I finally went bike touring on my own – and had so much more fun

Krems town and the Danube river in Wachau valley, Lower Austria.

For someone who has travelled afar many times on my own, that I should be anxious about going it alone is comical. The years have changed me. And I have become used to a certain companion by my side.

But my husband Dave is busy at work and casually mentions I might enjoy our annual bike holiday without him. There’s immediate and tremendous guilt as I consider the idea but it passes.

Online, I stumble across self-guided, supported cycle tours and go for an operator with cherry red bikes. No guide, a set route, roadside help if needed and bags are taken from one hotel to the next each day.

As a pair, we are no strangers to long - distance cycle touring and often ride on our own, with beloved bikes and two panniers packe