coasting 

I'm wondering if I am an odd ball. I greatly enjoy riding alone, going where I want, turning back when I want, changing pace depending how I feel, stopping if I need to and eating if and when I feel the need.

I've riden with a regular bunch in paceline and it just annoyed me as we seemed to never leisurely enjoy the scenery. It was just basically training/exercising and about as much fun as going to the gym. I've ridden in a social group, no paceline just a bunch of friends and that annoyed me because the pace was always too leisurely and we stop too often for tea. I just like to go out and ride hard sometimes and potter around at other times and usually I like to do a bit of both on the same ride.

I understand that as a sport it is a team sport, but for non racing cyclists who want a good workout but also to just enjoy being out and about, solo riding seems to be the only option.

Campag4life

I think you just need to find a group you fit in with. Riding with the A group who are always trying to spill their guts to prove they are faster isn't a whole lot of fun unless that is your gig. By contrast the 15mph club can be a bit boring unless one of the girls in the group is hot and OK to talk to I prefer to ride with my friends but enjoy riding solo as well. The key is to find people you like to ride with and who ride about your speed. A little friendly competition is enjoyable and the social aspect when not hammering is a great part of the sport for me.
Some thoughts...

Az B

What's wrong with a little variety? I like to ride by myself most of the time, but occasionally ride with friends that are both slower and faster. The faster ones keep me from being too lazy all the time, and the slower ones are just fun to ride with.

You just have to be in the right mental attitude for each type of ride.

But variety truly is the spice of life.

Az

big john

There have been several polls here and on the 50+ forum about this and I have always been surprised to find that most responders ride alone most of the time.
For me, group rides with friends are the joy of life.

cyclezealot

I slightly prefer solo. But, its a pretty close tie. The club is great people. The ride is always fun. Particularly , the beers we have after the ride... I find group rides, great people and they enhance your motivation to go further.

ilmooz

I ride by myself virtually all of the time for the very same reasons you mention. During my rides the majority of other riders I see are solo as well so I don't think there's anything oddball about it.

dcvelo

I should point out here that some of us enjoy going to gym as well....

DogBonz

Odd? maybe. but you are not alone. I like riding by my self, but I most enjoy riding with one or two of my friends. That way we can realy push each other or can bust on each other or just go for a lesiurly ride.

nitropowered

You just need to find the right group. Seems like you are either riding with the A group or C group.

Basil Moss

I love group riding, and I enjoy riding alone too. I do most of my riding in a group.

mrardo

I agree with your thoughts on the joys of riding alone. The zen quality of being alone with the cadence and your thoughts is one of the joys of cycling. But fast and slow groups have their joys also, variety as spoken by Az B is truly the spice of life.

mazpr

Solo and weight training as well, nothing better than good solid music and the gym for yourself (friday afternoons or saturday mornings)...

JonnyV

This was pretty much the case for me. I used to ride solo almost all the time unless a buddy of mine was home for the weekend. I started riding with an extremely nice looking girl that has a killer sense of humor. Unfortunately her boyfriend wasn't as enthused about the riding/friendship as I was. I don't blame him. Anyway, where I was going with this is I agree with compag, you have to have a few options available so you can get the most out of riding/life/happiness. Just do what you gotta do. Go ride. Good luck.

zatopek

It's all about choices. Choose what you want based upon your training goal for the ride. If all you want is a relaxing ride in which you enjoy the scenery and stop for "tea" whenever, either ride solo or find the few mates who desire nearly the same. If you want to socialize, ride with your chums who like to chew the fat and toddle along. If you want to hammer your brains out, either do so alone or ride with that training group in which just about everybody is just a tad stronger than you are. From my perspective, that's one of the beautiful aspects of our sport. With a little creativity and networking, you can find exactly what you want on any given ride.

coasting 

yes I suppose it's horses for courses. I think I like being the lone ranger. the thing about groups is that if you just show up occasionally you never become one of the gang.

Nachoman

In general:
Solo: 5% of the time;
Less than 4 people: 75% of the time;
Large group ride: 20% of the time.
It's all good.

dysFTP

Hard to do structured training in a group. x minutes at k% FTP just doesn't work in a crowd.

A national amateur champion turned domestic pro once told me "wolves live alone but hunt in packs".

Daytrip

I bike for solitude.

Lucky07

I love riding with people who know how to ride in groups.

I dislike riding with people who don't know how to ride in groups, or more likely have a personal book of rules that no one else has.

For example, I've experienced these things in the past few months:
Guy thought he could rotate off left OR right, depending on his personal preference. He was told otherwise and then kept doing it. Then he was asked to leave.
Guy literally called out every pebble in the road. "ROCK!!!" Told to stop, he hilariously continued, but under his breath /stage whisper "bump..."

My personal favorite, guy called out differences of even 1mph. "SLOWING!" Asked to stop, he did, for awhile. He started up again towards the end of the ride when people were too tired to ask him to stop. Crafty.

I do think you have to be flexible when you're riding with new groups or people. Teaching people how to ride in a group is usually rewarding. But there has to be a base level understanding of how to ride in a paceline. Otherwise it can be a miserable experience.

dark13star

Well said.

I sometimes ride with my wife, or with a good friend, but I generally like the solitude and freedom to go wherever I want. "Hmm, think I will bag an extra summit today" or "think I will call it quits and grab a beer" are not easy things to do in a group.

johnny99

I enjoy club rides from time to time. You get to meet other people (especially the opposite sex) and learn about other people's favorite bike routes.

dmb2786

is riding fun all the time?

No I do not dislike riding with a group.

wcoastbikr

I like a little variation when it comes to group rides.

I like going out to the big, fast, group that drops me half way through the ride because it pushes me to try to keep up. I also like going out to the group that I can keep a good pace with. On rarer occasions I'll go out with the slow club rides if I'm not feeling that great or just need to recover. But if that's the case I usually just do a solo ride at my own pace, mostly because I'm the youngest one on those rides at only 20.

DataJunkie

It beats the lousy company on solo rides miles. However, if all my rides were in a group I would go mad. I am a bit introverted and need my me time to recharge. All in all I love group rides and have yet to have a bad experience.

Smallguy

I ride solo on the roads and in groups in the woods

most people I know who train prefer to do most of their training solo except or maybe a Sunday century