shrtdstncrdr

I ride alone. Or with my wife when she's in the mood.

WhyFi

Oh, I hear ya there.

Wait - what are we talking about, again?

roadwarrior16

Solo for weekday rides so I can be on my own schedule and enjoy the views along the way.
I like to get a group ride in on the weekends, but prefer those to be more casual versus trying to hit a certain km / time. Enjoy the ride, not rush to finish.

50PlusCycling

I prefer group rides when possible, especially longer rides. In a group the miles pass more quickly, and if I am in an easy group, it's a good place to meet people and chat. If I want to ride hard, I will get much better workout in a competitive group ride.

For long tours I prefer going solo. This is because I can ride at my own pace, I choose when and where to stop, and where to spend the night. On the other hand, it can be safer to ride with others, especially in places were help can be hard to find in an emergency.

gear64

Solo. I initially interpreted groups as in bike shop or club rides, but seem others have included event type group rides. I've never done bike shop or club rides. I've done 1 charity, and a few seasons of large group rides that many use for training charity rides and centuries. I just found some of the routes to be an interesting deviation from my usual rides, but each year most of the rides were duplicated so the novelty wore off. There's a midnight ramble here that I've done several years with my kids. Outside that from childhood to 50s cycling has first and foremost been about quiet solitude. I don't even consider it exercise, any health benefits I get are a side effect of doing the thing I most enjoy doing.

keithdunlop

I prefer to ride solo for a variety of reasons:

1. I pick my route from my home and ride at my pace.
2. I don't hold people up for punctures or mechanicals.
3. I generally don't trust the skills of unknown club group members.
4. It's my time to decompress with my own thoughts.

My personality leans towards introverted and most of my outdoor pursuits are done solo, such as backpacking.

That said, I do very much enjoy riding with close friends - I'm talking 2-3 people tops. We usually ride the same routes, I trust their skills when in close contact, and it's a good time for socializing and pausing at a favorite bakery.

downtube42

When I ride alone, I prefer to be by myself.

Kevintobgi5

Group ride because of the team aspect!

caloso

I find that a group ride is a good opportunity to teach fellow riders who may not be familiar with group riding dynamics the proper way to rotate through. Of course sometimes it’s necessary to yell.

ZHVelo

Solo. I can choose the route, start from home, choose my tempo, my breaks and most importantly my effort. I do have a couple of guys that I ride with in the summer around the lake but that would be once a week so compared to my solo rides a low proportion.

diphthong

sartre was right...hell is other people. 92.3% solo. 7.7% of the time, really nice people are subjected to me.

WhyFi

If you're the only common denominator in all of these instances, a little introspection might be in order.

mstateglfr 

60% of my miles are solo.
40% of my miles are with my family or some teens I work with.

Both types of riding are fun, even though they are vastly different.

WhyFi

I'm not talking about your skill or capability, I'm talking about your attitude. Between the tone of your writing and your username, you come off as a wee bit arrogant. Maybe that translates IRL, too. If someone shows up on my group ride and they give off the smell of one that thinks they're hot **** and they jump to the front to dictate the pace, I'll be happy to let them blow themselves up, too.

Eric F 

I've seen that more times than I can remember, and it always reminds me of the "young bull, old bull" story

One of the signs of a high-quality group rider is understanding the dynamic of the group and how to measure their effort at the front appropriately. I don't mind if a weaker rider needs to sit in, or take a shorter pull, in order to stay with the group. As long as they aren't disrupting the flow, it's all good with me.

David in Maine

Interesting. Maybe your group rides are different from mine. I have always understood that an individual rider shouldn't pull at the front for long--2 or 3 minutes tops, or even only a couple of seconds in a true rotating paceline. If you are pulling at the front for 10 minutes, some people might be wondering why you don't move left and drift back and let others pull. That might account for the people blowing by you. Perhaps a discussion at the start that clarifies length of pulls might help. If you want others to work, just drift back and let them work. If people are too tired to pull, when they get to the front they should immediately move left and drift back. I agree about people who suddenly attach and accelerate and blow up the group. Smooth and steady is best for a nice paceline.

David

WhyFi

Bingo.

WhyFi

Some people sprint to inflate their egos and others take "hero pulls" for the same reason.

And no, I don't have any insecurities w/r/t to my riding strengths and weaknesses, but thanks for participating.

Eric F 

You guys are confirming why so many people prefer to ride solo

WhyFi

For 10 friggin' miles? Uh, yeah - 100%

friday1970

Based on my knowledge of it, Audax and Randonnuering can be two different styles of rides. It's beem explained to me that Audax events are where riders ride as a group. Randonnuering is group or self paced, just as long as you hit control points in the given times. Wikipedia has more:

"Euraudax (original form of audax)
Participants in the original form of audax ride in a group, at a steady pace set by a road captain. The group aims to cycle at 22.5 km/h between stops. The route is planned with designated stopping points. In longer audax events the group may ride between 16 and 20 hours in a day before stopping at a designated sleeping location. The goal of the audax is for all group members to finish within the time limit. A support vehicle is allowed to follow each group of riders.

Randonneuring
Randonneuring is similar to the original Audax style in that riders attempt to complete long-distance cycling events. However, instead of riding together in a group, participants are free to cycle at their own pace (French: allure libre), stop or sleep wherever they want and form groups randomly, provided they stay within the time limit.

In some countries (e.g. USA), a clear distinction is drawn between 'Audax' and 'Randonneuring'. In others, such as Australia and Great Britain, the original Audax style is relatively unknown, and 'Audax' and 'Randonneuring' are used interchangeably"

I'm looking forward to our Randonnuering season this year. I truly enjoy our 200k rides, be it alone or with a group. But when alone, I appreciate the beauty and solitude of it.

Riveting

If fun is my mission, then my preference is a group ride, and with leader speeds slightly above mine, where constantly chasing a wheel and trying to not get dropped is "fun". Getting dropped by people you know and ride with weekly is incredible motivation to eat, drink, and train as best as I can so my weight and fitness improves incrementally each week, thereby reducing the frequency that I get dropped. In these times of "forced" solo riding, that motivation just isn't there for me, and my discipline and fitness has suffered as a result.

If a calm/meditative/recovery tempo ride, or the exact opposite which is a fitness improving HIIT, is the mission, then solo is usually where it's at, unless you find a small group that does HIIT or Strava segment chasing.

Group rides are also good for sharing bike repair resources and mech. experience, for oddball things that come up.

tomato coupe

And, why some people should ride solo.

WhyFi

No, no, no - the myopia is kicking in again. Hero pullers are heroes only in their own minds. People that pull for 10 miles "for the good of the group," are doing no such favors for the group. It's usually quite the opposite.

burnthesheep

We've got guys around here (maybe gals too) that'll take the "hero pull" not to be a hero, but to control the pace. They get on front then ease up anytime there's an uphill. If you ease up on front in the flat or downhill, that won't work. But uphill folks might notice less. Since your draft advantage goes away a lot uphill, they might save more by controlling the front than suffering hanging on as some high w/kg skinny dude rolls over the hill.

I would say do equal rotation on the flats or downhill. If you know a hill is coming up, the bigger boys skip a pull and rest a bit more. Then at the base, bigger boys control pace over the hill. Smaller boys then rest a hair from the extra pulls the bigger boys put them through, bigger boys work a bit up the hill without worry of a drop.

I've started to like rotations better for a workout, I feel about 8 people is perfect. I get bored and almost sleepy sitting in a larger group waiting up to 10min to do a 30 second pull. A rotation actually isn't as efficient, but in a race or workout it forces equal distribution of time. Notice that team time trials they don't rotate constantly, they take pulls based on who the rider is (GC, time triallist, sprinter, etc....).