burnthesheep

I follow someone online who rides pretty often. Probably 4 times a week. The route? Same identical 40mi route every time. Zero deviation. It's not a commuting route either. Never shorter, never longer. Never different.

I just can't imagine ever only riding or running one path, ever.

I have my favorites, but I explore or mix it up a touch.

Know anyone like this?

Retro Grouch 

Why do you ask?

hillyman

No I don't want to qualify as a stalker

burnthesheep

I ask as I just find it a touch weird. I didn't know if it was a common thing that I was perhaps discounting as unusual.

BCDrums

I have ridden a half-dozen routes over and over for years now. From a practical standpoint, they all start and end at home, so no driving involved. The routes vary by distance, 17 to 50-ish miles, expandable as desired. The advantage for me is that I like these routes and know them by heart, so I can ride and daydream at the same time. I can measure my progress or lack of it against previous rides.

I can see where this might be considered monotonous, or unadventurous or something, but it has its advantages. And I do, from time to time, do other rides for special occasions (birthday ride, mileage=age).

Payton1221

Me too. I live in the country, and due to other commitments and goals, I've chosen to keep my rides to ~10-11 miles. Leaving and returning home AND limiting my rides to 10 miles results in very few options. I have this 11 mile loop that I literally rode more than 100 times last year and I've already ridden it more than 30 times this year.

JayKay3000

I guess to the OP, since you follow this person you can contact them so ask them if you are interested.

I don't see anything odd or weird about it. People ride for different reasons and as other people have pointed out, if you ride the same route several times you can use it to track progress over time and if you are training or interested to see where you are at you'll get far more consistent stats by doing the same route.

I sometimes do the same route a few times because there is one particularly nasty hill and I like to do it over multiple days to see how my body reacts to it and whether it ever gets easier or harder depending on the day or other factors like sleep or nutrition. The route changes too based on weather conditions or wind or just how you're feeling on that day.

Marylander

I live close to the C&O Canal so I ride there regularly. Up until the end of last year I was running there for the last 11 years (I'm just getting back into bikes). I did most of 1800 miles of running there last year with a few more miles on the treadmill or other routes close to home. I varied distance (from 1-19 miles) and sometimes took a detour off the tow path to do some hills right by it (this is a river valley so not hard to find hills) but most of it was on the flat path.

Tacoenthusiast

Starting and finishing at home can tend to lead to repetitive routes,

Depends a lot on your location, there may be certain roads that are safer and or more scenic. If you've been in one place long enough you will tend to gravitate towards the routes you enjoy more.

Wilfred Laurier

I used to live in a town that was penned in on all four sides by a large provincial park, a nuclear waste facility, a river, and dense boreal forest. There is a standard 10km loop around town, and a single paved back road where you can do out and back rides to the next town. The only other road riding is on a busy two lane section of the Trans Canada Highway - not fun or safe for riding at all. The town has an active cycling community and many of them only do loops of town and out and back rides to the next town.

I moved away because I was dissatisfied with the riding opportunities.

I went back earlier in this Spring to go for a quick rip with a friend who still lives there, and as we started riding I took the first left and my buddy yelled out, "where are you going? I always do the loop in *this* direction!" He wasn't comfortable taking any different turns away from the 10 km loop he has done probably over a thousand times.

SethAZ 

I choose most of my rides based on distance. It so happens that there's a neighborhood about 6 miles away with a very nice 2.1-mile loop through it, so for rides anywhere from 12 to 25 miles or so I'll just ride over there and do that loop however many times, which will just depend on whether I'm limited by time or not. That route has the benefits of both convenience and much greater safety. For longer rides I've got other routes I prefer. One 32-mile route I've ridden many dozen times, and for longer distances I've got variations of that route that extend out a bit, but still share many common elements. That route is much less safe due to some of the stretches of road involved.

Sometimes I'll break out and establish a new route, or just do it to see what it looks like somewhere else, but for sheer convenience my established routes get the job done. On group rides with others I'll almost always be riding in different places, many of which I'll be doing for the first time, so in the past I've gotten much of my need to see new things on the bike taken care of by group rides.

Olefeller77 

You may find that the person you are following is a BF member also.
I would imagine they would find it quite strange that someone is following on all the rides. lol

livedarklions

Normally, I have an after-work routine ride that is exactly a 25 mile round trip on a MUP. Not populated much at all, and great for avoiding rush hour. COVID has caused it to be clogged with dog walkers, however, and rush hour really isn't a thing, so I've been varying my after-work rides.

Chubby715

I'm one of those weirdos who rides the exact same route consistently 5-6 times per week. Its an 18 mile loop with two nice climbs. The main reason I don't deviate is I always know I'll be done riding in 60 minutes, so I can always plan out the rest of my day.

Drew Eckhardt 

I ride the same route before work 4 days a week, 5 when I don't ride intervals on Mondays.

It's optimized for the fewest traffic lights. I save scenery and better terrain for weekends when I have no other obligations.

tkamd73 

Yes, my brother in-law has ridden the same route, 5 days a week, for the last 40 years, replaced his original bike after over 58K miles, still on the 2nd. I live about 6 miles from a paved path that goes for about 16 miles, I usually ride the same route, just vary the distance, and the bike. Neither of us would ever consider posting, or following someone similar. Guess, I would consider the fact that, one would post such, or another would actually follow such posts, odder then one biking a common route.
Tim

one4smoke

I find BOTH weird, riding the same route and inquiring / posting about it. Replying to it as well.

We’re ALL weird ...it’s just to what extent.

dedhed

I find it weird that someone cares, much less "follows", someone else's riding habits.

BCDrums

This made me laugh. I do all my routes counterclockwise only. Maybe that is weird.

Oakman

.For the past two years I've been not only riding the same basic route, I do it at night. Strictly exercise, and better than a stationary bike. To think in the 1970's I rode throughout Southern California ... during the day.

KCC74

In the middle of ND there are 3 paved choices. The N/S choice is a US highway which means a shoulder but also means a lot of semis hauling BIG loads. Which leaves the county paved road E or W. West has very minor traffic - farmers in pick-ups & (best of all) tractors (cause it's so fun to pass them-ok, pass some of them) so that's best. East has more, faster, traffic.

The good news is that this is ND so they always give me plenty of room as they go around (even the tractors). Actually the only reason which E/W road I take is the wind. ALWAYS go into the wind because the trip back is so much fun & never tiring. To expand the ride into a rectangle requires 3-8 miles of heavily graveled road (remember the farm trucks). So, most of my Strava posts are lines out & back, but each always describes how much wind!

Rogerogeroge

Amanda Coker rode over 86k miles in a twelve month period

https://road.cc/content/news/222747-...-aiming-100000

And the story states -

"Her riding was confined to laps of a circuit at Flatwoods Park"

I don't know how long the circuit is, but I remember when this story originally came out. That's over 235 miles every day.

jefnvk

If you dig into my Strava, I had one route for three years that I rode multiple times a week. 17 mi round trip, from just down to the road from work to a brewery and back on an after ride work waiting for traffic to clear.

It was my time killer and exercise, I didn't need variations. Familiarity isn't a bad thing, all depends on your goals.

jsilvia

I also start and finish from home. At the 5 mile mark I decide what ride I will take, anywhere between 25 to 80 miles. My after work ride would be between 25 to 33 miles. I have about 10 different routes I can ride, Its always nice to change it up.

Rides4Beer

I have a standard loop that I do from my house, used to be 30-35 miles, I've added to it and now it's 40-45 miles depending on adjustments that I might make due to daylight/weather or how I'm feeling. Before the virus, I would ride this loop a few times a week, for the last month that I've been avoiding group rides, I've been doing the same exact loop 4-5 times a week, then something a lil different on the weekend. I'm the weird sort that can handle a good amount of repetition (I blame it on the military lol), but I'll admit, I'm ready to switch it up a little. Did something different yesterday and it was great. lol