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Does riding with my collie count?
Yup all the time more or less. Simply cba to organise and wait around for people when i can push off from my own doorstep onto the Chase.
If I didn't ride on my own I wouldn't ride much. Most of my MTB riding mates are too busy with family or business, or our scedules just don't match. When I go to the Alps they want to rag the downhill tracks whereas I prefer to get a map and explore, so I tend to be on my own for most of the day. Self preservation kicks in to ensure I don't put myslef at too much risk.
I ride on the road with a couple of friends, but am also quite happy to go out on my own; that way I can find new routes without having to annoy friends who want to just ride fast all the time. They can benefit once I have the route sorted.
Like to ride at my own pace and do the up-hills that my mates always think we should avoid.
I've always got my phone and should I get a problem I cant fix, I think I could always get to somewhere and call one of my mates or family to collect me - with lots of explaining how to get there
Pretty much always alone.
Like to set my own pace and my own targets. Wouldn't want to think I was holding someone back or vice versa. I'm fairly cautious with a relatively well developed sense of self-preservation.
Plus I love being in the hills on my own, with my own thoughts.
99% of the time, I'm a Billy no mates well not strictly true i have two mates one doesnt ride (well I havent seen him in a couple of years does he still count) and the other one is ginger so I moved to the other end of the country so i would not have to be seen with him
99% on my own, like to ride with others but usually just ride at short notice when I have a spare moment...
75% on my own. Zoe comes along every so often for a Blue pootle and I have one mate who rides and we get out together pretty infrequently. Other than that I ride solo and don't mind it - can go where I want at whatever speed I want.
Zoe always knows where I'm heading and roughly how long I expect to be.
slainte 🙂 rob
80% on my own and night rides always alone....
I have a mountain whistle attached to my shoulder strap within access of my mouth in case of a big accident......
Never used it yet in 25 years fortunately......
used to really like riding on my own when in the UK, now I've moved to Canada I don't do it too often as I'm nervous of getting eaten
I actually really miss it{riding on my own that is}
No bugger will ride with me 😥
I got quite a few mates who I ride with but not that often or they are only all available at the same time. Great but it means that I normally ride on my own. I do prefer it that way though. I don't have to wait for anyone and not many of my mates (see any) want to do the sort of distances I want to.
I like riding for 6-7 hours at a time on a weekend and that will be actually 6-7hours riding not talking shit every 20mins and eating flapjack. When I do go on this sort of ride though it is a change from the norm and nice to catch up with people.
The safety aspect doesn't even come into my head anymore. I tell the Mrs which route I'm doing and take a mobile.
Generally and similarly rarely know where I'm off to. Night ride solo too.
"Faffarama gabberfest" - like it, Hels!!
I reckon about 80/20 for me.. shift/weekend work means random days off. I enjoy riding with a group but like to set my own pace as well.
In fact if I didn't ride on my own I'd be much fatter..!
I have a gps and a mobile with me.
However I think nightrides are a social thing. I'm not massively keen on being out on my own after dark.
I am a coward though.....
50/50, gotta grab a ride when I can these day (pesky kid 🙂 ).
Although if I'm on my own I spend half the time creating or testing new lines. Once I've built them I leave the more difficult stuff till I'm with my mates.
And that's only because I find that the element of competion makes me do things I wouldnt do on my own...
I do the odd pre-work training ride alone, but i generally want to ride with others
There is no better way to improve your fitness or technique because there will always be someone there faster than you going up hill, or a loon which will go faster than you downhill, or take you of a bigger drops
I joined a local MTB club 12 months back and i'm so pleased i did
Not only do you get way faster, but you also learn loads of new skills & trails
A good club will have a wide range of club rides, which will generally suit your needs.
Such as a super quick ride with no stopping/chatting. A proper All Mountain ride, with silly DHs and drops, or just a good fun club ride with lots of banter, finishing with a pint
One of the great things about a good club ride is that it doesn't matter who you are, or what you do, or how big your house is - its all about the riding, the experiences, the comradeship and what you can do with your bike
Its also good to take the piss out of people with all the gear and no idea!
Such a breath of fresh air from life in general
Although I carry a phone there' s no phone signal on probably 50% of the Quantocks, when I broke my ankle I luckily only had to hop about 50 very painful yards to get a signal, if I was down in one of the Combes it could have beena whole different story.
Mostly on my own. Must admit I take it a bit easier on the downhills than if I'm in a group but other than that prefer it.
Yep, It's quieter, there's less faffing around and you can go faster without being held back, I let people know where, I'm going and carry a phone on me. And some ID in case they need to identify the body.
But I also like sociable riding as well, it's just most of my friends now live hours away so harder to arrange rides due to that and shift work.
Tom KP
Just be sure to watch the film "127 hours" before riding
if I was down in one of the Combes it could have beena whole different story.
I think sharki found that out the hard way...
Nearly all my riding is alone. Did 60 odd road miles on my own yesterday, its a nice chance to talk to yourself/daydream.
I prefer mountainbiking with others, but with everyone having kids and other commitments it just doesn't happen very often.
Most of time alone locally. Always when bikepacking.
I like cycling because it's fun and exercise and outdoors etc. BUT one of the greatest things is when I'm on my bike I just relax and think of nothing.Soooooo relaxing ,a highly undervalued aspect of cycling.
I have only ever ridden alone and only ever will. Biking is strictly me time and I enjoy my own company best. I cant really understand why anyone wouldn't want to ride alone.
I scared the crap out of myself riding alone at Golspie last year.
Torrential rain, people new I was in Scotland but not where. Only commitment I had was riding with someone the next day.
Hammering down the final descent, hitting all the high lines, riding like a boss. Momentary lapse in concentration saw me over the bars falling 6 or so foot down a rocky shoot narrowly skulling myself on a rock at the bottom.
Had a chance to reflect on what had happened whilst shivering and fixing the puncture that had also happened.
I've learnt nothing from it though to be honest.
I often ride alone, I don't really enjoy being out with mixed ability groups as the lactic builds up whilst I stand around waiting - some would call me anti-social.
I use Motion X to track my routes on the iPhone and have it set up to email my fiancée every 5 minutes with my gps coordinates - if I'm not home when by I should be she often has a quick look to make sure I'm still moving. Obviously it requires phone signal but works well most of the time.
with gf on bimbles, on own for harder stuff, have always done on own, esp on middle of nowhere epics (and at 7am in the morning as nobody else can get up by then), but much more so since riding buddies, got gfs, babies, dogs etc. I do like the flexibility of self, and having come from motorbike trail riding (where we managed to get really tight, effective group behaviour going - navigator, tail-end, gate openers, team puncture fixing, helmets on dinner stop etc etc and Everybody doing man-behind eye contact at junctions, where I would say having a group actually speeded things up) I find that most groups generally slow things down, also I really find it hard to restart after a long stop mid ride and most people seem to prefer a pub lunch stop, but it is fabulous to be led round somebody else manor where the trails and route are good.
Pretty much always, another Billy No Mates 🙁 - but then again i relish the peace and quiet of Nature, and i can trundle around at my own pace so it balances out... (still no real excuse for being unpopular, though 😆 )
I have a couple of mates that I ride with, it can be a good thing as they can push you to go faster and try harder, but when they are having off days it can really slow things down (thankfully they mainly push me to go faster)......
I did an 82 mile solo ride on Sat this week, of which 40 odd miles were on The Ridgeway and another 20 on bridleways, the remainder being on the road. I know how desolate the Ridgeway can be in bad weather once you are a mile or so away from points where the roads cross, so my wife follows my progress every now and again on the find my iPhone thingy.
I love long off-road rides on my own. It can be very relaxing and de-stressing to go at your own pace, stop where you want, camp where you want, get up when you want without having to consider the wants and needs of someone else.
Occasionally if there's no-one else around.
Off for a solo tomorrow, day off work so thought I'd have a bimble over to Ponderosa/Llandegla...
Would say its 30/70 alone/in group for me.
I understand why a lot of people cycle on their own to get away from everything and have some quality me time but I do enjoy a social ride and am lucky that I belong to a large MTB group that has a mixed bag of riders with a wide range of different skill sets meaning you can choose not to join or join depending on who has confirmed to attend a particular ride and based on what you looking for on that day. As well as accidents I have to content with wildlife out here (lots of poisonous snakes and some water bison) so when I ride on my own I always make sure the wife knows when I will be back approximately and what route I intend to take.
Clue is in the the user name, I'm affraid.
😉
I would say about an 80/20 solo/non-solo split for me.
Love riding on my own as I like to explore - difficult to explore when in a group. I go stir crazy riding the same trails, and try to find something new on every ride.
Still nice to ride in a group sometimes though and have a laugh and a bit of banter.
The world is divided into introverts and extroverts, but the extroverts make more noise so the introverts end up questioning whether what they do is normal. Reading mags etc you'd think that mountain biking could only be done "with your mates". But, as this thread has shown, there are lots of us who prefer to ride alone.
Cheers,
Andy
yep, regularly
feel safer on my own tbh .....
tend to end up racing downhills when out with friends and usually feel compelled to watch out for their safety and bikes as well as my own.
Other than that - tell folk where im going , take enough kit to get my self out of where ever i end up if im going remote or unknown territory(quite rare in this country tbh) - food , an old nokia mobile , a map , a bivvy bag, some extra layers and some matches in a waterproof bag.
70/30 in favour of alone. I've been on the big group rides, and they don't do it for me - too much inertia / prevarication / group dynamics on the actual ride. Although post-ride the social side in the pub or cafe is obviously better than solo. Lucky to have the occassional ride partner to break things up.
Really it boils down to who you are, and the social / work circumstances of you and your buddies. Accept that sometimes you're a Billy and just get out there when you can. Often though if you ride alone you are more approachable out on the trail or at cafes, and I've had some good conversations with total strangers this way.
Also riding alone tends to be more about being introspective and finding new trails and getting happily lost, where being with others I personally tend to push the risk side of things a bit more. OK accidents happen, but the only time I've ended up in A&E has been on a group ride showing off.
The magazines must be tied by their insurers as they do tend to be negative towards solo rides, but bet anything that their staff are as varied in social make-up as we are on here.
Am I bucking the trend here?
Probably 80:20 with friends:alone.
Yes it's great to have a day out going at my own pace, choosing my own route and only stopping when I want to ... but for the most part I'd choose to ride with like-minded idiots.
If alone, I know I'll tend to back-off and won't go-for-it when faced with a section that's remote, exposed and/or at the limit of my technical ability. I can't help but feel annoyed with myself when that happens and see it as a bit of a failure, whereas I might have a crack at it knowing that someone will arrange my evaluation if it doesn't go to plan.
When I can, I'll ride with someone who's a better rider than I am as I like that implicit "If he can do it, then I can too" challenge.
Wouldn't have ridden or even found half of the good stuff if I was on my own!
[Edit] It's not about showing off, it's more about enjoying a bit of competitive pressure [/Edit]
The world is divided into introverts and extroverts, but the extroverts make more noise so the introverts end up questioning whether what they do is normal.
This. +lots
Ride more on my own than in a group, sometimes it's nice to have a bit of banter, even if that does come with the inevitable faff trade off.
It's also good to get that iPod on and HAMMER!
The world is divided into introverts and extroverts, but the extroverts make more noise so the introverts end up questioning whether what they do is normal.
Completely agree
I have woken up in A&E when riding on my own! Last thing I remember is getting pumped from watching mtb vid on youtube, then locking the house, then hospital. Still dont remember what happened to this day.
Some rambler found me wandering in a field and phoned the ambulance apparently. Couldnt even remember where i lived!
Then, last week on my own i got attacked by a dog!
I stick with people these days...
Ride almost exclusively on the road these days. From being a regular club rider, ever since having a child nearly 2 years ago, I've never been on a group ride.
When I was commuting, I was doing the best part of 200 miles a week on my own, often entirely in the dark. Loved it.
Now I've got back on the bike, I'm out earlier and back earlier to avoid losing too much family time. Might join a club, but without the same commitment as before.
99% of the time solo, all of my mates now have small children so group rides appear to be almost impossible to ride. More likely to solve the current economic crisis or world peace
I have designated 'pick-up' zones at my local woods and have walked my wife through some of my more popular runs.
Both of my serious accidents have been solo night rides after work.
Coming around lying on your face with a busted collar bone/ribs is not a nice situation to be in....