indyfabz

And have group riding skills.

WonderMonkey

Exactly. It's one reason I don't go do actual group rides. I don't have those skills. I'd end up causing chaos, most likely, and get beaten with tire pumps.

spdntrxi

Group...

I rarely push myself for multiple hours like I will on a group ride.

GlennR

Can't find your way home? (j/k)

Yes, if you never ride with people stronger than you.. you never get stronger.

I sometimes ride with my 30 year old son.... the triathlete. Talk about pushing yourself, try 2.5x the elevation and 2+mph on a ride.

Rolla

I like riding solo and in a larger group, but today's three-man ride was about as perfect a day on the pedals as you can get.

WhyFi

Depends. Until a few years ago, the vast majority of my rides were solo. I enjoy them - I'm comfortable in my own head and I often need that space to unwind. At the same time, I'm part of a small club and we're all close enough in terms of fitness. I really enjoy those rides, too, but in a very different way - working well with each other is rewarding as is competing against each other. Hanging out afterwards is a draw, as well.

Random11

Solo. Like others, I leave from home (don't have to go anywhere to start my ride) and I can go whenever I'm ready.

Chuck M 

I see what you did there.

Cougrrcj

99% solo for me.

I've done numerous group rides - 40 years ago. We'd do century rides in a 2x6 (12-bike) double paceline, riding at ~25mph. The 'racer' group would be going even faster!. BUT, you really have to be practiced group riders to pull that off. Too many casual riders move around too much - don't hold a steady straight line. I'll drop out of a group/cluster if I encounter a rider like that -- Too much chance of a bad pile-up.

I'll still do the occasional charity 'group' ride, but prefer to ride at my own pace, stop as long as I want at rest stops/lunch, so I seldom end the ride with the same people I started with. I also would rather spend my time enjoying the ride, looking at the scenery than trying to maintain 6-inch separation from the other rider (drafting distance) or whether they can- or cannot handle hills like me...


.

caloso

Group rides. I miss riding with my friends and teammates. In a few weeks it will have been a year since I’ve ridden with them. We’ve done some Zwift meet ups but it’s not the same.

Drew Eckhardt 

Yes. I want to ride as fast or slow as I feel like, as long or short, and start from my home.

Pinelander

I'm surprised by all the solos and prefer it too. Mainly I ride when the feeling strikes. Also, I need quiet time with myself.

Troul 

Pretty sure if more folks preferred group rides they'd have tandems.

gregf83 

Fond memories of our last trip to Girona. Had to cancel last year's planned visit to Sicily.

It wouldn't be the same riding these roads solo...

veganbikes

I mean the chance to ride with Harrison Ford as Han Solo is too good to pass up. I love a good group ride and theoretically yes HF as HS could be on that group ride but a one on one ride with the man, the myth, the legend would be AMAAAAAAZING. I love his movies well most of the ones I have seen which is a decent number (though Force 10 from Navarone was not so good but I think he sort of recognized that as well but you can't replace Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn and David Niven like that)

I mostly ride by myself these days but I do like a good group ride. It is more motivation to get out and ride sometimes. A ride by yourself can give you reflection time but a group can mean pushing yourself or others and having people to suffer with sometimes or just to share in the fun. I have done some solo touring that is miserable because you are climbing this ghastly hill loaded down with gear and cars whizzing by you and nobody to look back or forward at and say "well this stuff sucks" and have some commiseration. That actually would have helped me greatly on a tour I did years ago.

jon c. 

Never ridden in a group. I'd have to find one and appear at some predetermined place at an appointed time.

Riding solo, I just get on my bike when I feel like it and head out.

ofajen

I ride solo almost all the time. All the usual things: ride from home, don’t have to wait on someone, no wheel contact, quiet meditation, riding when and where I want, etc.

Plus I want to do the work, I don’t want to ride behind someone. I guess I could tow someone and I’ve done plenty of that over the years. Now I’ve been enjoying cycling to tunes. Also, I ride SS and it seems I mostly ride faster into the wind and uphill than most people who can downshift, so that would be a constant to and fro in many groups.

I would agree, though, if I were traveling afar, I’d be doing so with a group most likely and would prefer to explore together when cycling.

Otto

Troul 

best part of riding solo is not having to watch what you say because of it "might offend someone" . Most that wouldn't care what is said, unfortunately have long since been gone or not into riding.

downtube42

I like it all.

Most rides are solo for convenience. They can be meditative, hard or easy or both, impromptu, meandering or planned.

Large, diverse loose group rides that string out along the road are great. There's always someone to ride with, or ride around. Many randonneuring brevets turn into this.

Small tight group rides, with people who know how to ride close, can be a joy. It's been a long time since I've been in such a group.

I've done a few Fleche's, which are 24 hour 5-person rides, that include hours of close riding and hours of close-proximity riding. These are about my favorite events.

vane171

Solo because in the region where I ride, there seems to be no one riding for sport. And even an undemanding family style outing on bikes is not a fashion there. Luckily I am not social person and enjoy solo rides, it lets me think about some deep problems in theoretical physics on empty roads between villages (in Europe).

Back in my twenties, I lived elsewhere and rode some training rides with amateur racers and learned disciplined echelon riding and wouldn't mind that or more social riding with others but alas... Typically in those days, it was I who barely hung on with others but on one occasion I went on a social ride, we went up several kilometer long hill and were chatting and at one point, the people I was chatting with blew up, telling me to shut up because they were out of breath and couldn't reply to me anymore. That was funny since I was never in the position of being the top dog and didn't even realize what I was doing to them.

jaxgtr

90\10 solo... The only real time I do a group ride is if it is a early evening ride in the summertime. Most of the groups rides are early morning and I just hate waking up at 5 to be at a 7 am start time.....pass. the earliest I generally will start out is about 9 or 10 am.

subgrade

These days those few of my rides that aren't solo, are just leisure rides with my friends, none of whom ride bikes for exercise. That means mostly leisurely pace, long pauses with beer, etc.
All of my a bit more "serious" riding is done solo now.

Brett A

I always ride alone. It's essential to the activity.

There was an extended period of time in the early aughts when I regularly went on shop rides, just for the pace line experience and to get my strength and fitness challenged. But it was never for comradely. In three years of weekly attendance, I don't remember having a conversation with another rider. Similarly when I toured down the west coast a couple years ago, I was really put off by the number of other cyclists touring the same route (I should have anticipated)

Germany_chris

I have no desire to ride, walk, drive, live with or around other people.

Phil_gretz

I have always enjoyed group riding. But the planning and coordination are too great a burden. I prefer to make riding decisions on the spur of the moment, based on weather and which bike I intend to ride. 90% of my rides are solo for that reason.

My riding buddy is my wife, so our rides work around what she enjoys. Whether its exploring, or a particular destination or some other type of outing.