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Jeff Salvon-Harmon (Safety Officer) says: BE SAFE OUT THERE On a group
ride, there are three goals:
To make that
happen a few practices have arisen within the club over the years that
make it all work. Departures
Underway §
Staggered formation, 2-4 second
interval. Ride
in a staggered line (not side-by-side)
leaving 2-4 seconds between you and the bike in front of you.
(This approach gives you emergency maneuver space. The guy in front
can do a full panic stop and still not be run over by you if have your
head together, and also this provides lateral obstacle avoidance
maneuverability.) §
Stay close in congested city
traffic.
Try and stay
closer together than you would on the road, primarily so that you can
attempt to all make the lights together. At lights, using 2 lanes is ok. §
Ride at your own speed.
Occasionally
a ride may get faster than you are comfortable with …. If so, drop
back! Ride
your own ride within the bounds of your skill, comfort and the
limits of your machine.
Let others pass you by staying to the right and waving them on if
appropriate. §
Pass safely when you need to.
If a large
opening is occurring in front of the rider in front of you, and you would
like to ride faster, then safely pass and move ahead in the pack. §
Don't blast at 90 to close up a
gap.
If
a gap opens due to traffic or other restrictions, you don't have to ride
90+ to catch up … just keep motoring reasonably and you'll regain
position. (The Virginia State Police particularly recommends this approach.) §
Keep track of the guy BEHIND
you.
The ride
leader can't keep track of any more than 4-5 bikes behind him.
That means that we each have to watch out for the one behind us.
If he stops or appears to have problems, then drop back or go back
and see if help is needed. It's
a buddy system. §
Last guy waits at turns.
Where a
turnoff occurs, if there is a significant gap between you and the rider
behind you, the last person should wait at the intersection to be certain
the following rider sees the turn. The
last guy (sweeper) gets a green light. §
If you need to stop, hand
wave or do something to tell people either you need help or for them to go
on and you'll catch up. (It
can be embarrassing when 20 riders do a U-turn to come back and find you
relieving yourself in the bushes). § Traffic tickets are yours. Even if you are just "keeping up" with the guy leading, any traffic ticket you get will be your own … it's your head controlling your hand on your throttle. § You are responsible for seeing stuff on the road. Don't expect others to wave, point, stick a leg out, etc...you are the master of your universe...LOOK! § ASK questions. If you aren't certain about something, ASK! That's what the club is for. We get flattered to no end to be able to answer a question. (or at least thought to know the answer!) In the Pack. Mostly, we try to look out for each other, and try to come back with the
same number of riders we left with. BMWMCHR members ride together to enjoy themselves
and each others' company. We do not ride together to become one with a collective
Pavlovian social-colony-on-wheels. We expect members to ride together as we hope to ride
individually: within our skill limits and comfort range, with safe leading distances (say,
at least two seconds behind, in staggered formation and more otherwise). Whoever is group
leader (this is an ad-hoc deal, not a grandiose official position of status and prestige)
expects riders to ride no faster than they are comfortable; the group will wait at route
change points for folks to catch up (and will investigate if they don't). Like most
organic entities, BMWMCHR riding groups are highly elastic and flexible, rather like a
nightcrawler (one fast mother of a nightcrawler); we don't subscribe to your
anal-retentive, pseudo-clockwork, crypto-fascist, mechanical-model Fuehrer-Prinzip. The
gears are in the drivetrain, not in our hearts and minds. Generally, small groups are
favored over large ones. It's a ride, damn it, not a parade or a show of strength. (Gee,
is it time for my medication already?)
by Gary Stofer As the busiest time of the motorcycling year is starting to arrive I find it necessary to ask if you can spare me a couple of seconds. No, I'm not trying to drum up a little 'volunteer' help on club activities or projects, but as more and more people are starting to join in the club rides, I could sure use those two or three seconds. What I'm talking about of course is the two or three seconds I'd like you to leave between us as we're riding. When you're in front of me, I'll be at least two seconds behind. And I'd sure appreciate it if you would return the favor when I'm in front of you. (Of course, if you're getting ready to blast past me I'll understand.) You see, I sometimes slow or stop abruptly for no apparent reason. Sometimes it's because I think I see a hazard in the road. Sometimes I think I might see something approaching from a side road or a field. Maybe a kamikaze dog trying to beat me to some imaginary finish line. As I am also an Airhead, sometimes it's just a field full of sheep. At any rate I have only three options for avoiding hazards. Speed up, slow down, or swerve, but when I have another motorcycle close on my backside, 1/3 of my options are eliminated. I become reluctant to hit the brakes hard for fear that the rider behind me might not be able to react in time. And if I'm also following the rider in front of me too closely, 2/3 of the options are gone. When you're riding in a group, do you keep track of the bikes behind you? I do. But quite often I find myself checking the mirror for a bike that was behind me last time I looked, only to find it missing. But it's not missing, just tucked into my blind spot. I even have those little convex mirrors to help eliminate the blind spot, but there's still a big enough one to park a motorcycle in. Sometimes when I'm leading a ride, I'm not actually too sure where the next turn is, but if I've got a little room behind me I can slow abruptly and make the turn. Have you ever been in a group of riders all making U turn because the leader missed the turn?? It's not pretty. Kind of like going to dinner at a Real Estate office. (Ask Tony) I used to say that if I didn't know you well enough to share your sleeping bag with you that I didn't want you within 2 seconds of me while we're riding. And then my wife started riding regularly so that axiom doesn't work any more. Two or three seconds; it's really not a whole lot to ask. Reprinted from May '97 River City Beemers' President's Corner
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