Rollin' Solo

A recent post on MTBR got me to thinking about riding alone. I usually ride alone, I have for years. Some of that is by necessity. It is either ride alone or don't ride at all. Some of it is by choice. Alone means my pace, my route, my ride.

Also, being alone on the bike is 'quiet time'. IPOD or not, it is time well spent reflecting on life's weightier issues. Or not. Just ride. No thoughts other than the next hill, rock, gear, speed, pain, etc.

Three rides in point. The 40 Something could have come down to a solo effort. If I had ridden alone, I would have been at least an hour faster and it would have been simpler and likely a new personal record. With the slower but capable rider that came along for the ride, I was, well, slower, but I was able to share a ride with someone who, up until that day, had never ridden that far. For him, it was a new personal record.

Last weekend I planned out a route and sent the invites. The loop was changed a bit to reflect the needs of the group dynamic. By myself, I would have ridden the loop I had planned without the re-route. On the other hand, the four of us had a blast and shared the memeory of the day.

Last night I was going to ride a great route up in the forest a bit out of town. To accommodate a buddies schedule, I delayed the ride launch time. That fell through at the last minute. Too late to do the ride I planned, I called another guy that I had been wanting to ride with. A great guy, I wanted to show him a ride in town he had never done. Turns out he is slower than I thought so the ride was, well, slowish.

Last night, riding by myself, I would have been on the out of town ride and gotten a better workout instead of a bit of frustration. But, a nice guy got to see another ride option in town and picked up some tips on getting more fit.

Kinda, sorta confusing, ain't it? There is some satisfaction from both camps.

I think I will continue to ride alone most of the time just cause it fits my busy life's schedule. But, I have to admit, it fits my other needs as well, mental, physical, and spiritual.