So I have been riding for a few years now and got into it because friends had bikes and talked me into it. Well fast forward to know, all but one of those friends had given up riding or moved on with other things, and the one thats left is very unreliable so my question is how or where do you find a new group of people to ride with? I know there is always just the possibility of meeting new people out on the trail but I like to go to different places to ride and hate going alone. I don't want to just be a creeper that waits for someone at the trailhead and asks if I can tag along on their route :lol:
How to find new people to ride with?
crfnick56
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So I have been riding for a few years now and got into it because friends had bikes and talked me into it. Well fast forward to know, all but one of those friends had given up riding or moved on with other things, and the one thats left is very unreliable so my question is how or where do you find a new group of people to ride with? I know there is always just the possibility of meeting new people out on the trail but I like to go to different places to ride and hate going alone. I don't want to just be a creeper that waits for someone at the trailhead and asks if I can tag along on their route :lol:
Be a creeper at the trail head, be friendly and have a cooler of beer to share after the ride. Post in your local region where you ride, maybe it'll catch some ones attention there. You could stalk people on strava, in a non creepy way and see some other riders that do similar loops as you. Facebook, even craigslist. I don't know if any of that will work though, I typically ride alone too out of preference.
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In our area there are several options. There are a couple of facebook groups on which people publish ride plans or request ride partners. Several of the local bikes shops have regular nights on which they do after-work rides and a few have weekend shop rides. Our local mountain bike club has weekly rides on Wednesday nights during the summer and one weekend get away campout a month. I've seen a Meetup or two for mountain biking. Some folks meet others at local races or bike related events. Others spend time in local bike shops and get to know employees who connect them, or even other customers who spend time there.
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I think that would be hard for a lot of people to pull off in a non-creepy way, situational of course but I could see getting pretty weirded out by someone stalking me in the parking lot and definitely would be a bit freaked if a stranger stalked me on strava.
I'd start with the lbs and see if they have any group rides or a group email list that notifies upcoming rides.
You gotta be cool about it, if you're posted up down the block in your box van waiting for someone to show I'm sure that could be taken the wrong way. I see people meandering about at the trailhead all the time. Be social, say hi. Maybe someone will even make an offer for you to join in.
Isn't strava technically a social network for cyclist? So someone gives you kudos on a ride you did and sends you a message about hooking up for a ride some time and you're creeped out?
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I don't know how other people use strava but in my case the only people who ever give me kudos are "followers" and the only people who are followers are people I know. Most of my friends on strava I originally met on lbs group rides, so to me that seems like a better order to do it in but to each his own.
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I solo ride a lot but I always make new friends within seconds. After about a year, I have a huge contact list of riders. I find new riders just by talking to them on the trail. At my local bike park, I know so many people to the point that they recognize me immediately and say hi.
Definitely put yourself out there and just chat with other riders. Another option is to find Facebook groups that are dedicated to rider meetups. I'm part of a bunch of them!
Definitely put yourself out there and just chat with other riders. Another option is to find Facebook groups that are dedicated to rider meetups. I'm part of a bunch of them!
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I have people ask if they can tag along in the trail head parking lot all the time. Usually it's their "first time here"..."you heading in? mind if I tag along? I don't know a good loop" This is usually pretty annoying if they are slower and even more annoying when they're faster...lol. A cooler full of beer would certainly help. With that 3 or 4 of my now best friends I've met that way.
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It took me about a year of trying different things in my area, but I've got a couple groups going. I volunteer with the local NICA team, so I do rides pretty regularly with them. Bunch of kids, and a decent number of coaches are pretty regular. Just got back from a ride with them. These rides tend to be shorter, so they're good for just getting my frequency up.
I've found some other guys who like to ride fairly regularly, too, and we've been working on getting something regular going. It's been tough with the holidays, bad weather, and the gov't shutdown preventing some necessary storm cleanup, but we're getting out tomorrow and it looks like our group is going to have 10 people. It's only ever been 4 at the most before, so I'm hoping the group dynamic is a good one.
I also ride with my wife. She and I are going to be riding on Monday, it looks like. She has plans tomorrow so can't make it to the group ride. But she rides with the group when she can.
I have tried some group rides off the local meetup, and they DEFINITELY didn't fit me well, so I was a single time attendee on those. Sometimes you can find groups on Facebook and there's one I was put in touch with from a fellow mtbr user awhile back that's a good group I'll ride with sometimes. I'm on a couple other local Facebook mtb groups, but they don't usually put on "group" rides per se...it's mostly just people talking bikes and occasionally asking people to ride with them. They do get takers, so that's definitely an option if you're hankerin for a group and your schedule is weird. I haven't tried any of the local shop rides, but that's a scheduling issue more than anything.
I've found some other guys who like to ride fairly regularly, too, and we've been working on getting something regular going. It's been tough with the holidays, bad weather, and the gov't shutdown preventing some necessary storm cleanup, but we're getting out tomorrow and it looks like our group is going to have 10 people. It's only ever been 4 at the most before, so I'm hoping the group dynamic is a good one.
I also ride with my wife. She and I are going to be riding on Monday, it looks like. She has plans tomorrow so can't make it to the group ride. But she rides with the group when she can.
I have tried some group rides off the local meetup, and they DEFINITELY didn't fit me well, so I was a single time attendee on those. Sometimes you can find groups on Facebook and there's one I was put in touch with from a fellow mtbr user awhile back that's a good group I'll ride with sometimes. I'm on a couple other local Facebook mtb groups, but they don't usually put on "group" rides per se...it's mostly just people talking bikes and occasionally asking people to ride with them. They do get takers, so that's definitely an option if you're hankerin for a group and your schedule is weird. I haven't tried any of the local shop rides, but that's a scheduling issue more than anything.
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