type of cyclists in regular social circle

[shootingstar]

The cyclists that I've socialized regularily ...or at least a few times per year both on road and outside of cycling....are long-distance tourers, work commuters and ex-randonneurs. One of these cyclists was a bike courier for a year.

At this time, I haven't clicked yet with a racer or triathlete or duathlete.

I do know several who have done full marathons...2 sisters and a brother-in-law.

I've been cycling nearly past 17 yrs. Since living in Vancouver, I haven't joined any regular cycling group / club since living in Vnacovuer ....and all honesty, right now, I don't want to yet feel hemmed in my personal schedule when my present work commute during week is so time-consuming and I get home late...which leaves only weekend for breathing, creative time to do as I please.

[Zen]

At this time, I haven't clicked yet with a racer or triathlete or duathlete.


Are you looking for someone to click with or is this just a general observation?

[shootingstar]

Just an observation, zen. I'm just curious what other people's cycling social circles are like. Aside from my partner, I don't ride with anyone on a regular basis.

I choose good friends for what they are like as individuals. Cycling is secondary. I enjoy doing at least 1/2 of it on my own. My partner is sometimes too busy with other things/our schedule for the day doesn't jive.

[sundial]

Well, we have a former bi-athlete in our crowd, a wannabe Paris-Brest-Paris rider, another rider with 20+ years experience, and one who was a former runner turned cyclist. It's funny that you mentioned the triathlete type. They tend to shun us too.

[Starfish]

Well, I can't say I have much of a cycling social circle.

One of my best friends races with a team, and I love her to pieces, and we don't ride together (we live in different towns now, and I know I am not at her level, anyhow).

The folks I occasionally ride with locally are IM triathletes (hence the "occasionally"). I can't really keep up. Nice bunch of folks, though.

There is a group that rides in a town about 45 minutes away that I keep telling myself I need to go ride with. Sometime soon I will do that, and we will see who they are and what they're like!

Mostly I ride alone, but I need to change that.

[Melalvai]

Commuters and recreational riders, and I definitely count the bike shop mechanics in my group of friends. Very good friends they are! Some of us are also cycling advocates (go to relevant city council meetings, participate in local advocacy group).

[mimitabby]

none, really. we ride with some nice people but rarely do anything with them that isn't bike related.

[solobiker]

I ride alone most of the time. Occ DH will ride with me. He is much faster then I am going up the hills, but I am quite a bit faster going down them then he is. I have thought about joining group rides but I don't want to be tied down to meeting the group and I also don't want to get in a group that would drop me. I do have 2 women friends that I occasionally will ride with, but they are fair weather riders and they tend to like to ride in the heat of the day which does not work to well for me. Hence my name "solobiker":D

[sundial]

We should ride together. :)

[Susan126]

I ride with hubby and/or our daughter. I also have 2 friends that ride and I will sometimes ride with them. Especially during the summer months. Joe and I do belong to 2 bike clubs but we rarely ride in any of the clubs' scheduled monthly rides. I would like to try a few this summer during the weekday. I have summers off (Yea yea I work in a middle school) and I usually ride alone but I may try some of the clubs' posted weekday rides. I know I say this now but come summer I will probably just bike alone as usual during the weekday and of course with hubby on the weekends!

[Geonz]

I ride with just about anybody :D Okay, I can't keep up with the serious racers on the fastest rides, tho' sometimes they will hang back for a while. I also ride with the "pretty fast people" and the beginners and the "I want to cruise and talk, not work out" riders.
It's that addiction thing ...

[IFjane]

We have a group of about 15 people who ride semi-regularly. There is a core group of about 5 of us who ride almost all the time. No racers, though a cycling friend - the strongest of our group - at the age of 40 wants to try a time trial at the end of March. Some of us are very close friends who also see one another outside of cycling. As a whole, our group is very social and supportive of one another. A great group of people!

[Crankin]

I mostly ride with my husband, but we also ride very frequently with another couple. We are very close friends with them because of cycling. We go on vacations with them, both cycling and nordic skiing. I also ride with the female half of this couple, but our schedules don't always mesh. She is a slower rider than me, but we have developed a good "system" for riding together.
We lead rides for AMC and I do some group rides with them, but not as many as in the past. I also belong to another club that does Wednesday rides that mostly people in their 40s and up, who stop to smell the roses. There's always lunch involved. They 're really very nice, but I only rode with them twice last summer. My goal is to do more this summer! The other rides in this club are hammerfests.
I ride alone maybe once, twice a week. Again, not as much as I used to. Usually, my husband will adjust his schedule and we end up riding together.

[OakLeaf]

I ride with just about anybody :D Okay, I can't keep up with the serious racers on the fastest rides, tho' sometimes they will hang back for a while. I also ride with the "pretty fast people" and the beginners and the "I want to cruise and talk, not work out" riders.
It's that addiction thing ...

Same here! Except it isn't addiction, I don't even ride very much (2-3 days a week road riding). And I enjoy the chatty slow rides, but below 12-13 mph on the flats on a road bike just drives me nuts. It's just I don't like to ride alone right now, so I ride with several different groups, and every one is different. One of these days I'll get up the nerve to go for the post-ride run with the triathlete group - since the ride is really too far away for me to justify driving all that way just for a 25-mile ride.

[indysteel]

I have several groups of people with whom I ride regularly. There's the core "B" group from my weekday training ride. We sometimes get together on Saturdays to ride at a slightly more relaxed pace or do a club ride together. One couple from that group have become some of my closest friends. Most of them are not competitive cyclists, but they're all pretty strong.

My core group of cycling buddies is a group of about 20 people. Actually, there are several subgroups within that group, some of which are faster than others. The core of the group met years ago through our cycling club and developed their friendships from there. The group's picked up additional people (like me) over the years. There are a couple of guys who race, another guy who does the occasional sprint tri and then everybody else. They're all strong steady riders, and some of them have been riding longer than I've been alive.

My introduction to the group came primarily through my ex BF. We've remained friends and, as time wore on after our break up and I became a better cyclist, I started to join him and/or one or another of the subgroups more regularly. Now, I'm just part of the gang. This is the same group that I run with, too. A handful of the the runners don't bike, but most of the cyclists, run during the winter at least That motivated me to dust off my running shoes and join them. The running is actually more social than riding because we meet for breakfast afterwards.

I really feel lucky to know these people. They are salt of the earth types and are, putting cycling aside, people I'd want to know regardless. I know that they're very much there for one another, so the friendships run far deeper than just cycling or running together.

I still enjoy riding alone, too, but I've gotten so spoiled by having someone to draft off of, that it's harder to motivate!

[shootingstar]

Strangely the few good friends that I have for the past few years who do cycle regularily ..we actually seldom see each other and now they live in different provinces or cities...that we need to spend focused time for a few hrs. talking to each other when we visit. instead of just being vaguely distracted by cycling and talking on bike.

am the sort of person that just enjoys cycling with other people, but I don't have profound desire to talk much while cycling at a sustained pace. Much rather stop at the end and yak in-depth for hrs.

Maybe that's why my partner and I are compatible in terms of personalities: we are each socialable individuals but don't mind being hermity and doing our own thing for long periods of time.

[Ticia]

My experience so far is that I've gone out with our local "club rides". It all depends on the ride/ride leader and the participants how "social things get". Here is our club description, yet I feel if varies considerably depending on "who" is leading the ride and at what time of the season you ride:)
These go up on a calendar with maps/cue sheets so you know what you are riding beforehand for the most part.

RIDE RATINGS EXPLAINED

CATEGORY / TERRAIN:
DEFINITION

DESCRIPTION
Flat

No hills, possibly a small climb for a bridge or overpass
Minor Hills

Occasional hills with easy grades
Moderate Hills

Occasional climbs of 1/2 to 1 mile and/or short steep grades
Significant hills

Extended and/or frequent climbs, or very steep climbs


AVERAGE PACE (on flats):

The minimum average riding speed on flat ground with no wind and no drafting. This is not an indication of the average speed for the overall ride but an indicator of the speed that riders should be capable of maintaining on flat portions of the ride. Slower and faster riders are welcome on all rides as long as they are comfortable using a map and fixing a flat tire on their own in case they get separated from the main group.

PACE
SPEED

10-12 MPH


Easy/Beginner. Frequent stops.
12-14 MPH

Social pace. A few stops.
14-16 MPH

Moderate pace
16-18 MPH

Brisk pace
18-20 MPH

Fast pace
20+ MPH

Strenuous pace


GROUP (ride style):

STYLE

DESCRIPTION
Group

No one will be left behind. Assistance with flat tires and other minor mechanical problems. Maps will be provided unless noted in the ride description.
Re-Group

Re-group at specific points on the ride route. Riders will spread out. Assistance with minor mechanical problems may be limited. Ride leader will wait a reasonable time for riders at re-group points. Maps will be provided.
Non-Group

No planned re-group points. Riders will spread out. Riders should be self-sufficient. Maps will be provided.


It has been incredibly helpful for me as a novice to have this info BEFORE charging out there on what I *think* I can do;)

[shootingstar]

Riding sometimes with at least another person who is better than self, is a good idea. However some people really want to socialize on bike...and I tend not to. I actually find when riders ride-side-by-side alot and talk tons, it annoys me. ...more than the lonely, slow rider struggling along.

I enjoy a group ride with ..essentially strangers...only occasionally. But to do it regularily and just ride wth a bunch of strangers..and often leave at the end of ride....would be a big turnoff to me from cycling.

So that's why I just go with my partner or go alone and get happily buried in my own thoughts and enjoyment of the ride for a few hrs.

I haven't given up on the thought that somewhere there will be a few women that are compatible personality-wise, that I could ride more regularily with for fitness ......when I can rework my schedule more easily later. Right now, it's quite difficult..schedule-wise.

I realize how far away from home I work...Geez, Mount Baker in Washington state looms real close where I work in Canada out in the suburbs!