How many of you ride solo most of the time, either by neccesity, choice or sometimes both. While I do enjoy riding with others, and even larger groups on occasion, I find that riding Muni, 36er or trials solo, gives me the time to just get into a kind of “zone”, where I escape into my own little world of carefree fun & adventure.
I can go at my own pace, and if I want to stop and take a break, practice a particular line to my hearts content, or if I’m filming, just take all the time I want, all without worrying about holding anyone up. Yes, I love riding with friends but I also enjoy just being out on my own quite a lot. And because I ride almost daily, and the only riders I know of in my area get out only once a week on average, I really don’t have much choice than to ride alone most of the time. But I love it all the same, so it works out anyway. :o
I ride alone. New riders have only been popping up recently, but they’ve only been poping out because I’ve inspired them to try it (their mothers words not mine lol).
So for all you guys that don’t ride because you have no one to ride with, just get out there and maybe you’ll get some people interested.
So yeah I ride alone, can be boring but it makes me focus a lot more on my riding then mucking around doing something silly which is what I usualy do when I’m with a friend skating or something.
Edit: Company is always good though Anyones welcome at my house.
YEah if I had to rely on others to ride with me, I’d hardly ever get out there! I guess some ppl ride mostly for the comradery; I ride for the love of riding! That’s what it’s all about for me. I try to make every ride an adventure and am always challenging myself to improve and try new stuff.
I love MUni so much because I’m out in nature and even though I may have ridden the same trail a hundred times, I can choose different lines, paths, and it’s always stays fresh an interesting to me. Affter almost three years, it’s more fun now than ever!
I ride more and more alone. I practice a lot in front of my house with my skinny set up/ highjump bar and pallets. I go a few times a week downtown, but most of the time nobody comes or they bail.
I used to ride with my brother all the time. He was the reason why I got into trials (he’s on a bike). Then he got a job, a truck, a desire to go offroad with this damn truck, then a girlfriend, and he’s pretty much quit now. He got another life I guess?
I spend most of my time riding with bike trials riders, but it kind of sucks to have nobody better than you to push you/ give tips. I’ve seen a lot of people get things down (when I explain them) in a ride that took me months of hard work to get. A lot of people come and in and faze out of the scene, I don’t care anymore. I used to get excited when somebody new came on a ride, but I guess I’m more jaded now.
For my uni-socializing, I go to vancouver and ride with Justin and the vancouver crew. HUGE uni scene there, wow! Saving up my cash to ride with Joe hodges in the UK.
I also am usually in the alone crew, I try and organize rides and I sometimes drag my non unicyclist friend Ben along but usually its alone, I’m about to go out in fifteen minutes or so or whenever my camera battery is done charging for a bit.
I mainly only ride alone and i prefer it that way.
I like it becuase i can do what i want, when i want, and warm up etc and escape reality - after all, uni’ing i find is the best way to clear your head.
I have one mate that i sometimes (very rarely) ride with, i dont like riding with others much as i am limited to places i can go (because of their riding ability etc) and for some reason i never ride as hard - we end up just talking.
On the other hand, I like riding with Tom, on the few occasions we have ridden together its a good mix of chatting/advice/riding.
You have to be very careful when riding alone. I ride alone all the time rite outside of my house or on the local basketball court for skills building sessions and on busy city streets to practice trials.
However if you are riding MUni I don’t advise riding alone. Muni is usually done in remote places with few or no other people. If you have a bad UPD where you break your leg or something it is very important to have a friend with you. I can say this from first hand experience. Life is not “riskfree.” We are all going to die but the most important thing is to reduce the risks as much as possible so that we can continue riding again the next day or in a few months if we do get hurt on a ride.
I have only ever ridden by myself. Always ride by myself But I am not sure about riding with friends. You cant really get into as terry says “the Zone” Its hard to practice around other people. It adds pressure too. I Love riding my uni and I love it by myself. Go solo unicylists!
I ride alone about half of the time and the other half with dan really. And then group rides and every so often someone else.
I like riding alone with my music but I find that I get tired quickly and hurt myself more because I just try and try and try and never really have a break. With someone else i push myself harder and have more fun.
I’m on my own on most rides. Most of the local(ish - nobody is really close)riders I know of are mostly into trials and street rather than xc/muni. It’s nice to ride with a small group (perhaps two or three) but big groups get a bit slow, with too much waiting around to regroup, and faffing seems to increase exponentially with rider numbers.
Unicorn’s right though - in more remote places it would be good to have somebody else around just in case. Being in the middle of the moors I’ve become a bit blase about it and almost been caught out a couple of times.
There is a small group that I ride MUni with however it’s usually only on a Saturday. During the week I ride MUni by myself, and although I agree with Unicorn, the area that I ride in usually has a lot of MTB riders out so there is always someone around or at least someone within shouting distance.
I enjoy riding as a group from a social perspective and also the group has various skill levels so we’re always learning from each other, or rather learning from 1 person (WOFT)
I do enjoy riding by myself though. It gives me time to really get into the “zone” as Terry mentioned, practice which ever trails and lines I want to as many times as I want to. Stop when I feel like resting which is usually not much, just enough to catch my breath before heading on again. When looking at various lines I tend to talk to myself about them as a sort of audible feedback. Also I find there is less pressure to perform. I don’t feel like I have to make a particular obstacle if everyone else has, although in a group there is the extra encouragement.
Overall I prefer to ride by myself but that is possibly due to the fact that I’m riding by myself most of the time.
I ride on my own much of the time. A lot of my riding is commuting anyway. Other rides, I’m often fitting in a quick muni blast when I have a spare hour or two, or going for a fast road ride, I don’t often know I’m going riding until half an hour beforehand.
Having said that, every so often I get organised and sort out a proper muni ride, mainly night rides, and that is great fun. I sometimes organise decent sized group rides too, although I don’t like to let the groups get too big, as you end up going pretty slow with all the faffing, I prefer a group of 5 or 6 fast riders, so you can race the whole way.
I play unicycle hockey every week which is a good laugh too.
I usually ride on my own, for the old paper round and if I can be bothered to go out and practice something. Saying that if I go out with my non-unicyclist friends I unicycle anyway, but I just ride. I prefer being alone, because I can get into “the zone” and can record stuff without distraction. Riding with others always adds a bit of pressure and makes everything that little bit harder.
There arent any uni riders I know of in my area, so i usually just unicycle to a local skatepark. on the way there, there are a few raised curbs etc. that i ride on. I also sometimes,though quite rarely i must admit, practice freestyle at the skatepark. It’s a pretty dull place really. It has a quarter pipe, 2 ledges, 3 mediums sized ramps, a pyramid, 2 boxes (a big and a small, the big one goes of a ledge so if I’d just learn to grind…), And a line of rocks (over 1 foot wide) THat I practice jumpin upto then i try to ride along while avoidin clutter(wwater bottles…) And thats all. It’s a total of an estimated 300 sq ft. Sounds like a lot but it really isn’t. But if i ever got hurt, theres a plyground and soccer field surrounded w/ moms and usually some sk8borders (in the sk8 park)
Alone 95% of the time. I ride with other people only several times a year. Most of those rides are muni. There are some guys in my area who do distance and I just got a coker so hopefully I’ll start doing that with other people. Rarely get to ride trials (what I like to do best) with anyone. Couple times a year with bike trials riders.
I really enjoy riding with other people, but I think going alone is good for you too.
I think if you are experienced and prepared it shouldn’t be a problem. I know the ins and outs of Colo weather, I know the animals I may encounter, and I bring stuff in my first aid kit plus an extra layer in case I have to bivy all night. Cell Phone, lighter and the knowledge and skills to survive is all I need to feel safe on a ride.
As far as riding alone, I just don’t take the same risks I might if I was with other people or on a popular trail. I’ll tone it down and stay in the safe zone.
It’s taken a lot of experience in the woods to feel confident I could handle most any situation. Boy Scouts & Outward Bound helped teach me alot, and my own stupidity and bad decisions have put me in some situations that could have turned out bad. All learning experiences - but all very valuable.
If you go alone…be prepared. Have a cell phone or PLB, plus a fire starter, whistle and 1st aid kit.
DONT WEAR COTTON on a muni ride.
Have fun be safe!
Backcountry skiing alone. Be careful! Avalanches scare me.
mountain bike alone most of the time. With a wife and two kids, my ride time is before work and early on sunday mornings. sometimes I get a couple friends to mtn bike with me on Sunday.
I ride uni alone all the time. I need to get better on my uni before I ride with anyone. and need to meet other riders, I know there are one or two around FC. After I can Muni better, maybe I’ll PM one.
Skiing BC alone isnt a great idea, even if you know the areas/weather etc. you can still get caught in a natural avie or one started by another party. even if you are prepared and peepin, you are peepin to no one and you will die. I ride alone all the time except in the backcountry, if there were a safe way i could ride back country alone I would be all over it. Be safe out there.
Anyones welcome at my house.
But I am not sure about riding with friends. You cant really get into as terry says “the Zone” Its hard to practice around other people. It adds pressure too. I Love riding my uni and I love it by myself. Go solo unicylists!