Group Riding

[mikebaileyvienna]

I had an interesting experience this weekend -- my first real group ride (or part of one!)

The group -- Virginia Sport Riders, working through meetup.com. I have about 3 months in the club as a watcher, not a participater.

The plan -- meeting in springfield, va. Down 95S to some twisties in the Quantico area, lunch, depart.

The meetup -- people were nice, not intimidating or braggers. Some of the bikes were off the hook, but many were of the R1/R6 variety. Many Ducs, one chromed-out Bussa monster. I knew a few folks, and thought they were about where I was on the crazy meter. Ride leader gave the expected "Ride within Yourself" talk.

Approach to 95S -- learned quickly that watching the group was not as important as watching the road and the traffic. Nothing bad happened but I was definitely a little crossed up. Cars kept trying to jam into our line. Also, could NOT hear anything. Often found myself not knowing what gear I was in.

Jump on 95S -- the group of 20 bikes hits 95S in Sunday traffic, heavy/crowded but not slowed. The leader cut through the traffic to the leftmost lane and HIT IT! The animal came out of all of these race replica bikes as the group weaved through the traffic and pushed 80+. I lost contact, and before long I was over a mile behind.

So, I turned off and went home. In some ways I feel bad that I didn't go WAAAY outside my comfort level and chase them down, or that I don't ride an R1, GXSR, or some other race bike, but most of me is satisfied with my FZ6R and my decision to let them be them, and let me be me.

 

[nismos14]

You did the right thing.

 

[redbird00]

You did the right thing.

Yep, agreed.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[JSP]

Never ride out of your comfort zone/abilities. That's what makes you die. And even then you need to ride less then your 100% to save room for error.

You did the right thing.

 

[Fizzer6R]

glad you're mature enough not to get sucked into that. we've all done stupid things on bikes, most we'd rather forget

20 is way too big for a group ride, trying to keep together is just asking for trouble. just about impossible to get that many through a bunch of traffic lights and not split up

 

[dart1963]

Been with VSR for a while, only done a couple rides with them. They are usually a tame group, 95 is a fairly odd highway to begin with, most the times they will try to get around cars to keep it safer, and if they see they've lost someone, they will wait.

The core group of riders are fairly reasonable, great group of people. The size of the rides is why I don't much ride with them, being a "sport riders" group, they attract a lot of new people, unpredictable people. We did some shared rides with them last year, large 40-60 riders that we split into 2 or 3 groups and then all met up for lunch or whatever.

No matter how big/small the group rides, I almost always find myself in the back... not because I "can't keep up"... I just want to be away from the newbies and enjoy myself.

 

[Bloke]

If its a 40 rider group you have to have the patience and presence of mind to share the road with the cars. Trying to stay as a solid column of 40+ bikes is just going to cause hell and piss everyone off.

When I ride we either follow 2 methods.

1. Keep the rider behind you in your mirrors, it only really works for smaller rideouts)

Or on larger rideouts...

2. Have one guy at the front in a recognisable outfit/fluorescent helmet and one guy who always stays at the back.

If you overtake the front guy, you're on your own, so faster riders who know the route can do so.

Otherwise at every turning front guy will signal to bike directly behind him to stop and wait as a marker.

Everyone else rides past the marker, tail end Charlie (also in a recognisable outfit/helmet) comes along and flashes the marker on to join the rest.

The advantage of method 2 means it doesn't matter if you let a car out of a turning or end up out of sight of everyone, you know your marker will stay put until he sees the tail end Charlie so you can take your time and go at your own pace.

 

[behindXgrnXeyes]

ive gone on some group rides and we usually say from the begining to not only never exceed your comfort level....but if anyone gets a head, they will always pull off to the side and wait for the group to rejoin before they leave that road.

usually we aren't on 95 (at least the rides i go on) so for example, if we find a good road to open up on....stay your pace and if they decide to take a turn at a stop sign, red light or another road, everyone pulls over...regroups, then continues.

it's a nice policy, though due to my timid ride style, I dont often due groups

 

[Bert-Aus]

As Bloke stated before, Tail End Charlie rides means they actually care whether your there or not.

But at the end of the day anyone can ride fast in a straight line on a freeway!
Dont feel bad if that's all they did you wouldn't have missed anything IMO

 

[BoneJj]

As Bloke stated before, Tail End Charlie rides means they actually care whether your there or not.

But at the end of the day anyone can ride fast in a straight line on a freeway!
Dont feel bad if that's all they did you wouldn't have missed anything IMO

I'm lost, is that like a saying or a group of people?

 

[Bert-Aus]

The ride leader and "Tail End Charlie (TEC)" -guy at the back stay constant throughout the ride. At change of directions 2nd rider or guy behind ride leader is directed to wait at intersection until TEC comes through and then the 2nd rider can then rejoin group where-ever.

But from the outset of the ride, the ride leader and TEC know what the route and destination are. That way the group can spread out over mils/ km's and everyone comes along without being left behind.

 

[dart1963]

As Bloke stated before, Tail End Charlie rides means they actually care whether your there or not.

But at the end of the day anyone can ride fast in a straight line on a freeway!
Dont feel bad if that's all they did you wouldn't have missed anything IMO

They take that road to get to some other roads.... it's usually a 30 minute blast to other nice scenic curvy roads... The posted speed limit on 95 is 70mph... a speedo of 80 with the 5-10% error says they were going about the speed limit, so it's not like the were excessively speeding... but 95 traffic is a pain, because most cagers are going about 80-90 real speed and do not pay attention to other cagers, let alone bikes...

I hate riding on 95, 495 and the like for that reason and understand completely leaving the ride, just make sure you let people know you're leaving, either a quick post on meetup when you get home or txt someone. They usually do a head count and make sure they don't lose riders.

Took me a while to get used to the idiot cagers in the DC area on the freeways, I can do it now like any other road, just have to be watching your mirrors and whats going on in front of you at all times.

If they were heading to Quantico, most likely they were going to ride Joplin ( https://maps.google.com/?ll=38.56159,-77.366753&spn=0.252081,0.528374&t=m&z=12 )... it's a nice road, but also dangerous if you try to go beyond the speed limits, hills, blind turns, etc.... been on a couple rides out that way, great area, but you cannot try to keep up with the riders who ride it every weekend... If you go your pace, it's a nice area to check out. Have seen the consequences of riders trying to keep up, it usually ends in an ambulance ride home and a ticket.

 

[Detrich]

like everyone stated already, u did the right thing. never let a riding group (or weather and traffic conditions for that matter) push you beyond your comfort zone of "safe riding." it's just not worth the risks. and, if it's not feeling safe, then turn off and go home. he/ she with the sensibility to get home safely can live to ride another day. and, that's all that matters really.

regarding what you stated about pushing yourself.... although there's some truth that u have to push yourself a little bit to improve, but never at the expense of your safety. there are SAFE and SENSIBLE ways of doing this, and then there are- insert Samuel L. Jackson's voice here- "stupid-ass-idiot ways of doing it that'll get yourself killed."

the safest way is to allow yourself plenty of time over the course of several months to get comfortable riding a safe & familiar route/ road. and, then once you're comfortable controlling/ handling the bike and its dynamics, then you can very gradually increase your speeds and turning angles in a safe and controlled manner.

 

[Anthony]

#1 Ride you're own ride. If you get left then so be it.

#2 Real group riders tend to watch out for one another. Normally if there's a few guys who want to "get it" so to speak, after a while they will stop and wait for you to catch up.

#3 Try to keep a mental note of what gear you're in. It's fairly easy.

#4 Too loud for you? Try some ear plugs.(probably a good idea anyway)

#5 Find a different group and try again.




Side note: By chance I was on a small group ride today (about 8 bikes, all sport). I simply ran into a few guys at the gas station, made small talk and asked what they were getting into. They said it was too nice to not get out one last time and was headed to a different side of the city so I asked if I could tag along just for the heck of it and they said sure. Had a decent time, Rhode for about an hour, then we all stopped at subway, had a sandwich and Then I went home. Go to where the bikers gather, shake some hands and be social. Make some new friends.

 

[RoadTrip]

There should be a 'sweeper' bike, an experienced and self disciplined rider that runs the back of the group to ensure no one gets left behind or has a break down.

I did one group ride early on after only 6 weeks in the saddle on my FZ6R, the appointed leader didn't make it, so we were led by the hooligans of the club, we raced along at very high speeds, half the group left after awhile, particularly the 2-up's with wife passengers, you could see they were pissed. I rode way over my experience level to stay caught up, then rode back with a group of 4 that really rode like fools, passing 2 cars at time in oncoming lane, all 4 bikes passing at one time, on a curve, over a buck easy, never looked back to see if I was alive. And these were primarily 40+ age men, not some young kids gone wild.

So, yeah, that was my last group ride.

 

[Marthy]

Group ride is nice if you ride with a group that can ride. But if you throw a couple of squid in the middle of it doing wheely and high speed or newbies that are unpredictable, I'm out or stay way back! Not that I can't... just have no desire for it. If I want to go fast one day... I'll hit the track. Until then I enjoy riding in my comfort zone, rubber down and out of jail... lol

 

[MistahT]

You did the right thing.

I haven't found many local riders around me. The people I did find have R6, cbr600rr, R1, etc. I rode with them twice, should have only been once. When I felt 85mph was fast enough on a crowded highway, they would wait for me to pass and do triple digits past me. Scraping pegs taking off ramps at stupid speeds. That's the kind of thing that gets people hurt or worse.

Don't get me wrong, I love to open it up (I think we all do) but I ride within my limits. I prefer to find some backroads, enjoy myself, and work on technique. I never ride 9/10th or 10/10ths of my ability.

 

[BoneJj]

You did the right thing.

I haven't found many local riders around me. The people I did find have R6, cbr600rr, R1, etc. I rode with them twice, should have only been once. When I felt 85mph was fast enough on a crowded highway, they would wait for me to pass and do triple digits past me. Scraping pegs taking off ramps at stupid speeds. That's the kind of thing that gets people hurt or worse.

Don't get me wrong, I love to open it up (I think we all do) but I ride within my limits. I prefer to find some backroads, enjoy myself, and work on technique. I never ride 9/10th or 10/10ths of my ability.

I'll admit to doing a few on off ramps but I like to wait until there is no one around to do them. It is certainly a good way to get some nice learning in about corners as you are on a nice big circular one for a decent amount of time. Though I don't scrape pegs or anything taking the ones I do, I make sure that I work on my form each time.

But yeah I know a few people that like to do triple digits on the highway and I refuse to be dumb like them when traffic is around. When it's nearly bumper to bumper it's time to ride calmly and DEFENSIVELY. all though it's really always time to ride DEFENSIVELY, the caps is for a reason... take the hint.

 

[Anant]

This is great. I also think about the group riding but our plans are not executed till yet.

 

[06330i]

I've ridden with 40+ bikes multiple times without an issue. We've even had a police escort when our group got split up at some point. All really depends on who you ride with and if they can organize the group properly.