Tom Bombadil

Are you a lonely guy/gal? A la the funny Steve Martin movie. At least when you ride.

Do you ride alone all or most of the time?

And regardless of your answer, do you prefer to ride alone, with another person, or in groups?

brownsfan

I prefer riding alone unless the ride is a "social" event. Most of the time when I ride it is for exercise and I prefer to do that alone.

sdr

i actually prefer to ride alone. on those occasions that i do ride with someone else it's usually only with one other friend.

i ride for the feeling of total freedom that cycling affords. riding in a group, or with someone else, impinges upon that sense of freedom.

Louis

After 10~ years of riding with a club, leading rides etc. I grew tired of my loss of freedom and dropped out. That was about ten years ago. Except for an occasional invitational ride and 4 cross state rides, I've been riding alone since.

Lately I find myself wishing I could find some riding partners to share my rides with. Perhaps I'm mellowing with age, I can't explain why I've changed.

stapfam

I normally ride with 2 others but it must be me getting Grumpy. I am not enjoying riding with them any more. Offroad is not wise as a loner, but On the road- I prefer to keep my own pace completely and not wait for the group to reform. I am doing more road riding and I stay back with the others to be sociable. I do not get a workout so Road riding will be done Solo in future. Offroad- I have a fit one that disappears off into the distance and then asks- "What Kept You"? Myself and the other rider are the same pace. I always over extend my self trying to keep the pace up for the first 30 miles offroad and then finish up waiting for the Fast rider for the last 10 miles. Not an enjoyable way to ride.

SaiKaiTai

Where I go, I must go alone...

cyclezealot

Whenever I am on the bike , I am not alone. Have my bike to keep me company , along with whomever I meet in route. I voted I split my time with club rides and going solo.

jibi

If I go out for a spin I choose to ride solo, but that does not mean I am lonely, just that I have a reason or that it is a good time for me to go out.

On longer trips I go solo too. I can't find a partner who wants to go off for months at a time.

But if I wish to ride in a group there are the social runs with the club on Sundays and Thursdays,

george

Digital Gee

Alone.

Big Paulie

I tried riding with a partner and with a group, but I was always relieved when the ride ended. When I ride alone, I'm usually disappointed the ride is over.

So, I ride alone!

Sandwarrior

It is a very rare day when I ride with anyone else. I have never been able to find someone that matches my skill. I am either to slow for them, or the opposite occurs. Now that my wife has a recumbent, I am looking forward to the day when she will be able to do the same distances that I do. I really don't care that she is not up to my skill level yet, I just like being out with her

cyclezealot

[QUOTE=jibi]If I go out for a spin I choose to ride solo, but that does not mean I am lonely, just that I have a reason or that it is a good time for me to go out.

On longer trips I go solo too. I can't find a partner who wants to go off for months at a time.
What I wish I could find, someone who likes to do club rides at night. I have three lites, good lights. Offered to share them with fellow club riders. During the summer , when it is hot, I'd prefer to ride at nite. No takers, it seems, so far. Think at nite, I feel safer in group rides.

Trsnrtr

I ride almost every day and if people want to go along, I enjoy their company. If not, I go solo. This time of year, I solo a lot due to the weather but still manage at least 1-2 group rides a week. In the Summer, I ride group rides 5 days out of 7.

So, given the above, my poll answer if I voted would have been somewhere between #1 and 2.

tly

I enjoy riding with others occasionally and have a couple of friends that I ride with but the bulk of the time I ride alone and like it that way.

tlc20010

For years my favorite exercise was racquetball which requires a court, a schedule, partners and the like. After a knee replacement, the doctor recommended a less stressful pursuit. I now find that biking frees me from all that location, scheduling, finding partners, etc. That is one of the great joys of biking--me and the Cannondale and the road/path. Now if it weren't for the damned wind, life would be perfect. Besides, the folks on this forum tend to be over-the-hill geezers (and geezerettes) who are set in their ways....making it difficult finding someone who will put up with our odd habits.

DnvrFox

Alone, generally.

But, I do lead group rides weekly during "the season." They are generally short (20 miles or less), once a week.

And I do ride with my wife. She generally rides about 5 miles with me and then turns around and I keep on riding.

I did find a "compatible" riding partner this summer, and we did a couple of rides together. He is 73yo, and is about the same speed and endurance. We did a 50 miler together.

tt1106

I prefer to be alone, with my bike and my thoughts. It's very meditative.

n4zou

+1

Red Baron

I ride Alone, and even then it sometimes seems crowded.

Terrierman

Alone or with son. Occasionally with Lovey but it's hard to get her to go.

Hwy 40 Blue

I prefer to ride alone, but occasionally I ride with a friend. When I'm alone I can do exactly the ride I wish to do, pacewise, route-wise, everything.

Speedo

Until she was sidelined by an injury I rode with my wife. Last summer it was mostly alone. I'm hopeful that she will be back in the saddle again for the coming season!

ctyler

I ride alone and like it. I don't have to worry about keeping up or others falling behind and waiting for them. I can change my route and distance without checking first with anyone. I used to ride with a group of friends years ago when I lived in California and we were all pretty well in sync with where we went and how fast we went. But after moving back to Wisconsin and changing my reasons for cycling, I enjoy the solitude of riding by myself.

stonecrd

I ride about 90% of the time with someone. My buddy Bill and I ride together most of the time and we are well matched. I know I have ridden on some days I may have stayed in because Bill was waiting. On weekends we will ride with a 40+ rider A group and even if I go out solo on Sat or Sun there are 3-4 30+ groups and many smaller 2-4 rider groups that ride in my area so I can almost always jump in. The groups are quite mixed, there is one big Columbian group we call the cartel, they are quite a trip to ride with, vaya, vaya, rapido, rapido

Beverly

I really don't have a preference as I do several types of rides. I do 2-3 weekly club rides and ride solo in a nearby hilly reserve or country roads. During the summer months I help lead a weekly ride for the local parks.

I also enjoy riding in club sponsored rides and charity rides. I travelled to Philadelphia this past summer to do a LiveStrong ride and hope to do it again in 2007.


Being female, I feel a little safer riding with someone rather than being out there alone.