It is sometimes difficult to keep up with comments, especially when on tour and feeling tired after a long day. We do try to reply to each comment, but find that as soon as we fall a bit behind it only gets worse and pretty soon we are hopelessly in arrears with replies. Is it OK to try to respond to most comments, but forgiveable if some get missed?  Is it a grave breach of manners to not reply to a comment? How many back and forth replies should occur before one lets it drop?  Do you understand and forgive a non reply and keep posting encouragement or comments, or do you give up if your posts are left unanswered?

Heavens, unless I am asking a very direct question, I do not expect a reply to comments. People on the road all day and then working on a journal well into the night do not need to respond to all comments! Words of encouragement and appreciation are just that, they need no response unless you feel like it.

Steve, it strikes me that you're being very generous and conscientious, perhaps to a fault, if I read your feelings of stress correctly.

Your first sentence could serve as a disclaimer, and I wouldn't be put off by it in any way.  In your shoes, I'd enter that as the touring equivalent of "away from my email, will get to your message as soon as I can".

For your questions:

Is it OK to try to respond to most comments, but forgiveable if some get missed? I'd say that responding to most gets close to above-and-beyond, so missing some is entirely forgiveable.

Is it a grave breach of manners to not reply to a comment?  Not in my book.  'Cos of the circumstances (see disclaimer above) it's not even a minor crack in the edifice of courtesy, let alone a big hole in the foundation.

How many back and forth replies should occur before one lets it drop?  Do you understand and forgive a non reply and keep posting encouragement or comments, or do you give up if your posts are left unanswered?  You're on tour, away from your desk/screen, so this reader would cut you whatever slack you need to take.

Hope that helps, and maybe reassures you.

My own approach to post-and-reply etiquette?  Ummm, well, this is making a virtue out of necessity, but I don't post during my tours.  Part of the reason for that is that I rely on cycling--both day rides and tours--to say Goodbye to All That for a while. (Thank you for your title, Mr Graves.)  On tour, I write notes each day, sometime in rough form, sometimes in first-draft shape.  Later at home, I assemble the story of the ride/tour. Then, comments are both welcome and manageable, and I reply to them all.

Good advice. And a very balanced view. It may be worth adding that mentioning CGOAB is not advised?

Write what you can, when you can is my Moto. Politeness costs nowt. As my late grandmother was won't to say.

Keeping up with correspondence on the road can be tiring. I'm not out there cycling to worry too much about keeping in touch with home issues.

Do one's best is good advice

Thanks, Matt, and welcome!

Politeness costs nowt.  Aye, and nonetheless, it's precious and rare enough these days.

Cheers,  J.

Hi Steve,

I think I understand your angst over this subject.  I struggle with the same questions.  I think it stems from the letter-writing era of my (our?) youth.  My mom taught me to always return letters from anybody who wrote one to me.  In grade school, that was usually a birthday card from grandparents or other relatives.  In high school she even made me return letters from college wrestling recruiters--even though most of them were just form letters.

I exchanged letters with high school classmates while in college too.  It was fun to do and a 15-cent stamp was cheaper than a long distance phone call in those days.

To this day, I can't leave even the most innocuous text message or e-mail go unanswered (assuming it's from somebody I know.)  And I try to reply to any message I get on my bike touring journals, though, most assuredly, I don't get nearly as many messages as the Grampies.  It's really hard sometimes to keep up, and when the back-and-forth continues beyond a couple of exchanges, I'm usually the first to give up.  I don't feel bad about that.