Velo Vol 

Unless you're leaving the civilized world, riding alone is safer than riding in a group.

bleui

alone, unless this happens

f4rrest

I almost always ride with hundreds of others.

(In their cars.)

PaulRivers

I've been riding alone since I was...11? I can't imagine how it could be more dangerous than driving alone.

I always bring my cell phone - for both biking and driving.
I sometimes go mountain biking alone (a situation where it would actually be noteably safer to be in a group) and when I do I put my cell phone in a hardsided case in the underseat bag, so that if something happened but I could get to my phone I could still call 911.
I've considered getting a helmet mounted camera for safety reasons for commuting to work - in my experience the small number of jerks who would hassle a biker (learned it from non-biking situatoins) are a lot more hesitant to do it if they know they're on camera that can be showed to the cops.

I avoid situations where I feel I would be significantly less safe on my bike than I would in my car. I don't ride high traffic or narrow roads, I don't ride the sketchy part of the MUP at night.

Always having my cell phone in my trunk bag, I just don't see doing the kind of biking I'm doing being any more dangerous than driving a car - though I'm biking either off-street trails, or low traffic side streets.

a1penguin

I always ride alone, although in the bay area, you are never really alone. I love riding at night after dark and always carry pepper spray. After dark I avoid the unsafe neighborhoods and dark alleys. During the day, I just ride whereever. But it's just me and the cats and no family, so my safety is not much of an issue.

Why does your wife "hate it"?

B. Carfree

On many of my rides, I ride alone, per your definition. It's not unusual for me to not see another person until I'm 50-100 miles into my ride. I'm fortunate to live where there are abundant wonderful roads through the national forest and in/along private tree farms. No people, no cars, no cell phone reception. Just me, the deer, elk, bear, bobcats and cougars.

My wife likes the fact that I roll with a Spot that shows her where I'm at and allows me to send three pre-programmed messages (like, "come get me, I've got trouble", which I've never used). Better yet, she often joins me for the ride on our tandem. That's about as close to riding with others as I get these days.

gregf83 

There are a couple of benefits to riding with a group. One, a large group of riders is much more visible and two, if something happens there is someone else around to call for emergency assistance.

One of the riders in our group had his heart stop at the top of a climb. If it hadn't been for one of his mates providing CPR and calling an ambulance he wouldn't be around. Granted, this is a rare scenario but having others around can be helpful. No shortage of hit and runs around here so no guarantee someone will stop if they hit you.

Shuffleman

I rode only mtb when we first met. I also fought (boxing) a little on the local level. She has never really cared about my hobbies or interjected. Once her brother was killed on the motorcycle, she developed a dislike for me on the road bike. She understands it and does not give me a hard time about it if I stay in the neighborhood. If I leave the neighborhood, she wants me with a group. Again, its not rational. Fear rarely is.
I am primarily a runner. I have been running the same routes for 13 years. It never gets old. I have a 10 mile loop in my neighborhood. I ride that on Sundays and double it up. I also ride it any other time that I get a chance. Its not bad. I truly can ride the same route every day. It never gets old. I rarely pay any attention the my surroundings anyway. I pay more attention to whatever my goals are for that ride or run and then just get lost in my head.

cthenn

Most of my rides are solo. I've just never gotten comfortable riding 2 (or more) abreast in traffic. In fact, it kind of annoys me as a cyclist when other cyclists ride abreast and take up more of the road, especially on a narrow road. This is a whole other topic, but frankly a lot of cyclists are clueless and kind of dickish by insisting on riding abreast when conditions really don't allow for it. If you want acceptance by the driving public, you have to shake the stereotype that we all think we own the road.

In any case, I find myself half-wheeling others when in a group because I just don't like sticking out into the road...probably because I'm used to riding solo and can ride the line I'm comfortable with.

redfooj

the local group rides are mostly middle aged men who have no problem - or even look forward to - escaping the house at 6am on weekdays and 8am on weekends to ride...

me, i enjoy my sleeping in, so its usually a 2pm, 3pm leisurely start for me. thus, solo.

texaspandj

Lot of reasons I ride alone. But probably the number one reason is the only jerk I have to deal with is myself.
Riding with a friend you end up going a pace too easy. Riding a club ride can get you possibly going too hard.
Going my pace is just right for me. Though Sometimes I do wish I had a twin to train with.

Z953

Holy crap! That was only a few days ago too! Thanks for the warning/scare. Elysian Park though, that's a tough neighborhood. I certainly wouldn't ride in that area, driving through there is scary.


Irwindale though, I would've thought that that is a safe area, isn't it mostly manufacturing and kind of open in that area (where the 605 & 210 intersect, right)? I'm glad that you weren't hurt.

lyrictenor1

Yeah, Elysian park is sketch. However, since the river trails aren't well lit (or lit at all) at night, and because they're removed from where witnesses would be, it makes them dangerous to ride in the dark, especially alone. There have been multiple reports of cyclists being jumped by gangs while going through underpasses on the Santa Ana River Trail, sometimes in broad daylight. Just use caution and common sense.

Unfortunately, up in Irwindale there are many living beneath the overpasses, and since there are fewer riders that far north, it makes it a little more sketchy. It doesn't stop me from riding it, though; I just have to exercise judegment as best as I can if I see anything shady going on.

Caliper

99% of my rides are solo, been that way since I was a kid. Nowadays some are in a heavily-biked area with nice paved roads in a state/county rec area.


Other rides are just gravel backroads and aren't heavily travleled by anything, but that's why I like them. I recently started using the RideID app on my phone so my s/o can track me and get alerts during my ride if I'm stopped too long. Of course, that's only useful if she's home, but it provides some protection from the "I've fallen & knocked out" scenario. For bike trouble scenarios, I have a spare, some bike tools and still the phone. Finally, for "trouble with other people" scenarios if the bike doesn't work for escape, I've got other tools to deal with that scenario as well. Best to be prepared...


For all the riding I've done, I've only needed the phone once and the spare tube once. Worked both times.

rpenmanparker 

I always ride alone. I'm not sure what safety issues OP is talking about.

rpenmanparker 

Zackly.

PepeM

It's better than drinking alone.

Shuffleman

I never listed any safety issues that I have, because I really don't feel unsafe riding. I do feel that it is better having another person around in case something happens though. I also said that my spouse has an irrational fear of me riding alone. If something is going to happen, it can happen in groups or solo.

mrodgers

I ride alone and I ride with a group of friends from work. We ride weekends a lot on Meetup.com. My group of friends is expanding. Meeting some great folks on meetup.com. Folks that want to ride more than 20 miles or not "train" at 25 mph on the Pittsburgh trails recklessly weaving in and out of people.

Alone, I ride the local country roads. Out to the lake or out on a big loop. These are my evening rides usually 18 or 20 miles.

With the group, we ride various rail trails around western PA usually around 60 miles round trip. We like to ride around the streets and river trails in and around Pittsburgh as well.

rpenmanparker 

On the day of my heart attack I told my riding buddy I wasn't feeling well, so he left me to limp back to my car. Lot of good having a companion did then!

rpenmanparker 

Now I am wondering why my wife doesn't get worried about me riding alone. Hmmm.

RPK79

Is your life insurance up to date?

2manybikes

Saturday or Sunday I ride about 120 to 130 miles alone. It takes me lass than an hour to get away from the Suburbs I live in, and be in a rural area for almost the rest of the ride. I usually get home about midnight. I ride on roads with little traffic. But there is enough traffic so someone would be by in a few minutes if something happened. The best time to ride here is Sunday after dark. Most people are home to rest for Monday. I can usually ride In the middle of the road and hear cars coming from easily a 1/2 mile away, when out in the wooded areas.

Shuffleman

I hear that. Two years ago, I was the leader on your line heading in. I then moved to the back of the pack as we were coming up on a traffic signal. It turned green just as we were pulling up so I had to put my foot back in the pedal. I missed the first two times and looked down to clip it in. I ended up hitting the 4" high curb head on and flipped over my handle bars into the grassy median. The group never saw it and kept on going. Some other guy, not with our group, saw it happen along with some cars. I bounced back up, all covered in dirt and my shifters were all cockeyed. With my ego sufficiently in check I caught up to the group about 2 miles later. It took them that long to realize that I was not there. Moral of the story, even with a group your injury may not get noticed

rpenmanparker 

I'm happy to say that we don't need life insurance.