Any advice on Riding solo? - I find it very boring to go out without buddies and i end up hitting TR \or Zwift.
Need some advice on getting on my bike to do solo rides.
Sweet spot is a great way to ride alone. Just mashing on the pedals
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TrainerRoad + solo rides outdoors = Outdoor workouts. Even though I donāt do a lot of outdoor workouts when I do I really enjoy how they spice up outdooor rides even if the scenery is as boring as staring at the wall. That way you get outside and get a good workout. Had a couple days where my trainer was out of commission and used outdoor workouts to keep up with my plan and also work on dodging potholes, dogs and squirrels
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Adventure gravel/off road riding or SST for me.
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Keep riding until you forget youāre bored. Then enjoy the conversation with you. 
I find that somewhere along a ride a switch occurs in my brain and I no longer notice Iām alone. Rather, I become super aware of my body doing its work cycling ā what feels right, whatās pushed a bit too far, what it feels like when Iām in a zone and cooking with gas, how much I listen to the burn.
I also like exploring. Trying new roads. Detours. Dead ends that Iād never drive down but was always curious about.
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I listen to podcasts and the time seems to go pretty quick. I use the transparency mode on the Airpod Pros and have the Garmin Varia for safety as well as lots of lights.
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- Do your TR workouts outside. Youāll be busy thinking about the workout.
- Strava anyone? Find some segments to go and attempt. As you ride from one to the next youāll be thinking about your task at hand, so the time should pass quicker.
- Listen to music or podcasts. You can get a speaker, standard headseat or what I recently purchased, aftershockz they donāt go in your ear.
- Build routes and go explore a bit.
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map some cool destinations - we have lots of lakes here and one is about an hour away - two hours to circle and a hour home. The to and fro are blaaa, but the lake views, curvy roads, punchy climbs are beautiful.
Here is a pic from Saturday. The lake is not pictured - oh well.
I also like to try to go explore new roads or areas I havenāt ridden. Kamoot and or Strava heat maps (do not know if that is a premium thing now) were also nice to try to find new routes.
I will also drive to the other side of town and explore new route leaving from there as well.
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Headphone with some music makes it way more fun for me.
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Use your solo rides to explore. Download routes from Strava that friends have ridden. Thereās always somewhere new to point the wheels and who knows what youāll findā¦
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for longer/steadier rides, I like to include blocks where I focus on holding a specific cadence or trying to improve my technique. Breaks things up a bit and is really helpful towards the end of a long ride when I tend to get āsloppyā
a couple of late ride sprints also does wonders to break up the monotony without adding too much extra fatigue- or even working on basic skills like cornering and riding with no hands.
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I would just like to recommend Veloviewer https://veloviewer.com/
There are many analysis tools on there (like Eddington numbers, have you ridden 50 miles 50 times?) but my favourite is the Tile Explorer and trying to increase my Max Square of tiles visited. It has given plenty of time to plan routes and so I have ridden lots of new roads to go exploring.
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This is excellent advice.
My advice is unorthodox: get a TT bike. Faster is more fun, the speed gives you momentum that makes it easier to push the pedals, and a TT bike is very comfortable when well fitted. My rides went up 10% in speed (for the same power) when I re-activated the TT bike last week and it makes a real difference in both ābeing interestingā and in RPE.
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I got a Coros helmet awhile back because I ride alone a lot during the week. Itās got a built in red flashing light as well as speakers in the straps. I love it. If Iām doing a zone 2 ride Iāll turn on a podcast because Iām usually going slow enough to make out and follow the conversation. If Iām riding faster or itās a particularly windy day, Iāll turn on some music. I highly recommend the helmet.
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Do you ever meditate?
My girlfriend got me into doing meditation every evening for about 10-15 minutes. It sucked at first but after a month or so I started enjoying it. Once I got better at it, it turns out cycling āsoloā for long distances and meditation have a lot in common.
So now I consider my long solo rides long opportunities for mind clearing bliss. Certainly makes the miles fly by.
Might be something to consider.
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Most of my riding has been going places - in the old days much more touring, but nowadays more road biking. I just joined trainerroad to try out structured training to get fitter/faster (just for fun), but honestly looking briefly through these forums it almost seems like people donāt much like to ride outside! 
Meant more tongue-in-cheek, but for me cycling has always been about exploring and going places, rather than performance.
I prefer to ride with a friend - mainly for the stops and the shared adventure - but more recently doing longish (for me) 50-60 miles and Iāve found it good to ride alone - you can go at your own pace, stop where you want to grab a photo etc. But it helps to set a destination as a goal to reach, and to try and find a scenic route too. A half way point with a view, or historic town, cafe, somewhere youāve never been, any thing as a good point to celebrate before the return.
I tend to pre-plan, mostly using Komoot, and detour as required - much better when not on ugly traffic filled roads. It also helps me to keep the return journey easier in terms of climbing etc. Ie try and keep the ride fun.
I guess you just get used to riding by yourself and enjoy the chance to switch off.
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I have always thought same. Even more so for LSD rowing, it has really calming effect and clears head very well.
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I always ride solo - 7,000+ miles last year, indoor and out.
I will just echo what others have said.
Use some of your time for training be it speed, endurance, breathing, pedalling technique, even fuelling.
Plan rides and explore, I use Stravaās route planner, but also export to OSMand app on my phone. I can then use overlays to map out shops, cafĆ©s etc. But I still carry too much!
3-4 times a year I will have a solo overnight stay with my bike and camping gear. Total relaxation!
What I love about riding solo is that everything is your decision. Sometimes that can be negative and you can talk yourself out of riding.
So set yourself weekly and monthly challenges, another nice Strava feature, it really motivates if the boredom does set in.
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I actually like riding alone and did so often before Covid. I find it relaxing. Gives me time to think. I can ride on my schedule and plan around family and other life activities. I can get out and back in less time AND ride at the pace and course I need to meet my training needs. I take both long road and gravel rides using Ride With GPS to map out new routes.
I do NOT recommend listening to any kind of music or podcast while out on roads with cars our trails with other riders. Just doesnāt seem safe to me. When I am on the road I want to hear what is going on around me for safety reasons.
Another tip is to make sure you have everything you need to handle mechanical issues - extra tube, CO2, mini pump, chain tool, link, etc. When alone you canāt rely on a buddy having an extra. Also have a worst case plan in mind for something you canāf fix if on a long ride - friend/family member to call or Uber/Lyft, etc.
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I enjoy making myself suffer outdoors to push for PRs or even just see what I can make my body do. Admittedly, thereās not a lot of motivation beforehand but as I look back I see the growth and have a sense of accomplishment for what I did. Itās much tougher than one would think to hold a particular zone on the rolling hills in (driftless) SW Wisconsin although itās become a lot easier to do throughout this year as Iāve moved outdoors. Of course going up itās easier but on the downhills itās not uncommon to be in 53-11 spinning 110 rpm and struggling to stay in sweet spot.
Even if itās just zone 2, Iāll change up the route to just enjoy whatās around me. I have slowly adjusted the routes I take to accommodate this. This includes avoiding villages or cities unless I need water or food during a ride. Thereās a lot of farmland and pastures on rolling hills where I frequent which is something I think is a beautiful landscape to take it. Wide range of farms to notice different details every time I pass them. They go from Amish to organic to small to quite large.
Thereās a good bit of wildlife where I live and I also hunt so it helps scout a little. Even before I decided to hunt, I was always curious what animals were around and what they do. For some reason I seem to attract birds lately as they fly directly over me for a few minutes. Seems sketchy sometimes, like Iām worried theyāll dive to me but they donātā¦yet. Tying into the farmland and pasture comment, thereās so many different variations of cattle around to look at.
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