Ground rules for the Group Ride. I posted it in the MNG thread,, then thought it deserved a thread of its own.
Hopefully we will have a lot of bikes on the Group Ride Saturday. Most of us have not ridden together before. Most of the group have never ridden these roads before. And some may have never ridden twisty roads before. Each of these add to the risk of the ride. We all want to have a fun ride, and we all want to arrive back safely with our bikes in one piece. With all that in mind, here are 10 simple rules for the group ride.
1) No stunting.
2) The leader sets the maximum pace of the ride. Ride your ride, go your own pace. Don't worry about not keeping up with the group. Folks will wait at stop signs and turns. We will regroup at regular intervals. If someone in-front of you is slower, pass safely (unless it's the leader). Enjoy the ride on these amazing roads, it isn't a race to lunch.
3) Keep a safe following distance. Don't ride up on the person in front of you too close. On the highway sections of the route, we ride 2 line staggered formation, leave 2 seconds between you and the bike in-front of you. In the twisties, we ride single line formation, leave 2 seconds between you and the bike in-front of you.
4) Always use blinkers and hand signals. Face it, some of our undertails, flush mounts, and other signals aren't that bright. A quick hand signal can quickly and easily tell the person what you are doing.
5) If you have time, and can do it without putting yourself at risk, signal debris in the road with your feet.
6) At EVERY stop sign, or any time turning off one road onto another, every rider waits until he/she can see the bike behind him/her. Do not leave the intersection without knowing the next bike can see where you turned by signaling the turn. This makes sure nobody misses a turn without the entire group having to stop frequently. We will regroup everyone about every hour.
7) When you have time (not in corners) make sure the person behind you, is still there. Face it, any minute we can eliminate noticing somebody has wrecked, could save their life. Similarly, if there is nobody in-front of you and a parade of bikes behind you, don't just whack the throttle down the straight. Allow the faster riders to pass if its safe for them to do so. They are faster because they can maintain higher cornering speeds, not because they have more engine mods to win the drag race.
8) Never pass the person in front of you in the same lane, except when at a stop sign, the group is stopped, or the rider in-front of you signals you it's ok to make the in lane pass.
9) Do not pass more than ONE space at a time, making sure there is sufficient space to merge back without running up on the rider in-front of you. If there isn't room to merge back into the group safely, don't pass. There is no reason for extreme straight line speeds.
10) Passing cars. The lead riders will most likely pass cars wherever there is an opportunity to do so. The rider in-front of you passing a car is not the signal for you to pass the car. Pass only when you are comfortable making the pass. Wait for the rider in-front to complete their pass before starting yours. Be patient.
Hopefully we will have a lot of bikes on the Group Ride Saturday. Most of us have not ridden together before. Most of the group have never ridden these roads before. And some may have never ridden twisty roads before. Each of these add to the risk of the ride. We all want to have a fun ride, and we all want to arrive back safely with our bikes in one piece. With all that in mind, here are 10 simple rules for the group ride.
1) No stunting.
2) The leader sets the maximum pace of the ride. Ride your ride, go your own pace. Don't worry about not keeping up with the group. Folks will wait at stop signs and turns. We will regroup at regular intervals. If someone in-front of you is slower, pass safely (unless it's the leader). Enjoy the ride on these amazing roads, it isn't a race to lunch.
3) Keep a safe following distance. Don't ride up on the person in front of you too close. On the highway sections of the route, we ride 2 line staggered formation, leave 2 seconds between you and the bike in-front of you. In the twisties, we ride single line formation, leave 2 seconds between you and the bike in-front of you.
4) Always use blinkers and hand signals. Face it, some of our undertails, flush mounts, and other signals aren't that bright. A quick hand signal can quickly and easily tell the person what you are doing.
5) If you have time, and can do it without putting yourself at risk, signal debris in the road with your feet.
6) At EVERY stop sign, or any time turning off one road onto another, every rider waits until he/she can see the bike behind him/her. Do not leave the intersection without knowing the next bike can see where you turned by signaling the turn. This makes sure nobody misses a turn without the entire group having to stop frequently. We will regroup everyone about every hour.
7) When you have time (not in corners) make sure the person behind you, is still there. Face it, any minute we can eliminate noticing somebody has wrecked, could save their life. Similarly, if there is nobody in-front of you and a parade of bikes behind you, don't just whack the throttle down the straight. Allow the faster riders to pass if its safe for them to do so. They are faster because they can maintain higher cornering speeds, not because they have more engine mods to win the drag race.
8) Never pass the person in front of you in the same lane, except when at a stop sign, the group is stopped, or the rider in-front of you signals you it's ok to make the in lane pass.
9) Do not pass more than ONE space at a time, making sure there is sufficient space to merge back without running up on the rider in-front of you. If there isn't room to merge back into the group safely, don't pass. There is no reason for extreme straight line speeds.
10) Passing cars. The lead riders will most likely pass cars wherever there is an opportunity to do so. The rider in-front of you passing a car is not the signal for you to pass the car. Pass only when you are comfortable making the pass. Wait for the rider in-front to complete their pass before starting yours. Be patient.
Im just saying.....
