Riding alone, mostly. When I start out I pick a direction and go. If a turn looks good I take, if it doesn't, for whatever reason, I don't. My reasons for taking or not taking a road can be whimsical. I find that drives most of the people who I would ride with crazy. With GPS and an infamous sense of direction I never get lost. Sometimes I might not know exactly where I am, but I am never lost....and the times that I am not quite lost tend to be the best of times.

I live in the Tennessee Valley and ride mostly in Alabama and Tennesee. The areas have some outstanding hills, mountains and rural scenery to go around.

I prefer to ride by myself.

I've lead rides of 60+ bikes, organized rallies and track events - yet there is nothing so peaceful and satisfying as being alone with the wind in my helmet and an empty twisty roadway unfurling ahead of me...

When we got on the bike, it was rare to have a route planned out ahead unless time was of the essence.Mostly we chose our direction at each crossroad as it came up. Often the joy of the ride was not the destination, but the 'getting there'. Having just one or two other bikes riding with us was ok, but we preferred to do our riding alone. Riding in a large group such as charity rides etc was something DH refused to do. Too dangerous, he felt. Too many chances for things to go wrong.

We avoided interstate roads if we could. At retirement we moved from Michigan to this area of PA because of family first, but also because of the great rides here.

The Blueridge Parkway in May comes to mind as a memorable ride and The Rocky Mountains will always be remembered. Maryann, there is a winding very scenic road in Idaho that goes down the mountain into Lewiston,Washington. It is worth going out of your way to catch this ride. I don't remember the route, but I am sure I have it written somewhere. It is the old road that has been replaced by a better safer highway down the mountain.

Another ride that is supposed to be spectacular is the Pacific Coast Highway 1. When we were there, it was foggy the whole way, so I can't give an opinion on it. Crossed the San Francisco Bay Bridge, but all we saw was the decking just in front of the front wheel and an occasional tail light. I will never forgive that awful fog!

We prefer riding alone. I love to "chase" DH he always picks a great route. Our local HD dealer sponsors a Ladies Day Out each year. It started seven years ago with five women. This year we had eighty five! Our group rides at the back. I'm the chairperson of our local Toy Run (2000 bikes strong last year, I get to ride in the front of the pack with the Grand Marshall (it's been our local Sheriff for years, we are trying for Billy Lane this year).
Marion

oops! i forgot my favorite ride is the Kangamangus Highway in New Hampshire during foliage season!
Marion

Small group -- like four or five at the most. Most of our riding is just one or two bikes. Too many people means too many decisions, random potty breaks, someone doesn't like *that* restaurant, let's go somewhere else, etc. etc. etc.

But I also live for the solo ride. Just me and my bike.

"If you look at the map and don't care where you are, you're not lost."

Well, when commuting, you're usually alone, but anyone with two wheels and a license plate is welcome company; twice the chance that the cagers will see you and think twice about doing something incredibly stupid.

On trips, one or two good friends are always nice.

Depends on the group. Some are good, some not so good. I find that when I ride with fellow Harley riders, we all tool along at pretty much the same speed. But when we mix in imports and sport bikes, the dynamics change altogether. I can't fault the sport bikers for wanting to corner fast and accelerate fast; they've got bikes that are made for just that. But I got that out of my system a long time ago. I look for a more relaxing ride these days.

Depends on the group. I prefer to ride alone, or in a pair with my husband and we have a friend who's a treat to ride with because we all seem to have the same mind set when we ride together. I also prefer to bring up the tail of the snake as I like to keep the lead rider in sight & not feel like I might be holding anyone back.

group rides can get dicey. Different skill levels, different attitudes & in the case of the vintage British rides different performance levels (both bike & rider).

I do have to say, though, that the BEST group ride I was ever part of was a mass of about 60 bikes heading through NYC to the Art of the Motorcycle exhibit at the Guggenheim. Riding as part of a pack of bikes is definitely a way to get even the most oblivious NYC cage driver to notice that you're there ;-).

Nina

Just a quick comment about riding in groups. I was on my way East when I saw a group of motorcycles riding West, I believe on their way to Sturgis. I counted 180 bikes in the one group, all riding together. They appeared to have a few support vehicles following in the rear. While that looked cool, I wonder how they handled stopping for meals, gas, etc. What's the largest group you've ever ridden in?

over n under, the largest group that we've riden with was 1200 bikes. Every year we go to the South Padre Island BikeFest. On Friday morning many of us do the Mexico ride. Last year there were approximately 1200 bikes made the ride. We staged in a large parking lot and then very orderly made our ride across the border into Mexico. We rode around 20 miles in Mexico and then into town. Not everyone left at the same time to come back across the border, but we all rode over there together in one very large group! It's an awesome ride! Here's a link to photos that I took last year on that ride, SPI Mexico Ride 2005

Wow. That does look like it was a fun ride. Thanks for sharing the pics.

I'm a loner...LOL...although I enjoy riding with my hubby along the Gulf on Sundays...providing we're not in 'high season'.

It all depends whom you ride with.
If they ride like you, it can be really fun.
If they don't ride like you, it can be a pain...

Another Lone Wolf here. Every time I've ridden with others I spend too much time watching out for them, and stopping for them to catch up. Though I don't think of myself as all that fast of a rider, my usual pace apparently is considerably quicker than most, and being stuck behind a long line of bikes is just as frustrating as being stuck behind a cage. I've also seen just too much stupid stuff in group riding, like people following the guy in front right off the road!

However, one of the few group rides I did was with about 30 other Sportster owners, and few things beat the sound of 30-plus V-twins going through a tunnel. Very cool.

Done both... now I pretty much like riding alone. You get a group and it's more about personalities than riding.

Rode with friends during our trips 15 years ago, parked bike for 10 years, got it going again a couple of years ago, and now prefer to ride alone. I've always considered myself a nonconformist, don't care where the road takes me - every mile is a new adventure.

We pretty much prefer to ride alone but occasionally will ride with a few friends who've we've ridden with for years. We occasionally go on large organized rides, but not too often, and it's usually for some charity event.

The largest organized ride we've ever been on was just a few weekends ago. It was a ride for the Make A Wish Foundation out of the Elk Grove Harley Shop (CA). There were in excess of 4500 bikes on the freeway at one time. Man-oh-man, the sound of all those bikes (Harleys, BMW's, rice rockets, Hondas, they were all represented) starting up at one time is unbelievable!!! It was a fully escorted ride and all entrances were blocked off by CHP before the first bikes passed. As cars started catching up with the last quarter of the bikes it got a little dicey but most of the riders said back there said it wasn't too bad...except for all the cars who had drivers on cell phones. :((

Gazania, the Pacific Coast route is awesome on a good day. We've done it several times when heading down to SoCal to visit relatives. I'll ride in rain and hail, but not fog.

Jenna

I prefer to ride alone. I'm writing this from New Brunswick. Monday I left home for Nova Scotia. After about a hundred miles I decided to detour into Quebec and probably around Gaspe. Thursday I ended up in Riviere du Loup, just short of Gaspe, but decided to ride down the river to Fredericton. I ended up in Penobsquis. Today I think I'll have lunch in Moncton and then stay in Truro, but I really don't know for sure. This would probably drive (ride?) any one else crazy.