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At a climbing gym, where else?. Said I should get a bike, now I can't stop looking at bike porn.
Moved into town about 7 years ago, joined a road club and met some decent folk but found the club thing here as stuffy as it was in UK. Met another bunch on Strava who I probably ride with the most, and I also help out at a youth academy, and ride with the kids from the Junior teams up to Elite/U23 level.
Met the MTB guys I don't ride enough with through here.
My Tynedale riding mates are through this site here - and they mostly met through NCT/ante natal classes or something!
I found my way in to the amazing riding scene in Christchurch through my brother in law who was already there.
Mostly through here thinking about it - The South Manchester Massive petered out and we split into the Marple riders / MNPR / Twisted Wheels in about equal measures. Met a few folks on Pootles too. A new road group has just started up in the village where i live so a couple from there have started coming out MTBing too
I married her 🙂
I don't have any riding mates, it's lovely 😀 Me and my OH usually ride together though but that doesn't count cos he's my OH! I'm not a huge fan of riding with people other than my OH because
1. I don't like holding other people up, and
2. I don't like being held up
I'm a bit of a PITA to be honest 😆
I started a MTB riding group on facebook, which picked up after 6 months or so. It was a social mix, with a mix of beginner and intermediate riders. That group coincided with a period where I was regularly injured and in A+E, so I merged it with another group which was very active. The idea was to make sure that the weekly rides continued and their leader was really keen to get some new members in. The merger started well with good turnouts, but over that summer people complained about the new leader picking routes which were too technical/ fast. Most didn't stay long. It was a shame as some riders developed really well.
Nowadays, I just ride on my own or with a couple of friends.
I don't really have any in truth. The only one I do ride with I met as I married his sister, but in honesty I don't go out a lot with him.
Hm. Some were workmates - one bought an MTB and then it grew - some I knew already through walking / skiing / drinking. Some were through local groups (breakfast rides, bivvi rides). Mates of mates came along.
Then I moved (but moved back to where I'd grown up). Combination of local club/group and old mates from days past.
Have been contacted out of the blue as well (@teacake) and consider them riding mates too.
Some from here, some from an MTB holiday, some are old friends who got into it with me, some from the local FB MTB group and I'm even picking some up from Strava and Instagram nowadays!
I moved to a new area a few years ago, have been out with a variety of people and groups but still usually ride by myself due to my odd work hours.
I'm not one for big group rides, but it's nice when you can get a well-matched little group together. Sounds like you need to start getting back out there OP, as they say.
A Facebook group (mainly MTB.HK) and just meeting people on the trail/bike shop, even one or two from here.
Having meet them though I now mostly ride solo 🙂
Used to ride all the time in Scarborough with work mates, straight out the door into Raincliffe woods and beyond.
Moved to York for new job, mates still in Scarbados, barely ridden in over 2 years bar some biking trips with the SO.
We need new riding mates. One of the chaps used to run a popular website and it came up whenever someone searched for local MTB rides, now that's gone there's no new blood coming it.
Tuesday nights 7:30pm, South Downs, meet in Worthing, middling pace and mincing.
Used to be loads of us, went to the Alps, weekends away etc. Now it's down to three or four and we're sick of the sight of each other.
Someone needs to develop an app for this.
Shreddr? Pinnr? Ridr? Bimblr?
Still waiting for the STW geo-location app "Whingr" to come out though, so don't hold yr breath.
FaceAche here on the south isle, Bikemagic and work when I lived in Tring.
Unfortunately family has limited the time I have free over the past couple of years, so it tends to be grabbed at the last minute which results on me riding on my lonesome.
Picked the keys out of the bowl with a mint sauce keyring.
I always wondered who nicked my car...
Road is almost exclusively people I met through the local club plus one or two family.
MTB is a real mix:
- roadie mates
- people I've met via STW
- people I've met via [url= http://www.peakdistrictmtb.org ]Peak District MTB[/url]
- old school friends
- people I've met through playing hockey
- imaginary friends
Unfortunately family has limited the time I have free over the past couple of years, so it tends to be grabbed at the last minute which results on me riding on my lonesome.
Sounds familiar.
I'm getting better at scheduling in rides with other peeps though, than when the kids were younger (3 and 7 now).
Met one in dark carpark, one on a trail and one from old club that kinda collapsed. Few from Alps trips few are mates mates. Happy riding on own but like a social and people who goad you into riding stupid stuff.
First riding mates where my neighbours and long standing friend (20+ yrs), then bike shop, then others met via another internet forum. So a wide range although mostly I rode alone.
Wanteds section at the back of the 'Bumming Times' of course.
Ride on my own quite a lot, but the local guys I ride with were all met through here, the other group were through my wifes, friends other half.
Road, never ridden with anyone but the wife and that's no very often.
If anyone wants to join the MNPR you are more than welcome.
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/monday-night-pub-ride-%e2%80%93-april-25th-%e2%80%93-cragg-quarry-turbines-edition ]Details[/url]
Piss taking, falling off, beer, a bit of swearing and the occasional pie.
I literally ran into my best riding buddy on our first trip to the Alps back in 1999. I was out there with a mate and had completely the wrong tyres on and my now best riding mate had a crappy hire bike and we both ended up sliding down a hill into each other and then onto an electric fence 🙂
Been best mates ever since
Mostly old mates and friends of friends, and more recently on here. Funny cos when I started biking about 12 years ago finding people to ride with was always a problem, now I've lost count of the number of people I've ridden with. It really is a very social sport.
Used to ride on my own for ages. Then bumped into two riders in the local woods. We exchanged polite hello's and then Scott offered me some chocolate. I politely said no thanks. He then got out a massive bar of Dairy Milk from his backpack. I thought he has more than enough there, no need to be polite so said actually I will have a bit. We got chatting, turned out they didn't know the area very well so I showed them round the local trails. Exchanged numbers at the end as we departed our separate ways. The rest is history been riding with Scott and Andy since then and met all my other riding buddies through them.
see it does pay off to accept sweets from strangers in your local wooods ... 😆
Righog found me on here and I joined Chopwell Tumblers, and sort of joined Beamish Oddsox as well.
Another lot via the Tumblers - Chopwell Trailbuilders, so now I sometimes ride with them and help out on the trails when I can.
There's also a couple of lads from here who I ride with at Hamsterley on a Tuesday night after work.
All in, more now (39 going on 15) than when a yoof. And my bike is better, too.
I rolled over in bed one morning and said "Shall we buy a couple of bikes"?
On here - and I still can't shake the buggers off!
Only joking guys (what a card etc). 😉
Two closest riding buddies one was a neighbor and the other was off here, who lived just round the corner as it turned out.
Met loads from here too.
used to ride regularly with a group of other people. never really knew them all that well...we all happened to be customers at the same LBS.
also rode with a few friends who i grew up with but soon they moved away or lost interest except one...but he was very lazy
then started riding regularly with a work colleague as we both worked as mtb instructors
then i got married and moved job
the group i ride with currently consists of guys i grew up with but have recently started riding in the last 6 years and a group of guys we met through a facebbok group...theres currently 28 of us in our group and its growing all the time as we find new members
have met Harry the Spider and Binners on a parent/child ride but not yet gone on a proper ride with either of them...(must make more of an effort to get on a MNPR)
nearly met Hora once... 😯
have met Harry the Spider and Binners on a parent/child ride but not yet gone on a proper ride with either of them
It isn't that much different to the parent/child ride to be honest.
It isn't that much different to the parent/child ride to be honest.
with less emphasis on the parent aspect...especially if Binners is there? 😆
Oldest and most frequent riding buddy is my best mate, known each other for over 20 years, been riding together for about 14. We sometimes ride with friends of a friend that I got to know the year Merida had a round at Aviemore, 2008? Maybe. We used to do an Easter trip every year but kids have put a hold on that. Started going to trailbuidling at GT about 13 years ago, made another really good friend from that but we've probably only ridden together 3 or 4 times. Met loads of legends from the forum, just the ones from North of the wall, the ones that can ride a bit. Actually for an anti social git I know a lot of folks I can go for a ride with. The strange thing is Facebook groups don't seem to work for me, they either implode amongst a load of name calling or indifference or turn into clubs that want money for hats n stuff and I'm not into the matching shirts thing.
First group - bunch of guys used to meet up outside the village shop at 9am every Sunday morning when I went to get the paper.
A couple of others through posts on here - "you must be local, fancy a meet up to ride?"
My main riding buddy - his wife knew my wife through the mums and toddlers group, and I'd met her in passing. I then just happened to be walking past quite a big car accident in my lunch break when I realised it was his wife and their two kids, who at the time were both under 2 years old. She was in a bit of a state and with the help of the manager of Sainsburys near where the crash happened I moved the car to safety and got her and the kids looked after till he was able to come and pick them up. I think he wondered why the hell I was with his wife and kids when he was at work. He brought me beers as a thank you, I got him back out cycling again.
If you think that was convoluted, don't ask how I met my wife...
Northwind - Member
I've known ChrisL since uni but not for riding... When I started riding, for therapy on my trashed leg, it just so happened he wrote to WMB and I saw the letter, so I got in touch with him and that was that really, he really helped me get into riding and I've thanked him by becoming better than him at bikes and making him feel bad 😆
This is all true. He also turned out to be a bigger bike geek than me, which was possibly the most surprising thing out of it. I actually knew Northwind's older brother first as he was in the same course as me in my first year, but I first met Northwind at a party in my second year... but he doesn't like me telling the story about anymore. 🙂
Most folks, I know from trailbuilding at glentress, from racing, or the old Knights of Pentlandonia. The internets sometimes comes into it too but not usually by itself.
Same here. I used to also ride with folks from what was originally the mtbscotland Yahoo group but I've not ridden with many of them since it largely migrated to a Facebook group. I still see mc, who I met via mtbscotland, but mainly now our link is through trailbuilding.
but I first met Northwind at a party in my second year... but he doesn't like me telling the story about anymore.
if its an embarrassing one then you have to tell the STW massive!! 😆
Knowing Chris and Northwind, I bet it involves coke and hookers. 😉
stevenmenmuir - Member
Knowing Chris and Northwind, I bet it involves coke and hookers.
😀
Tinder.
Wanted to check out the footpaths in the Lakes so went out with the Bogtrotters Northern Chapter on a Wednesday night hardcore of about 10 that go out whatever the weather and always have a beer afterwards.Seen lots of people turn up for one ride and think **** that and never return, fast and furious for 2 hours
[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5339/18645948269_9409e8fa31_k.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5339/18645948269_9409e8fa31_k.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/upFmNH ]Untitled[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/nzrich/ ]Richard Munro[/url], on Flickr