I've had 2 bad experiences travelling with people I didn't know well.
The first trip, to France, I was part of 6 riders. Found out on the ferry that 4 had never ridden abroad before. After 5 days, those 4 riders said they "didn't like it" & rode back to the UK (seriously!). That left me & 1 guy. He'd arranged to visit family in Germany & although he invited me to tag along, I decided to head down to Spain and do my own thing (had a great time).
My second bad trip: I'd planned to ride to Austria, this time, on my own. However, a guy on a bike forum asked if he could ride with me as he was going to Greece. On that basis, I assumed (never again) that he was an experienced rider / traveller so agreed. We didn't make it past Ostend together. He was a total liability - left his passport on the ferry, then lost his gloves & the final straw was finding out he'd booked a hotel room without consulting me!
So if you plan to ride with others, try to meet and chat as much as possible. Go on biking weekend together, discuss how you like to ride, how much you like to stop, do they have any habits you can't stand?
Have an exit plan - for anyone to use whenever they wish with no hard feelings
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Elaine
Striving to live the ordinary life in a non ordinary way
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