Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

women don't do it.

I love touring. Whether it is a day trip and one night out, or across the
country.

The feeling of freedom, or actually doing something crazy, leaving the
comfort of
home, to ride off on a bicycle .. wowo.

But the ladies I know, or meet, won't go. Seems the only females I meet on
tour
are young, or kinda young and with their man/husband.

I asked one gal about this and she said "camping?, no f...ing way,, I hate
sleeping in the
woods, I want the Hilton".

Ok,,,

Is this a gender issue? I personally hate sleeping or staying at Hiltons,
or that type of
expensive place. I will do it, when necessary, but I much prefer to be in
the mountains,
with my pup tent, sitting by a fire, looking up at the stars.

What you all say?

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

On Sep 8, 12:10*pm, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:
women don't do it.

I love touring. *Whether it is a day trip and one night out, or across the
country.

The feeling of freedom, or actually doing something crazy, leaving the
comfort of
home, to ride off on a bicycle .. wowo.

But the ladies I know, or meet, won't go. *Seems the only females I meet on
tour
are young, or kinda young and with their man/husband.

I asked one gal about this and she said "camping?, no f...ing way,, I hate
sleeping in the
woods, I want the Hilton".

What'd you ask her? "Do you want to sleep alone in a tent with me?" If
that was the question, I totally understand her reaction. However, if
you just asked if she ever camps while touring, her strong reaction
baffles me.

I don't tour, but if I did, camping'd be the way I'd go. It's far
more economical. Hell, I'd probably take a risk and throw my tent in a
farmer's cornfield!

Cullen

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

wrote in message
...
On Sep 8, 12:10 pm, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:
women don't do it.

I love touring. Whether it is a day trip and one night out, or across the
country.

The feeling of freedom, or actually doing something crazy, leaving the
comfort of
home, to ride off on a bicycle .. wowo.

But the ladies I know, or meet, won't go. Seems the only females I meet on
tour
are young, or kinda young and with their man/husband.

I asked one gal about this and she said "camping?, no f...ing way,, I hate
sleeping in the
woods, I want the Hilton".

What'd you ask her? "Do you want to sleep alone in a tent with me?" If
that was the question, I totally understand her reaction. However, if
you just asked if she ever camps while touring, her strong reaction
baffles me.

I don't tour, but if I did, camping'd be the way I'd go. It's far
more economical. Hell, I'd probably take a risk and throw my tent in a
farmer's cornfield!

Cullen
===============

Cullen,, I don't think I wrote the posting correctly,, or at least my point
...

Let me try again.

I like to tour, and when I tour I camp out. Occasionally, I will do a night
at a motel, but
mostly I love to just camp, enjoy the woods, the mountains, etc

In my day to day, I talk about touring such as "took my bicycle to the White
Mountains last
week, camped, had a great time".

Sometimes there are women who hear this. The next thing I hear is "no way
am I camping out in the
woods, and I'm not about to ride my bicycle off to the mountains, I want the
Hilton or a resort
so I can lie by the pool".

This has happened enough that I have reached the conclusion that women don't
like roughing it.

But when I do tour, I will meet ladies who are touring. And mostly they are
young, college aged or
young but with their boyfriend or husband.

I never seem to meet adult, say from 40 up, women on the road, or in
campgrounds.

So, my point is:: I wonder if it is just a gender thing. That men like to
get out and camp as
they get older but women become less inclined to this activity.

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

I've enjoyed "lite" touring over the years, although my tours always involve
hotels. While I've gotten my wife hooked on bicycling in recent times,
she's not ready for more than 20-25 miles a day, and she definitely couldn't
handle some of the hills on my old routes through New England.

This raises an issue as I plow through my mid-forties and I want to get in a
few more tours before I can't cut 'em anymore. I really enjoy riding with
her, and it's become our weekend "thing." However, I'd also like to get out
on my own and do some longer, more energetic rides a few weekends this fall.

I'm torn.

Anyway, traveling of any type is a bigger deal for women than for men.
They've just got so much "stuff" to take with them. I'd imagine that gets
even worse as they get older and ACCUMULATE more stuff that they just can't
leave at home!

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

"Papa Tom" wrote in message
...
I've enjoyed "lite" touring over the years, although my tours always
involve hotels. While I've gotten my wife hooked on bicycling in recent
times, she's not ready for more than 20-25 miles a day, and she definitely
couldn't handle some of the hills on my old routes through New England.

This raises an issue as I plow through my mid-forties and I want to get in
a few more tours before I can't cut 'em anymore. I really enjoy riding
with her, and it's become our weekend "thing." However, I'd also like to
get out on my own and do some longer, more energetic rides a few weekends
this fall.

I'm torn.

Anyway, traveling of any type is a bigger deal for women than for men.
They've just got so much "stuff" to take with them. I'd imagine that gets
even worse as they get older and ACCUMULATE more stuff that they just
can't leave at home!

===

Very well put.. bicycle touring can be whatever the tourist wants it to
be.
On one tour I did, down the west coast of Wash, Oregon, Calif, .. I met many
different
types of bicycle tourists.

There were the "group" tours, where a wagon followed the cyclists. One
couple I met had
made reservations at very expensive Inns along their route. Each night they
stayed at a
different Inn, and had a five star meal. I met two high school kids from
Alaska. They were
riding over 100 miles every day! I couldn't believe it, but they had almost
nothing with them.

I like to tour with a pup tent, sleeping bag, the usual gear. Stay in
campgrounds or sleep in
the woods, gorilla camping.

I just can't find anyone who will go along anymore.

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

On Sep 8, 12:10*pm, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:
women don't do it.

I love touring. *Whether it is a day trip and one night out, or across the
country.

The feeling of freedom, or actually doing something crazy, leaving the
comfort of
home, to ride off on a bicycle .. wowo.

But the ladies I know, or meet, won't go. *Seems the only females I meet on
tour
are young, or kinda young and with their man/husband.

I asked one gal about this and she said "camping?, no f...ing way,, I hate
sleeping in the
woods, I want the Hilton".

Ok,,,

Is this a gender issue? *I personally hate sleeping or staying at Hiltons,
or that type of
expensive place. *I will do it, when necessary, but I much prefer to be in
the mountains,
with my pup tent, sitting by a fire, looking up at the stars.

What you all say?

I think this is one area to consider our basic 'animal urge' as a
motivating force. Non migratory female animals tend to stay in one
general area and take care of the offspring. Non migratory males tend
to roam more and explore a much wider area. Not to say that these
urges control our actions, but might be the last percent or two that
tip the balance. Give a woman a comfortable RV to travel in, and I
bet you get a lot more travelers.

Touring as one gets older.. men do it .. birds do it.. but :::
 

wrote in message
...
On Sep 8, 12:10 pm, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:
" Give a woman a comfortable RV to travel in, and I
bet you get a lot more travelers."

Mike,, from my observations through the years ..

You also get a much "larger" woman!

As in Fat..

Big..

Huge ..

Lazy..

A Tub..

Monster..

......................

And what is it with the teddy bears on the dashboard? Probably hiding the
five boxes of candy!