Mr. Gretsch got to know the computer billionaire Michael Dell through cycling after Dell acquired the Sigma portfolio company EqualLogic in 2008 for $1.4 billion. The two met in Hawaii after the deal was completed and went cycling. “Outside of college, the strongest relationships I have are with people I have worked with or worked out with,” Mr. Gretsch said.

Venture capitalists, recruiters and other professional networkers have introduced cycling events throughout the Bay Area that focus on building camaraderie, not just lactic acid.

In May, Mr. Gretsch started inviting “Silicon Valley types” to join a monthly ride that typically meets near the Golden Gate Bridge and covers 20 to 40 miles around the Marin Headlands. This summer Mr. Gretsch invited the group to a mountain bike ride near Lake Tahoe. The outing, which climbed to a grueling 8,000-foot elevation, included Andrew Buckley, who heads up cycling programs at the Northstar California resort; Jake Knight, an entrepreneur whose family started Knight Transportation; and Mr. Anderson from Baseline Ventures.

To find potential members of the group, called the JSV SF Startup Ride, Mr. Gretsch compares his company’s network of professional contacts with San Francisco Bay Area users on Strava, the app that lets users track and compare their times, distances and routes.

Some members of the group, which now has more than 40 people, are longtime acquaintances of his, but Mr. Gretsch said he had met new people on every ride and had “already seen one deal because of it.” He is still a regular at some of the continuing group rides in Silicon Valley — there are several of them, each with its own personality and pace. The Noon Ride, for example, meets every weekday, follows the same route around Palo Alto, and has nearly 150 members on Strava. “There are sometimes three group rides on any given day, from moderate to ‘kick you in the butt,’” said Jeff Selzer, general manager of Palo Alto Bicycles, which opened in 1930.

“What I like about cycling is a ride can be any length, and most people know how to ride a bike,” said Ali Behnam, co-founder of Riviera Partners, a national recruiting company that counts Dropbox, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Uber among its clients. “Golf is a big-time commitment, and it requires practice to be reasonably good,” he said. “There is nothing worse than stepping up to a tee and duffing it.”

Cycling, by contrast, is communal and lends itself to the formation of common bonds, whether it’s because of the lung-burning sensations of a hard climb, the endorphin-inducing thrill of a big descent, the expense of the equipment or the form-fitting attire. “You can’t hide much,” said Mr. Behnam, 49, who has been cycling for 17 years, “but usually there is food and drink involved.”