Originally Posted by
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.
Reply With Quote
