Solo ride- Am I turning anti-social?

[tenxxx]

My favorite one day ride from Dallas is to the Talimena Run, with an overnight in Mena, Arkansas. It's not too far, and is really a nice quick one day trip just to get away for a day. I took off yesterday and made the trek alone. I typically will find a buddy to go, but this time just took off, not wanting to coordinate with anyone else, and didn't want to miss the slightly cooler temps this weekend.

Some of my friends want to pass every car we come up on, no matter where or how many bikes there are, some want to ride as many miles as they can every day, some like to stop to look at things, some don't at all. For he most part, I find I am somewhere in the middle of most of the different riders I ride with.

I may have had a better time riding solo than if someone else had gone with me. Stop where/when I want/, go see what I want, take as long as I want, take the roads I want, eat where/when I want, etc. I love the camaraderie of riding with friends, but this trip was most enjoyable. In fact, I'm still on the road grabbing some lunch, and am not worried about the arbitrary deadline to get back home that exists when I ride with others. We take a trip and then it's a race to get home asap for some reason. Today I'm just enjoying myself and not watching the clock.

It appears that a good solo ride is good for the soul. I am already looking forward to the next solo trip.

Ya, I think I was a cowboy riding the range in a past life.
I like riding alone. Going when ever I want. Where ever the road takes me.
I do like riding with friends once in a while. But somewhere in the ride I'm gonna cut out and go my own way.

[Broken Hand]

I ride 90%+ solo. I ride fast when opportunity arises. I’m fortunate that I have a riding buddy who has a similar riding style as me, but to me mixing different riding styles is like mixing bleach and ammonia; brings me to tears and pisses me off.
I don’t ride in groups larger than ~5.

[taxfree4]

Old Sicilian saying - "Walk alone, walk further"

Always preferred riding solo, tried a cross country with a buddy in 2013 and dumped him in West Virginia. I like to do the speed limit, little above, look around and take in the sights, stop and get some good shots. You can't do that when you're with a group, even one other rider as they want to make time, go faster etc. I used to like riding solo to meet a group of riders at a location and hang out, have a barbecue, stay overnight and leave in the a.m.. I can only speak for myself but I think today, with the proliferation of cell phones and social media, most people can't be alone they don't know what it's like, it scares them. To just stop the bike and turn it off in the middle of nowhere, get off and just look around taking in the sights and listening to nothing - no cars, no trucks, no noise. Just enjoying the peace of solitude. Nothing like it, nothing better.

[soupbean]

I always ride solo. Never been much of a socialite, enjoy getting together with friends and family but I’d rather just be doing my own thing. My job is service oriented, so at times I could be working all night long on emergency call or working overtime to get a job done. The reason I have a bike is to get away from everything, just relax and reflect.
I hardly ever ride on the weekdays unless I happen to be off that day, but I’ll usually pick a day on the weekend ( weather permitting ) and take off when I want to and where I want to. It’s my time to just disconnect, not check my phone because work is calling or think about something I need to get done.
I’m heading out today in two or three hours and heading north to no place in particular. I’ll probably stop two or three times for breaks or fuel wherever I like, do about 300 mi. and return home sometime in the evening and the wife will tell me what we’re having for dinner. Fortunately she understands why I ride too.

[STRaider]

One of my best riding buddies is great on a trip, as he will ride all day, but he requires a turn by turn route. Sometimes I have an area in mind and just want to head that direction, and figure it out on the way (kind of the beautiful thing of riding, IMO), but without a preplanned "great route" (meaning no freeways he has to get on) being planned, he won't go. He needs to know there are enough turns and miles to make it a good enough route to go on. Another rides too fast and wants to cannonball run all day, passing every vehicle and every long line of vehicles we encounter. The only goal is to see how many miles were done at the end of the day, as if distance is the only measure of a good ride. When I do ride with others, it's nice to have bluetooth communications, but my favorite friend to ride with doesn't have it and does 't want it, and resists almost anything that didn't come stock on his f6b, not even highway pegs. He's like an old school rider but almost too much so. One wants to go to the same place every ride. If it's a one day ride, it's to Stephenville for barbcue. Same place, same route, same gas stations, same meal. If it's a weekend trip, it's down south to the same place, same route, same gas stations. I don't mind that sometimes as I just follow and don't have to navigate, just ride and enjoy, but after doing the same exact ride multiple times, it's enough. When I have offered to break from a group and meet up at the destination, it's always "you should ride with us" as if I were breaking up a band or something. One trip a friend if a friend planned, we stayed in a neat, rustic cabin (no tv or cable) that took eight miles of bad, rutty dirt roads to get to, and it was right on a river. We got there after dark, then got up at daybreak, left for our ride, and didn't come back until after dark. I could see the trout in the river before we left and there were poles in the cabin. We never did anything that the cabin and location offered, so why stay in the sticks like that? If we are not going to enjoy the setting, fish, etc, I would rather have stayed at a hitel where we could walk to a restaurant and watch a college football game. One guy was on a kawasaki Vaquero and almost dropped it several times on those horrible dirt roads. But it was this other guy's ride and I was invited, so I just went along. When we would stop for lunch nobody spoke, just looked at their phones. I chatted with some locals. I knew I would have had more fum by myself, and that thought has been lingering for a while now.

For all the great reasons listed in this thread, I am sure I will be making many more solo trips. It's nice to know I'm not alone in enjoying the independence from the group ride and mentality.

[DaWadd]

I prefer solo or one other companion. Riding in a group sucks IMO. I think most nailed the reasons pretty good.

[olegoat345]

YOU, "let's go for a ride.". ME, "where you going, I'll meet you there."

[CarolinaRider]

And I thought it was just me. Ha. You solo riders see it all the time. These big groups of 8 or 20 bikes. Until I read this thread I was thinking I was the only solo rider. I have done it and learned quickly its not for me. I feel the most relaxed when I am by myself for sure and love the Solo life on 2wheels. On another note, I was great seeing to F6B's on the road this weekend. A yellow one on 601S in SC and another grey near Harstville SC parked at a restaurant.

[Sorcerer]

I ride with 3 clubs. All slightly different to very different. Solo riding for me is refreshing. As others have sead I set my own time tables, destinations that may change with the next turn, intersection. It gives me the opportunity to explore. Take a road that’s much less traveled. I don’t always turn around when the tar stops. I’ve found really neat little stretches of road that I would never want to lead a group down yet I enjoyed finding it. Sometimes the neat part is at the beginning, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the end. Some times I can scratch a road off the list or add to my ignore list.

[Pumper]

Amen...you define where, when, how long and do what you want on the road without others input and whining...definately good for the soul!!