Why solo cycling is better than club/group cycling

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 8:39am #1

I love cycling and what I love about it is, Getting out into fresh air, Enjoying scenery, Stopping when I want to take it in, getting exercise, going my own pace and doing my own route and it's for these reasons I don't enjoy club or group cycling. I really feel group cycles are always stuck in 'training' mode and never ever in enjoyment mode.

I want to see scenery for several hours I don't want to stare at some ould lads' arse in front of me going up and down for 3 or 4 hours.

I want to hear nature and birds sing not listen to other people's poorly maintained bikes rattle along as someone in the group lectures you about his 'best time' last week and continues with boring tedious bragging type conversation on his times or averages or aero position etc.

I want to go where I want and set my own pace not tear along at fast speeds never stopping or taking anything in.

I want to feel the added safety of not having other cyclists around me. I've been in several group spins with experienced cyclists with someone nearly always doing something stupid and dangerous ie freewheeling or slowing rapidly when someone is behind them or rapidly changing lane with no notice etc.

You don't have that problem with solo cycling.

I suppose maybe I'm not a young lad anymore and care not for the speeding along. Club cycling can make you faster but not much I find 2-4kms an hour faster max than someone non club. I'd much rather enjoy 100kms spin solo stopping/taking it in/getting a coffee etc rather than tear along and for what? To do the cycle 15 minutes faster? Why? I don't race I don't do tour the france nothing like that and neither do they!

I don't get the obsession clubs have with being 'faster and stronger' why? Unless you are constantly racing their is no point in bettering your time at the detriment of your enjoyment.

For me it's about getting out into nature and enjoying a spin. I just can't do that in a group obsessed with maintaining an 'average' or doing a route in a certain time and tearing along never stopping. No one cares if you cut a few minutes off your time.

Suppose I see cycling as a very personal thing. It's me time. My way to get away from it all and I simply can't get away from it all surrounded by people.

Seth Brundle · 31-07-2023 8:53am

I enjoy both but I don't regard them as quite the same thing.

I love solo spins because I like time on my own whether it is to clear my head or as you say to hear the sounds around me.

However, I regard the club spins as a social event and while I still get to enjoy the scenery and so on, I also have the banter. I'd also point out that I'm not spending three or four hours looking at the arse in front of me (regardless of whether it's a man or woman in front of me) but I get your point. The advantage of club spins is that there is safety in numbers. By this, I'm also referring to the times where you're heading into a poxy headwind and can share the lead or you suddenly feel lousy and you have others to help get you home. The group I head out with do a mix of route typoes (sometimes hills, sometimes more flat) and whilst we aim for a certain pace, we're not pushing ourselves to our limit.

jamesd · 31-07-2023 9:33am

Our clubs Sundays spins are social - 70km ish with a cake stop and its a time to have a chat and bit of banter with friends - flats and hills included and great to clear the head.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 9:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919548#Comment_120919548

Fair enough but many aren't and many would see 70kms as a mickey mouse spin. Just my experience with them it's head down no stops and doing at the very least 90kms at an average of at least 26kms an hour. My experience with any clubs is they are always 'training' orientated and I prefer to be more leisurely on a spin.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 9:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919360#Comment_120919360

I don't know about that safety in numbers thing always felt safer alone. It's just drafting there is always the possibility of a tight knit group someone doing something erratic and you can react faster alone as visibility is far better. In a group you can be reliant on the person in front shouting out possible dangers but in wind can be very hard to hear people too so the safety in numbers thing cycling I don't really agree with. Solo I only have to worry about myself in a peloton or group you have to worry about those around you too or be aware of them. Not all club cyclists have amazing etiquette and often do erratic or dangerous manoeuvers

Dr.Tom · 31-07-2023 9:50am

What killed the Sunday "club spins" for me was when I finally realised there were lots of people there with an agenda to bury each other for bragging rights and pub talk. John was going bad Sunday. I killed Mick going up the climb etc. Very hard to have a group spin when everyone has a different motive. I used to do my turbo sessions during the week to enjoy the Sunday spin and clock up relatively easy mileage whereas others done nothing all week to kill everyone else on Sunday.

Hence the reason I'm now a solo cyclist.

DownByTheGarden · 31-07-2023 9:58am

I like both.

Getting out on my own is just heaven, but sometimes i want a chat and company on a spin.

But in a group spin its the social aspect thats good. there are always one or two who ruin it. Like the ones who seem to want to antagonize other road users and then moan about this car and that car and what they did for the whole day. Or the ones who want to brag how good they are by ragging om someone else who was holding us up who was struggling. In general though, bar those two types, who seem to get on every club spin, most are just out for the fun of it and the social interaction. I guess you get hardliners in every walk of life so you just have to let them in one ear an out the other.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 10:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919639#Comment_120919639

I agree pal the bragging thing to me is infuriating. I did such a time or such a speed or whatever who cares? I mean these lads who want to do a average of 30kms + an hour of I can live with them but what is the point in almost race cycling on a Sunday morning spin and then being wrecked after with sore legs the next day?

In fairness with clubs lots of nice people in them too but they nearly always have 2/3 bragging ould lad types who are obsessive about times/speeds/who did what and whom they can lecture in a kinda nasty I'm a better cyclist than you type but they disguise it as 'helping'

Then cycling clubs wonder why they can't get new members to go out for spins on Sundays. 🙄

Paddigol · 31-07-2023 10:10am

Don't think I've come across any of those characters in my club spins. Maybe I'm lucky with the only club in Ireland that doesn't have them?

Group/ team sports aren't for everyone. Long solo round trip spins bore the daylights out of me. Then again, a long solo point-to-point spin can be a lovely way to spend a day.

Plastik · 31-07-2023 10:12am

I like cycling on my own because the club spins don't go early enough or hard enough for me. I come home and brag to myself about myself. I have no idea what the point of this thread is. No body is forced to go on any club spin that they don't want to join. Cycling on your own has benefits and drawbacks, cycling in a group has other benefits and other drawbacks, that's it.

I am primarily on my own because I can go at the pace I want, on the route I want, at the schedule I want. You are reading far too much into perceived clandestine "motives" of others on club spins.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 10:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919760#Comment_120919760

I never said clandestine or motives you did! but if I did say motives I suspect I know what they are.

I just think clubs are too 'training' orientated and many of them do have preachy ould lad types. I also prefer to take in scenery rather than look at the back of someone else cycling. Nothing there about motives or clandestine is there : )

Seth Brundle · 31-07-2023 10:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919751#Comment_120919751

My group is the same as yours - there's no pretention or posing in the group and the conversations with whoever is beside you being just a normal discussion.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 10:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919751#Comment_120919751

Yes you are lucky count your blessing but I find it hard to believe myself! Each to their own.

dahat · 31-07-2023 10:53am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919760#Comment_120919760

Agreed on the point of this thread.

Both have benefits, choose one.

Elvis Hammond · 31-07-2023 10:59am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058307301/why-solo-cycling-is-better-than-club-group-cycling

Do you never tire of returning here repeatedly with these dumb threads?

iwillhtfu · 31-07-2023 11:02am

Definitely valid points raised by OP and a lot of clubs have introduced different groups to allow for this. Noting worse than listening to lads talking about winning a race that no one else was aware of being a race.

Myself I enjoy the handy Sunday rides and if I feel like suffering I'll usually just head out earlier and meet up with the group starting out or do some intervals off of the back of the group.

Smashing one another up hills etc is willy waving stuff and half those lads probably don't race or wouldn't last very long in a race.

In saying that if you're out with a group that do race they may incorporate intervals as a group.

As mentioned above it's not a case of all or nothing find a group that suits your interest and go with that. The roadman podcast had a good podcast on how the sunday spin is dying, can't find it now but recall it being a good one.

skallywag · 31-07-2023 11:03am

Always now either go on my own or with perhaps one or two others. Don't bother with larger group rides these days. That said the longer rides can definitely be tougher when you're solo.

Maybe it was my bad luck but there were always a few dickheads who would do their best to intentionally hold up traffic or be disruptive, and see it as their right.

skallywag · 31-07-2023 11:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120919995#Comment_120919995

The Op has 7 posts. Are you suspicious it's a re-reg who is always coming on and posting the same under different usernames?

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 11:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920011#Comment_120920011

Can you send links to the roadman podcast thanks.

I think maybe certain clubs get dominated by certain personality types. The over bearing uber confident ould lad who's riding since the 70's and knows it all and by god he's going to tell you about it!

Agreed very few of them do anything in real race but they like to pretend they would hop of Jonas Vingegaard in a race and leave him in the dust.

Also on club rides whats with the incessant talking? I don't care about your day I'm trying to escape mine. Even giving certain folk very abrupt short responses they still don't get the message. I don't wanna talk while cycling! Any silent clubs out there? : )

Elvis Hammond · 31-07-2023 11:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920058#Comment_120920058

Always this clickbaity stuff. I wonder if he's even a cyclist or just likes to get people venting on something/anything.

iwillhtfu · 31-07-2023 11:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920080#Comment_120920080

To be fair a social spin usually involves people being sociable. 🤷‍♂️If you want to hear less talking maybe do the boards evil spin. I hear it's more huffing and puffing than talking 🤣

It was a good while ago I listened to the podcast I mentioned and there's no search function but here's the website with podcast links. I find it a good listen, some of the stuff I don't agree with but in general he's pretty much no airs or graces and calls out BS as it should be.

https://www.roadmancycling.com/

Actually just found it. I had the name wrong its' The group ride is broken.

https://www.roadmancycling.com/episodes/episode-76-group-ride-broken

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 11:31am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920086#Comment_120920086

Yes you are right no one here has ever ridden a bicycle that's right good lad.

Something I will never ever ever understand is those who spend all their days trolling and trying to derail a thread if you have zero interest in the discussion why hang around? Are you honestly telling me you spend your days trying to derail threads on boards.ie there is literally nothing better for you to do at all? Sweet Jesus how incredibly sad is that.

Elvis Hammond · 31-07-2023 11:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920166#Comment_120920166

You're the one who keeps coming back with your stupid thread titles probably taken from GCN videos.

Weepsie · 31-07-2023 11:40am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920100#Comment_120920100

If you don't like the aul lad preachy types , listening to the roadman podcast is the wrong thing to do.

He's the worst type for talking absolute bluster and shite about being a proper cyclist. You can say no airs or graces, but he's some sort of faux throwback who is trying so very hard to sound to sell himself as sone sort of idea of what a cyclist should be

DownByTheGarden · 31-07-2023 11:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920016#Comment_120920016

I have a particular hate for those guys who seem to want to mess with the car drivers and then spend the rest of the day moaning about car drivers. Its almost like they have nothing better to do than to prove that every car driver is a kunt and they are right all the time. These people are just bad for everyone. There are two of them in my club and the rest of us try to get out without them, but its not always possible. We now have different groups going out at different times too just so you can see which group the knobs are in and go in the other one :)

DownByTheGarden · 31-07-2023 11:46am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920166#Comment_120920166

Imagine what those same people are like if you get stuck with them on the road :)

iwillhtfu · 31-07-2023 12:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920231#Comment_120920231

Ah I don't get that at all from him, certainly wouldn't consider him preachy but I can see how he ruffles feathers. Now granted I don't listen to all of his podcasts and I don't agree with all of his opinions but he does point out some of the nonsense that is cycling. He also inadvertently highlights some of the nonsense that he thinks cycling should be in equal measure

spudpicker2022 · 31-07-2023 12:26pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058307301/why-solo-cycling-is-better-than-club-group-cycling

"at the detriment of your enjoyment" - it all depends on what one's definition of "enjoyment" is. And that can vary!!! Clubs generally have different groups to cater for different levels. Sometimes, getting riders to join the most suitable group is the biggest challenge. At the end of the day, no one is forcing anyone to group ride!

2011abc · 31-07-2023 12:38pm

Looks like not much has changed in the last quarter century of cycling in Ireland …apart from the number of ladies involved …and ,eh,’coffee stops’ …when did they become such a firmly entrenched thing to the point that some people have ‘cafe bikes ‘ ?! Like they were starting to crop up in mid Noughties if you were out on a long spin but now it seems some want to stop after hardly warming up .Do some cyclists actually gain weight - positive calorie balance ?-on their spins nowadays ?! Anyway the Winter weekend warriors would NEVER get up in the races .GOD be with the days when men were men etc

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 1:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920513#Comment_120920513

I know obviously no one is forced to I get that but I gave group rides a go many a time for 'Sunday spins' and they would be advertised or in the message group or whatever as a nice enjoyable scenic spin. Then you get going and everyone is motoring along flat out almost trying to drop one another, at an average little over 30kms and within 30 seconds some ould fecker is bending the ear off ya 'Did I tell ya I caught a wind there the other week and cut 3 minutes off me best time' and then proceeds to wreck your head.

Also many say here clubs have different categories but not in my experience. Smaller clubs have only one group heading out on the Sunday or Saturday morning spin, wasn't any A/B or C groups.

I think people miss a point here too. This 'training' type mentality in some clubs scares off newcomers also. A newbie won't live with a 30kms average on a spin for example.

hans aus dtschl · 31-07-2023 1:08pm

Wait, are 30kmh group spins considered fast spins now?

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 1:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920845#Comment_120920845

It is to a newbie and to anyone experienced it's very steady going too. People can let on they Pogacar and average 50kms but we both know that's not true. In fact those are the people who are all talk on cycles I'm having a moan about : )

hans aus dtschl · 31-07-2023 1:20pm

Where can I find one of these club spins? Sounds pretty good to me tbh

Paddigol · 31-07-2023 1:25pm

Seems like I've accidentally stumbled into the Grumpy Old Man thread through a previously undiscovered secret door vortex in the world wide interweb!

hans aus dtschl · 31-07-2023 1:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920990#Comment_120920990

I have a lot of problems with the way you cycle, and now you're going to hear all about it.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 1:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920954#Comment_120920954

Any town club with Sunday morning spins. Oh you know only about 110 to choose from.

Wouldn't you have to radically slow down though if they average only 30kms and that's slow to you when you average your usual 80kms overtaking cars on motorways and all.

Can't imagine a spin where a lighting bolt like you has to constantly slow down is pretty good but to each their own eh! 😉

cletus · 31-07-2023 1:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120920845#Comment_120920845

Not if you're a real man, or a roadman, or from a time when men were men. Or something

mvt · 31-07-2023 1:58pm

I have the best of both- any group spins I start finish as a solo as I am so slow.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 2:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921197#Comment_120921197

Doesn't that annoy you?

No man left behind and all that. I mean if they are training for a race fair enough but surely they can go out in their own group?

Leaving cyclists behind is bad form especially for a ould Sunday spin. Drop the average speed a smidgen by 1 or 2kms an hour and most will keep up.

mvt · 31-07-2023 2:23pm

Ah no, just trying to keep it lighthearted- mainly do audax so that's par for the course.

jonnreeks · 31-07-2023 2:26pm

Too be honest a big group of lycra/spandex clad cyclists is some ugly sight! 😮

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 2:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921343#Comment_120921343

Ah that's different audax cycling is very different to a club spin. Over 200kms or more people will definitely have different paces.

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921364#Comment_120921364

Well that wasn't my reason to prefer solo cycling but maybe they do.

Also never met anyone cycling wearing spandex who are this people? Where are these people?

hans aus dtschl · 31-07-2023 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921106#Comment_120921106

You're right, these group spins sound way too slow for me. I worry that I might doze off mid-spin and do myself an injury. Or worse, not be home first!

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 3:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921466#Comment_120921466

True, I'm always right. It's a burden sometimes : )

fat bloke · 31-07-2023 3:16pm

It's nice to mix it up. But generally I find a trio of like-minded and similar ability riders to be the ideal spin combo. 3 or perhaps 4. Once groups get bigger than that then you have a whole other presence, mass and inertia on the road itself and in terms of deciding where to go, when to go, when to stop, where to stop, pace etc etc. Nothing insurmountable but it requires management and obedience in equal measures :)

Wishbone Ash · 31-07-2023 4:02pm

Ironically I find that it's often the newer riders to a club spin who can spoil it - pushing the pace when they get to the front as if they have something to prove. I think the OP needs to find a club which have non-'training' spins - difficult in smaller clubs.

I go on several club rides each week and can't ever recall anyone boring the ear off me about their PR's. What does bug me though are the lads who come out only once or twice per year and start dictating to everyone else how to ride, what to be wearing, when to eat/drink etc as if the rest of use are newbies.

I enjoy club rides for the social aspect and for distances below 130/140kms. For long rides I prefer to go solo so that I can decide the pace, where I stop etc. When doing audax I prefer not to get into a group. I also prefer to be on my own when I get a puncture as i'm methodical by nature and prefer to take my time sorting it.

OP - not everyone is into nature, scenery, country sounds etc. I like to see trucks, tractors large machinery etc. I'm always amazed at how many cyclists are interested in birds (the feathered type). They don't interest me in the slightest. A few in our group wanted to stop on Sunday last because a hawk was spotted. WTF?

Heavyheartedsigh · 31-07-2023 4:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120921929#Comment_120921929

Points noted, nature is a big part of it for me yep.

I'm one of those cyclists who do it more for mental health than anything you know

and what do you mean you didn't stop to see a hawk! My God what's the World coming to : )

Wishbone Ash · 31-07-2023 5:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120922024#Comment_120922024

For a lot of people, social interaction is conducive to good mental health.

One thing that I omitted to mention in the previous post is that, in crap weather, you're more likely to keep going when in a group whereas when solo, the temptation to return home early is greater.

Weepsie · 31-07-2023 6:12pm

I just like being out on my own generally. I played team sports for so long and I got sick of it. Stopped being any craic and was far too serious. Replaced it with friendly kickabouts but then I got too many injuries and enjoyed beering instead.

Cycling, I just like finding a nice quiet road and letting the world pass by.

I do occasionally cycle with a group, who meet once a year and I enjoy that but we're very much there for the social and charitable aspect of it

07Lapierre · 31-07-2023 7:05pm

Clubs get dominated by “certain types “ because a lot of people are reluctant to get involved at committee level in their club! They leave it to the same people year I. Year out to organise club events and then moan about it! If your club only has training orientated rides, organise a non training ride at a time that suits you, with a route and pace that suits you and guess what? I bet you’ll find quite a few club mates will support you.

Why solo cycling is better than club/group cycling

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