This occurred to me this weekend while riding – for me, mountain biking is a solo activity. Even when going riding with mates, it’s about nailing a tricky descent, or juuuust getting the back wheel round the tree inside a tight bend – the cliche of “me and the trail”. We chat on the climbs, compare notes at the bottom of a trail, and have a beer afterwards, but that still feels like the bits in between.

So, which is it for your – social, or solo?

Both, but only with one or two riding mates. I can and do happily ride solo and can and do ride with others. Both have their benefits.

Goes for mtb and road riding.

solo mostly for me.
Cant fit in with others ‘ride’ times.
ON the ups, the presence of my lungs in my mouth makes speaking impossible.
On the downs, i cant look over my shoulder to chat the whole time.

The pub is the social bit.

road tends to be solo
MTB tends to be group
It tends to depend a bit as the rules are not that important to me

At the moment, MTB is much more of a social thing and the road bike can be a solo pursuit. Both are improved by the addition of friends.

When I go riding with my buddies, I get so stoked creating the feeling of flow and following lines – my homies and me all feeding off each other. [/Canadian MTBer]

Both

Social for sure – nothing beats racing your mates on the descents then socially winching back up.

seem to have it in my head that it’s a social thing but tend to ride the road alone and hate riding in groups of more than 3 on the mtb, get fed up with people standing me up, turning up late and faffing with bikes.

The older I get, the less time I have to ride so if it’s on my terms I get more done in the small window of opportunity. Did a couple of laps of a trail centre on sunday and kept passing the same few groups all standing waiting for someone to adjust a seat, fix a tyre, have a pee, talk of the phone (seriously) etc etc

Pretty sure I could become a hermit though if it wasn’t for the wife and kids!

solo.When I want,where I want,as fast as I want.

80% solo
20% social

I just love being out in the hills on my own, spend all day with people so its nice to be alone.

Both. I like riding with a mate or in a small group.
I also like the freedom of riding on my own, going at my own pace and going where ever I like.

I always considered myself more of a solo rider, but as a couple of guys I mainly ride with when on group rides, have drifted away over the past 12 months or so(1 had a kid the other is working in Ireland) I find I am just riding less of everything.

Solo for me, I love doing my own thing on my rides.

Both. Social is the motivation for going out when it’s dark and filthy but on better days either is good for me but I ride more energetically uphill in a group. Solo I favour a little less power / grunting and a more chilled attitude on the ups.

We also ride as a family which is its own dynamic

Solo.. riding in groups is just perverse

Interesting topic! 🙂 Solo for me largely, unless it’s an event. Outside of that, the idea of taking the MTBs out with the lads is a lot more appealing than banging some road miles in with them.

Edited to add that the exception is Mrs Pondo – any time she wants to take the bikes out is fine with me, increasing her enjoyment of cycling is likely to lead to a greater tolerance of me cycling. 🙂

Both for me

Solo….

Happy with either.

Prob 75% solo, 25% mates.
Depends on the logistics and whats going on with the family.
Each is good.

70% solo, 15% random group rides from internet, 15% family easy rides. Percents varying with kids browning up.

Both – but prefer social

Don’t seem to push myself when I’m on my own but I do love the feeling of being out in the countryside

Spent most of my time in the early days with me, a mate, some smoke and some technical downhills. Now I still like it but without the smoke

Most miles are solo but a good chunk of that is commuting
Mtb is always group
And road a mixture of the two

Solo road rides on my day off are my time to escape and get some quite time

90% riding with others, but I do enjoy going out on my own too. It gives me time to mull stuff over, formulate plans, just enjoy being outside, plus I like the freedom it gives to change the route on a whim.

Definitely both for me. I only ride mtb and often alone, but also with a few good friends, maybe in twos and threes and occasionally as an extended group of 8 or 10 .

Did a long solo ride today, glad I did not keep others waiting for me at the top of the climbs, sad nobody saw how awesome I was on the descents……or not:)

Depends on how i’m feeling, most of the time is with buds, solo when I really want to be blowing out of my ass by the end

Group if im riding tech. Worried about falling off and being in the middle of bumfuck all night with a broken arm.

Solo if it’s an XC type blast.

My ideal ride is with a couple of friends. Large groups lead to interminable waits at every crossing on the trail while some know it all tells the one who’s broken down they should go tubeless (I don’t care if tehy are right it’s not worth going on about it now!)

Nearly always solo.

Riding is a chance to “just be”. Riding solo makes this easier.

Riding is social.

Training is solo.

BMX – 80% social, someone will want to do something, the group gets involved, everyone sitting round watching each other trying it, group banter gets the job done, beers after.

MTB – i generally ride with people, but just can’t ride together the same way as in a confined space like BMX, no-one really gets to see others riding/ride with each other. MTB feels very solo in comparison to BMX even though I am generally around ppl.

Mostly solo for road & MTB. What I want, when I want, at the speed I want.

I can do group riding but I need to be properly in the mood for it and accept that we’ll be doing a quarter of the distance in twice the time that I could do on my own.

Both ! ,

both but I’m not a fan of group rides over a certain size as it gets stop-starty too much

Solo. It is my time to sort out the stuff in my head.

Plus I don’t play well with others. 😉

MTB only – I do both and enjoy both.

Solo (quite often because I’ll be working nights). I enjoy my own thoughts, stopping to enjoy the view, or take a picture, maybe have a mid-ride pint, stop and scope out a line, then nail it.

Group rides are great – plenty of banter, pushing each other on sections, Strava battles, being shown new trails I’d have never found on my own – and always the pub at the end.

I enjoy both in equal measures.

No wait, the antisocial ones would hate to be in that crowd 😆

solo.When I want,where I want,as fast as I want.

^^^ this for me as well

Mostly solo; extending commutes on MTB.
Group rides happen but failed to convert my own friends, so with randoms from one of the many local clubs.

Social riding for the mountain bike.

Building fitness solo on the road bike