October’s newsletter is here: your monthly snapshot of everything happening in the group, so you don’t have to scroll to catch up.
Hey,
There’s a question that comes up a lot in Women’s Bikepacking & Bike Touring: Will I get lonely out there?
Recently, a first-time rider planning a trip from Munich to Albania brought it up. She said that after about two days alone, she starts feeling lonely. She’s comfortable on her own, but she loves being social and connecting with like-minded people too.
By the end of the thread, several women described the same pattern. The women answering her said they can handle being alone. Day one keeps you busy. By day three, you’ve usually found a rhythm. Somewhere around day two, the novelty wears off and the silence gets loud.
The women who’ve ridden through it shared what helped.
One of the most-loved comments we’ve ever seen
One of the most-loved comments in months of group conversation came from a rider on a thread about riding solo. Roughly: you can feel lonely in a crowd, and completely content alone in a tent at night. Fear runs ahead of what actually happens. So just go and find out.
“Where is everybody??”
One rider, a week into riding mostly alone through Denmark and sleeping at shelters, posted that she’d love to meet someone along the way and share an evening, but where was everybody?
Another rider who’d ridden solo through the Balkans said she’d been surprised how few cyclists she’d seen along the way.
On popular routes in high season, one rider said other cyclists do show up. One veteran solo tourer, who’d ridden a long way across America alone a decade earlier, said she’d had delightful encounters nearly every day and was never lonely.
But nobody promised they’d show up on your schedule. So what do you do in the meantime?
What actually works, from the women who’ve done it
Bring a journal, and a pen you like. One member treats loneliness as a teacher. Take a journal. Write through it. She says it can crack open your strength. It’s practice.
Load up on voices. Audiobooks and podcasts came up a lot. One rider said solo touring in her twenties left her spiraling into angsty journaling. Trying again decades later felt completely different. She credits audiobooks, and being able to call or text people at home.
The feeling follows a rhythm. Busy on day one. It hits on day two. By day four or five, a few women in that thread said it lifts. A veteran who rode solo back in the nineties (when, she says, she never met another woman riding alone) still says she doesn’t see many solo women cyclists even now. Some days that feels lonely. Other days it feels like something only you know.
Talk to strangers. Obvious, maybe. Still, several riders in the Denmark thread said evenings are harder than the miles. What helps is a campsite chat, a Warmshowers host, or time in a hostel common room. The delightful encounters that veteran mentioned didn’t happen inside a tent.
The 2-day rule, in short
- Day 1: You’ll be fine. Adrenaline and logistics carry you.
- Day 2: This is the dip. In that loneliness thread, more than one woman said day two was when it hit hardest. It’s temporary. Name it and it shrinks.
- Day 3+: Routine kicks in. You’ve got a morning rhythm. You’ve got a route plan. Your body starts settling in. A few of those same riders said the feeling faded here.
- Your toolkit: a journal, downloaded audiobooks, a charged phone, and permission to stop at a café or hostel and just be around humans for an hour.
And as one rider in her seventies put it: she loves cycling alone, and her advice is to go for it.
Fear runs ahead of what actually happens. Just go and find out.
If you’re planning a first trip and want a place to start, Plan your first trip walks through it step by step.
Women’s Bikepacking
Got real photos from your rides, or a story, tip or route to share? Send it through womensbikepacking.com/submit and it could end up in a future issue.
P.S. Next issue: the padlock post. One woman’s question about tent safety, and what actually makes solo sleepers feel safe.