Is some one researching solo riding?

[Rich51]

Suddenly there these threads on riding alone:

esentials for riding alone

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=811730

I wish I had the courage to ride alone

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=820816

who rides alone?

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=821353

What a coincidence, or is it? Regardless, it sure gets people going. I wonder why?

[anncon37]

well... i started one of 'em.

i don't know why my comments/advice got SOME of the gals all butthurt- but it sure did... I've been riding a long time, but my man (who's been riding longer) still won't let me trail a bike solo. i really don't want to anyways..

sorry if whatever i say offends ANYONE! I care about other riders.

[Johnyb]

I ride solo quite often do to the fact I can open my garage and immediately be on trails. Is it a risk? of course, will I sacrifice a good ride because no one else can ride that day? Hell no....

[Rich51]

And another one:

Riding alone

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=813461

[anncon37]

one question then-

does a more experienced rider (most of the time, it's the MAN) encourage your less experienced counterpart to ride alone?

[Johnyb]

one question then-

does a more experienced rider (most of the time, it's the MAN) encourage your less experienced counterpart to ride alone?

Never, she can't pick up the bike.

[MOTOPHILE]

Seems to be a lot of concern over this topic. When you think about riding alone you either think about the worst case scenario, or else that scenario just doesn't outweigh the benefits of not riding at all. I think their are 2 types of riders. One's that think they are being smart, and are skeered to ride alone. The others that think they are being smart, and it is manly to ride alone. I must be really stoopid cuz I go both ways. I will be riding alone today after work like a man, unless someone skeerdy cat wants to join me...

[llamaface]

one question then-

does a more experienced rider (most of the time, it's the MAN) encourage your less experienced counterpart to ride alone?

Tresa used to ride alone in the desert from time to time. I don't have an issue with that. She's a good rider and has sound judgement, and stays on the trails she knows. She very very rarely tips over in the dez, even on the rocky steep singletrack. Also, in the event of a bike breakdown, most anyone could walk a mile or so to a road or parking area or something to get help, and something tells me hot young chicks would have less trouble finding someone to assist than I would, lol.

I don't think either of us would think it would be a good idea for her to ride alone in the idaho mountains tho. It's just too easy for a smaller person to get a bike into a situation where help is needed to extract it.

At any rate, now that we live together, she has no real reason to ride alone, since I'm pretty much always available to ride with. I still ride alone sometimes if I take an extra day off during the week, or want to go explore some new trails before taking her on them.

[Bear Rider]

I ride alone often, due to the nature of my work. I sell real estate in rural Nevada. The majority of the remote properties that I go to have roads that see some traffic, but some REALLY remote properties require a GPS and contour maps to get to. I remember one property that I circumnavigated without finding a means of getting to with a conventional vehicle.

I use two bags for my morning commute to work. One is a standard soft briefcase that holds my briefcase, notes, etc. The other is a Camelbak Hawg which contains all my field gear, and a small survival kit. The water bladder is normally empty, and I fill it if I'm going out to a remote site.

[Johnyb]

I ride alone often, due to the nature of my work. I sell real estate in rural Nevada. The majority of the remote properties that I go to have roads that see some traffic, but some REALLY remote properties require a GPS and contour maps to get to. I remember one property that I circumnavigated without finding a means of getting to with a conventional vehicle.

I use two bags for my morning commute to work. One is a standard soft briefcase that holds my briefcase, notes, etc. The other is a Camelbak Hawg which contains all my field gear, and a small survival kit. The water bladder is normally empty, and I fill it if I'm going out to a remote site.

What part of Nevada are you in?

[anncon37]

thanks for the input.

seems like some the thumpette's really really disagree with my harping on the woes of solo riding. one even said she just doesn't do anything to get hurt! (& she toasted herself on that)

maybe i'm spoiled. maybe i'm lucky. i don't ever have to ride alone, and I have a 3 mile loop (pure technical) right outside my door.

but i never feel lucky enough to trail ride all by myself- and i'm a damn good harescrambler. hell, i even take my xr's to test n tune night at the strip. got tons of experience~i've always tried to ride like a rider, not a "girl".

to defend the recent rants in the 'solo' thread I started, i just didn't think it was smart to promote solo riding- especially most of the average females on this site. i'm average. they say I ride like a man, got HUGE cajones- but i know i'm average skilled.

again~ thanks for your input peeps- very interested to hear it without the drama the kotex brings. My pad is bigger than your pad! hahahaha.

sorry.just kidding.

[Slackkinhard]

I don't understand the desire to point the finger one way or the other. Some do, some don't. Like most things in life, they both have their good points and bad. Besides, what do we win? Do I getta "I'm smarter" award? My 70yrs to find something to do. I choose to ride, sometimes with others, sometimes not.

[Rich51]

Wow, and here’s another one:

Riding Alone........

https://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6970&highlight=riding+alone

With regards to the risk, as I stated in the ‘I wish I had the courage to ride alone’ thread, “Riding alone incurs risk.

If you do not know what the risks are, you should not ride alone.

The risks can be debilitating or life threatening.

The risks can be calculated and mitigated.

If you know what the risks are and accept them, then riding alone is a matter of personal preference.

Assuming the risks can be liberating and rewarding. …”

But there’s more to riding alone than the question of risk. Few people are ever truly alone, not like you are when you are in the middle of nowhere. Some people aren’t mentally prepared for it. Few people are ready to accept that they themselves are responsible for their actions, that even if something happens they did not instigate, such as a mud slide or wild animal attach, that they must deal with it on their own. Personal responsibility maybe something people consider, but alone, out in the boonies, it’s your reality and there’s no one to turn to in order to bail you out. And that’s a bit much for some people. I think that’s one of the reasons that this topic gets people going

[llamaface]

seems like some the thumpette's really really disagree with my harping on the woes of solo riding. one even said she just doesn't do anything to get hurt! (& she toasted herself on that)

that guy is a dude, only interested in the thread because he's engaged to a thumpette that sometimes rides alone.

However, what I think really worked people up is your know-it-all attitude. I definitely disagree with people who think they are qualified to judge the decisions that other people make about their lives. ?

[Lox]

one question then-

does a more experienced rider (most of the time, it's the MAN) encourage your less experienced counterpart to ride alone?

My colleage got me into riding and he is way faster/more experienced than I am. He got that way by riding alone a lot of the time. I have always ridden alone 60 -70 % of the time. Recently, I have been getting into the single track a little more and am incredibley grateful to live where I do, because there is a TON of singletrack that exists in an approximately 5 square mile area that is bordered by an interstate, a major highway, and several forest roads that are heavily traveled and I know well. I'm pretty confident that even if I had a broken bone, I have cell service, am near a main arterial road, or will see another rider cuz these areas are close to town.

That all being said, I also make sure I have tools, water, a bar, duct tape and bailing wire, and a charged cell phone when I go out.

I like going out alone because as I mentioned I am inexperienced on motos, but an experienced outdoorsman. I like seeing my learning curve jump in between trips with my friends. And it's always fun to surprise them when you go on group rides with how much you improve (cuz usually on group rides I'm "sweeping" and riding alone anyway!)....

[Bear Rider]

What part of Nevada are you in?

East of Reno.

[Double_440]

i find i ride extra cautious when i am solo, but still have a good time. i just tend to not go too far. to me, it is just more enjoyable to ride with someone else.

[BeardedChick]

But there’s more to riding alone than the question of risk. Few people are ever truly alone, not like you are when you are in the middle of nowhere. Some people aren’t mentally prepared for it. Few people are ready to accept that they themselves are responsible for their actions, that even if something happens they did not instigate, such as a mud slide or wild animal attach, that they must deal with it on their own. Personal responsibility maybe something people consider, but alone, out in the boonies, it’s your reality and there’s no one to turn to in order to bail you out.

Rich, I ride alone most of the time (horses and motos) way out in the boonies. Your paragraph is right on for me. My dad passed away this year, he was from a pioneer family & was a gold miner in the mountains. I have thought alot about what brought people and families like mine to these crazy, hardscrabble locations - the farming sucks, alot of families have to haul their domestic water because there isn't any where they live - and what their state of mind was to make it here. I can never quite get my thoughts written about it, but your paragraph definitely struck a cord.

[Rich51]

Hey BC, I’m sorry to hear about your dad. My condolences. Funny you should mention about the pioneers, more than once I’ve come back from a ride and said, “What rugged ground! Rocks & trees, rocks & trees, swamps and lakes, how did they ever settle his place?” I’m in north-eastern Ontario near the Ottawa River. You have to admire those settlers that suck it out, took care of themselves and their families and made lives we lead today. That’s some kind of independence and intestinal fortitude (AKA guts.) they had. I guess riding alone can give you an appreciation of that. I ride alone all the time.