Degrees of sociality while out on tour.
#26
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 720
Bikes: Road, mountain and track bikes and tandems.
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 282 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 18 Times
in
15 Posts
I don't see me going to bars. Barflies aren't really a type that I would enjoy being social with. (I generally avoid drinkers and smokers). I guess that makes me sound prejudiced against motor bikers. Cafes and coffee shops sound good, though.
#27
Senior Member
At camp grounds I am always looking for a chair, picnic tables benches are not that good after a full day in the saddle. I walk to the next site with 2 beers.....
#28
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,221
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3465 Post(s)
Liked 1,470 Times
in
1,147 Posts
My last tour was a bit over five weeks. About a week of that was spent at three different hostels. And the other four weeks were staying at commercial or govt run campgrounds. Some of those campgrounds were full of RVs but I was the only tenter, thus I was somewhat isolated. But some of those campgrounds with several other tenters, I had several conversations with several other campers. Also had conversations with some of the RV campers too, but that was less frequent.
#29
Partially Sane.
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Sunny Sacramento.
Posts: 3,559
Bikes: Soma Saga, pre-disc
Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 972 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 643 Times
in
468 Posts
Ha, that's actually very true. 😁 Some folks enjoy giving, and some enjoy taking. 😉 I was raised to be (or at least try to be) self-sufficient, so accepting help is hard, even if I really do need it. 🤔 Sometimes, I wish I were a bit more like that panhandler, but it just doesn't fit me.
Likes For stardognine:
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Groningen
Posts: 1,308
Bikes: Gazelle rod brakes, Batavus compact, Peugeot hybrid
Mentioned: 85 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6000 Post(s)
Liked 957 Times
in
731 Posts
If you are focussed you probably look focussed and people don't want to get in the way of the important stuff you appearently have to do. So you've got to show you're open to other people too, through your body language and facial expression, when you walk leisurely and look around it's much more inviting to say something to you than if you're heading and looking straight for your goal. You can choose what you communicate with your body language and expression, but it's got to match your attitude to some degree. You can't be fully focussed and open to distraction at the same time.
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,312
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18443 Post(s)
Liked 15,655 Times
in
7,364 Posts
When I rode across the country with a small group of people we crossed the North Cascades Highway in the rain and snow on the 6th day of the trip. We had the next day off and every one was so tired that we went out for pizza instead of cooking dinner. A woman in the group noted that it was the first time in six days that we had chairs with backs. They cannot be overrated.
#32
Partially Sane.
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Sunny Sacramento.
Posts: 3,559
Bikes: Soma Saga, pre-disc
Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 972 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 643 Times
in
468 Posts
When I rode across the country with a small group of people we crossed the North Cascades Highway in the rain and snow on the 6th day of the trip. We had the next day off and every one was so tired that we went out for pizza instead of cooking dinner. A woman in the group noted that it was the first time in six days that we had chairs with backs. They cannot be overrated.
#33
Senior Member
Heh! Look how comfortable Susan and I are on our Therma-rest'r chairs! Look how squirmy the rest of the group is! They weigh almost nothing and roll right up with your sleeping pad already on board. A great item to bring to encourage social interaction!
TransAm '99 ^
TransAm '99 ^
Likes For BobG:
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,247
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 138 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 17 Times
in
16 Posts
Have something about your bicycle setup that is rather unusual, not seen all the time, like using kitty liter buckets instead of panniers. I have people all the time stop and comment about using the kitty liter buckets and we manage to get talking as a result.
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,312
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18443 Post(s)
Liked 15,655 Times
in
7,364 Posts
That was before you joined us. Before I saw the caption I thought that might be me on the right.
#36
Senior Member
#37
Senior Member
You never know the make up of the group until you sign up, receive a trip roster and start emailing one another. One now 80+ year old man from the 2009 group still emails me 10 years later. Another man in the group stopped speaking to me half way through the trip!
Here's the "official" photo of our '99 group. 6 women, 7 men, ages 18-75. We got along like a big happy family complete with the kids, parents and grandparents and all completed the trip. I rode with indyfabz' Northern Tier group only on their final two weeks so didn't get to know them as well.
photo by Greg Siple
Last edited by BobG; 09-25-19 at 05:15 AM.
#39
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,312
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18443 Post(s)
Liked 15,655 Times
in
7,364 Posts
#40
Senior Member
Yes, it says "Seattle- May 27 '99" on the back along with "Thomas A S Duff" on a return address sticker. Stu is in the photo but must have been his camera. We should post it over on the Foo forum as a "Guess which one is indyfabz?" contest thread!
#41
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,312
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18443 Post(s)
Liked 15,655 Times
in
7,364 Posts
Stu, who did not live all that far from me, lived into his 90s. 91, IIRC. Reading his obituary, I either had forgotten or never knew that he was in the R.C.A.F. and spent two years in a Nazi P.O.W. camp.
#42
Junior Member
If you are focussed you probably look focussed and people don't want to get in the way of the important stuff you appearently have to do. So you've got to show you're open to other people too, through your body language and facial expression, when you walk leisurely and look around it's much more inviting to say something to you than if you're heading and looking straight for your goal. You can choose what you communicate with your body language and expression, but it's got to match your attitude to some degree. You can't be fully focussed and open to distraction at the same time.
I seem to have missed a great conversation, but I won't let that stop me from posting....
As I reflect on the stories I tell about my tours, they are mostly involving the people I encountered. As folks seem to be saying in this thread, you meet all kinds of folks. On my coast-to-coast ride, I found an abandoned kitten on the highway. I took it to the next town and found it a home, meeting a cashier at the pharmacy (powdered goat's milk to feed him), the snooty receptionist at town hall (didn't like me dripping rainwater on the carpet), and, finally, Wanda, a cook at the Lollipop Diner, who took him in. Stayed in touch over the next year regarding "Lucky," who was alive and well...
My tours tend to be a mixture of socializing and solitude. I find the one helps me appreciate the other. Whenever I feel anxiety about meeting a new person, I try to remember that they likely feel the same way, and that a smile does 90% of the work.
Check out the book When Strangers Meet, if you'd like some inspiration.
Likes For countalmaviva:
#43
Senior Member
If you use Warmshowers or hostels you are almost forced to be "social". I also find that the same goes for when you use campsites
as it's easy to strike up conversations with the folks next door and share a beer or some food. Also if you tour on a popular route
there will be lots of fellow tourers to talk to and ride with on sections. I found riding the NT to be very social as I did sections with
a couple of other cyclists and stayed with Warmshowers hosts quite often.
as it's easy to strike up conversations with the folks next door and share a beer or some food. Also if you tour on a popular route
there will be lots of fellow tourers to talk to and ride with on sections. I found riding the NT to be very social as I did sections with
a couple of other cyclists and stayed with Warmshowers hosts quite often.
#44
Senior Member
My proposed 'tour' following the perimeter of Ohio (1038 miles according to my proposed route on Google Maps) has towns every 30-40 miles where I plan to stay for the night. Not going far every day, but there's bound to be local history that I plan to look into at every town along the way. Especially along the old 'trade routes' of the Ohio River and Lake Erie shoreline. Ride for a few hours in the morning, then spend the afternoon hours learning about the town, why it is where it is, its history, etc. I'm sure that my 'research' will include talking to locals, checking out the local historical society, museums, etc. As such, I'm fairly sure to get info on where to stay for the night. Mine is not so much a bike tour, but a 'local flavor' tour that I happen to take by bicycle.
#45
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,312
Mentioned: 211 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18443 Post(s)
Liked 15,655 Times
in
7,364 Posts
Yeah. In 2014 I was on a portion of ACA's Trans Am route in MT again. In Jackson I camped with close to a dozen other cyclists. This June I passed along some info to two guys I ran into in Rexford, MT, on the Northern Tier. Also met numerous others in places like the Bike Camp in Twin Bridges, MT, on the Trans Am. Way back in 2000 I rode off and for a week with a tandem couple I met on the Trans Am in WY. We finally parted ways in Fairplay, CO.
#46
Senior Member
Two things I do not believe have been mentioned here are age and gender, I think there is a certain level of hesitation both genders have when they see a man hanging out alone anywhere. For some, this is creepy; for others, there is often, at least, some level of suspicion. And when that man is beyond his youth, even by a few years, he may as well be invisible.
I recently started a thread on the Fifty-Plus group about how people ignore me now when I pull into a town on my bike. In my thirties, other cyclists wanted to hear about my ride and young women wanted to talk to me - about anything - in restaurants. At 57, people seem to want to keep their distance, as if I pose some kind of threat.
To the OP: We know your gender, but I am curious toknow your age.
I recently started a thread on the Fifty-Plus group about how people ignore me now when I pull into a town on my bike. In my thirties, other cyclists wanted to hear about my ride and young women wanted to talk to me - about anything - in restaurants. At 57, people seem to want to keep their distance, as if I pose some kind of threat.
To the OP: We know your gender, but I am curious toknow your age.
#47
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 720
Bikes: Road, mountain and track bikes and tandems.
Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 282 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 18 Times
in
15 Posts
Two things I do not believe have been mentioned here are age and gender, I think there is a certain level of hesitation both genders have when they see a man hanging out alone anywhere. For some, this is creepy; for others, there is often, at least, some level of suspicion. And when that man is beyond his youth, even by a few years, he may as well be invisible.
I recently started a thread on the Fifty-Plus group about how people ignore me now when I pull into a town on my bike. In my thirties, other cyclists wanted to hear about my ride and young women wanted to talk to me - about anything - in restaurants. At 57, people seem to want to keep their distance, as if I pose some kind of threat.
To the OP: We know your gender, but I am curious toknow your age.
I recently started a thread on the Fifty-Plus group about how people ignore me now when I pull into a town on my bike. In my thirties, other cyclists wanted to hear about my ride and young women wanted to talk to me - about anything - in restaurants. At 57, people seem to want to keep their distance, as if I pose some kind of threat.
To the OP: We know your gender, but I am curious toknow your age.
#48
Senior Member
#49
Senior Member
On my '79 'tour'. I was 21, riding my '75 Fuji, and only carrying two changes of clothes. No tent. sleeping bag, or food. Nothing else, really. OK, my instant oatmeal for breakfast (eaten dry, and washed down with water) and maybe an apple from the day before. I was never too far away from a produce farm, small-town diner or restaurant, so no other food or cooking gear needed for lunch or dinner. I found most people were fascinated that I was riding a bicycle, solo, and that I was averaging around 100 miles/day. In reality, it wasn't that tough in that it was barely six hours of riding each day out of almost fourteen hours of daylight at my latitude, so I had LOTs of time for resting, eating or socializing. I never once felt unsafe or threatened. No one seem afraid of me either.
#50
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Golden, CO and Tucson, AZ
Posts: 2,840
Bikes: 2012 Specialized Elite Disc, 1983 Trek 520
Mentioned: 13 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 677 Post(s)
Liked 743 Times
in
432 Posts
...I recently started a thread on the Fifty-Plus group about how people ignore me now when I pull into a town on my bike. In my thirties, other cyclists wanted to hear about my ride and young women wanted to talk to me - about anything - in restaurants. At 57, people seem to want to keep their distance, as if I pose some kind of threat.
Of course there's less sexual attraction to younger people! That's part of getting older. I suppose that bothered me a bit in my 50s. Now I'm over it.