solo or group cycling

[jags]

Lads  and jawine 
was just wondering  are we all solo cyclists.
i did cycle with the local club and a few lads up until 6 months ago,
but these days i ride solo great most of the time but hard to motivate at the best of time's to get out and cycle more  especially this time of year.
anyway do you guys prefair company of solo.
cheers

jags

[JimK]

Maybe 95% of my riding is solo. Occasionally I will ride with my sweetheart's teenage son, then even more rarely with my sweetheart herself.

I've been on a few organized rides in the past few years. I think it was Earth Day 2010 when a local fellow organized a 20 mile ride that maybe ten of us were on. The organizer is into randonneuring and that was the first time I heard about that. We mostly stuck together and rode quite slowly and that was good fun.

Some time in the summer of 2011 I was on another organized local ride, more like 50 miles. Somewhere around 20 riders - some folks drove a few hours to get here to join the fun. Took folks about two miles to disappear out in front of me. Finally on the home stretch a car passed me that was collecting the directional signs. I told them I know the rest of the way and they could collect the ones ahead of me too. When I got back to the start they were just finished packing up the canopies.

This past summer I was on a bigger organized ride, 50-some miles again but more like 100 riders. The last person passed me after maybe ten miles. I took a wrong turn which added ten miles and two category three hills! Ha! Folks were long gone by the time I got back!

The big organized ride was the Erie Canal ride, 500 riders over 8 days. The teenager was along for that. It averages 50 miles a day and there were lots of slow riders. Grand fun!

There are several clubs around so theoretically I could find people to ride with but it's all about racing. They go like 18 mph in comparison to my 10 mph. Total mismatch!
 

[Andybg]

Here in Bulgaria I have little choice to but to be a solo cyclist as there are very few cyclist around (although cycling per se is increasing in the country - yeah) but even when I was in the UK I preffered to be out on my own. I think it must be wonderful to find a cycling partner or group with the same outlook and aspirations but cycling is one of those pastimes which can also be enjoyed solo.



Andy

[jags]

the reason i stopped going with the group it always turned into a race on the return spin home it would crack me up big time because most of the group would be sucking wheels for the intire spin
mind you i never got dropped but if i was the leader on the day( the guy that plans the route)
i would always wait for the slowest rider even if it meant pushing them home which did happen a couple times .
touring though i do like company enjoy a bit of craic at the end of the day  
spain italy and france were all planned tours never again  

[Danneaux]

I think it must be wonderful to find a cycling partner or group with the same outlook and aspirations but cycling is one of those pastimes which can also be enjoyed solo.

What Andy said...goes for me. Beautifully phrased, Andy.

Mass rides...scare the daylights out of me. I don't know if it brings out a latent shyness or some irrational fear of falling and being run over by 20,000 tires (some mass rides here'bouts gather upward of 10,000 attendees). Funny...I never had a problem leading tour groups back in the day and would enjoy doing so again. Must be something else, but nah, mass rides hold no appeal for me.

I've tried a few tag-along rides with the local touring group over the years, and generally found them to be unhappy experiences. They didn't hold my same views about the need to stop at stop signs or obey road rules to remain predictable (and alive!) to car drivers, the value of stopping to take a photo or breaking paceline concentration to chat, and I got tired of the ragging-on about my equipment not being the latest on offer by ShimSRAMagnolo or having the lightest bike. I asked myself if I was having fun (no) and decided I was better off on my own.

I really believe there's no bad solo rides, but it would be nice to have the occasional pleasant companion for a ride at any pace or distance; good conversation makes up for a lot and it would be nice to turn to another and say, "Oh, look! Did you see that?!?" for shared experiences. I'll take good craic any day over sheer endurance, speed, or ability.

Good topic, jags.

All the best,

Dan. (...who is still "looking" for an occasional riding/touring partner, but doesn't mind going alone in the meantime)

[bikepacker]

The reason I cycle is purely for enjoyment and I do get a lot of enjoyment cycling alone. Cycling is the one area of my life I have not allowed to become competitive in any way. Unfortunately contrary to what has been initially agreed, others I have ridden with seem to want to turn the most enjoyable of rides into a competition of some sort. Usually that is when we part company. Also I do enjoy the flexibility of being my own, so the best solution has often been to ride or tour alone.

In stating that I do have some friends who feel the same as me, we regularly meet up for day rides when I am not away touring. There are others that I happily do longer tours with; they fit into the categories of: Similar cycling ability, much the same interests, or are married to me.

I occasionally do tours with larger groups such as the CTC but these are always on the basis of meeting up at pre-arranged places at the end of the day’s cycling.

[il padrone]

Mass rides...scare the daylights out of me. I don't know if it brings out a latent shyness

Shyness? Danneaux? The words are oxymorons surely?  

I've tried a few tag-along rides with the local touring group over the years, and generally found them to be unhappy experiences. They didn't hold my same views about the need to stop at stop signs or obey road rules to remain predictable (and alive!) to car drivers, the value of stopping to take a photo or breaking paceline concentration to chat, and I got tired of the ragging-on about my equipment not being the latest on offer by ShimSRAMagnolo or having the lightest bike. I asked myself if I was having fun (no) and decided I was better off on my own.

What you describe is no touring club - more like a race training bunch ride.


I ride mostly with my touring club, and other rides with family or friends. I have done various solo rides but really value the shared experience with like-minded companions. I would not tolerate riding with groups that are too focused on the ride to bother stopping for a view, to regroup or even to chat as you ride. This is race competition style riding.

I'm off tomorrow on a weekend tour (neglecting the family again  ) - 65kms tomorrow into the hills and a quiet campsite, then 85kms on Sunday through mountain forest and along a railtrail. Forecast 37 deg for Saturday so that'll make things torrid. We have a group of about 8-10 riders on this tour. The club has about 200 members. We do a range of different cycling events but the prime event is the self-contained camping tour. While we don't race off on rides, we are not hamstrung to travel at some low speed. People travel and chat, but tend to run off in groups at their own speed. We don't leave people behind though, regrouping every 5-10kms or at turning points and junctions. The regroup points allow time for people to chat and have that MSR/Trangia, SPD/toe-clips discussion. Someone is leader of the ride and they appoint someone as the 'whip' to bring up the rear. It all works, is very sociable and allows people to put in a turn of speed if they wish.

[Danneaux]

What you describe is no touring club - more like a race training bunch ride.

<nods> It sure felt like one! I kept up alright, bu the leaders had a paceline mentality. Fine for training and speed runs, not so great for good craic.

I would not tolerate riding with groups that are too focused on the ride to bother stopping for a view, to regroup or even to chat as you ride. This is race competition style riding.

Ah! We're like-minded in that, Pete!

I'm off tomorrow on a weekend tour...

Oh! I hope you'll have a wonderful time, Pete, and will return with lots of piccies to share. It sounds like you can't go wrong with the touring partners and mode of touring; should be a grand time for all! (as it should be)

The regroup points allow time for people to chat and have that MSR/Trangia, SPD/toe-clips discussion. Someone is leader of the ride and they appoint someone as the 'whip' to bring up the rear. It all works, is very sociable and allows people to put in a turn of speed if they wish.

Sounds ideal, Pete; I ran my tour groups something like this, and the "after-reports" were always favorable. Well, it is supposed to be fun!

Take care, and best wishes on this, your next tour!

Dan. (...who thinks if one is too out of breath from speeding along to be able to chat, it may not be a tour anymore)

[Pavel]

It is surprising how many subtle differences in style there are in cycling. It is probably like being married.  Some differences are of no issue, but some make you really hate the togetherness.  It's a nice thing that divorce on the road is as easy as an extra long break.   Solo .... 95% of the time because I too live where cycling is rare, and the few cyclists I do see are always running fast on a fast bike.  It is nice to meet up however, it's one of the main pleasures to touring I think, whether is is for a few hours or many days. Yeah, 95% solo - but only 20% not looking!

[peter jenkins]

I tend to ride solo most of the time because

(a) I'm profoundly deaf and it's just too hard to keep up a conversation. (I use a Cochlear speech processor, but pin it inside my shirt to stop the wind roaring in the microphone)
(b) I'm always a tad nervous in a group anyway
(c) it's a hangover from time trialling days ("alone and unassisted" was the term in use)

I will sometimes ride with a small group in a randonee, as these are folk who know each other and who are prepared to tolerate my lack of conversation. Also, I have sufficient faith in their bike handling skills to know they won't let me bring them down. Even when riding solo on an Audax ride, there is always a chance to catch up and chat at checkpoints and afterwards.

I rode End to End solo and it was bliss.

pj

[JWestland]

The manfriend and me have been up in work/hobbies/voluntary torture in the form of Open University studies so unfortunately it's been nearly all solo and commuting so far the XTC only got aired once on a 116 km tour, rest commuting 

(where every now I then I find myself going...aaah what a lovely bike this is. Can't explain it, it's not the fastest, or the best steering or the fanciest, it has soul by want of a better word)

How I would hold in a roadies group, no idea, but I feel I really don't have the skills for that anyway (or the bikes!) I don't like going slower than 20 miles an hour unloaded, but speeding in a group em not sure either, I'd want to be competitive and then get annoyed for not having the gumption to take corners super fast 

I would say I am more a small group cycle person, eg with friends, for long tours touring style with luggage or alternatively a large loose group that's non competitive eg Audaxing but I am happy to be proven wrong

[jags]

if i were to tour with you you would have to carry all the gear just to slow you down 

[JWestland]

LOL I doubt it, remember I ride solo the ego may be sorely bruised when tested