Riding Alone

[clerictgm]

Well, about motivation, enjoying, etc.: I found that if weather is good(sunny/sunny+warm) I wanna ride almost every day. But now weather not so good and I'm often doubt about wanting or not wanting to ride this day, because I can't surely know - will I enjoy it or not.

The root of the problem is that now I ride alone and there seems that I almost have no chance to ride with someone, because the most of our riders "hung their bikes on a nail", only 2 or 3 of us is left in my city. And It more difficult and uncomfy to ride alone.. But I still ride and don't want to stop.

Who rides alone and how it feels for you?

[isitafox]

I ride alone, I don't really have much choice due to the fact I can't really travel very far and don't get much time.

To be honest I hate it as I struggle to progress as there's no one there to challenge me, spur me on or even offer advice on how I'm doing stuff. At the moment I'm riding even less than normal, maybe been out 3-4 times in the last 3 months and it's times like these I seriously consider chucking it all in, especially when I got excited about entering the GETcreative comp and had lots of ideas but not one has happened so far and I seriously doubt they will by the end of next month either.

I suppose it's times like these where you have to take every opportunity you get to ride and try not to let your riding spots and what you do get repetative or you'll just lose interest altogether

[dann2707]

Often go for a ride only to end up just riding around like I'm on a country bike ride. It's boring and kills any progression.

I avoid lonesome rides now at any cost haha.

[N.Wood]

I like a mix of both. Generally I can ride Dartmoor fine on my own, but hate riding in busy places on my own.

[aener]

I rarely ride on my own.

Lucky enough to have a fairly dedicated bunch of riders in the area.

I do occasionally, but I don't enjoy it nearly as much.

I tried a few solo-rides in big cities like Leicester, Leeds and Bradford, and I was forever worrying about people nicking my bag etc. I don't like riding with people watching at the best of times, but it's FAR worse when alone.

If I'm going to ride alone now, I go somewhere there's either no, or very few people around. Rocks are better for this.

Music can help, if you can get over not hearing the noise of the bike.

I tend to find I end up more "training" or "drilling" than actually having fun, but as it's not very often it's not too bad.

[trialsiain]

i ride around my village on my own quite alot and enjoy it

[Ben Gosden]

Im the only trials rider in my village and i have to quite often ride alone and i usually try to hype myself up before riding i usually do this by watching great trials videos or perhaps guzzeling down an energy drink or two and then i seem to find the ride more enjoyable and fell more motivated. Also incase of injury i try to not stray away from home to far or atleast be around friends.

usually i have to hang around with the local bmxers when i dont want to ride alone. The only other thing i can think of is get to as many events as possible, comps,organised rides,shows etc.

[Miss-Higgy]

I really struggle to find motivation to go out and ride on my own, but when i do i actually session things and focus solely on what i'm doing, not whos watching me etc. But as a beginner i get stuck at things not quite knowing where to go next with it. When i'm out with people or my other half, i can get that advice on where i'm going wrong. Also its mega helpful to try and follow lines other people take, you learn alot because you have thrown yourself right in to it.

Mainly I don't ride alone because i have no1 to talk to and i get bored really quickly

Edited August 28, 2012 by Miss-Higgy

[SamKidney]

Lucky enough to have my brother ride too. Very rare we dont ride together. He pushes me to go bigger, I help him with his progression.

Also massively prefer riding with my mates as against alone.

[ChrisTrials2012]

it's better for me if I'm on my own. I struggle with easy things when someone I know is watching. If I was going to do a gap in my garden or do a sidehop, and I spotted my dad watching me, I fail or hurry it so much I don't enjoy the feeling of getting it. So a bit of music and no one watching is the best I can get.

[Pete.M]

Same as above, I can't push myself when there's people (non-riders) watching me. I prefer night rides when there's less people and cars around.

The idea of going out and being creative is the only thing motivating me at the moment, but despite this I usually just ride the same things in the same way every time! The creativity deserts me as soon as I go out. Riding trials has become more of a chore than a fun activity. I think my enjoyment is lessened further by the fact that I want a new and different bike, so I don't enjoy riding this one any more.

Back on topic; If you really enjoy riding your bike, there is no need for extra company.

[ChrisTrials2012]

Same as above, I can't push myself when there's people (non-riders) watching me. I prefer night rides when there's less people and cars around.

The idea of going out and being creative is the only thing motivating me at the moment, but despite this I usually just ride the same things in the same way every time! The creativity deserts me as soon as I go out. Riding trials has become more of a chore than a fun activity. I think my enjoyment is lessened further by the fact that I want a new and different bike, so I don't enjoy riding this one any more.

Back on topic; If you really enjoy riding your bike, there is no need for extra company.

Get a few tough pallets, about 10, and create a simple obstacle and few platforms to develop your creativity. If I had a stack of 5 pallets, I go through my repertoire of going up it very quickly, so then I go on to doing it at different angles and trying from further away, in the case of sidehops and things like that. It kind of trains you to think about a simple slab in loads of different ways. I'm so used to riding in my garden that when I go to the local uni to ride, I can see fifteen lines in one spot. It's also good for fitness, because if you peel it back to basics, you can't cheat when doing stuff on square obstacles, so you start to get better quicker. This is just in my experience though, so try whatever you feel helps you progress and enjoy your riding

[clerictgm]

Oh yeah, the main reason of not liking of ride alone is people who staring on me. And the bad thing - 2 best local spots are in the most crowded places in my city. Probably I need to look for some spots where either no, or very few people around.

Edited August 29, 2012 by clerictgm

[isitafox]

Same as above, I can't push myself when there's people (non-riders) watching me. I prefer night rides when there's less people and cars around.

The idea of going out and being creative is the only thing motivating me at the moment, but despite this I usually just ride the same things in the same way every time! The creativity deserts me as soon as I go out. Riding trials has become more of a chore than a fun activity. I think my enjoyment is lessened further by the fact that I want a new and different bike, so I don't enjoy riding this one any more.

Back on topic; If you really enjoy riding your bike, there is no need for extra company.

I think I'm a bit the same at the moment. Struggling on my Inspired, it doesn't feel as nice as the older ones I've had a go on and the severe lack of brakeless potential round here means when I do go out I get bored very quickly. I would swap it for something else but I don't want to feel like I've given up.

[Miss-Higgy]

Come blackpool moonrocks dave, you'd spend 2 hours on it, and in that time you will have realised your potential! Don't worry i wont come and watch

[isitafox]

Would love to but it'd be a full day out job and cost me £25 just to get there, sadly I currently neither have the time or money. Maybe when my eldest is back at school I may be able to blag a day in the week but for the time being I'm stuck here!

[SunnyBoy]

Only one thing for it - we're going to have to build a trials village. Any donations? £2-3 million should be plenty....

[Miss-Higgy]

Well if ever you do escape the kids and work, give us a shout

[Rusevelt]

Oh not this recycled subject again. To all those pussies that bitch and cry about riding alone, i think you need to look at the lives of some the most pioneering bicycle stunt riders of our time, the ones that changed the nature of our sport and not the copycats and clone riders that followed them. Riding with mates should be regarded as a bonus but not as a dependency to the point that one can't do without.

[dngr2self]

Calm down. Pussy

[onza pro series guy]

Just plug some music in, watch a few videos before you leave and learn not to give a flying foook about the people around you (in a good way, I don't mean run them over or anything). At first it'll seem wierd/wrong/different but I found you get to a point when you can really focus on yourself, your riding, what your doing and most importantly how it feels. It sounds cliche but I reached a kind of zen thing at one point and progressed rapidly, I felt more involved with what I was riding and boosted my creativity too, I learnt wallrides on my own for example. I prefer riding with people and I'm glad I can get regular rides with my freinds again but now I look at conversation and being able to mess around as a benifit, not a given. Plus my progression has slowed loads again.

[clerictgm]

Rusevelt, you right. Unwanted attention from random people and other things are not so awful. I can handle it.

I want to say something about our riders. There are 5 novices came to trials this year, so there must be 8 riders now, but no one of novices rides! The weather is normal - they not ride, the weather is great - they not ride. Ride alone for them just impossible(there was a case when I was going to go home after 3 hours of riding and one of them just came to spot, so I ride extra 30 minutes and went home, and what do you think he did? He went home too!).

I don't know what to do with them, so I just don't care and ride on my own.

Edited August 30, 2012 by clerictgm

[oHoncho]

Just plug some music in, watch a few videos before you leave and learn not to give a flying foook about the people around you (in a good way, I don't mean run them over or anything). At first it'll seem wierd/wrong/different but I found you get to a point when you can really focus on yourself, your riding, what your doing and most importantly how it feels. It sounds cliche but I reached a kind of zen thing at one point and progressed rapidly, I felt more involved with what I was riding and boosted my creativity too, I learnt wallrides on my own for example. I prefer riding with people and I'm glad I can get regular rides with my freinds again but now I look at conversation and being able to mess around as a benifit, not a given. Plus my progression has slowed loads again.

Second this.

I started slacklining about a year ago and before that I was the least 'showboaty' guy ever. But you need trees to slackline, over dry grass preferably, so parks and greens tend to be the best places around and that means there is a lot of people around. So I just had to get used to the fact people would watch especially as its a new sport and not too many people have witnessed it before. Didn't take long before I got used to them and it's even got to the point where I like it... It spurs me on to take bigger jumps etc.

Its the same with trials, I mean I've only just started so I'm shit and I must look like a dick to people passing learning to trackstand and whatnot...

So to begin with m8 you just gotta say 'f**k it!'

[ULtrialsguy]

I'm used to riding alone and used to riding in front of a lot of people. I find riding alone is useful as it allows you to learn a move really well without embarrassing yourself in front of your mates. Riding with mates can be good of course as, 1 you can show off what you've learnt and 2 they usually egg you on to try something you wouldn't normally do. If I fail something in front of them I'll usually come back alone and learn it and so next time you can say to your mates I can do that now. Riding in busy locations can be hard at first but then u realise most people don't care what your doing and even if they do stare, so what, it gives a bit more publicity to the sport. Even if one person sees you and says I want to try that, then it's worthwhile.

[onza pro series guy]

I find riding alone is useful as it allows you to learn a move really well without embarrassing yourself in front of your mates.

I see that as a benifit of riding with mates, whats the point in falling off if there's nobody there to take the piss out of you! I prefer riding with people 100% but if I was one of those riders who went out to 'train' or 'practice' I'd have given up riding with people when I started riding alone a while ago and progressed like a boss, but its more fun with others and thats all I want, fun! So yeah just look at riding alone as time to focus solely on riding, and you'll get enjoyment from your progression, and when you ride with those local guys, even on rare occasions, try to make it as fun and as much as a laugh as possible; that way you might even end up seeing more of them!