I have now done two tours, one go it alone "credit card" touring, the other an organised tour. There are pros and cons to each but at the moment I am tending towards preferring the go it alone kind. Partly this is down to my nature, I am comfortable being just in my own company and independent/resilient enough to cope with the vicissitudes and adventures that touring will bring.
The benefits I expected from touring as part of a group were:
- Not having to carry my own luggage
- Not worrying about route planning/getting lost
- Not worrying about finding somewhere to stay at the end of the day
- Getting support during the ride (food/drinks etc)
- Riding with others so flat sections will be quicker and climbs more fun
- Getting a sense of shared achievement when tour is complete
In practice these benefits did not really materialise.
Luggage: true I did not have to carry my own stuff but as a result ended up taking more stuff with me and I travelled with a bike box. I actually missed the sense of travelling light and packing up all my "worldly poscessions" at the start of each day. In terms of AVS and climbing not having the extra weight of luggage helped a bit but not a huge amount. Now I tend to look at power as much as speed in terms of guaging how well I am riding. Given this having luggage doesn’t really matter.
Route planning: We followed a standard randonee and all the route info was printed on a carnet I could have got myself. The maps we got were useless, the first thing I did was buy some decent ones of my own. I missed the detailed route planning that you have to do when going it alone. For future tours, organised or not, I will buy maps in advance and plan the route myself.
Finding somewhere to eat/drink: In terms of convenience the organised tour was as much a hindrance as a help. Directions to the hotels were not always clear and some of them were in daft places from a cyclists viewpoint (prize for this is using a motel situated on a road were cyclists are not meant to ride). Quality was OK but not better than what I experienced using the Logis/Rough Guides. Food was again OK but not as good as when I had the freedom to choose where and what I ate myself.
Getting support: Did not really happen. The group was too big and too mixed abilities for one lorry to provide effective support and in any case this did not seem to be part of the package (e.g.. not even basic tools like a track pump were available.)
Riding with others: The group for my trip was of mixed ability and as a result the benefits I had hoped for did not arise. On flats we tended to go slowly and on climbs the group quickly fragmented. The itinerary was conservative but even so many wanted to start early each day to be sure to get to the finish. As a result of this after a couple of days trying to ride with a group I gave up and decided to go it alone, preferring a lie in and leisurely breakfast to an early start and taking opportunities to depart from the route and add a few extra climbs when they arose. Despite this I usually ended up amongst the early finishers each day.
Getting a sense of shared achievement: The mixed abilities, hardness of the route and weather we encountered meant most of the group bailed out at some point or another on the tour. This started remarkably early on. Some actually started the tour without any intention of trying to ride it all, others got in the lorry as soon as the second day. In the end only five of us rode the full route.
It may be that the tour I was on was an exception. I will be going on a second shortly and this may offer a different view. I expect at least the support will be better as at the end of one day we are being offered a massage! So time will tell. But based on experience so far I will be more likely to go it alone than with an organised tour in future.
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