genec

According to this article, running alone can increase stress levels.

https://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060313...inishedrewards

Of course cycling alone may or may not have the same implications... the scientists couldn't get the rats to ride the little bikes...

At any rate the study suggests that the lack of social interaction along with the stress of running can increase the overall stress on the rats they studied.

Could it be that cycling with friends is a good way to exercise and reduce stress?

Perhaps all those club riders and their group rides are better for us then we know.

Roody

The loneliness of the long distance rider?

Personally, I feel better emotionally, more relaxed, during and after a solitary ride or walk (I'm far from a runner.) Of course I also enjoy riding with friends, but it's a different experience.

Da Tinker

I would not care to ride alone all the time, nor would I care to do nothing but group rides. Each is different, and both are good.

Note the the article states: 'mice forced to live and run by themselves'. Seems to me that they are stretching the point a mite thin.

Eatadonut

You can't test everything on a rat. People run because they like to run, because they want to see nature, or they just want to get away from people. Rats run to get somewhere. Rats don't make the choice to run alone, the scientists do.

This is a useless study.

caloso

Let me know when the experimental group is mice that have a desk job where the phone rings constantly and email has to be answered constantly.

genec

LOL, just as they can't get the mice to ride little bikes, they also have a hard time getting them to stay in their little cubes for a full day... also seems that the mice kept looking for internet sites with lots of cheese... so the study was abandoned.

Kyle90

I ride alone when I just need to be alone. Otherwise I have someone join me.

skanking biker

I love to ride alone--preferably on long stretches of road with no other humans in sight---its my form of therapy after being crammed in a box at work all day. I prefer riding alone as i do not have to try and hold a conversation, keep looking back, keep changing position, becoming distracted. When i ride alone its just me, mike bike, the road, and nature---all i have to concentrate on is the road---No distractions, no stress, my entire mind focused solely on the task at hand

To me, there is no better form of stress relief.

While i do occassionally ride with others, there is always the jockeying for position, errant conversations that make it harder to pay attention and ride safe. Constantly worrying about the position of the bikes near you, etc.

NoRacer

Currently, I don't train to ride, but in the past I have trained to run.

To me stress is stress. If you're training you -want- to induce a measure of stress. You'd never get any better (read: adapt to training) if there wasn't a stressor present or enough stress.

We use tools, such as RPE, HRMs, and power meters to quantify the intensity of stress and we control the time of induction.

ctyler

Couldn't agree with you more. USELESS STUDY!

Treespeed

What a strange study. Did they control for stress levels of obese and inactive mice. I'd rather do a solo run or ride than sit on my a$$.

-=(8)=-

Im an abnormally anti-social person. I like quiet and I like being alone.
I love riding alone. I can stop when I want. I can go slow, fast, deviate my
course whenever I want.....Solve all of the problems of the world with no
outside interference and write books and music in my head......If this stuff
is supposed to be bad for you I will just have to suffer

Greg180

I own a business that employs 150+ people. I'm making decisions constantly and communicating non stop through email, phones and face to face. At home my wife is battling cancer treatments.

Riding alone is my sanctuary. The quiet, the cadence and the pain take the stress of life and deposit it on the road behind my bike.

That's the problem with studies...can't relate to real world applications. But I bet they spent every dollar of their grant money confirming their ridiculous theory.

Keith99

This studey is not about running at all. It compares two groups of rats. One group lives in the normal social environment for rats. The other is rats in forced isolation. Both groups af rats run. The rats in isolation remain in isolatoin.

The isolated reats are not doing as well in many ways.

Surprise, surprise. I was so shocked that you could have knocked me over with a sledgehammer.

If this test was with two groups where one ran in groups and the other alone, but where both groups were otherwise socialized it would have some relevance to runing alone. But even then it would be rats that were forced into each group, as opposed to rats that ran alone because they wanted some time away from other rats.

genec

So bottom line, people are better at the "rat race," than rats.

here and there

AMEN! One of the reasons I got hooked on cycling is because I found it to be great stress relief. I often ride on a MUP that has long stretches along the bay. The cool crisp ocean air, the bay on one side, the ocean on the other, the sea birds, the suicidal squirrels, the rabbits and occasional skunk...it has become my sanctuary. I ride early morning and/or weekday afternoons when traffic is so light I encounter very few people. There are a few T-intersections, but actually stopping and waiting for cars is pretty rare. The path soon goes into the city and buildings surround the path...no fun...no scenery! I often turn back when I get near the city because I would rather enjoy the scenery nature has to offer.

John E

That's one of the lamest (so to speak) articles I have ever read. My daily commute includes either 30 minutes of solo bicycling or a short bus ride followed by 40 minutes of jogging/running. I arrive at work bright, alert, happy, and unable to be mad at anything or anybody.

LittleBigMan

Any social creature will get stressed out when isolated. Remember, it's a punishment in our society.

I watched some mice in the pet store run on a wheel. The ran in groups, about three at a time. They just love to be together.

But it's not running alone that's bad. It's the "living alone" part, and that's just rats, not necessarily humans.

If you compare a mouse living alone to a mouse living alone who also runs on a wheel, you'd find the second mouse "happier" (can I say that? )

Michigander

Who gives a damn? If you are happy and don't feel stressed, problem solved. I run by myself at least 3 times a week and I find it relieves stress.

powerhouse

I'm someone who has tended to find good things about riding alone as well as with others.

On one hand, I've enjoyed riding with others because of I'm doing something with others at the pace I like. The "rat race" does not apply in as far as my daily activities nor does it apply when bicycling...unless I choose to.

On the other hand, I also appreciate riding alone for many of the reasons that other members have listed earlier (being able to think about and process complex thoughts, being able to put concerns aside for a while, etc.).

However, I've experienced for myself that bicycling has been much safer during group rides because the number of cyclists riding together presents more of a blocking force
for cagers and more of a problem for them to "buzz" us. In the same way, one doesn't need a serious Critical Mass such as those in some major cities. But one doesn't need to ride in a group to be safe.

These have been my observations. What are yours?

unkchunk

Would meditating alone be more stressfull than group meditation?

LittleBigMan

Makes me wonder: who needs to test a group of mice to see if running alone causes stress, instead of going out and running to see for themselves? Isn't that doing things the hard way?

genec

No doubt difficult to get the funding. Testing mice is easier to justify.

recursive

Oh noes! We might be increasing our stress!

The idea of someone actually stopping running because of this study is absurd. If someone was stressed, I would think they would notice it.