The Pinkbike Podcast: Episode 45 - What Makes a Good Riding Buddy?

 As someone who is always late, the most valuable piece of a riding buddy for me is someone who is even more late than I am, so I'm no longer the weakest link in the chain.

 Doesn't take him/herself too seriously. I'd rather be with a kind and welcoming person who's out to have fun than someone who's standoffish and aggro and trying too hard to be cool. Basically someone who's fun to be around and is within 10-20% of my fitness/descending level.

 Faster, but will wait at the junctions. Will always encourage you to send it, even blind. Always thirsty for and deserving of a beer.

 Nothing better than riding with your kids! It is a great way to maintain a good relationship with them when they become teenagers and young adults. Having a common passion helps keep the close ties together.

 I just need someone to yell at me tbh

 Definitely the dude who makes everything a life-or-death competition. Gotta beat you up the climb, and down the descents. No stopping and enjoying the views. No sessioning any features. No time for photos or videos. Gotta keep moving! Gotta pound! Don’t forget your Lycra!

 The best ones are what I call "Ride Whatever' buds.

They will ride single/double blacks down but be perfectly happy with blue, jump, tech and be able to climb without making it miserable for everyone else.

They wont ONLY turn up on an ebike and have no shame in saying, thats too much for me.

They also wont look down on someone that cant do the 1 thing they are good at.

 I really hope it's NOT a trail dog.
- 98% of everyone

 Anybody who’s not a total dick. But I also have a good time riding with the right type of a*shole. Only thing I can’t do is the ultra negative dudes who seem to not even enjoy biking. If the trail sucks, your bike sucks, other trail users suck, then why are you even here?

 Match.com - Guys who can have fun, joke around and their skills match mine or better. Good fitness to go the distance. Adventuresome. Like to go to different places. Love technical. Looks not important.

 Someone who shows up to ride, regardless of the weather or conditions, doesn't flake at the last second, follows as well as initiates rides, willing to meet for a meal or coffee before or after riding.

When I ride, I tend to focus on the riding, whether it's XC or tech, I pretty much stay in the zone, so I ride solo most of the time; zone riding is not social riding.

I don't really have any local buddies who like to go big or get super techy, most of my riding buddies are social riders, one is a super XC rider (ie fastasf*ck).

I ride with my dogs a fair bit, so my buddies gotta' be okay with dogs being in the way on occasion; fortunately most of my buddies like dogs.

Truthfully, I haven't ridden with many people who needed be first to the top, most of my riding buddies stop and chill, we wait for each other, it's social riding when you ride with a group.

Need to get after it? Ride solo, easy enough.

My thing: Don't tell me we're gonna ride, then not stick to the plan. If this is you, then you need to learn how to commit. With folks like that, over time I just ignore them unless they stay in contact and follow up on the ride plans the day before.

If I don't hear from you the day before or at the minimum, first thing the day of, I'm going riding and you can go fish.

 Something I’ve come across a few times is a riding buddy who invites other people for the ride without mentioning it in advance. I’m up for a group ride from time to time, but showing up to a ride expecting one person, and then realizing there is a group isn’t my favorite.

 there is literally nothing that will get you cut out of my life faster than tardiness. I do not mean an occasional 5-10min. I mean that fuckwit that's perpetually 30-45min late, never texts to give you a heads up, and plays it off like it's no big deal. fuck you. there's a giant conceit in being the late person. It's making a statement that your time is more valuable than anyone elses. you are putting other's on your time frame. again...fuck. you.

 Someone who occasionally refuses to hold my beer when I say, "watch this."

 one that keeps a cooler of cold, non IPA beer, and a bottle of scotch in the back of his truck.

 Someone who is self-sufficient. They bring water and enough of it so they're not asking you for water halfway through. They bring their own shock pump. They maintain their bike so you're not having to lend (give) them a tube because they got a flat mid-ride due to their sealant drying out...and you don't have to listen to their chain squeak the entire ride because they clean and lube it like they're supposed to. You don't always have to take your car because you're not the only one who bought a bike rack.

 Someone who carries their own supplies, is around my fitness level, preferably a little fitter than I and is better than me on at least one thing. Climbing, jumps, decents Etc. And is always up for a ride.

 People who put in the time to build and maintain the trails we ride on same as me. They are also the worst because we all will spend time catching what could be fixed or improved on a trail when we should just enjoy it. It's like stopping a a bar with friends on the way to an AA meeting.

 Someone who has a fun time with you regardless of capabilities.

 For me it's someone who is down to ride more than just the ultra gnarly and manky trails. Riding blue trails fast is more fun than riding hard trails slow IMHO. Hence my username

 'I don't need to hear you whining about seeing your tibia' Pure gold @mikelevy

 Somebody that is faster than me and willing to ride behind and harass me to go faster. It’s pretty fun.

 Had a riding buddy in college who had meltdowns. Best was the ride when he was hucking rocks off of a cliff and then ate the page from the guidebook once we got back to his truck at the end.

 I've been most at one point or another - newb, to that late arsehole, to bringing others in and serving up free stoke at whatever pace you wanna role. Humble pie to the face is the essence of my mtbeing,.. loveya all braholes

 That unspoken thing Levy was talking about is when your ride fantasy overlaps with your buddy’s ride fantasy, refer to Path podcast episode 112, just kidding I don’t actually have the episodes memorized, love the bike you ride

 Unpopular opinion:

No drugs/alcohol. If you need to drink/light up/vape/whatever before, during, or after the ride, I am not interested.

 Free idea for anybody with coding skills: Tinder but it uses your Strava data to match you with other riders. You can have sliders for tech/bike talk and politics talk, etc. You can score people poorly if they show up half dressed with a whacked out derailleur.

 I have a question for you on the show. Could there be any adverse handling effects from running a setup with a vastly different weight on the rear wheel and the front? I know bikes are probably designed to handle optimally with their stock setups, but is it a huge issue to run cushcore and doubledown in the rear and a naked exo+ in the front? I know cushcore claims that it is best to run on both front and rear which I am sure is totally unrelated to the fact that the second for the front costs another $75, but I wonder what the show's take on the matter is.

 My buddy got a dog at the beginning of the pandemic and he takes her every time we go. I love dogs and have a pupper myself but good god... she is constantly trying to start in front of you but she's slower and stops randomly causing you to jam the breaks to not hit her. Then literally every time we have gone out the past 4 months she takes off into the woods randomly or after a deer and we spend ~45 min calling her and walking through the forest trying to find her while worrying and freezing our asses off... I finally told him I didn't want to go if she was coming since we spend so much time tracking her down every time and the rest of the time worrying she's going to run off any second or cause me to go OTB. Am I the a*shole?

 Went out for a ride with a buddy one fall night. 20% chance of showers noted on the forecast. It started raining 15 minutes into the ride, poured the whole time, stopped on the fireroad out. No one said anything the whole ride, smiled when it stopped, and drank a couple beers after. One of my favorite rides in a long time!

 I didn't hear "too slow" as a negative for riding buddy. I've only ridden once with someone 20yrs younger and far faster, and haven't heard back from him yet. lol

But usually ride by myself 80% of the time, as it's too hard to sync with other folks.

 The three S’s. Social. Shyt talker. Sessions stuff.

 Someone who shreds as hard as they are chill

 I only ride alone. I ride when most people are working, and there aren’t a ton of people in my town who are available to ride during the day.

 It’s over rated I’d rather ride alone

 The people you choose to have your adventures with dictate the quality of your adventures.

 Really like Dan's perspective on the podcast as of late.

 my favorite riding buddies are the ones that are faster than me but will wait a bit and give me tips.
my second favorite is the one that comes prepared and doesn't need to borrow tools/ pump/ tyres mid ride!

 My ideal, is the person, like the Bud Light tag "Is Down for Whatever", can fix their own stuff (I don't mind sharing tools, food, etc.), that will push me by being a little faster, go a little bigger and has an opinion!

 Be the guy that offers to shuttle on the first lap.

I don't ride with people who constantly jam their phone in my face to tell the internet "I have friends and do stuff"

People who are down to dig more often than ride

I will never ride with anyone who says they need to earn their turns. Shovels earn turns, not pedals.

 One of the biggest obstacles I'll have (since getting my first modern 29" bike Dec 2020) is the ability to keep up. I'm a bit slow, and it's not always fun to have to wait for folks like myself.

 Some one that always wants to ride. It's the worst when you set a date and then your mate cancels. Or they just don't return your call.

 @mikelevy pronounces 'About' weirdly. really enjoying the podcasts guys!

 Someone who is just a tiny fraction slower that me. Still searching...

 My favorite biking buddy is kimiko tan, my Japanese body pillow.

 Somebody who brings good beer.

 Someone who helps dig when building new trails and doesn't watch you do all the work and complain if they have to dig.

 Someone tolerant, rapid and in possession of 1st aid equipment and a spare 9sp derailleur.

 Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler

 I have a group I ride with occasionally, but most riding is solo. That's how I prefer it.

 Someone who introduces you to their ride group, and doesn't get pissy if you tag along without them.

 As soon as the border opens I'm coming for @mikelevy

 My dog is my best(only) riding buddy now. Never complains, never makes me wait, never lets me down.

 A dog that doesn't chew your tires while riding

 Somebody who knows first aid and carries some essentials.

 Zero bike talk.

 Someone who crashes a lot, so you can all hear me say "are you good?" on Friday Fails.

 Group rides start on time. People will only ever turn up late once.

 When a riding buddy constantly wants to influence route towards a suboptimal route, not cool

 Speaking of tibia, get yourself a riding buddy like this (GORE)
streamable.com/2sx1d

 no Gatekeeping

 One that carries tools so I don't have to

 happy @danielsapp will follow me into the GNAR!

 LOL!!! Loosen up, mooks – it’s ok to do yer wife on a ride.

 No whiners