Alone to organized ride?

[ghostpedal]

I want to travel to St. Louis, MO (where I grew up) for the Moonlight Ramble ride. No one I know is going, and everybody I've talked to thinks it's weird to go to this sort of organized ride alone. I don't get the chance to get out and meet other cyclists, I normally ride solo, and I've been to other rides alone when I was younger. Does anyone else go alone? What do you think?

 

[sooray02]

Haven’t been to a charity ride this year. I don’t see the point of paying money to ride and driving that far. I race to try to make some money, pay for my gas, entry fees and etc.... Also I get to meet some bad ass cyclists around and pretty much you get to see them through out the season. I go to maybe 2 charity rides a year and I don’t have to drive anywhere: I just ride out there.

If you like to drive hours to do a charity ride, that’s fine. Sure, you will meet some people and you might never see them again. BUT, you should definitely go, if you’d like to experience or need something new.

 

[jrowland96]

Hey, I'm from Kenosha too! Where do you normally ride? The bike route along the lake? I just have a MTB at the moment, but I'm more interested in road cycling, so maybe next year get a decent road bike...

As far as going for the charity ride, why not?? If it's something you want to do, go for it... and maybe you still have friends/family in St. Louis? If you just want to ride in a group/charity ride atmosphere, not specifically St. Louis, then there are a ton of other ones closer to home... Chicago has several events I know each year, and I assume there are similar events in WI (I just moved across the border from IL about 8 mos. ago...). Check out the Bicycle Federation of WI (www.bfw.org). There are a tone of fun rides, and competitive rides that they list in their publications.

Take care,
John

 

[ghostpedal]

I now live in Pleasant Prairie, so I cycle the roads throughout the area on my road bike, and also ride the Kenosha / McClory (sp?) bike trail. When I decided to get back in to riding over a year ago, I road MTB on the road for about a year before I sprang for a nice road bike. I like both. As far as local rides, I am considering the Nami ride in Racine and the Harmon Hundred in Wilmot both on Sun 9/11. Both of these events are close to us, and both look like fun. Now, I'll have to decide on which. I do still have family in St. Louis, but no one who rides. Many more midwest area rides can be found at http://www.mikebentley.com/bike/ (in addition to tons of other nice bike links) I haven't ridden a charity ride in a long time, and am looking forward to it.

Hey, I'm from Kenosha too! Where do you normally ride? The bike route along the lake? I just have a MTB at the moment, but I'm more interested in road cycling, so maybe next year get a decent road bike...

As far as going for the charity ride, why not?? If it's something you want to do, go for it... and maybe you still have friends/family in St. Louis? If you just want to ride in a group/charity ride atmosphere, not specifically St. Louis, then there are a ton of other ones closer to home... Chicago has several events I know each year, and I assume there are similar events in WI (I just moved across the border from IL about 8 mos. ago...). Check out the Bicycle Federation of WI (www.bfw.org). There are a tone of fun rides, and competitive rides that they list in their publications.

Take care,
John

 

[dgregory57]

In October of last year I rode my first organized ride, and it was wonderful. It was not a charity ride, it was a century, and my first. I also did a charity walk earlier this year that I had to drive over 2 hours to get to.

I managed to complete the metric century and received a lot of encouragement along the way. It is a good way to feel part of the cycling community.

Don't worry about riding alone, it is probably not that unusual. Whether you want to go for the ride, or to help the charity, either is enough to make a journey worthwhile, if you want to do both, then definitely go for it! I would be going to a Davis Phinney ride for Parkinsons, but I will be at a reunion on the west coast during the week it is scheduled.

 

[dale ditzler]

I want to travel to St. Louis, MO (where I grew up) for the Moonlight Ramble ride. No one I know is going, and everybody I've talked to thinks it's weird to go to this sort of organized ride alone. I don't get the chance to get out and meet other cyclists, I normally ride solo, and I've been to other rides alone when I was younger. Does anyone else go alone? What do you think?

i'm live across the river from st. louis and go on rides alone or with friends. some of my best times have been alone when happening on other cyclists and talking and riding. riding with the same people all the time, even if they're great, can be fairly predictable and clickish. good to get around on your own sometimes. if you see a big guy with gray hair, having a great time, it might be me.

 

[wineandkeyz]

I did the MS 150 charity ride last year by myself. I didn't know anyone else interested in going, so I just went alone. I had a great time, met a lot of terrific folks, and rode a lot further than I thought I ever could. One nice thing about it was that I could choose my own pace, and hook up with other riders going that pace, rather than feeling like I had to stay with a group.

I went on another charity ride this summer with my wife and some friends. But we all ride at different paces, so we agreed beforehand that we'd all just do our own things. Within a few miles we were all separated anyway and didn't see each other again until after the ride.

That said, on both of those rides, there were many folks that had obviously come as groups and stayed together the whole day. They seemed to enjoy it just as much as I did, so to each his own, I suppose.

My suggestion would be to not worry about what anyone else thinks of it, if you think you'd enjoy it, go for it.

 

[ghostpedal]

I don't know if anyone was really concerned, but I did go to Moonlight Ramble this last weekend and had a complete blast. My ex-stepdad (and friend) went with me. He's not a cyclist, but I provided the bike, and he is a runner in good shape, so he was fine. The whole event is for fun anyway, and is in no way a serious ride. It was 20 miles through St. Louis starting at midnight. Riders of all ages, bikes, costumes, etc. always come out. The organization hasn't published final numbers, but when I was leaving the start area, they yelled over megaphone that they had already counted ~10,800 registered riders. There were still many more to count, and there are also those who join the ride without registering (for shame, it's a worthwhile fundraiser). Every intersection was closed and watched by police. It was a really fun ride. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants a low-key, but amazingly fun ride to join next year. www.moonlightramble.com if you want to check it out.