That's an excellent synopsis and summary, Graham.  Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback Keith. For the past seven years I worked as a facilitator in leadership development programs, so I tried to learn more about psychometric tests and the terminology they use.

 I should have also said that my understanding of extroversion and introversion is that they are often misinterpreted as a measure of how outgoing and sociable people are. For example high energy entertainers who perform to thousands of people can be introverts or extroverts. And so can people with quiet demeanours. They can be either. Some of the most effective leaders are introverts. And some are extroverts. 

My guess is that there’d be a similar mix of introverts and extroverts in cycle touring. What would vary is the type of cycle tours they’d choose to do, and who and how many others they’d choose to tour with.

I had a colleague who I admired and respected but with whom I had great difficulty communicating effectively.  Our boss recommended that we each take the Myers/Briggs test plus another one (I don't recall now what it was) but the two of them together made me aware of something I had never previously recognized or considered.

We have very different thought, processing, and speaking preferences and habits.  I tend to be, in general, a relatively linear thinker and try to stay "on task".  My colleague, by contrast, thinks "all over the place" or, to quote a current movie title, "Everything, Everywhere, All At Once".  And that's how she talks, too: it's a scattered whirlwind as she simultaneously ideates, processes, and verbalizes numerous threads.

Once I was aware of that and learned to just let it happen rather than trying to guide a conversation along the path of my choosing, things went much more smoothly between us.

I like touring alone.

I like touring with friends.

I'm less enthusiastic about touring with small groups of people I don't know well, but I'll do it.  (I have one coming up in September, in fact.)

I'm fine doing very large group supported tours (but say a firm "No, thanks all the same" to anything the size of RAGBRAI).

In all cases it's not so much the energy I expend on interpersonal reactions as it is the likelihood (or avoidance) of interpersonal friction turning sour and proving problematic.  

I hope none of you has had to endure a small group tour where two or three members of the group could not get along; it creates a tension-filled and poisonous atmosphere that casts a pall over the entire event and damages the experience for everyone, permanently.

Keith they are great examples of behaviour based differences. Spot on.

Your  last para about conflict is especially relevant and insightful. I’m an example of a conflict averse type. Like you, my natural inclination is to go to great lengths to avoid conflict, or to peace-make when conflict does arise. Sometimes this is good, but often it’s not good, so I’ve had to learn to be more comfortable in managing conflict rather than avoiding it. 

I’ve also learned that some people thrive on conflict. They are more comfortable when social disharmony is the norm. ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ is my motto, whereas those others’ prefer ‘If it’s not broke, break it.’ Like extroversion and introversion, neither is right or wrong. They are simply different behavioural preferences to be aware of.

My understanding of introversion/extroversion is the same, Graham. Myers-Briggs told me a slightly different story each time I took it; I was either barely an introvert or barely an extrovert. I’m balanced! Ahem. I like riding by myself the best, but sometimes I get tired of that. I enjoy talking to other people I meet along the way, or having a riding buddy to meet up with during a ride. I really enjoyed the public-facing part of my old job, but was glad to have the time away from it. We all are like that to bigger and lesser degrees.

My wife is an introvert, but we performed improv comedy together for years. As you said, it’s not that introverts can’t do things like public performances or be around people, it’s that they/we need more time to recharge on our own. 

Then again, there are people in your life who light you up in the best way, and those who suck the living soul out of you. But maybe that’s a different thing.

I'm an ambivert which can make for challenges when doing solo bike tours which is 95% of my touring style.  The idea is that almost all of my tours involve socializing of some sort but this happens off the bike.  One way I accomplish this is to build in group fitness classes into my tours.  Also parties thrown in where and when I can.

But logistically this ends up being a bit of a nightmare since people I socialize with don't ride bikes and don't understand how touring works.  Trying to make appointments and keep schedules while riding is all but impossible.  So things often get off balance, either too much alone time on the bike or too much socializing.

The idea way to solve this is longer tours where I bike 4-5 days at a time from hub to hub.  For example stay in Bangkok for some time, bike to Siem Reap, hang out there for awhile, then onwards to Phnom Penh, and so on

This is really interesting, thanks everybody - and always nice to hear about people's MO on the road.

No problem being on my own? Find company exhausts me and need time alone to recharge? Yep, this definitely makes me an introvert. I've tended to eschew the sorts of personality tests that attempt to quantify this, but we do did something similar in the academic world when the facilitator asked people how long they would be comfortable being on their own, not having a conversation with anyone in progressive amounts. I think everyone else put their hands down after a couple of days - I hesitantly went for "1 week".

I got close to that level in inland Sweden, where I could merrily camp in the woods pretty much anywhere, shops and towns were pretty far apart, and (to my surprise) English was not super-widely spoken. Like the English, the Swedes are also maybe not the most outgoing of people and I didn't strike up too many conversations (although maybe I can't blame them for that given what I looked like after a few days of living in the woods). By the time I got to lake Siljan the crowds of people and even basic social interactions felt a bit unfamiliar...

On the other hand, I do talk (quite loudly at times), philosophise, sing and laugh to myself pretty insistently when (I think) I'm alone. Apparently most people will only laugh in company? I'm actively LOLing at all sorts of weird things I see on the road on my own, so maybe I'm odd this way as well.

Likewise, I am terrible at taking photographs of anything other than landscapes, bikes, and things I think are usual or funny - and almost immediately forget the names of people I meet. And I really do enjoy the characters and chats I do have along the way. For what it's worth, this tends to happen much more to me in Continental Europe than in the UK. So all you folks from the USA, if you think people are more reserved in France/Germany beware British social awkwardness! (or just talk about the weather, which is the magic subject that is permissible in any situation).

Perhaps surprisingly, if I'm not preparing food I love going out to restaurants and cafes and sitting in the evening. It's actually almost the perfect mix to be among people who don't really know who you are, but not to have to talk to them (or in many cases be able to, given my shoddy language skills). Vital to bring a book or the map to study, as though I'm often pretty happy just staring into space and mulling (with a drink of course) it can look a bit weird (especially if you accidentally catch someone's eye). I certainly don't go out looking like a cyclist, though I often will be quite scruffy just because I usually only have a single set of town clothes [and I also have no style].

I'm a serious introvert.  I've never taken any tests to support that assertion.  I wish I had something more scientific to say.

Oh yeah, I just remembered,  I'm also a controvert.

Jon, reading through your post, I think you basically just described me. So you are not alone. 

I'm a fakeovert. Growing up in a family of 10 introverts, I know how to converse and socialize but am really really adept at going inward and retreating in books or going outside when I just am exhausted by people. I call myself a fakeovert because I had a job working in schools for 22 years and I literally had hundreds of interactions in the course of every single day and I simply HAD to be onstage. Which meant when I came home I needed to recharge with solitude for awhile. But it's like a muscle, when I need to overcome my natural shyness and slight spectrum-y personality I know how to, as long as I exercise that skill now and again. I'm always more comfortable in small group settings and one-on-one interactions. And I get lonely if I'm on my own for too long, I really do like and enjoy people and find them interesting to talk with. But I'm the first to leave the party, quietly, using the Irish exit. So while we're traveling, I try to smile at our cooks while ordering food, thank people, compliment their food/guesthouse/cute kid. I usually can't speak enough of their languages to go much deeper but humor tells a thousand stories so there are often ways to have meaningful connections in various silly ways. And it's not all fake.