How many people do you like to tour with?

[bobb]

I've done all of them, but I think I'm going to have to go with option 1. Touring on your own. There's just something about it....

[Ruthie]

It's not so much about quantity for me, but quality.  One whining partner is less than one happy friend is more than a dozen quarrelling mates is less than two people having a great adventure.

[tatanab]

On my own because I have my own preference for time of day to start/finish and how I pick a route on the fly.  On the other hand, I quite appreciate company in the evenings sometimes attend a rally or events like Le Tour where I will meet others.

[Karla]

One or two friends are good - enough to keep it social but still a small group that will fit into cafes.

[Kim]

What Ruthie says.

On my own is good for freedom (except when you need a wee in a built-up area, where having someone to watch the bikes is invaluable) and adventure, small groups are good for company and setting a pace that lets you stop and look at things.

Touring in a large group means having a plan and sticking to it.  It can work well, but I'm much less keen.  Expectations mismatch can be problematic.

Solo trips to rendezvous with a group event are often the best of both worlds.

[Torslanda]

Solo: Self reliant, answerable to no one, itinerary that suits. As long as you make the campsite/B&B/hotel everything is cool.

With a friend or friends. Ensure you are all at the same endurance level or at least that everyone is happy to ride the pace of the slowest.

Friends group (n+1). Without a leader - a strong one - then a group will quickly become a set of factions. Some will want to ride, some won't. Some will get up early, some won't. Some will pull their weight, others won't.

Avoid the latter if you want to stay sane.

[Jaded]

Is this with haggis or not?

[Pedal Castro]

Sometimes on my own but usually with one other. Many years ago it was with my best friend or my brother, in recent years it has been with son or daughter. I suspect after retirement I'll be doing more on my own simply because I have more free time.

[Basil]

Always alone.  In fact, I've never toured with another person.  It's the company I get on best with. 

Nearest I've ever come to touring with someone else was when I met someone heading the same way as me (my 'way' was as ever, very flexible) and we rode together for a couple of days.  Then, after enough, we didn't.

[mcshroom]

Most of my touring has been on my own, but I've also toured with a good friend, and in groups. For LonJOG there were 38 of us.

I think there's definite benefits to each different type independently, and it's more than just the size that's important. 38 made for an enjoyable ride, but we were basically a (happy) peloton passing through the country in our own bubble. We descended on unsuspecting cafes like locusts and rode together most of the day. It became a bit regimented as it needed to be to keep us all together, meaning that we didn't have much free reign to explore.

Solo touring is the opposite extreme, especially when camping. Complete free reign to do pretty much what I want to do, and to change plans is very liberating. I can ride at my own pace, and being alone means that I end up interacting more with the people and places I pass through on tour. The downside can be that in the evening when I'm not riding, it can get a bit boring/lonely. Especially when I've stayed in places like travelodges, it can feel a bit more like being away for work than being on holiday. Also there's no-one else there to remember the ride with you, and remind you of bits of it in conversation for years after, or to look after your bike while you go for a pee.

My favourite tour I've done was the two weeks Ruthie and I cycled round the Highlands and Islands back in 2015 (link). We both had similar aims for the trip, were of a reasonably similar riding ability, were happy to change the plans as we went along to fit what we felt like, and really enjoyed the whole tour. Two people was still small enough to stop any bubble forming around us so we still had some great interactions with the people (and dogs) we met along the way. Touring a beautiful part of the country and getting good weather for most of it also helped.

[Canardly]

For me there are few things more enjoyable than a cycling tour with a few friends.

[Paul H]

Depends on the tour - On a high mileage A to B tour where it's all about the cycling and most sightseeing is done from the saddle, I prefer the flexibility of being on my own. On tours where I'm less as a cyclist and more of a tourist, the company of people with similar interests makes it more enjoyable.
Some of my most memorable tours don't fall into any of the categories, touring with a friend where we can and do sometimes go off and do our own thing.  As long as it's well understood from the planning, it works really well, removing the obligation to stay together also removes some of the frustrations that can go with it.

[Ian H]

I could tick all except the last, and I've done all except the last.

[tippers_kiwi]

I've only done one tour and that was on my own and I really enjoyed it. It made me talk to people I didn't know a lot more than I might have otherwise.

I'm pretty sure I'd be fine anyway but I do quite like my own company and doing things at my speed. I'm actually a really grumpy bastard!

[bhoot]

It's a bit tricky touring on a tandem on your own, so I didn't go for that option!

[Robh]

On my own. I'm not a huge fan of my own company, but any number of practicalities dictate that solo touring is the best option for me.

I have toured with good friends in the past, but even then we sometimes rode apart (different comfort levels) and met up for lunch and in the evenings.

[Cudzoziemiec]

On my own, with a friend, with a few friends, all enjoyable. Partner doesn't cycle (at least not to that extent) and I've never tried a big organised group, though I can imagine it being quite good fun – or horrendous.

[psyclist]

I've only toured with 1 or 2 other people. I was expecting most people to favour a group, but it is interesting to hear comments about the benefits of solo or paired tours.

[bobb]

I think for me, the solo tour puts me out of my comfort zone, which is why I like it. That's not to say I don't like touring with other people - as I have done with people from this forum and enjoyed it very much.

The trickiest one is touring with one other friend. Myself and токамак (very occasionally of this parish) have toured together a few times and everything went swimmingly as we're both very easy going. But I've toured with another friend (not of this parish) and we argued constantly. About everything....

Edit: As for large, organised tours - there's always going to be the odd bellend that will ruin it for everybody else. So I would avoid.

[Oscar's dad]

I'm not sure I'd like to tour with a big organised group. Last year I toured alone for 5 days and loved it. I've also toured with members of the yacf Mid-Essex Crew and that was a terrific experience as well.

[IanDG]

I've only ever done solo tours, but would be happy with a small group of 2 or 3. Not keen on joining a big organised group though

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Have toured in a group organised by a company.  It worked extremely well, probably due to the company being extremely competent and having a leader who would nonsense from no one and also spoke French well!  We had an objective and there were only simple choices to be made.

A few times with a friend.  Their climbing speed much slower, we have overnighted a mountain apart once in a while but it's ok with mobiles.  We have never had a single argument!  Independence is always better than dependence.  Sadly their health means such tours are things of the past.

Solo otherwise and met up with people en route for brief spells.   

[Wowbagger]

i have done a few of each. I like solo tours better than I did when I first started - I well remember my first ever solo tour, and the first day was something of an ordeal. From that point it got lots better, but I would still rather have someone else to tour with. Although my dear wife has accompanied me on a few, I don't find those the easiest of tours as she is often so far out of her comfort zone that she relies on me too much. Small groups have been great fun, but quite often they have ended up as solo for the cycling and then meeting up at certain points during the day at cafés or the campsite. We have also done larger groups (up to 5) and that has worked really well.

I have "toured" a couple of times with Jane, although my bike misbehaving cut back on the cycling and increased the amount of walking we did. IIRC we only used 3 campsites in the 8 days or so we were in Pembrokeshire, and Nutkin and I had a terrific tour on the tandem around Norfolk a few years back.

Our Danish tour with Woolly & Peli was great up to the point that Jan came off and ended in hospital.

I didn't do any solo touring last year and I think I want to do some this year. Haven't thought about where yet. We have a group (4 of us) tour planned for May when we will be duplicating to a degree the Mösel/Rhein tour that we did with AH and James a few years back. Already have the tickets to Brussels.

[Pickled Onion]

Solo, always.

I don't think anyone else would wish to do the kind of crazy stupid touring I do. If there were, I would not want to be associated with such a crazy stupid cyclist.

[Wowbagger]

Solo, always.

I don't think anyone else would wish to do the kind of crazy stupid touring I do. If there were, I would not want to be associated with such a crazy stupid cyclist.

I seem to remember being awe of some tour you did a few years back in Eastern Europe - Romania, was it? Can't remember now, but it all looked very impressive.