Originally Posted by
genejockey
The only effect absence or return of group riding has on me is that it changes the maximum number of people passing me at any given time. I rode with a local club for a couple years, every Saturday and Sunday morning, and yeah, the speed, the camaraderie, the sound of a couple dozen drive trains - it was intoxicating! That and the feeling of POWER - not the watts, but rather the power of numbers.
But it burned me out on cycling. It was too easy to find an excuse not to ride as winter came and even easier not to get started again in spring. I ended up not riding for about 4 years. So I ride by myself anymore. Which is fine, because I don't really like people IRL that much.
Yeah, the few group rides I did years ago were super fun, I totally get why people do it.
The biggest thing I wish I had was a reliable group of friends to ride with - out of my tiny little friend group I'm the only one that rides road bikes.
I'm usually pretty okay by myself but if there were other people counting on me showing up to a ride I'd probably ride a lot more, especially on weekends. Not sure what's gotten into me but the last couple of weekends I've had zero motivation to ride.