[Closed] do you ride better with some people than others?

I always ride the best on my own.....mainly because theres no one else to contradict me.I presume its a self denial issue.

I ride better in a group generally, I'm not great at self motivation so the presure helps.

On the other hand I enjoy riding on my own as I can hit descents flat out, doing it in a train is easy as you just avoid the mistakes of the guy in front and invariably catch up.

I normally ride alone but was recently surprised at several things that happened when I went out riding with someone I work with.

Firstly, I came over all competitive again and secondly, having sworn blind that I'm a roadie (albeit in denial) I protested that I couldn't jump, couldn't do drop-offs, would take the chicken run around everything and would keep my wheels on the ground ta very much thanks...I then proceeded to perform a textbook drop-off from the side of a log skinny which I was about to fall off.

He just looked at me...and then said "I thought you were full of it...now lets see what you can do rather than what you think you can do."

The next hour was spent with me being verbally abused, at volume, every time I took a chicken run...consequently, my skills improved. Rapidly.

I suppose I like to be in a situation where the fast guys go on ahead and do not make a point of being first all the time. When you are spinning up a hill and one of the group starts being all Bradley wiggins I can't be arsed with the testosterone. It's meant to be fun not a full on race.

I am always awesome

I ride best riding behind someone smoother than me. But not so much smoother that I can't keep up.
Follow their line + competitive desire to keep up both help.
But I think riding on my own means I have to switch my own brain on to pick lines, judge speed etc.
A bit like mixing it up between FS and HT, good to do a bit of both for all-round performance.
I ride less well when riding with people slower than me tho, belting off at every opportunity tends to split the group, and sometimes cause resentment IME so I ride slower and therefore not pushing myself

I is just mincecoreradgnarr all the time me 😉

pretty much the same for me although I did follow someone up the Cwmcarn climb a couple of weeks ago and cleared everything without a dab for the first time. Got to the top in 33mins which I thought was pretty good going too.

Kev

I suppose what i am saying is that on social rides thats what i want - social, not some testosterone fuelled race/slog fest. But also i don't want negative "oooh i can't do that" riders undermining my confidence. Moon on a stick?

Ride solo. If I want a chilled ride I ride with others.

Yes.

One group of riders, i'm quickest up the ups and the downs, the other group i'm the slowest!

If i ride on my own i tend to push myself until my legs give in! Luckily it only happened to me 1 mile away from home.

rides vary with which group of mates I ride with, some are all out fast epics (I love those, as it pushes us all to go far too hard) some a nice social rides with mixed ability folks and those are a laugh and nice after a crap day at work.

Can't stand big organised group thingymebobbins though as too much stop and start and all the associated waffle that goes with it just makes me want to hurt people.

I ride better on me own for sure. I set a blistering pace and take any drops, jumps in my stride, proper flowy skilz. When I ride with other people I'm pretty average, middle of the bunch, just cos I don't want to embarrass anyone. Keep getting my footing, gearing wrong on purpose- Y'know how it is.

Ha ha! You rubbish liar Kev! 😀 You just crash and get mash up an bash up pon your face an ting.

As others have said, riding with people better than you is one of the best ways to get better yourself, as you can watch what they do, learn from how they make it work well.

Trying to keep up with folk on 5-6" travel All Mounting bicycles on downhilly bits, when you're only on a little hardtail, is a great way to improver yer skilz dem. Doesn't help if they're one of those all the gear no skilz dem types. Then you have to shout at them to get out of your way, and hope they run off line and crash so you can get past.

Trying stuff out on yer own does mean you don't have to suffer humiliation and ridicule at the hands of your peers though, and you can go back and try stuff again if you want.

sussed!

To answer the question - yes. No names, no pack drill.

Heh!

But in fairness, Kevevs ain't bin riding properly off-road as long as many on here, only a few years now in't it Kev? But he has improved shed loads in that time. He has confidence and is pretty relaxed on the bike, which helps lots, and isn't afraid to try stuff out. The right combination for positive progression, I'd say. Plus, his local riding is North wales, with flippin great big hills and actually some proper mountings, so he's got a great natural classroom to learn in.

He is slightly faster at freewheeling downhill than me, but this isn't cos he's better, but cos he's [i]fatter[/i].

that old chestnut 🙄
gravity - master it you will.

hello love you saying i slow you down. lost the group today ended up going faster more distance and had a good time on my own which i normaly do not do may have to give it a go again.

that old chestnut

No Kev it's physics; a fatter body will fall to Earth faster than a lighter, svelter and more buffsome one. 😀

Won't turn round corners as fast though. And will crash harder, causing more damage.