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Benefits of Group Cycling

By Gaelle Abecassis | Jan 1, 2024

For many cyclists, nothing beats the freedom of heading out the door on your own time, riding at your own pace, and enjoying some solitude after a long, hard day. For others, group rides are far more enjoyable. And while enjoyment is a powerful motivator, it’s not the only reason to ride with others. Group cycling also has the potential to unlock physical and mental benefits that elevate overall performance. 

The physical benefits of group riding

One of the main focal points of any training should be introducing enough stimuli that you can recover from. The challenge, variation, and consistency group rides offer can provide performance benefits, but be careful not to overdo it. When you strike the right balance, you should notice some gains.

Challenge

Some of us have no problem pushing our limits, whereas others prefer training at a more comfortable intensity. Either way, when we perform in front of others, we tend to put in a lot more effort.

While we shouldn’t get obsessed with the opinions of others, a little positive peer pressure can be the push we need to endure extended effort at uncomfortable intensities. If you’ve never ridden a century or struggle with periods at a threshold pace, joining a suitable group ride, like the weekend social group ride or the club weekly chain gang, could help.

Variation

It can be easy to get comfortable with the familiar and repeat the same format of ride over and over. While you might see some improvements by doing this, avoiding other intensities or training durations can limit your progress and sap your motivation. 

Joining a new group or club might be just what you need to add more variety to your training. Many clubs will have weekly training sessions, regular races, time trials, or other options for longer group rides to suit every ability.

Consistency

Consistency can be a challenge we all face from time to time. Whether from a lack of motivation or external factors, such as time limitations due to work or family commitments, we can all struggle with missing training sessions. One missed workout might not matter, but the more you miss, the easier it becomes to skip the next session. This can dramatically reduce your training, causing significantly worse performance on the bike.

Group rides can help you stay consistent because you’re far more likely to keep an appointment to ride with someone. Being part of a regular group ride will help you be intentional about setting aside that time. You can even organize your own group rides or play a role within your local group.

The mental benefits of group riding

The physical benefits of implementing group rides into your training are significant; the mental benefits are equally impressive. While it’s hard to quantify how much those benefits will improve your physical cycling performance, you might see substantial gains if you struggle with any of the following factors.

Motivation

If you can honestly say that you haven’t experienced a period of low motivation in your cycling training, please let us know — we want to know your secret! For the rest of us, motivation comes and goes, and while we can do our best to step it up and remind ourselves why we put in the hard work, sometimes a change of pace can be all it takes to get back on track.

Try replacing some indoor sessions with group rides. Not many people can face an indoor endurance ride alone, but when the weather is less appealing, being in the company of a club can aid in getting that long endurance ride done.

Variety

While variety can be good for breaking through physical barriers, it can be just as good for refreshing your mental approach to training. Being around like-minded people, enjoying their company, and letting your hair down can be exactly what your mind needs to get back on track and commit to those challenging intervals. 

Over a long season or even years of consistent training, the trainer can be dull and monotonous. Adding in an occasional group interval session or intense ride can help you hit the numbers on other days.

Socialization

Socialization is a fundamental human need. While some of us love to live alone and not be bothered by the company of others, we often see dramatic improvements in our mental health when we build a solid network of friends and family.

So, it only makes sense that you build your community around the sport you’re passionate about. General health and cycling performance improvements will come hand-in-hand, so it shouldn’t be long before you start to notice that you are a healthier, happier cyclist.

Improve Your Cycling With Group Rides

While we are not advocating for a life solely focused on group riding, we encourage you to introduce some group riding elements into your training regime. Thankfully, with the increase in popularity of immersive online training platforms and social media communication tools, we can combine almost all the elements listed above with specific structured workouts. 

Join a Humango Group

Experience all the benefits of group cycling with Humango Groups. You can join Groups that focus on training for Gran Fondos’ or create a virtual team for you and your friends. 

Coach Pav

Coach Pav is an Amazon #1 New Release Author and coach to clients who have set world records (Mark Beaumont), earned their world champion jersey (Steve Bate), and won ultra-cycling events (Matt Seward and Thomas Becker). 

Most of his clients are those riding a Gran Fondo or two, and his favorite is the Maratona dles Dolomites.