11 reasons why group rides suck and it's better to get out on your own

12) You don't pay attention to your surroundings, the landscape, the route etc.
When you're in a group you chat and always have to look out for other riders, and so very often see nothing of what's around, or at any rate far less than you might have on your own.

Point 1,2,4,6 are all idiotic testosterone related issues. People with small d*** trying to look like a pro. We have some cx Belgian girl riding with us sometimes,  Master rider etc but also some older people.
im  riding solo and in group and in group there are rules set beforehand. We do wait for people having flats and help to quickly get them back, set slower ones out of the wind (half the power needed) wait on top of a hill so the slower ones can catch up. And the faster ones can either do sightseeing or do the ride twice uphill. Coffee stop is always at the end of the ride unless it is a full day. If someone needs to do a stop for some reason he calls out and the front guys decide where its safe to stop. Front guys are held responsible for the group safety. A group of 15 people in Belgium can ride on the road where the cars are. Cars may not break a group when crossing etc 

I agree with what was said in the above article.
I am very much a leisire cyclist. I have been on a few social group rides - but on them I need to be alert to what the other riders are doing, I can't go at my own pace, can't stop to admire a view etc. do not have to wait for others with a problem. I prefer to go on my own.
I am also a rambler - it is easier to chat to those around me than on a bike ride. I can stop for a minute to two and easily catch the others up as I can see where they've gone.

They just Talk crap, ALL the time

my worst prangs and mechanicals have been in group settings - not sure I've got the faculties to consider what other riders are doing 

12. Aggressive drivers who behave like morons when they see 2 a-breast riding or a big group.
 

13. Time consuming group coffee stops when you can push harder on your own without the need for a 45 minute cake break and a lunchtime return. Which renders the post-stop ride even more of a plod. 

Gave up on group riding a long time ago. Mainly because of the demands of a young child and the need to get back early. Cycling really is about the escape. And riding at dawn, unbeatable. 

Obviously pros and cons to the whole thing. Sometimes it's worth organising people. On a charity ride (London to Paris) I got people to close gaps, keep their speed and do turns of 3 minutes to keep the turnover regular.

Once people got into it they really took to it. Not to say that they were all unseasoned riders, but they all learned something.

The best rides are when you're in two or threes. Obviously pick your ride partners carefully, but you have a legal witness/helping hand/wind break/conversation partner etc. Etc. The key to group riding is about selectivity. Are the riders going to give you what you need? Some people only want banter and riding at a comfortable pace, while others want open mouthed, breathing-out-your-arse, max speed rides from start to finish.

i don't ride primarily to be social, but group rides definitely offer benefits and it's a great skill to learn. Especially off-and-through riding, of pulling off and dropping back.

I do both....my ride buddies do too...all our group rides are no set pace, social, no one gets left behind... Winter riding = Mudguards and we all share any spares like tubes.....and we have great conversation from putting the world to rights to the latest cycling news,racing & bike stuff

Cycling is like sex.  You can do it on your own, but it's more fun if you're not.

I have done some brevets last year, and I stuck to the group because I wanted the aero advantage and feared I wouldn't make it otherwise (or didn't know the route). Group riding sucks.

1) I haven't crashed in years, with the group I have been involved in 2 crashes in short order, crashing myself in one case (fortunately with no damage to the bike and only a cracked rib and a month of pain for myself)

2) People in the group don't know how to ride efficiently. This screws up my flow, exhausts me, and ruins any aero advantage once it gets hilly. I maintain constant pedalling force whether it's flat, up or down hill, I just shift to keep my cadence and pedalling force and don't mind the speed. Others try to maintain the speed when they reach an incline, quasi pointlessly sprinting up the hill. The first couple of times I thought, blimey, I won't be able to keep up, the guys are simply FLYING up the hill. And then they powered themselves out and slowed to a crawl, so that I had to  break out and go on my own lest I should cool out. Took me a while to figure out I'm actually one of the strongest climbers and the rest just don't know how to ride hills.  When I stay in a group and we reach the crest of a hill, they immediately start coasting, instead of gathering speed. They waste loads of speed and momentum, their pulse goes down, the muscles store a bit of energy so they can peak sprinting up the next incline and power themselves out. Due to the dynamics of this, I kept falling out of and getting caught by the group. In the hills I'd get away, in the flats they'd catch me. But sticking with the group in the flats didn't bring advantages either, because they never maintain the speed properly and oscillate between surging and coasting. In the end I figured out I'd be better just riding on my own, I had the same average speed and felt way less tired than in the group. If I had a couple of people who had a similar style of riding and knew how to do this, it would work, but in practice I never had that.

3) Insufficient mudguards all around, but for a couple of exceptions. On one 400km brevet we were in heavy rain for the last 180km, and it was like having a garden hose spraying dirty water in your face all the time.  I had full guards (albeit a bit short) and one other chap had long SKS (just bought some myself), that's it. The rest had ass-savers or clip-ons. It was ridiculous. I ended up getting out in front and leading until I nearly fell off my bike, just to get out of the constant stream of dirty water.

4) High stress trying to stamp my card, piss, get my bottles filled and some food into me. They'd set off without me half of the time, and I had to chase them.

5) They'd talk to me. I don't mind a little chat, but I'm not terribly sociable. When I'm on a bike I have better uses for my breath than waffling.

The last brevet before PBP was a 600 in two parts. I rode with the group first 300km, overstrained my knee and exhausted myself. The second part I had no group and rode the whole distance alone. My knee was hurting like hell, my arse was sore, I was tired, it was cold and it drizzled occasionally - but it was beautiful, and I still think fondly of it. The group rides I just remember as high stress and hard work. Screw that, I'm doing it alone.

Riding solo is better than riding in a group because you might get dropped, or left behind if you puncture, or turn up late, and be left, um... riding solo. 

I think a mix is good. 

Group rides will let you discover more route and cafe stops. 

They'll shelter you from the wind a bit more. 

Let you keep a higher pace up. 

The key to it all is selecting the right group to go with. 

It's good to read reasons to justify riding on my own when I had thought it was because I have no friends.

I've been the guy who has to drop because some days you are just not up for it. I've also been the annoying twat jumping off the front like an over excited spaniel at every chance.

I like the motivation of turning up when I'd otherwise be stinking in bed, but secretly hoping that no-one else does so I can sneak back home where it is warm and dry.

I like being in the company of others even if I say no more than "good morning".

Sometimes it is frustrating when others get punctures until you get one yourself and someone lends a hand.

Sometimes the group works well and there's a buzz about being part of a team riding inches from each other's wheels, other times it just doesn't work and I'll go ahead to warn of cars or drop behind to protect the rear because the group just doesn't feel safe.

But the very best thing about the group ride is the cake and coffee at the end.

Another advantage of solo rides is less hassle from car drivers. A solo cyclist is much easier to overtake.

The natural progression tends to be start cycling > get better > join a club > get better > meet some likeminded people > meet some bellends > organise some things privately with the likeminded people > leave the club to avoid the bellends

One upside i have discovered, having disliked group rides for ages but just the last week took the plunge, is that the training benefit can be higher. I pushed myself much harder when out with these faster guys. It was admittedly all a bit macho and alpha male for me, but we certainly cracked on.

Done with group rides years ago, way too much faff, far rather ride alone now.

...or they don't even show up

Some "organised rides" are not. Organised, that is. I rode with a club whose Sunday ride was sometimes populated by just me. A bit less likely now we have this social media thing, but it was typical of the contempt a lot of people had for one another. 

When ride leaders were suggested one objection was that that person might be legally liable for crashes. 

Whether that's true or not, it was indicative of the attitude.

I've moved on...