Is it better to have a riding partner or ride alone?

Duki

I too work shifts with only a few weekends off. So when I'm working I may go for a ride alone before the start of a shift or at the end depending what shift I'm working obviously. There is a bit of a bike club at work and before Christmas 5 of us went to Gisburn mid-week. That was fun. And I did a weekend ride last April with the Unfit riders group off here which I also really enjoyed. I would've liked to have done more but my shift pattren wasn't kind.

Usually when I've been to trail centres, I've gone with my son for company. A bit of dad, lad bonding. Although I did go around Dalbeattie Forest on my own once when I had just gotten my new Boardman FS. I thought I was invincible! Ended up having an argument with a tree and cutting my face and arms (didn't realise I was cut until another passing cyclist pointed out blood was running down my face. I thought it was sweat!), and having a major off on a rocky stretch and putting a dent in my new bike.

miss notax

I've never actually ridden by myself :shock:

I always ride with a group, or at least Notax and I - not sure I fancy it to be honest. I think it would always play on my mind that I was alone, and if something happened I could be a long way from help. I'm not mechanically confident enough to fix any bike problems, and although I don't come off often - when I do - it generally hurts (a lot) :?

I get the whole being alone with your thoughts etc, and I also know the 'problems' that can happen riding with a large group! I guess i'm lucky in that our regular group is all about the same speed / ability so it works well

omegas

I do sometimes ride with a group of friends at trail centre but most of the time out in the wilds I ride on my own , I think its called escapism

diy

The one thing I hate about going out for a ride with a group is you always seem to be waiting for some disorganised person who turns up late. one year on the SDW randonee we were at the start for 5AM ready for a 5:30 start, leaving plenty of time to tinker before the off. We were riding as a group of 6, 4 of us waiting (having got up at something like 3AM for the drive to the start). The last two riders turned up at 6:30 and then fecked about with their bikes for nearly an hour meaning we eventually left close to 7:30. Had we left at 5:30 we'd have been at the first 20mile marker by that time. It was a shame because one of the riders dropped out with heat stroke and I fully believe had we got up on the top 2 hours earlier we would have been in the wind before it got really hot.

TheNorthernTrain

Both have advantages and disadvantages.

I love riding alone to clock up some miles, and just to get out and about. Sometimes its by choice other times because nobody can make it. You're not pressured to go at someone elses pace be it slower or faster. But it can be a bit boring and lonely at times.

But as a group, you can get competitive and that can make any ride way more enjoyable and you've got the social aspect too. But some of the guys I ride with are slower than me, which even i find hard to believe and that can be quite annoying. Nothing like having a group of friends to push you to do things you probably otherwise wouldn't do.

dhutch

I always like to ride with someone, or in a group.
- Its more friendly, and as mobile signal is usally poor, probebly safer.
- That said, I wouldnt not go out, if noone else was about and i wanted to.

Upto about 6-8 is good if of simular ability, beyond that i becomes more of a hassle.


Daniel

Northridge

My name is Billy No-Mates (no, really) so you can guess my answer.
I dont ride offroad any more but when I was in Spain in 2005/6 I used to do a smooth-but-loose dirt descent (Montes de Malaga, ending on the other side of the road from the Botanical gardens) and often hit 60+ on corners with nothing on the other side except nothing.
I was 54 at the time with years of light xc experience, and a good bike (except for when I tried Stans alloy rotors on my old B4s) and have never had a proper crash (just some ungainly "dismounts") but once or twice on the hill I came too close for comfort. If I had gone off the edge and lain hurt or unconscious I would still be there today. (Actually a little bit of me is still there; I buried my cat up there.)
But I would ride that hill again today, if I could, and I would do it alone.

ilovedirt

Ouija wrote:

delcol wrote:

i tend to get more miles in and get a better work out if i go alone though....

Yeah. I think if your not doing it for 'social' reasons you tend to focus more on 'the numbers' and setting yourself goals.

I dunno, I like both sometimes, but I do have to actually push myself to get out riding alone, though I ultimately end up enjoying it. Riding with others is nice, adds a bit of competition, or sometimes just someone to chat to etc, though more often than not, people who are slower than me end up tagging along, and while I can't say no to them, it does wind me up a little not being able to get out and do a 'proper' ride, so getting out alone is good. Even better though when you can get out with someone else who has a very similar level of skill and fitness to you, though for me, it doesn't happen as often as I'd like.

The one thing that really irritates me though (i don't mind slow riders that much, everyone starts somewhere) is when I organise rides for the uni mtb club (nobody else seems to) and then spend time waiting for people, and they're either late, cancel on me (with or without letting me know) or are just riding terribly, all three reasons invariably for the fact that they're too hung over. We've all done it once or twice, but some people seem to do it more than others, and it does really wind me up. So for that reason, going out on my own is great sometimes!
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cycle monster

I like riding with my family, mates and myself in equal measure. All bike time is good for different reasons.

Northridge

cycle monster - how can you ride with yourself? Are there two of you? Separate bikes or a tandem?

MountainMonster

Drugs, man. And in the safety of the living room.

concorde

With a couple of mates. I do it for the fun and the banter not to see how many miles I can notch up in a week. I don't really care about that.

cooldad

Exactly this^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

d00m

Most of the time I'll go out with one or two mates (depends wether or not they can make it), and we are all fairly equal, which gives a competitive edge, and good banter. Plus its nice to have a helping hand if the bike gets mangled.

Riding alone though, opens up way more possibilities. If I get a day to myself to go out and explore, chances are I'll go alone, so I dont have to please anybody else, or allow for people's work/childcare commitments. A long day in the hills by yourself is a proper adventure, if you're looking for it, then you'll always find something new; and not having to keep the conversation going lets you focus purely on the riding.
Its these rides which are most memorable

mtwindowcleaning

Have to agree a lot better with a few mates

composite

On the weekends when I do my notching up the miles rides, I ride on my own. Midweek night riding is for the craic and the banter with mates. I get different things from each.

I really like being on my own lost in my own head, this is particularly true when the weather is good. When the weather is bad it becomes man vs the elements that pushes me on.

mkf

i'v always rode with mates, bantas always good feels a little safer in case i stack it.
fitness level and speed have always been pretty even which made the riding ace, recently though there has been major changes and everything has slowed down, lots of waiting around riding has been dead slow reluctance to ride anything other then trail centers, i mean 3hours to ride llandegla!!
i find this wears me down so i practice manuals bunny hops and such when waiting.
i go solo when gf ain't walking with the other gf which ties me with the group and the ride is ace,flow joe is back speed is back.
enjoying my own company much more only time i miss them is butty time

Jedi

i love riding with mates but sometimes it is bliss to just flow along alone

Yacoby

One of the benefits of riding with people is if they are better than you, then you have something to aim for. When riding with someone better I always push myself far harder.

scottbramwell

quite suprised with all the comments thanks guys. I went out today for the second time since i decided to get back in to mountain biking on my own, and although I like being by myself, feel i need a buddy just to show me the right trails to take etc, either that or just keep exploring everytime i get a chance to go out on bike. as again i more happier with my ride then last time but still not amazing yet...

S-M

Hmm, i like with mates for the banter and laughs, but i tend to get annoyed at feeling like i am not making progress, when the super slow lads are amazingly rubbish and keep dying.

I am no pro by a very long shot (indeed) but i seamed to leapfrog all my mates ability's rather quickly, probably because i`m usually out 2-3 times per week night after work and a longer ride on a weekend.

Mates started dropping out as winter drew in, excuses, not turning up etc etc "ohh i`m still in bed" while i am travelling in the car to a venue at -2 degrees.

So i figured i would join a local MTB club, local thurs night rides and proper days away at the weekend, i tried the local thurs night ride and found it really quite easy :? a lot of stopping (sometimes for technical reasons, punctures or snapped chains) and they basically go as fast as the slowest man, i`m not so keen on this type, it felt just the same as going out with my mates, but with people who were not as funny.

So i tried one of the longer more technical sunday rides, this was nearly perfect, different mix of riders, a lot more hardcore, generally a lot fitter and i felt a lot more at home with this group, i would say my current level of fitness within this group was average, one of my mates was inquisitive about the club and figured he would tag along for some proper XC riding in Alwinton (northumberland) he lasted 2.5 miles and asked for my car keys so he could go back.

mcnultycop

I ride alone as none of my mates have mountain bikes, some are super-fit roadies (Iron-man competition fit) so I wouldn't even contemplate getting a road bike and trying to keep up with them, even if I wanted to). I quite like getting away from it all but do feel that I'd probably push myself further, technically and fitness related, if I had a riding buddy. I went to Lee Quarry on my own on Wednesday morning and saw two other people up there whilst I was there, and two on the way up as I left. I stuck to the red sections, I probably wouldn't have tackled the black anyway as I'm not that good/brave anyway, but still had an off that resulted in a banged knee. Nothing terrible but it made me think about what could have happened if it was more serious.

I was going to try Cragg Quarry this morning but I though the snow on the tops (I can see the wind-farm the other side from Lee from my house) would have put people off from going so I'd be the only person there, and really didn't fancy freezing to death if I came off again.

To summarise, I like riding on my own, but don't want to die.

scottbramwell

To summarise, I like riding on my own, but don't want to die.

i like this quote lol and agree too, but i think it isn't a good ride unless you come off the bike once

Stevo_666

I Prefer to go riding with someone else - it's just more fun, especially for gravity type riding :-)

Also if I'm doing a night ride, anything a bit tricky, or off the beaten track it's sensible to have a bit of back up in case things go pear=shaped. But I'll go on my own if I want to and if it's not daft to go solo, otherwise I wouldn't get as much MTB'ing as I'd like to. I also occasionaly do a bit on the roadie on my own, but not in lycra you understand...

diy

Took my youngest out for his first proper ride on his new bike (he's 5). He inherited the 20" carrara blast that the eldest passed down. He managed 7 miles of my normal MTB route, which includes a couple of 10% climbs. He didn't complain once. It wasn't exercise and was a bit scary on the road sections, but he got the hang of pedaling in circles and changing gears very quickly. Only fell off twice - on the same log on the trail, once going out and once coming back.