Alone or in a Group

[5oakterrace]

I am curious as to the ways folks approach riding - alone or in a group/paceline. Personally, I put in maybe 5k miles last summer and maybe 50 miles were with other riders. I fear hitting someone or being hit. I dislike having to concentrate on other riders - kind of disturbs my inner world. I also find it near impossible to talk to anyone. I just cannot hear them. Then there is the issue of adapting to the group speed and sometimes the subtle competitiveness. I miss the comraderie however. Folks go out after riding but typically for drinks and I try to avoid the temptations of alcohol, but that is my thing. I am curious how others approach their cycling.

[5oakterrace]

Whoops. Wrong area. I meant to lost this in general discussion. My apologies.

[RWL2222]

The ideal for me is to ride with 2-3 others who I know at least somewhat. Rarely ever happens now and I miss it.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by RWL2222

The ideal for me is to ride with 2-3 others who I know at least somewhat. Rarely ever happens now and I miss it.

This is my situation as well.

I do like larger groups but where I live it's just not convenient to do so. About 25% of my miles, maybe less come with one other guy. Otherwise I'm flying solo except for 1-2 rides a year where I drive to meet some old friends and we ride.

[R3awak3n]

Usually alone but do enjoy ridding with 1 or 2 people. Zero interest in ridding in big groups

[glepore]

I miss a good group ride, but they are few and far between. The last big group I rode with was filled with such competitive jerks that after I moved South I didn't even check out the local group scene. Do 95% of my riding alone, but do miss having a few folks to hang out on rides with.

I will never ever again ride with a group that blow stop signs and drops folks at intersections that are less brave/ignorant than they are.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by glepore

I miss a good group ride, but they are few and far between. The last big group I rode with was filled with such competitive jerks that after I moved South I didn't even check out the local group scene. Do 95% of my riding alone, but do miss having a few folks to hang out on rides with.

I will never ever again ride with a group that blow stop signs and drops folks at intersections that are less brave/ignorant than they are.

Need a like button

[AngryScientist]

Moved to GD.

I ride solo most of the time; but enjoy riding with small groups occasionally. Only if they are my kind of people though. I know some people really enjoy the competitive side of cycling, but not me. I enjoy the camaraderie and friendship component.

I’m pretty busy though; with various stuff going on. Most of the time a regular schedule doesn’t work for me, so I ride when I’ve got the time; on my schedule.

[redir]

When I was racing a lot I would almost always ride with the team and or in sometimes large bunches of 20 or more. It's good training experience for racing. Now I tend to ride solo. Most people are a bit intimidated by groups for the reasons you mentioned but after some time they get used to it and may even like it. A nice long steady Saturday ride with a group is more or less a rolling social club. Most of the 'competition' on these rides are tops of mountains climbs and we would have sprint contests at county line signs but we always regroup.

I believe that certain areas in the state, country, world sort of have traditions that pass down. This is a college town and many of the riders are young and on the collegiate team. The older guys pass down the group riding style and it's been that way for the 20+ years that I have been here. We may roll through stop signs but no one blows then and certainly doesn't attack at a stop sign like an idiot and if they did they would be reprimanded. Every year there are new faces and they all get educated.

[Spdntrxi]

Prefer groups.. 5 to 6 is perfect but I often ride in competitive larger groups. If I'm doing something really structured then I would prefer solo.

I tend to push myself way harder and at the limit longer in groups.

[El Chaba]

The *culture* of the group ride is disappearing quickly. Nobody seems to want to listen to the things that have made riding in a group a great-and safe-experience. There are 1001 things to know about riding in a group, and people seem only interested in going faster. I am referring to a general group ride setting and not a racing training group. That side of the sport is on life support as well and all of the knowledge necessary for that-which is a level above- is disappearing as well. The general rule used to be that as a participant in the group you looked out for yourself AND everybody else in the group. Everything stemmed from that. As a participant in many (most) groups to day, you have been reduced to the role of a supporting actor for some yahoos who have never pinned on a number in competition to pretend that they are in a race. It is not a formula for success, especially if your metric for success is enjoyment.

[Turkle]

When I lived in NYC, 95% of my riding was alone. No problem! It was easy to just go at my pace, conquer my favorite climbs, and suffer the headwinds while cursing to myself.

However, I've been riding in group rides here in RVA for the past few months and it's been a welcome change of pace. Particularly as I don't know the area here at all yet, it's been a great way to explore new routes and get a sense of how things go around here. It's also been extremely valuable as I recover from injuries, as it's easier to push myself a bit when in a group. I can definitely already feel the results as I get stronger. It's been a few years since I rode in groups regularly and I did miss it.

Once I get my legs under me a bit and get the bug to go exploring a bit more, I'm sure I'll be going on more solo rides this summer. (My RideWithGPS account is stuffed full of routes I've planned for myself.) But for now, the group rides have been something to look forward to each week.

[Ralph]

I'm old with brittle bones. Don't want to go down. So usually avoid group rides these days. Stuff just seems to happen. Especially ones with new riders.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

The *culture* of the group ride is disappearing quickly. Nobody seems to want to listen to the things that have made riding in a group a great-and safe-experience. There are 1001 things to know about riding in a group, and people seem only interested in going faster. I am referring to a general group ride setting and not a racing training group. That side of the sport is on life support as well and all of the knowledge necessary for that-which is a level above- is disappearing as well. The general rule used to be that as a participant in the group you looked out for yourself AND everybody else in the group. Everything stemmed from that. As a participant in many (most) groups to day, you have been reduced to the role of a supporting actor for some yahoos who have never pinned on a number in competition to pretend that they are in a race. It is not a formula for success, especially if your metric for success is enjoyment.

Word. Simple example, no one listens anymore about not surging the pace-for the most part its an ego show when you hit the front. I know its a "grumpy old man yells at cloud" thing, but what made a well oiled group so satisfying has mostly been lost to fitness culture.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by glepore

I miss a good group ride, but they are few and far between. The last big group I rode with was filled with such competitive jerks that after I moved South I didn't even check out the local group scene. Do 95% of my riding alone, but do miss having a few folks to hang out on rides with.

I will never ever again ride with a group that blow stop signs and drops folks at intersections that are less brave/ignorant than they are.

Is this a new issues with group rides? When I was younger the older guys on rides made sure this stupidity didn't happen but now I'm hearing about it more from groups made up of younger riders. I think when you see somebody get killed on a ride or know a person that's no longer with us b/c of a bike related fatality that results from something like running a Stop sign you change your thinking.