Traditionally, business people would get to know each other over a round of golf. But road cycling is fast catching up as the preferred way of networking recently. "When you play golf with somebody you have to decide if you"re going to beat them, or let thembeat you," says Peter Murray, a chairman of the NLA centre. "If they"re your customers and youdon"t want to beat them, sometimes you might have to make some kind of cheating in order to lose. That seems to me  not a good way of doing things." Group cycling, and especially long-distance riding, is a shared experience, Mr Murray says. Riders often work together and help each other out, taking turns to be at the front so that the riders in their group can save almost a third of the effort needed to travel at the same speed. How someone rides a bike can give you a real insight into what a person is like, says Jean-Jacques Lorraine, founding director of Morrow Lorraine, a team member of Cycle to Cannes. "Some riders are very single-minded, others more collaborative; some are skillful, others an open book.""If I walk into a meeting and somebody says ,,I"ve done Cycle to Cannes" , it"s a done deal really," says Mr Lorraine. Mr Mottram, CEO of Rapha, believes it is easier to get to know people by cycling than in other situations. "T here is an easy environment about conversations on a bike." Mr Lorraine makes the point more directly: "I feel open and honest to others. I often find I"m saying things on a bike which I wouldn"t normally say, and equally I"ve been confided   in when I wasn"t expecting it." Why do cycle rides lend riders so well to networking? "Getting a quick lunch or drink after work doesn"t give you long enough to get to know someone," Mr. Murray says. He believes long ridesget people together. "A younger rider can be cycling along with a boss and help him in some wayand you get a reversal of the relationship.  This changes the relationship when they are off theride too." Perhaps the main reason why cycling is a good way to network is that it"s a passion   and away of life. "Getting out on the bike is what we"re all dreaming of doing while we"re sitting at our computers," says  Mr Mottram. And a shared passion is a fantastic way to start any relationship. What could be the best title of the passage?
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cycling. Two Good Ways of Networking. Cycling Is the New Golf. Cycling Develops Fast.