Why ride with people?

[Kalidurga]

When I ride alone, which is most always basically, I feel comfortable doing whatever. Whether an intense straight-up all climbing ride, or an easy spin as this afternoon will be.

I've also always ridden alone, partly because I enjoy the solitude, partly for the same reason Cassandra gave above. The few times I tried to ride with the ex-BF, we were not on the same wavelength. Since joining the TE forum, I've made half-hearted attempts to hook up with other women in my locale, and I've thought about joining some of the group rides sponsored by various LBS's. I'd like to try riding with others to see what I can learn from it, but it's hard to take that step and give up my anti-social ways. When I ride, I don't necessarily want to make the compromises necessary to "fit" with others. I want to do what I want to do and enjoy it.

[Trekhawk]

I do the majority of my road riding on my own and I enjoy it. Its a time for me to unwind and enjoy the peace (three sons dont equal peace and quiet).
Its my form of meditation.

When I have ridden with others (really only on charity rides) I have enjoyed being with other riders and feeling that comraderie.

I always mountain bike with another rider but thats a different thing from road riding - no meditating on single track. I enjoy the chance to discuss the technical parts of the ride and how to nail them.

I would like to try club riding one day maybe when I go home as all the clubs around here are a little too fast for me.

[tomgrrrl]

I tend to ride solo most of the time as well. For one thing, it's easier...it's hard enough to manage my time (and my daughter's) so that trying to coordinate rides with others can be difficult.

I also tend to find that I enjoy the alone time. For me it really becomes a form of meditation. When I'm with another person (or rarely a group) I often spend a lot of time worrying about my pace, their pace, etc. When I'm alone I have only myself to worry about.

I would like to find more friends to mtbike with since when I ride solo on my mtb I keep to well-traveled fire trails. If I had a riding pal, it would be easier (and safer) to ride some of the more remote trails.

[makbike]

I ride 99% of the time solo simply because of where I live, my schedule and the fact that I've always been a loner. In fact, I've typically always ridden solo. I feel safe on the road when I'm by myself but I'm also aware that at anytime things could change drastically and I could find myself in a nasty situation.

I do ride with our LBC a 1 - 2 times a week. The advantage to riding with the club is I can really pushy myself and when this happens I typically find myself riding solo again. I'm not fast enough to keep up with the really fast group and I'm too fast for the slow group so I end up between the two. I may pass other medium speed riders along the way but I usually find myself out there pedaling all by myself. That said, knowing there are others out ahead of me or knowing there is someone behind helps to push me. The socal aspect typically comes into play before the ride or after the ride in the parking lot.

I find riding a large group has a tendency to frustate me as well. I hate to get caught in a group that is spread out across the road and moving slower than I like. I find that when my cadence is broken like this my only desire is to find an opening and move ahead of the pack. I find getting caught in this same situation climbing a hill really increases my desire to break away from the group so that I can climb at my pace and not waste a lot of energy speeding up and slowing down as we make our way to the top.

[Dogmama]

1. Nobody wants to get up at the crack of dawn to ride.

2. I hate having to watch other peoples' wheels and predict what they'll do.

3. I want to be alone, think, enjoy the scenery.

I am considering training for El Tour de Tucson, which means I'll have to start riding with a group on Sunday to refresh my group riding skills. Hmmm....

[Kalidurga]

I feel safe on the road when I'm by myself but I'm also aware that at anytime things could change drastically and I could find myself in a nasty situation.

That's definitely part of the challenge. I hike, bike and kayak alone all the time and I take great pride in knowing that, whatever happens, I'll find a way to deal with it. Granted, I've been fortunate so far and nothing really extreme has happened, but the day I stop feeling capable and self-sufficient is the day I curl up and die.

This is a very interesting thread. In spite of my own comments, reading the comments from folks who do ride with groups makes me still want to give that a try. Is there a way to turn this into a poll?

[Tater]

I too, am a loner. Mostly it is because I haven't met anyone to ride with. Now that I have moved to a more populated area and found some weekend rides (thanks, Kano!), I may start riding with a group on a weekend or two. I don't mind my solo rides, though. I think that is because I have always run alone, and now I bike alone. It doesn't bother me.

[mimitabby]

I am a bit timid and though I have to ride alone sometimes, I like company. I find that unless I am commuting; when riding alone i tend to cut the distance
like; if i plan to ride 25 miles I will end up riding 21 instead...
with no one else there I am less apt to keep going.
Being smaller and female, I have no great joy in the solitude, I am very wary all the time. I was born the year of the rabbit, and damn, that's what I am.

[SadieKate]

Ha! Mimi, you made me remember that I wanted to look up my Chinese sign again. After reading the wonderful book about Christopher Hogwood, I wanted to check. Yep, I am a pig. Explains a lot about me.

http://chinese.astrology.com/pig.html

[Cassandra_Cain]

Ha! Mimi, you made me remember that I wanted to look up my Chinese sign again. After reading the wonderful book about Christopher Hogwood, I wanted to check. Yep, I am a pig. Explains a lot about me.

http://chinese.astrology.com/pig.html

Hey! Stop hijacking my thread!

Ok fine, be the way....I'm a rabbit http://chinese.astrology.com/rabbit.html

Back to riding....

[SadieKate]

Sorry! I do think that it is descriptive of why I ride with different people or even by my 'lil lonesome.

[caligurl]

well... i ride alone mostly.... hubby rides with me sometimes... depending on how he's feeling and what he's up to...

there aren't any other riders in my area for me to ride with.... the very FEW riders there are.... either don't ride much.... or are tri-geeks who i don't know and are out for a FAST ride...

i rarely see other riders.... i MAY pass one on a saturday or sunday if i'm lucky!

i used to pass eric (saunders) once in a while (pass as in going opposite directions) until he moved!

[weathergal]

Except for charity and other organized rides, I ride alone all the time. Like caligurl, it's mostly because I live in a town with no LBC and very few cyclists. I think I can count on one hand the number of other cyclists I've seen around this summer, and I've been riding a lot. Plus, my schedule is crazy, so even if I did know other cyclists in town I may have trouble meeting up for a ride.

I do think that riding with a group would be helpful, though. I have very little skill with things like drafting and pacelines, and tend to weave all over the road. I also don't push myself as much as I could, mainly just tootling along.

[salsabike]

I love riding alone on my single bike. Don't have any desire to change that at all. It lets me work as hard as I want without worrying about anyone else's desires, welfare, skills, etc. I truly love it.

And of course I also love riding the tandem with Mr. Salsa. But for single bike riding, alone works great for me.

[tygab]

I do not like riding alone, but I do kayak alone. I can't say it's really relaxing unless I am on a low traffic road and I feel like I can look at the scenery, and with someone who I know will stop and wait if I have an issue. Almost all my rides have been with my husband and the remainder in groups with or without him along.

In the kayak, I am relaxed and just enjoying.

I would love to have some riding friends to go out with but right now I don't. I love that most of you like to ride alone, it gives me hope!