No Drop, No Pressure, No Excuses

July 2026

I’ve been a solo rider for as long as I’ve been a rider. Just me, my bike, and my thoughts. Nobody to keep up with and nobody to keep up with me. But, if I’m honest, it’s also been a bit of a shield. As a larger, less seasoned cyclist, the idea of showing up to a group ride has always come with a healthy dose of hesitation. What if I’m the slowest one, what if I can’t keep up, what if everyone’s in matching kits? The anxiety has always stopped me.

So this past weekend, I did the thing. I showed up to my first group ride. And I’m still smiling about it.

Rise and Shine

The ride kicked off at 7:33 in the morning, which meant setting an early alarm that felt personally offensive. I was tired. I even snoozed a bit, accepting that I’d be trading sleep for the ride. But the dog was already up and ready for her daily morning bathroom break. When I took her outside, I saw the ride organizer doing laps around the monument in the city circle. Well, I was already up, so I got dressed for the ride and showed up a few minutes before it started.

I later learned that only two people had signed up based on the invitation he’d posted through an app. I wouldn’t have known about the ride at all if it weren’t for my girlfriend sending over a screenshot from their Instagram. As it turns out, we started with five, and picked up another rider along the way, making six total. We’ll have to work on the marketing as time goes on… it’s a new weekly ride, after all.

An Enjoyable Pace

The ride was put together by the folks at Launchpad Bikes over on Northampton Street in Easton, a shop that’s become a real fixture for the local biking community since it opened its doors, run by a great guy named Jimmy who’s been working on bikes since 2001. If you’ve never been in, it’s worth the stop even if you’re not shopping for anything. His place actually wants you out on two wheels, whatever your pace looks like. None of the elitism you see at some specialty shops.

The route itself was about 15 miles, comfortably fitting between the length of my daily and weekend rides. It wasn’t something that would leave anyone gasping on the side of the road. No sprinting off the front, no getting dropped and left to chase. Just a relaxed, no-drop ride with good conversation and nothing to prove. That alone took so much of the pressure off and eased my nerves a bit — that was, until I learned there was a certain hill on our route.

Hackett Park Hill has been the bane of my cycling existence. I’ve always had to take the walk of shame up it. That changed today. I conquered the hill, and it was the encouragement of the group that pushed me through. Getting to the top, and then getting everyone’s support, felt almost euphoric. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about walking it at least twice during the climb.

When Strangers Become Not

Since this was my first group ride, I didn’t know what to expect. All ages, all fitness levels, all kinds of bikes. From an 80s Peugeot to all-carbon Cannondales, every bike was welcome. Nobody was sizing anyone else up. Somewhere around mile three, I ended up riding next to someone and we got into a genuinely great conversation that carried through the whole ride. It starts with a “so how long have you been riding” and ends up somewhere completely different twenty minutes later.

And in classic small-world fashion, a few of those conversations turned into something more interesting than I expected. Turns out there’s some real overlap between where a couple of us work. I enjoyed the conversation. It’s much more enjoyable than zoning out with headphones. You also get a bit more of a workout out of it. Talking while riding adds a different dynamic.

Where it leaves me

We wrapped up the way, apparently, these things are supposed to end: coffee, and more good conversation. It felt less like the end of a workout and more like the end of a good hangout that just so happened to involve bikes.

Fifteen miles isn’t a lot on paper. But this ride did more for me than plenty of solo rides three times the distance. It’s got me thinking about improving my fitness further and using these rides to benchmark myself. It’s pushed me to work on increasing my average speed instead of just logging miles, and — maybe the biggest shift — about actually seeking out people to ride with instead of defaulting to alone every time.

So, thank you to Launchpad Bikes for putting it together and making me feel completely welcome. I’ll be back for the next one.

More rides, more people, more coffee. That’s the plan.