This isn't a moan, or a criticism - it's genuine curiosity.
I joined the TRF primarily to find and hook up with people to go riding, maybe meet some new friends. Now in my second year of membership, my only riding interaction with anyone from the Devon membership was to be sternly lectured about the dangers of riding on my own by another member.
Some of the other TRF groups, Gloucester springs to mind, seem to be riding regularly and generally having a great time.
Do people from the Devon TRF group get to together and ride socially? Is there a WhatsApp group? Maybe its just super cliquey? Or is there nothing deeper than the once a month meet in the pub?
-- Edited by Torbay plumber on Wednesday 16th of September 2026 07:22:05 PM
Its all going "EXCLUSIVE" no one & I mean no one is interested, 2-3 people on this forum advertise regular rides apart from that people/riders have their own groups & they keep within that group
Things need to change, I doubt they will
Advertise when you're going out on this platform/forum and maybe others will join you! Thats how it use to be back in the day 2009 on wards until about 2018
Yes your right I joined to ride & meet other like minded people to have great fun & ride outs, it use to happen but there are other media outlets what's app and alike
If your not happy complain or leave the TRF, then hopefully someone might listen when the membership starts to run flat
The monthly meeting is a good start. Introduce yourself and find out where everyone is riding. There is ride outs regularly advertised on here and the Facebook group.
Hazelwood farm was a great social event and another way of meeting other riders.
There is no exclusive groups that go out, just people who have made friends through our socials or at an event. It's only natural that they would the want to ride together, but in my experience would welcome other riders.
You can advertise that you want to go out, have you done that?
Pm me and I am happy to hook you up with the many people who are riding at the weekend and during the week.
As Trevor says the monthly meeting is a good place to meet other members and arrange a ride out.
Did you go to teign to tamar or Hazelwood events?
I had a quick look back over this years advertised ride outs and counted 21
You need to make a bit of an effort members won't come looking for you..
Yes I've been monthly meetings and I've done the Hazelwood event, but not Teign to Tamar. But all of that's missing my point really; the post wasn't about why I haven't found people to ride with through Deven TRF, it was to enquire whether other people have managed to. And reading the replies my instinct is that they haven't.
I support the underlying values of the TRF but it strikes me that the Devon group isn't where I'm going to find people to go riding with. And there's no problem there, it is what it is.
-- Edited by Torbay plumber on Saturday 19th of September 2026 01:21:39 PM
-- Edited by Torbay plumber on Saturday 19th of September 2026 10:25:20 PM
We try to be inclusive however what you put in is often what youll get out.
Any activity, group or otherwise will have its cliques. Often those being with others they know or are comfortable with. Its human nature.
At the monthly meetings we gather numbers of those happy to join a growing, open, inclusive WhatsApp group. When I joined I felt very much supported by the likes of Be on time Doug Scott Harris and the whole crew. But Im a gobby idiot so maybe that helps.
If you would like to be added feel free to ping me.
We cant reach out to everyone. But give a warm smile when those reach out.
Additionally Im organising more trips as a group, not for money just as a group to create new connections and camaraderie.
Once upon a time this forum was the place to organise rides and one could pick and choose where and with whom to ride.
Over time technology has evolved to provide alternatives in the form of Facebook (yuk) and WhatsApp.
These alternatives work well enough for the users to have undermined the forum's role as THE place to communicate with other members.
This fragmentation of the group communications has lead to the appearance of a cliquey group where new members are not catered for and this is regrettable (and untrue).
Tech has revolutionised how and where we ride as it is now possible to lead a ride using a GPS device following a gpx route over lanes one does not know and the traditional role of the run leader as the only one who can lead around an area has been supplanted by the tech. This should be a good thing as it enables everyone to go exploring the lanes and new members with the overlays can put a ride together with confidence that they are where they are allowed to be.
As a self confessed tech luddite prone to lie and tell people I am not online to avoid having to make excuses for not keeping in touch I watch this from the side lines with amusement. Most of my dirt riding has always been alone but I found the forum invaluable when I wanted company in the lanes. On the last ride I led two near misses with a couple of orange bikes at speed led me to decide never to ride at weekends again, then osteoarthritis and a long waiting list for a knee replacement and a kick start only bike put all that on hold anyway.
The CRM did pass it's MOT again yesterday after I dragged it from the back of the garage, blew dust off it, pumped up two flat tyres, replaced the brake fluid which had evaporated during the hot spell and luckily it only needed three kicks to fire up. Expect to post rides again next summer after recovering from surgery.
I also confess to having recently joined a WhatsApp group to keep in touch with the lads I ride with on tarmac, mostly because I ran out of excuses when the groups founder and main driver died (he would phone me) and it made sense to be able to keep in touch with what others were doing to avoid missing out.
It seems inevitable as tech evolves that changes happen. We are in a better place now than when I joined the TRF as it was necessary to attend monthly meeting and give ones phone number to the secretary for publication of an intended ride in the newsletter then after the news letter had been posted out to wait for the phone calls to arrange rides well in advance of time. Now tech permits real time spontaneity when the sun shines unexpectedly or we get a day off work at short notice.
Not a big fan of 'social' media but life is what you make it and besides fragmenting communications it should be seen as a constantly evolving situation we can all use to our advantage. No excuse these days for not being able to find people to ride with tho', just takes some digging sometimes.
