seypat

On a less serious note, I'd think all Bent rider's rides would be solo. You should ask the question in the Bent subforum if there is one.

PeteHski

Are you surprised that you get a reaction every time you post this exact same rant?

rsbob 

The proper term for this is projection, which is defined as: placing your own negative traits or unwanted emotions onto others, usually without reason.

AFAIAC as long as people ride, that’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter if it is for pure joy, commuting, running errands, fitness or as a competitor. Riding is riding and it is all good.

I am not a club rider, retired racer or anything of the sort. I plead guilty to being motivated to improve my skills, endurance and times, but that is my thing. I also take tons of scenic pictures (at least I think they are) enjoy the outdoors, chatting with people along the way, seeing the cows, horses, llamas, kangaroos (yes they are 1/4 mile away) and yaks. What I enjoy is being outside and working my body - those are two things that bring me joy.

What other people do and how they do it, or don’t do it, is just fine with me. It has no bearing on my enjoyment of the sport.

Kontact 

Maybe feeling a desire to advertise your advancing age on a sports forum is a selection criteria for other activities that underline your youthful fitness - like groups and clubs?

Many people over 50 probably don't see what there is to talk about just because they aren't 35 or whatever.

Random11

I ride 15-20 miles almost every day, and almost always solo. I start and finish at my house, when I'm ready to go. That minimizes the time it takes to get in the miles. I'm riding for exercise (and enjoyment) and my only quantifiable goal is to ride more than 100 miles a week, a goal I rarely miss. I do try to keep a brisk pace, but don't monitor my performance outside of keeping track of my miles the past week. No power meter. No heart rate monitor. No Strava. I'm not training; I'm exercising.

jon c. 

A lot of groups pass my house, but usually earlier than I care to start. Riding solo I pick my own time, route and pace. And I pick my own thoughts. Don't have to be concerned with communicating with other riders. I definitely value the peace of solo riding. And no matter my speed I never have to worry about falling behind.

It always seemed to me that there are as many solo riders as group riders on the forum. But on my rides I don't interact much with cars or cyclists. Outside of an occasional odd wildlife encounter little ever merits comment. There is always much of interest to me, but it would mean little to the broader audience.

jon c. 

I've never found anything of the sort and it's always puzzled me why you do.

big john

I think I can speak for some others on the forum when I say some of your photos are amazing. They make me think of moving to that area.

rsbob 

Thanks John, that means a lot.

gobicycling

I really enjoy reading the posts of everyone, including what I might call the "super riders" who work hard to improve their speed and endurance and tell us about it. I was just hoping to encourage some of the other folks who ride in different styles and different places to share with us their styles and places. I hope no one has taken affront at my posting this. I had a bit to do with starting this subforum almost 20 years ago, and I want everyone to enjoy it.

PeteHski

It was a good post and not your fault that one poster has a weird issue with anyone that chooses to measure their cycling performance in some way. I thought this would have been the ideal thread for this poster to showcase their own riding interests rather than just ranting on about other riders again. Sad.

delbiker1 

I am definitely a solo rider. I occasionally will do a planned ride with someone, and seldom will ride for a while with a stranger I meet while on a bike.
It has been a number of years since I did an actual group ride. My experience with doing them, while not unpleasant, not how I prefer to spend my on bike time.

shelbyfv

Admittedly the ride was neither short nor solo but here's proof Strava time was not the goal.

big john

In the past there have been several threads asking about solo riders vs those who ride with others. It always surprised me how many say they ride solo all the time. Like the vast majority of 50+ responders seem to ride alone.

I've been a social rider since the 80s and I joined a large road club in 1989 after riding with a few friends before that. Did more solo rides in the late 90s when I moved out of the area for a few years but I moved back and did club rides at least twice per week from 2001-2019. Covid shut down club schedules for a time and when they restarted things just weren't the same. Smaller turnouts, fewer long time members came back and most of the "B" group riders started doing other things.

There is also the fact that I am unable to ride like I once did. Smaller turnouts mean a core group of faster, mostly younger riders. It stopped being fun and I stopped going very often. I started doing more solo rides than ever before. Not just neighborhood cruises but even longer Saturday rides in the hills. It's easier when I'm not chasing all day but chasing can be fun and I really missed the social aspect of the club.

I started going back for Saturday rides and found some similar speed riders, even thought they're not friends for decades. Some of these rides are pretty fun and old friends show up occasionally. We also formed a Tuesday ride with usually just 4 of us. We chat, stop for long coffee breaks and sometimes go to lunch after the ride.
I also discovered another local club which is very friendly and I ride with them sometimes.

Still, I ride solo more than ever before. It's enjoyable but I'm not ready to give up group rides entirely.

JustaJoe

tl;dr I don't really have much to add, and prefer to do my thing.

Even though I firmly believe my opinions and thoughts are meaningless to everyone else, I feel compelled to give a +1 or +100 to those who've already explained why they ride solo. I ride solo so I can:

• ride when I want, not when I have to.
• ride where I want, not where I have to.
• ride at the pace I'm feeling at that moment, not at someone else's (nor do I wish to subject others to my wildly inconsistent pace).
• do whatever I want when I ride. This usually involves stopping to meet dogs, watching some little league baseball, adult softball, or soccer/football. Or maybe stop for a beer. Stop for the view or to watch wildlife. Hell, stop and sit on a bench for a few minutes and ponder the mysteries of this world.

As in real life, I don't feel a need to share every thought. If I have a question, I use the search feature or Google - everything has been asked and answered repeatedly. I come to this forum to see awesome photos people post of their rides, read their interesting stories, learn about things of which I'm curious. I hope to be able to add something to threads, but find others either know more than I ever could, or brag about knowing more and constantly remind us of this.

I admit I did go on a group ride recently and actually enjoyed it! My 2nd ever group ride. Very casual pace, very nice greenway route, great group of people, I even made a new friend. I did not feel compelled to post that here because - who cares? (And in real life, I am a very happy, contented, conversational/social person - so it's not old man bitterness. Perhaps just self-awareness?)

seedsbelize2

Solo rider here, except for the month when Bob visits from Maine. Where I live now, group rides are not an option. If they were an option I would likely decline. 71 years old. I ride for my mental health a as much as for anything physical I get out of it. Purely for the pleasure of it.

ofajen

As most would agree, I’m not one who has been reluctant to post here, and I don’t feel looked down upon due to any aspects of my cycling.

My approach is similar to the others who ride mainly solo. There’s plenty going on around here still, so I try to be efficient and also to exercise in a way that suits me. I like having my own thoughts or lack thereof and riding the route I want to ride, when I want to, and at my pace. I also want to do all the work.

I’ve pretty much always exercised regularly. About seven years ago, one of the kids got interested in biking and so I started biking again more.

Up until a year ago, I had been a 200 days/4000 miles a year rider. When I changed to wearing minimal shoes, the option to run more opened up and I’ve been running at least as much as cycling.

At this point, I am actually using a training program meant for someone who runs 5K races and wants to transition to running 10K races. I don’t actually plan to race, but I do want to run for similar times to what I ride (60-90 minutes) and have that be normal and sustainable.

Running is more practical under my time constraints and particularly during the colder, wetter, darker half of the year that is also my heavier workload. I have to move, so I either ride outdoors, run outdoors or run inside at the red center. I don’t do treadmills or cycle trainers.

So for the moment, cycling is something that could fit under one of two “cross training” days if the timing, weather and conditions permit.

I’m actually quite happy with my bike these days and it’s clear that my favorite is to ride my old single speed MTB on our excellent MUP trails system.

Once we get to the lighter, warmer half of the year, I imagine I’ll be cycling several times a week again.

Otto

I-Like-To-Bike

Your response(s) to my posts will do. Including this one.
These responses follow the same routine:
https://www.bikeforums.net/23085264-post27.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/23085288-post28.html

https://www.bikeforums.net/23085414-post36.html


The OP asked a question about why there seems to be not much posting by many casual riders. I posted my response and the usual suspects responded with their ad hominems. And a few more of the usual suspects posted their "likes" to the bullying.

Brett A

Most of my 50 years on the bike have been alone by preference. But there were stretches long the way when I'd do group rids more often. (TBH, I don't know what counts as a club ride, if it requires a club, I don't think w have those where I live).

There was a 5 year period from 04 to 09 where I did a lot of fast, spandex road riding, and the regular weekly shop rides were staple. The speed and challenge of a paceline can be intoxicating. From 99 to 07 or-so, a small group of friends had a regular Wednesday night MTB ride. I raced a little in those years too.

Now I do a lot of solo touring and something in me sinks when I meet other cycle tourists out there. I'm never on a bike for the camaraderie. I like connecting with other bicyclists when we're not on bikes. Actually riding is something I prefer to do in solitude.

big john

Good grief man. You really don't understand? Suspects? Ad hominems? Bullying?

You have consistently mocked, ridiculed, and derided other posters who ride for performance goals. You have objected to any performance metrics and even wanted the mods to move all performance type discussions to a separate sub forum, ala "Pills and Ills". You have trolled in many threads about data or speed and have even been asked by the mods to leave threads and stop your trolling. Now in this thread you try and justify it by saying "they" were mean to you about your way of riding.

When called out on it and asked to prove your assertion you claim the calling out itself somehow proves you are being bullied.

I've never given you grief about how you ride and I have never seen anyone else do so. And I have seen you make a post where you aren't being negative about others as a group, so I know you can contribute when you choose to.

WaveyGravey

I ride solo almost always. And for so many of the reasons already mentioned, independence to do as I please and enjoy the ride without interference from anyone else.

badger1

I re-started cycling at age 50, back in 2002; joined teh Biek Formz in '05.

I would describe myself as a recreational but dedicated cyclist (and fan of pro cycling) but I have never -- not once -- ridden other than solo. That includes the three 'centuries' I did manage over the years. I think I bought a 'bike computer' in 2003 or 4, but never looked at it so I removed it after a few days!

I don't 'measure' or 'record' anything about my rides. I ride simply because I like cycling -- and spend as much time doing so as I can spare. I also like the social break (from professional and family life) that it affords, but that's incidental. Really, I just like messing around on a bike -- on the road, on a trail -- by myself.

That said, I've never encountered any kind of 'hostility' or derision on here directed at me or cyclists like me by anyone whose posts give one reason to find them credible. I have encountered posts in which serious derision (not at all the same thing as good-natured trash-talking) is directed toward cyclists like me, but to my mind such posts invariably are made by individuals whose opinions are self-evidently not worth the time it takes to read them.

Mojo31

Mostly ride solo, but also enjoy riding with my wife and friends.

I've been trying to get her more comfortable on roads, so we recently joined a Saturday morning group consisting of mostly old guys (my wife is the only one under retirement age). She finds the pace a bit of a challenge at times, and I find the pace a bit easy, but it's a good group and it meets our needs. Surprisingly, two of the regulars are 81 and 84 years old!

We primarily ride for cardiovascular exercise, but also ride for leisure. I would not say that any of our riding is for "training." Nonetheless, we enjoy looking at the data and discussing how we are doing.

SpedFast

I can't believe I read the whole thread.... Never rode in a group my entire life. Wouldn't know how.

mrv 

my cycling friends definitely prefer I ride solo.