drewwonu

I went riding today by myself for the fist time today and my girlfriend got rather mad when she found out. (she doesn't ride) i usually go with my one friend but he had work and he doesn't own a real bike. (kind of hard to push the pace on a NEXT bike)

Do you guys think its safe to go by yourself or do you usually have a partner you go with? I found it rather fun going by myself because i could go at the pace i wanted and did not have to wait.

How can i convince my GF to let me go by myself every now and then?

toytech

convince the gf to ride with you, just take it easy until she gets up to speed. I am lucky and my wife is my main riding buddy. I often end up chasing HER up the hills!

Covalent Jello

My partner is usually a **** whistle and a cellphone. You're screwed if you get paralyzed, that's about it.

urbanknight

I try to ride with someone, both road and mountain, but my wife doesn't mind my solo ventures as long as I tell her where to look for the body should I not return... and my life insurance is current.

BurnNotice

It is always best to ride with someone just in case of anything that could happen. On the road it wa sbetter to be in numbers for visibility and force. MTB here in western, NC..............well lets see, you could get snake bit many miles from civilization; attacked by bear; some rumors of mtn. lions in the area; or go off the steep edge of a cliff and no one see you for days but start to smell your rotting carcass!


If you ride like a city park with trails then okay; but wilderness riding, no!

BurnNotice

LMAO! Same here with insurance policy!

drewwonu

I am from new jersey and the trails are just a mile or 2 away from a main road. I guess i understand her concern that if i get hurt i may not be able to call for help, but thats the only real danger. snakes are VERY rare around here.

Johnny Law

i normaly go with friends, its great and all, but your definatly right about going by yourself.. i love going at my pace and not worring about anyone else.. and the places i ride its nice because their is always somebody on the trail other then yourself.. so if you do say, break your leg out there, somebody will be comeing by not to to long after.

Johnny Law

what if a tick latches onto your leg or something and your 2 times from civilization??

drewwonu

use my knife to scrape it off?

Johnny Law

usualy i would take my knife and cut a 7mm hole around the tick and dig him out with a rock.

cnqdfu

you already had the answer, go by urself. more fun, more chanllenge....

r0ckh0und 

I like to mix it up................I ride with a couple of different groups, one being a trail mainenance org where you meet a lot of new people. I do ride by myself quite a bit but almost always meet up with familiar faces on the trail.

4evrplan

Riding solo and in a group both have their advantages. As with anything, you weigh the risks and take precautions based on what you feel is worth it. I don't have armor on my roof for fear of meteors. On the other hand, I NEVER ride/drive a car without a seat belt (that's the absolute bare minimum precaution). While riding is generally somewhere between those two risks, it can be very dangerous, but of course it also depends on the trail, the amount of traffic (people to find and help you), weather, lighting, etc. I personally do choose to ride solo.

Zan

I ride with a buddy on wednesday / thursdays. No one else I know is interested 'round here. I go every day I have time / the weather is nice.

The trails I ride on are popular, though. Especially between 4 - 7, which is the window in which I ride. With only 30km of trails, I usually bump into someone along the way. If I wipe out and get ****ed, it's most likely someone would find me within an hour, regardless of where I am. For this reason, I feel comfortable riding solo.

When I was still living with my parents, I'd usually bring a buddy along to the "local" trails for safety reasons. Those trails didn't have nearly as much traffic. If I wiped out badly there, odds are things'd be much worse. They were 30km from civilization, compared to my current trails only a few km from a hospital.

pablosnazzy

you could remove your testicles from her purse and explain you are an adult and can make your own decisions, unless you are 12 and your girlfriend is your mom, then i guess you should listen to her.

riding by yourself is perfectly safe, i do it all the time. just understand if you get hurt, it might be a while until they find your body, depending on how busy the trail gets. but riding alone is fun, you can go at your own pace and enjoy the trail as you wish.

riding with friends is great as well, its nice to have someone to enjoy the after ride beers with.

junkyard

I ride alone. Generally, however, I start the ride with a big group. Nobody can keep up to me. I am that fast. I am usually home and showered before they have reached the mid-point of the ride. I am that fast. Sometimes I sleep with their girlfriends while they are still on the trail, too.

samburger

^^I think saying riding alone is perfectly safe is a stretch. It's not nearly as safe as with a partner, but it's nothing anyone who really loves biking doesn't do. 75% of my riding is alone. I agree with the first part though. Retrieve your testies from her purse & tell her if she doesn't want you riding alone, she can go with you. Or tell her you don't want her cooking, driving, or showering alone because all of those things can be just as dangerous as biking alone. What if you trip while holding a knife & stab yourself? What if you get in a wreck & die? What if you slip & break a finger nail?

Overbearing is the word of the day.

dminor 

I don't like riding alone when I am doing gravity. First of all, it's not as much fun; and secondly, I don't feel right doing higher-consequence riding without someone else who can call for help if needed. Just trail riding I will do solo; but once again, to me it's something more fun done with others.

My best, favorite riding partner is my son. We're fairly evenly matched for speed and we balance each other well: he's a bit cautious for his age and I'm a bit reckless for mine.

never

I hate riding with people...they always slow me down.

dminor 

^^ At least I usually yardsale completely off the trail and out of your way when I crash, though.

never

Yes but to your credit, that was usually only because Chris has a bad habit of stopping right in the middle of the trail.

paste_me

drop the gf, pun intended

adclark

I ride by myself regularly, but don't do anything too dangerous by myself. I usually take it a bit easier. I try to check out new/remote trails when I have a riding partner though. I don't mind riding most of the trails by myself though. I figure that if something happened to me, I would be found rather quickly because the main trails are high traffic. +1 to what somebody said about making sure somebody else knows where you are going and when you should be back by. I also don't worry about riding by myself though because there is cell phone reception most everywhere on the trails I ride and I use a Garmin Edge so I could give my exact position unless I am unconscious.

Covalent Jello

should be like hey, bizzle, you're ALREADY my riding partner, my other riding partner is a BIKE, BRB GOTTA TRAIL IT THANKS