair and work / plan things together? That doesn't sound like much fun. Sounds like a compromise:). Fantastic video. Thanks, guys.

Great tips! Another tip I've learned from motorcycle touring is be careful of traveling with to large of a group. Every stop takes longer, getting going in the morning can drag on and interpersonal conflict arise more often. Basically it can become an exercise in herding cats. I stick with traveling only with my brother anymore. You know going in that somewhere along the way you'll piss your sibling off but that is part of being related lol.

Welcome back RAD, hope you had a great break! You’re definitely right: sh*t happens, a good attitude will get you a long way, and you can challenge yourself. Examples: I was riding the Cascade Bike Club’s STP (Seattle To Portland) with 10,000 close friends and 30 miles along on the first day I was inadvertently cut off by a rider who didn’t look behind before he jumped in front of me, sending me to the pavement. My sprained wrist & I managed to ride to rest of the route to the 100 mile aid station where the doctor tactfully advised against continuing one-handed; I reluctantly agreed. Rode the STP the next year and woke the second day aching with a raging head cold. Took some acetaminophen & decided to at least ride a couple miles to breakfast, felt a smidge better & rode a few more miles, then the endorphins kicked in and I made it all the way. Not epic journeys but they were fun and rewarding in spite of the difficulties. So, stop when it’s smart, and you can go farther than you think. RAD On 🤘🏻

Great to see you again!! Great tips! My bonus tip: bring a mascot. A funny one if possible. (I have a gnome on my bike :-) ) OH! and a RAD bike adventure sticker of course!!

Yay, glad to see you're back! Darin looks great; lighter somehow.

YAY!!! Nothing to add--just trying to help the algorithm.

If you’re riding ahead of your partner make sure your phone is not on silent when they get a flat and you have the only pump. 😬🤦‍♀️

I'll be doing the AIDS ride this june with 3000 cyclists with camping while I ride my recumbent trike over 7 days and 545 miles.....if I make it thru this and still enjoy touring then I'm planning on.the Pacific coast route as my next trip.

Like the nod to Path Less Pedaled. But what about finding a matching pace - does the person better uphill wait pedal slower or wait at the top? And are those guitar amps in the background (under the uke and mandolin), or accordion (melodeon) cases? No stories of long journeys with a pal, but I ride day rides regularly with a mate, and we make it work. He makes all the ride decisions, I just decide which bike to take. Both wives are glad we're out there doing it.

Excellent tips! I had some troubles on a solo hotel bike tour once and it means I slightly overplan now. (I was not prepared to camp and wrongly assumed the B&B had a room for me, when they never responded to my initial email. I arrived end of day and they weren't answering their phone. Hand-written note explained they were on a random 2 week vacation. Lesson learned - get confirmation. I was thinking I would have to sleep in a church or something and then luckily found a cheap motel on the other side of town. That was the only other option.) Planning a tour with my partner (hotels again) and he actually likes my overplanning. That is his style on vacation trips - to overplan, but it's fun to switch it up and have me in charge of the planning. Things I'm planning for - spots where there isn't much public water (inside a park but covid has closed most water fountains) and snack / food options along the route for each day. Sometimes a little rural town doesn't actually have anything to eat, not even like a gas station. And I'm making sure we get confirmation for each hotel! LOL

Dis the move to the state of PA.

i like your video

Great tips.. not here to give anymore tips.. but can someone give me tips for bike day trip with 2 teens 2 toddlers and 1 wife... 🤪 so far the farthest we've gone is 20 mins to the park... thats not a day trip..

Just got back from an 8 day tour of algonquin highlands rained constantly for 3 days. I turned into super grumpy old man I'm 63 my friend was more so. But then the sun came out and everything was fine like the almost killed each other never happened.

So good to see Daryn's (sp???) face back on the screen :D

This is such good advice. #goals My other half and I have only done one cycle tour together (EuroVelo15 - easy!), and your advice will certainly help as we start to do longer ones! 🚲💕⛺ Thank you.

"pass less pedals', 'pack less pedals' ??? Try Path Less Pedals for Party Pace.

I feel like this video was accidentally giving me great marriage advice.

I'm on a tour now in France, I make sure to take one or two rest days after 5 days of riding. It's going to rain tomorrow so I got a hotel for an extra day.