I started riding bikes as a way to keep fit but as I starting doing rides with bike shops and clubs I built some relationships with the people I ride with. I have known some people I ride with for more than 20 years. For the most part I have a small group of friends that I normally ride with called the Insane bike posse because they come on my rides and mostly complain about them but keep coming on them anyway. They are an odd bunch but we get along and more or less ride at the same pace. As the years have gone on a couple of people have come into my small group and few people have left although the core has stayed constant.
The move I made last year put me about 15 miles east of where I use to live and has caused me to find new routes to ride for my solo after work rides. There is still good riding outside my door. I don't have as much variety as there are not as many hilly road near by. However there are some very nice flat and quiet roads so it's easy to put together 15-25 mile rides that keeps me in shape for the weekend rides.
It now does take me about 15-20 mins longer to get to some of the starting points for some of the rides I normally do. I am only a few minutes from 195 so I have not minded the extra time although I have changed some the rides I lead to a closer starting point. This still let's me hang out with the same people I normally ride with so my riding schedule hasn't really changed that much.
There are times however when I need to stay close to home on a weekend because of some home project or family thing. Because of that I actually started looking at a couple of other bike clubs that are closer to where I live. Some may call this cheating on my current club but I have always occasionally ridden with other clubs. The closest club to me is the Jersey Shore Touring Society and as I found out a little over a month ago they have ice cream rides where the club pays for ice cream for everybody at a rest stop (in the ride I did it was at Four Brothers in Englishtown). I actually didn't plan on riding with the club on the day I stopped by their starting point but when I heard about the free ice cream I just had to go.
The Jersey Shore Touring Society is a smaller club and doesn't have as many rides as PFW but it's a good group of people. I enjoyed riding with them and will do so again if I want something a little closer to home and don't want to ride by myself. The good thing about bike riding with a club is once you've done it with one club you know what to expect and how to act in a group so it is easy to fit in to a new group even if you never have ridden with them before. This club also has a lot of mountain bike rides in the winter so I definitely will go to some of those rides to learn some of the trails and parks that are near me that I haven't explored yet.
Last weekend I rode an event put on by the Suburban Cyclist out Doylestown. It started out of the Shine of our Lady of Czestochowa. I haddn't done an event like this in a while but it was fun even though I knew most of the roads I like the route and found a new way through Doylestown. They also had good food and good ice cream at the end. And as always it is fun to meet some other bikers and share stories with them. I may do a few more of these events now as things are returning a little more towards normal.
So even though I will keep riding with my normal group is has been fun to also expand the possible rides I can do and meet a few new people because for me riding is as much a social interaction as it is a physical workout.
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