Thoughts on Riding Alone......
 

I don't know if its appropriate to put this here!
But this makes an interesting read! would like to hear your comments on Riding alone!

Of the people, I swear if another person asks me why or how i can do intercity bike trips alone ..i will do a burnout for him...across the spectrum people seem to believe that "mazaa ayeaga"(would be fun) only if I have (preferably female) companion on the pillion seat. Sometimes, sensing a futile argument, I merely offer a weary smile and proceed to worry
some grit from under my fingernails. But a few souls genuinely appear curious to understand and then to them I explain that travelling alone offers one big oportunity that riding two up or in a group doesn't.
When u are with a companion u spend time together, seeing the sights, discussing the ride, washing the road-dust away with a cold pint.. Which is fine really and fun too.. But well see your togetherness keeps bystanders away.. And after many beaches, hills temples forts, monasteries and one thousand shades of Grey highway tarmac find this
It is these bystanders which offer true variation and perspective on your journey.. Enriching your experience exponentially..

A lone biker eating lunch at a dhaba (Roadside restraunt) is a friendlier prospect for a villager to approach, and I have learnt never to refuse a conversation. Because after the tea gardens of munnar and Darjeeling eventually blur into contended sameness, in Darjeeling the toy train chugs away lazily with a small hoot as nostalgia rings in and the old land rovers wait for it to pass. There is only the differentiator of sharing a bus stop with a mentally challenged Tamil boy under a thunderstorm the former or an old lepcha women hunched under a bag of twigs giving me directions as in the latter . In essence I sketch my picture of India through the people I have encountered over the miles....
For me Rajasthan is alpa. a brave lil 5 yr old camel pilot who flings adult curses at his mount but crumpled into tears when teased by some older guys.. ladakh is jugmu..the nepali girl at the bharatpur tent camp, who borrowed my survey of india map to see places where she wud never go..or natraj the truck driver whom I had been overtaking throughout who saw me in leh and gave me a cup of tea to celebrate my safe passage ..or zompa the old ladkhi lady who made a nice soup for me in choklamsar and treated me to a couple of Tibetan medicines for my sickness...bhemunipatam is a a youngster sticking his head into my small seaside shack in karwar, alternatively to ask if I was ok and then if it was ok for him to burn a ride on my bike,. kanyakumari is a portly old woman selling bead chains, yelling at me not to take her picture.I cud go on but I am sure I have put in the picture...
So the next time u feel like hitting the highway and your friends cant get leave..Don't postpone your plans..Make it a solo voyage..Pack your kit and an open mind. . And discover the life that make the square miles of a political boundaries human..Learn that cities are confines and people are kind, and that a biker is never alone on the road...maybe we will meet somewhere along ...in the mountains...

Above article not written by me, Wish I could write so well http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif
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Red Bull
Ride safe, ride far, ride often,,,...
http://theroyalenfieldbullet.blogspot.com/
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hari_iyer_s/my_photos

[This message has been edited by Red Bull (edited 09 March 2006).]

[This message has been edited by Red Bull (edited 09 March 2006).]

Really well written and how true. When I have travelled solo I found the trip became much more about the people and finding myself. I now travel with my wife and the company is great but the journeys never seem to be totally FREE I am unable to go this way or that or stop longer because I want to as I have someone else to consider someone elses wants needs and comfort. Often this works well. But for me a solo journey can be so much more.
With a pilion its more of a means to get to the next place - very very different things indeed. Strangers can remain strangers even though we do meet many people along the way the approach is somehow different. My wife can not understand this desire for solo journies but then again she has never wanted to go off into the distance alone. Some would say its a selfish existence or means of travel to me it is simply the best way to go............... So if your still single do it while you can.

HI adventure950,
Maybe you should show this writeup to your wife and hope then she'll understand what you feel!
:-)
Happy Riding!
Red Bull

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Red Bull
Ride safe, ride far, ride often,,,...
http://theroyalenfieldbullet.blogspot.com/
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hari_iyer_s/my_photos

Vep, I agree. It's much easier to get to know people. I never really felt alone while travelling on my own. In fact, I did a long trip thru Patagonia with a friend. It was a fiasco - I thought I'd never do it again, but have in the meantime done shorter trips with friends again and enjoyed them.

But on the whole, I prefer to travel solo. You don't only get to meet locals easier, but also other travellers on the same "wavelemgth" as you are.

Whenever i stopped in India, it was usually the first question people asked me. They couldn´t understand why i would want to travel alone.
However, i think in western cultures it is not such a strange thing for a person to be travelling alone. The social/family unit in India forms more of an integral part of the individual´s life. People seem less willing to break those bonds and travel alone.
Sean