Meet Local People while Bicycle Travelling
Many of us enjoy the solitude bicycle touring and bikepacking gives us – we often purposely set off with this in mind as it is a way to counterbalance the pressures of day-to-day life. However, whilst having the complete freedom to do as you please while cycling from A to B, there can often be times when having a little company to break up the norm is welcomed.
For myself - what comes to mind is a trip I took 6 years ago - cycling through France to Northern Spain. I was heading into Bilbao along some rather busy roads when I got caught in this amazing hail storm - with golf ball-sized hail stones coming down on me! I was lost, very wet, and was hiding under a tree trying to work out my next steps. I pulled out my phone to find somewhere to stay - just wanted a break from camping and to find a hotel, but everywhere was full. At that point, I would have appreciated some help from someone who knew the area. Now, I did survive this ordeal – I ended up in a local hostel and had a great time in a local bar. It was that night when the Local Leader service became an idea.
For those of you who don’t know, the Local Leader service is a volunteer service where people across the world offer their help to people visiting their local area. They set a location on a map and write a little about themselves. Visiting cyclists use the map to find someone and send a message. Then a case of meeting up, cycling, chatting, eating, drinking coffee, etc.. It is a nice way for us cyclists to get together and help each other.
What I love about this service is that local people get to help fellow cyclists – it can entail heading off on a bicycle ride where they become the tour guide, or grabbing a coffee, dinner, or anything else. We want people to use this service to connect with other cyclists and have a little adventure.
We are having a drive to push this service to get more locations and leaders added to the map. We want to see pins on the map everywhere and cyclists are spoilt for choice!
If this sounds like something you would find rewarding, please get involved today! This simple act helps the cycling community will give you a little adventure in your area.
Get started right now!
https://www.cycletouring.org/local-leaders/how-it-works
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