Do You Prefer To Cycle In Groups Or Alone?

[sunshiney]

I always used to cycle alone, using it as a time to gather my thoughts and relax a bit.
Once I started riding with a group though I started having a lot more fun.
Originally we just started as a mountain biking group but once we all had road bikes we started taking longer rides through the farmland to the next town over and stopping for lunch before coming home.
Now, I always prefer riding with a group. It's fun to have people to share the experience with and particularly with mountain biking, it feel way safer to have more people along.
It's also nice to be with the group in case of any emergency repairs that need to be done, especially for someone like me who's still learning to patch a tire and fix my chains.
Between the six of us we've also been able to search out some really great trails, as well as working on a few of our own!
Do you typically prefer biking with a group as well, or do you have a better time alone?

 

[Bark]

Generally, I prefer to cycle alone. When I cycle with other people, yes, it's a more social experience, but I often am paranoid about whether or not I am going too fast or too slow, whether I will hit someone, etc. It can be very fun and competitive to cycle with others, but if I have the choice, I will cycle alone.

 

[BikeBikeBikeBike]

I like both but for different reasons.
I find riding alone more relaxing, I can go where I want and do what I want.

If you want to progress and push yourself, nothing is better than riding in a group. Finding people who are better then you can really up your game.

 

[Uawadall]

I like riding with others more, but they're advantages to riding alone as well. I find that my average pace is higher riding alone than with my current group and don't want to join the higher speed group just yet. Just like Bark, I worry about pacing and with higher speed groups, people will be much more competitive which is both good and bad.The good-getting faster, trying your hardest, The bad-Over competitive, I was told a girl in the bike club died last year from being a little too reckless at high speeds, she was very young I'm told.Sometimes a group interaction can cheer you up and others you need to clear your own mind with no one else.

 

[Keyan]

I like both. There are times when I prefer to be alone but most of the time I like it when I am with friends. It could be lonely riding on your own so a laugh and fun with friends would be great. For safety reasons too you might find riding with friends to be helpful. You can watch each other's back

 

[AtlantaSports]

I usually ride my bike to get away from everything and everyone, so I definitely ride alone. I don't like trying to stay with someone, either.

 

[gavinfree]

Not that I'm a big athlete or anything like that, but I don't like cycling with people and trying to match their pace by lowering my own pace, and I don't like having them trying to keep up with my pace if it's faster than theirs. Riding solo is just easier and more enjoyable if you ask me, so I'd say that I'll ride perhaps 200 times throughout the year, and only a dozen or so of those rides will include another person.

 

[Ulysses31]

Both, usually alone at weekends on bigger rides so I can go at my own pace. During the week I go to a social ride where there is a small group of us.

 

[briannagodess]

I am such a loner in real life so I prefer biking alone. I love having the freedom to bike whenever I want, wherever I please and however long I like. That is the beauty of biking alone. Of course I'm biased having not experienced biking with a group. Sometimes I bike with my hubby but he is not that into biking anyway. I'm okay with that as sometimes you just need your alone time. You cannot get it at home so biking is the perfect excuse lol.

 

[Froze]

I prefer to cycle with at least one other person, but time constraints rarely allow me to do that so I mostly ride alone.

 

[kuroba]

i prefer to ride with my SO than alone, but when he's out of the city for work I also appreciate the rides alone. I attend some rides organized by a local urban cycling group and I love it. They do urban rides and XC type of rides. On the urban rides I relax because it's gonna be a slow ride so I usually chat with other riders and stuff, it's more of a social experience. On XC rides my competitive side shows and I always try to stay in front, I feel it has helped me be faster on my usual rides

 

[Jcycle]

I prefer to ride alone. Cycling just isn't a group activity for me. I like keeping my own pace.

 

[Susimi]

I'm a bit of a loner and I do prefer to ride on my own.

I like the peace of it where I'm in my own world and I can be alone with my thoughts. I've rode with a few people in the past and I did not really enjoy it, so yeah I prefer to go on my own.

 

[JRyan]

I have never cycled with others before, but I would like to try. I ride my bicycle to relax and gather my thoughts, but I wonder how it would feel to collect my thoughts and share it with others while cycling. As a newbie, I would also learn a lot if I join a group of more experienced cyclists. I just hope they'll take me in.

 

[rangerbentman]

I have never cycled with others before, but I would like to try. I ride my bicycle to relax and gather my thoughts, but I wonder how it would feel to collect my thoughts and share it with others while cycling. As a newbie, I would also learn a lot if I join a group of more experienced cyclists. I just hope they'll take me in.

Find yourself a meetup group and try them out for a couple trips.

 

[rangerbentman]

I always used to cycle alone, using it as a time to gather my thoughts and relax a bit.
Once I started riding with a group though I started having a lot more fun.
Originally we just started as a mountain biking group but once we all had road bikes we started taking longer rides through the farmland to the next town over and stopping for lunch before coming home.
Now, I always prefer riding with a group. It's fun to have people to share the experience with and particularly with mountain biking, it feel way safer to have more people along.
It's also nice to be with the group in case of any emergency repairs that need to be done, especially for someone like me who's still learning to patch a tire and fix my chains.
Between the six of us we've also been able to search out some really great trails, as well as working on a few of our own!
Do you typically prefer biking with a group as well, or do you have a better time alone?

As an event host with the Vancouver Bicycle Meetup group I ride with groups from 6 to 31 in number. We ride at different speeds if in a small group vs the larger groups. We also are a "no drop group" which means we wait for people and that also means that there will be some who just want to keep going at speed. This does pose a problem till they have a breakdown of any sort and then it becomes sensible. Riding in a group is also a great way of having incentive to get on that bike and ride it. Yes there are meetup groups where speed is the goal . We have a sister group called " Clipped In" and I can keep up to them for about 300 feet. I am non competitive however I do like speed which is why I ride the kind of bike I do. As you age you need every advantage you can get. I do ride on my own but a group is far nicer.

 

[bykster]

I'm a loner by nature, not just in biking, but in other spheres as well. And as such, I like to ride alone. I have tried to ride with a friend and in larger groups, but it just doesn't appeal to me.

 

[Jcycle]

I will never do the group cycling thing intentionally. it is just to weird. I prefer to go alone whenever possible. I don't like being crowded or feeling like I have to keep pace with others.

 

[advenurturer]

I always used to cycle alone, using it as a time to gather my thoughts and relax a bit.
Once I started riding with a group though I started having a lot more fun.
Originally we just started as a mountain biking group but once we all had road bikes we started taking longer rides through the farmland to the next town over and stopping for lunch before coming home.
Now, I always prefer riding with a group. It's fun to have people to share the experience with and particularly with mountain biking, it feel way safer to have more people along.
It's also nice to be with the group in case of any emergency repairs that need to be done, especially for someone like me who's still learning to patch a tire and fix my chains.
Between the six of us we've also been able to search out some really great trails, as well as working on a few of our own!
Do you typically prefer biking with a group as well, or do you have a better time alone?

I always try to ride alone when cycle touring. On established cycling routes, I have ended up riding with others, but my pace has never matched theirs. It is good enough to arrange to meet someone at a pre-designated campsite.

 

[cyberlegend1994]

Mainly a lone wolf here, but I'll ride in a no-drop group that I can keep up with...