zachharris

Hey guys,
This is quite a ways away but its never to early to throw it out there. Starting in the summer of 2022, I have a goal of touring from Canada (near the border, probably Vancouver) to the bottom of Patagonia (Ushuaia) over the course of 18 months. The goal is to follow the temperate weather as much as possible, planning out the seasons strategically. I know this is BOLD, but hey, anyone can dream, right? If this appeals to any of y'all (I'm a 20 year old male fyi) or if you guys know where I can find a touring companion, please reach out!!! Thank you!

headwind15

Hi,
Finding compatible touring partners is really difficult. There are so many factors. I drove all the way to San Diego to meet with two guys to tour Baja. It turned out that one guy was verbally abusive and aimed that at me. Fortunately, I bailed out at the last minute.

I ended up doing it alone. (much better) You have to realize that it's almost a marriage. (well, for as long as you ride together)

headwind15

Touring covers so many areas, I mean do you want to do strictly pavement, off roading, or a combination? Do you get up early, sleep in? Any idea on how many hours a day in the saddle? What you plan to do when off the bike? Stop often, infrequently? Do you cook/ plan to cook, or eat out? Do you have manors? / curse a lot? have social skills? What about hygiene? I once was stuck behind a guy on a tour who did not believe in showering or washing his jersey (at least the four days I got stuck behind him) yish. Someone will likely chime in with more.

HeyPapa

Take a look at the site crazyguyonabike.com. After checking it out you may wish to post there with information about your plans and ask if anyone is interested.

Pop N Wood

great suggestion

waddo

Go alone or find a real friend locally. Months with a perfect stranger is just asking for trouble.

mev

Experiences I had trying a similar thing for my 2016/2017 ride from Prudhoe Bay to Ushuaia:

1. I put a "companions wanted" advertisement in Adventure Cycling and received ~50 email responses. For a variety of reasons none quite worked out. Some was likely because my ad was quite a bit in advance.
2. I left Prudhoe Bay with another person from India who we met online. As circumstances came, we ended up missing each other the first day. It was snowy/cold. I was slow but slightly faster than him. Stopped some times but then with extended delays and two construction delays went to designated end-point to camp. He never quite made it to the end camping spot (camped a few miles short). We did eventually meet up when I took a rest day in Coldfoot and he arrived a day later. We kept in touch throughout but in end had somewhat parallel rides.
3. Cycled for a few weeks with my brother in British Columbia and Colombia/Ecuador.
4. Cycled for ~six weeks in Central America with someone we connected virtually but also in this group
5. In Argentina, there were a several of us cycling roughly similar timing. We hopscotched and stayed in same places some nights.
6. Cycled last six weeks as part of an organized supported tour from Puerto Montt to Ushuaia

Cycled the rest and majority of the time overall alone.

My sense on a trip like this is that you are most likely to go together with someone you already know prior to the trip. So if you have a match in personalities/cycling styles that can work well. However, if not, then I would at least keep the ability to travel alone if for whatever circumstances it ends up that way. For example I wouldn't necessarily plan on sharing a tent unless you are absolutely sure you'll end up in lock step on the trip.

Even if you don't find someone at start for full distance, it may still be if you go via popular routes (e.g. US Pacific Coast, Baja, Ruta 40 in Argentina, Salt Flats of Bolivia...) that you will encounter folks on those routes where if it is a match you might end up riding together for a while. A trip from Canada to Tierra Del Fuego can easily be more than a year, so there is some time for variety in how you travel in combination of solo and with others.

I do have one experience of meeting someone at start of a long trip and cycling together for the distance. This was on a ride across Russia where I put a similar "Companions Wanted" advertisement. Got about 15 replies and in the end cycled with one other person for five months (except for 11 days in the Urals when we accidentally missed each other leaving Kazan).