I think im done with my club

[DogmaStu]

Several, but only from one grouping? Brutish Cycling have their handbook which encourages their clubs to behave in certain ways, plus the membership structure makes it more likely that people move between clubs inside that grouping instead of outside, homogenising them to a degree, meaning some of the problems are shared by most of their clubs (such as a minimum speed high enough to be ableist). Then there's the unethical sponsor at present also discouraging members from other groupings from switching to them.

CUK have their handbook too. I expect some other groups have theirs. Some follow none but the barest requirements (and a few don't even do that). There's plenty out there.

I hear what you are saying and I think once I know the Club very well, put up with a few regimental rides, there will be riders within who want the same as me and so I'll be assigned to a Group more to my liking.

I should perhaps clarify too that I'm after a specific type of Club/Group that here in the UK is predominantly in the realm of British Cycling. I'm not looking for a very casual, ambling along, taking in the scenery and chat, social ride Club to pop out to the cake shop and back with.

The Clubs/Groups I am used to are: 18-20mph ave, 40-100mi rides with a racing element to them - i.e. attacks, breakaways, sprints, race to the top of the climbs etc and not just a social chat. A bit of everything. I have had this with members of a local Club I belonged to last year separate to the official Club rides.

I get all that from my Clubs/Groups abroad. I am a member of British Cycling because racing license (I have zero problem with Shell as the sponsor, it's money for cycling and we can't stop using fossil fuels overnight, it's a gradual process) and so their affiliated Clubs make sense.

 

[CXRAndy]

I have been riding solo.
Only issue is how far from home as there's no one who would come and rescue me in an emergency

Carry more kit for most easy repairs, it doesnt matter for speed if you are solo. I used to carry a big saddle bag which snacks, drinks and tools for long easy rides.

 

[Chislenko]

Carry more kit for most easy repairs, it doesnt matter for speed if you are solo. I used to carry a big saddle bag which snacks, drinks and tools for long easy rides.

I have only really been stranded once. On a back road in Portugal and my tyre disintegrated. A rather fetching Portuguese lady stopped in her Mégane convertible, we somehow bundled the bike into what passes for rear seats on them (roof down obviously) and she ferried me and the bike to the local bike shop, about seven or eight miles.

 

[Tom B]

I'm not sure how I found myself here....

But I ride solo, always have, its one of the reasons I ride.

Head space and relaxation, no watching the bike in front, no worrying if you're dropping people, no trying to accommodate everyone's whims and needs. Can set of when I want, can finish when I want, can go to the pub, shop, parents, have a wee in my own time.

As for mechanical farts, I once had a puncture 9 miles into the Camel trail and 13miles from camp. I considered and XL Uber.