Cyclists gather outside Schenectady's City Hall in downtown Schenectady after a social ride on June 2.

My bike rides are often solitary adventures or, at most, trips with my husband. But lately I’ve been riding with a group for the very purpose of having company — social cycling.

The point of a social ride is not to go far or to go fast. It’s to ride with other cyclists at an easy pace that allows for, well, socializing.

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There are social groups in Albany, Glens Falls and Troy, and two in Schenectady. Albany Social Cycling meets every Thursday evening, Glens Falls every Wednesday, Schenectady Social Cycling every Friday and Troy Social Cycling every Tuesday. Cycle Schenectady (full disclosure: I serve on the board of this non-profit) also hosts social rides every other Monday.

You don’t even need a bicycle to participate. Almost all the groups (with the exception of Schenectady Social Cycling) coordinate with the CDPHP Cycle program, which provides a code that allows anyone with the CDPHP Cycle app to use the bike share program for free for the social rides.

Saadia Santos has been riding........

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