Monkey D.Luffy

I'm more of a "Mrs. Robinson" kind of rider.

Johnny Mullet

I always ride solo but this year I did a couple group rides and a charity ride and enjoyed riding with other people for a change so I decided to make my very own event for Labor Day and so far I might have up to 10 people coming! Not bad for creating my first bicycling event. Of course this is an epic ride and there are people traveling over an hour away to do this ride.............
https://www.bikeforums.net/great-lake...labor-day.html

OldsCOOL

I ride alone. Yeaaaaaah all by myself.

Stucky

I'd be askeered to show up to a charity ride on a Huffy, for fear that at the end of the ride, they'd present me with all the money that was raised!

Lazyass

What's weird are the people who have expensive bikes, expensive gear, expensive mods, even bike collections and no other cyclist ever sees them because the guy doesn't like being around other cyclists. It's like they get all that stuff so they can post it on bike forums. May as well save some money and just have one Sora equipped Motobecane and a Nashbar house brand kit. I like groups because I like checking out everyone else's bikes and parts.

bt

when I go for a drive in my car I don't look for groups of cars to flock together with.

same goes for cycling.

Seattle Forrest

I have a nice bike because I like the way it handles. I've got a power meter because it helps me in several ways (get stronger and use my time wisely doing it, pace myself, decide when to ease off getting ready for a big event). Methinks you protest too much.

Stucky

When I had my $5K Venge, I saw a group riding once, in a nearby town. I thought to myself that it might be neat to try riding with them JUST ONCE. I never did it, but if I had, I would have ridden my old Klein.

Lazyass

Your Klein would probably draw more interest to be honest. When I show up on my old splatter painted '92 Paramount everyone is checking it out. The female riders love it, which may be good or bad. No one says much about my Focus. Nobody seems to comment much on newer stuff.

2manybikes

I do a group ride once a week, and a solo century once a week.

Johnny Mullet

Both of my Huffy bikes get lots of attention and a few laughs, but it's all in good fun...........

Stucky

Hey, I'll bet anyone who shows up for a major ride (and actually finishes it) on a Huffy, gets instant credibility!

That teal one is pretty cool-looking..... But what are those forward-facing thingies sticking out of the fork?

Johnny Mullet

The green Huffy is my commuter and it was a 26" MTB with v-brakes. When I converted to 700c wheels I had to use caliper brakes. The old v-brake mounts are still on the frame. I built the custom rear rack from another Huffy bike (chopped out the seat stay, flipped it and welded it) and utilized the rear v-brake mounts for the rack, but have not found a use for the front ones yet. I do have another fork I could swap without the mounts, but I like it the way it is.

Stucky

That's pretty cool!

I thought they were V-brake mounts...but seeing as how far away from the rim they were....never thought about a wheel-size change.....

92Esquire

Not a S&G fan. If I find myself being described by one of their songs, I REALLY need to change...

Anyway, I'm mostly a solo rider. I've done a lot of group rides in the past, and will ride with groups again at some point. The issue is that right now, my work schedule is such that I have a very difficult time committing to activities.

I also don't mind riding alone - part of why I'm doing this is escapist - to get away for a couple hours. The attention required to keep the legs turning and the bike upright is enough to prevent me from thinking about work for a while. That's enough.

climberguy

I ride alone
On a winter's day
In a deep and dark December.

I used to ride in the afternoon
With Cecelia up on my Lemond,
But I left for a business trip,
When I come back to town someone's taking my place.

Now I find that cyclng alone
Calms my soul
Like a bridge over troubled waters,
I will ride downtown.

igosolo

Refer my bikeforum name, "igosolo". 98%+ solo and no desire to do a group ride. With my busy work and kid schedule, I ride when it fits in for me. Saturday mornings are for kids sports tournaments..... Oh and I also have aerobars so another reason not to annoy the groups with my presence, through I am big and faster then 99% (on the MUP at least!) so people do try to draft me until I notice and drop them. Them : "Hey I'm just going to hang back here for a bit" Me: "OK if you can keep up". No free rides for strangers who might take me down with them.....

Riding solo clears my head.

svtmike

I was the only one that showed up for my group ride this morning.

I would have enjoyed the ride immensely more with some company.

I am not a rock.

bigdo13

I ride solo most of the time too...I train 3-4 days of the week and then I commute by bike on off days and when I need to....lots of alone time....I have a lot of free time these days so I'm blessed in that regard, but riding with others is good for morale and easier; the first time I rode in a group I got to to hang on the wheel of two huge Canadian Clyde roadies and lemme tell you its shocking how much you can pull back and still be able to maintain 20-30 mph.....

So yeah, I'm usually solo dolo though...esp. in the Winter...

puddinlegs

When I was riding 500k a week, 4-5 days were solo, one with one or two good friends, and once a week for a fast group training ride either on the road or the track. Races are races. The more the merrier. The group rides were always very social even though very hard. Even races can be occasionally very funny, like doing a rainy road race through Amish country and everyone getting covered with horse s#%t and offering each other drinks from brown spattered water bottles. Now I prefer to ride with one or a small group of friends. Solo is fine, and large group rides work for exploring new places, meeting folks in a new area, etc..,

ButchA

I don't normally have anyone to ride with, besides my wife (who I love dearly, but let's face it... After about 5 miles, she wants to turn around and go home). So when I want to go out 25, 30, 35 or so miles, I just go out solo.

I do it "old school" (i.e. my C&V '85 Fuji) and am probably viewed as a FRED, as I don't wear bike shorts, a jersey, or a colorful full kit, etc... I have regular Adidas sneakers in toe clips on my pedals and wear a lightweight Reebok running t-shirt and swim trunks or lightweight running shorts that are not skin tight.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but, I have looked at riding groups and clubs and whatnot. I am sorry, but most have a certain "air" about them and come across as a little snooty. (i.e. They tend to look down on you because you don't have a $5000 Cervelo CF road bike).

gregf83 

Unlikely they even think about you. Go for a ride with the group before passing judgement on what they are thinking.

series1811

I am in a rural area. Not a lot of choices. Occasionally a few of the faster riders are able to get together and we can get a good workout in, most of the time I am out alone though.

caloso

Agreed. In my experience, the harder the ride, the less the riders care about what you are riding. They care a lot more about how you are riding.

Seattle Forrest

Rented a cabin in the mountains with my girlfriend this weekend. Reserved two rental MTBs for a day for us. She cancelled that morning, so I rode by myself. She was asking if I would be disappointed, the truth is I got a longer and harder ride on a more interesting trail because it was at my pace. Still had all the social time in the world when I got back to the cabin.