I'm probably a solo rider this spring...
#26
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Well, this club has a nominal membership fee, but they offer a package deal for all the major rides of the year. At the time it sounded like a good idea so I did it. This year it possibly wasn't the best time to do that. I wanted to get the benefits of competitive pacing for fitness, safety to ride roads I would never ride on my own, and possibly cultivate friendships. It just turns out that the freedom sensation of riding alone, just my front tire and a few yards of asphalt in front of me, is likely the major reason I ride outside of fitness.
The regimentation comment is just in comparison to how I live my life. A club ride has a starting line that you have to be at at a certain time, release papers, number tag, approximate schedule to finish the ride, reflectors and fenders required etc. That's what I mean by regimentation. I recognize that to most people, this would not be regimented, but just the things you accept to get to the fun.
The regimentation comment is just in comparison to how I live my life. A club ride has a starting line that you have to be at at a certain time, release papers, number tag, approximate schedule to finish the ride, reflectors and fenders required etc. That's what I mean by regimentation. I recognize that to most people, this would not be regimented, but just the things you accept to get to the fun.
#27
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It's been better lately since I have gained back a little fitness and some of us have encouraged the hammerheads to cool it a bit. There is a race group they can go with if they want a challenge.
#28
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I'm definitely in the solo camp right now. That's probably why I'm on this forum. I have no real person to share my enthusiasm over riding except online.
#29
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I ride solo all the time. I go out when I want and do the pace I want and start and stop at my house. I ride a bike and the roads are fine right as soon as I get out to start riding with no traffic or city. Once in awhile a group ride would be fine but to me the bike and miles and time all dictate I ride solo. Most of the time I am too early for most riders and I don't like to stop. I like to try and go downhill fast no pace line riding for me it gets in the way of riding by feel.
#30
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I don’t ride with the more organized weekly ride groups but maybe this is my year to start. My prob is going with the guys that love doing rides that guys like me do not. I do hills ok but not 60 miles of them on a wednesday morning. The alternative is the “pie riders” that putz their way to the neighboring village 6 miles away. Pie is good but an 12mi ride shouldn’t take 2 hours. See, ain’t I picky?
#31
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Yup, she’s is weird she likes to bike and stay fit . When I first started riding in 1995 the hicks acted like they saw a ghost but today it’s different. I’m just that guy that’s always on that bike.
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#32
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I prefer solo, but I do enjoy the occasional group ride, the state rides and just riding with a friend. I love touring and have always done them solo. IMO, it is a definite advantage to tour solo. I know many people think they need a companion, but it would drive me half crazy to run each day or each hour before a decision making "committee". Much better to be solo and fly by the seat of your pants. I think now, with the Covid-19, solo is an even better idea.
#33
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dave
ps. I wonder how many "not George Thorogood fans" have no idea what this is about (then see..
#34
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I agree other than when I ride with my good friends Jimmy Beam, Buddy Wiser, Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker (his brothers Black and Red don't ride)
dave
ps. I wonder how many "not George Thorogood fans" have no idea what this is about (then see..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E9ydw_aDMg )
dave
ps. I wonder how many "not George Thorogood fans" have no idea what this is about (then see..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E9ydw_aDMg )
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#35
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I just started riding xmas 2019. All my rides have been solo. I am actually looking forward to joining some group rides some day.
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#36
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With the recent corona virus regulations I am now a solo rider; I will miss the group rides as they gave me interval training; now I have to do power meter intervals which seem to hurt a lot more.
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#37
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When you ride solo, you are the master of everything. Time, distance, route, and speed, so the ride is all yours, and can make snap decisions to change any of those with out asking.
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#38
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I prefer solo myself, always have. I've tried riding with a club but they were always too slow or too fast. Doing mass start events is sometimes OK because you just fall in with the group that is going your speed. Century rides in particular are like that, I always hook up with someone in the first quarter and then finish together, wait for each other. But I've tried signing up for small group rides recently and it is always the same thing, either a hammerfest or a slog. And then I have the non-stop group ride that is Prospect Park and Central Park. Either one and there is always a group nearby and at all speeds. That's nice because you can also ride any kind of bike too, my commuter/mtb or my roadie.
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#39
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I would guess that many of us have become solo riders. I might consider riding in a group again, but only if time trial rules apply.
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When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
When I ride my bike I feel free and happy and strong. I'm liberated from the usual nonsense of day to day life. Solid, dependable, silent, my bike is my horse, my fighter jet, my island, my friend. Together we will conquer that hill and thereafter the world.
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#41
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First, I'm out of shape and I fall behind on every hill.
Second, it's an election year and it's inevitable that someone will start some kind of opinionated disruption. I don't discuss politics except with a few family and friends. I don't like having opinions forced on me.
Third, I want to empty my mind and enjoy the breeze, trees and sunshine. Everything else is really not needed.
It's not an issue yet, but if the virus becomes ubiquitous, that will be a small but possibly significant risk in a group ride. I was scheduled to be at a trade show in Las Vegas this week. My employer doesn't want employees attending , so we canceled. No one wants to bring this home.
I feel safer from vehicular traffic when riding in a group. But maybe the roads will be a little more empty this summer due to practical restrictions.
Second, it's an election year and it's inevitable that someone will start some kind of opinionated disruption. I don't discuss politics except with a few family and friends. I don't like having opinions forced on me.
Third, I want to empty my mind and enjoy the breeze, trees and sunshine. Everything else is really not needed.
It's not an issue yet, but if the virus becomes ubiquitous, that will be a small but possibly significant risk in a group ride. I was scheduled to be at a trade show in Las Vegas this week. My employer doesn't want employees attending , so we canceled. No one wants to bring this home.
I feel safer from vehicular traffic when riding in a group. But maybe the roads will be a little more empty this summer due to practical restrictions.
#42
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The 2 clubs I ride with have cancelled all club rides so I have been solo for a couple months. It's ok but I really miss the groups. The right group adds so much and it's great to show up to a ride and see a bunch of friends.
Riding solo can never take the place of a fun group ride, it's just not the same.
Drinking alone sucks for different reasons. I don't mean having a drink, I mean drinking.
Riding solo can never take the place of a fun group ride, it's just not the same.
Drinking alone sucks for different reasons. I don't mean having a drink, I mean drinking.
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#43
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I have ridden solo most of the time myself. The exception is Eroica and once or twice a year with a friend. I used to ride. With my daughter frequently until she moved out and on her own. My wife comes with me when she can .
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#44
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Other than that?...Glory be to God I'll have 10 years Clean & Sober this July 27th.
#45
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I agree big john and I just posted that music vid because it came to mind reading the OP and low and behold?...DaveLeeeNC had already posted the same unbeknowns to me....hadn't read through all the posts...horrible minds?...LOL!
Other than that?...Glory be to God I'll have 10 years Clean & Sober this July 27th.
Other than that?...Glory be to God I'll have 10 years Clean & Sober this July 27th.
Good job on the ten years! I quit back in the 80s after getting quite sick.
#46
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Solo rider here. First, I'm not fit enough to ride with other people. So my rides are my exercise. I don't know anyone else who rides so if someone I know were to join me, either they would leave me in the dust and show me how out of shape I am or they would hold me back and I'd feel that I wasn't doing enough to progress fast enough. So I've been riding alone. I don't mind it. I'm only riding at an average pace of about 11.5 mph. I cover about 1,300 ft of elevation gain over 20 miles so I'm not too upset about my mph after only 3 weeks of riding. But I'd like to increase that rate to around 15 mph. At that pace I think I'd be able to keep up in group rides, if group rides ever can be done safely again. Until then, solo rider.
#47
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I prefer solo. Always have. But, I also enjoy an occasional ride with a few select friends. People I know are a good wheel. Pre-COVID I did a regular group ride with my club. It was OK but sometimes a bit sketchy because we are all recreational riders and some of them have no idea what cycling is about. They ride a bicycle. These days of sequester have me riding with my GF any time I ride. That's OK but I miss my solo rides.
#48
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Alone and together, and sometimes alone together.
I have fond memories of my earliest riding and the 3 others in our group. We got into the sport together as a transition or adjunct to our climbing. You get close to a partner on the other end of your rope. We rode hard (more legend than truth) and played harder.
We got older and transitioned. Two of the group moved West and the third left cycling. I fell in with another group, guys I knew and liked. Just wasn’t the same. Should one even think you can recreate magic.
i did the bike club thing when I was pulling a kid in a bugger. Figured it’d be safer. More than once the group pulled away as I was changing a diaper. Eh, ok, but sorta not. Don’t think I’m a bike clubber.
.
Since my return to cycling this past January, I’ve ridden alone but for 3 longer rides with my 50 yr old tri-training fly fishing buddy. I was nervous at the beginning of our first ride together. For years I had told him how much I used to cycle....uh oh. I had no sense of my relative fitness. Anyway, I hung on, barely in the early miles, but waited on him several times on that 50 miler. Still love the competition.
For me, riding with one or two close friends is better....but riding, anyway you do it is so good. (Sorry to be so self-indulgent)
Best, j
I have fond memories of my earliest riding and the 3 others in our group. We got into the sport together as a transition or adjunct to our climbing. You get close to a partner on the other end of your rope. We rode hard (more legend than truth) and played harder.
We got older and transitioned. Two of the group moved West and the third left cycling. I fell in with another group, guys I knew and liked. Just wasn’t the same. Should one even think you can recreate magic.
i did the bike club thing when I was pulling a kid in a bugger. Figured it’d be safer. More than once the group pulled away as I was changing a diaper. Eh, ok, but sorta not. Don’t think I’m a bike clubber.
.
Since my return to cycling this past January, I’ve ridden alone but for 3 longer rides with my 50 yr old tri-training fly fishing buddy. I was nervous at the beginning of our first ride together. For years I had told him how much I used to cycle....uh oh. I had no sense of my relative fitness. Anyway, I hung on, barely in the early miles, but waited on him several times on that 50 miler. Still love the competition.
For me, riding with one or two close friends is better....but riding, anyway you do it is so good. (Sorry to be so self-indulgent)
Best, j
#49
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About the only time I ride with someone is on a tandem. My wife rides indoors, everyday, 30 minutes. I have no idea how she stands it. She is not find of riding outside, except on the tandem. What we do is go a while and then turn back, normally I start to fade the last 30 minutes, and that is when she starts stoking!