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For those new to group riding or old farts needing a refresher... got this from the Indianapolis Motorcycle Group -
Ride the Plan
Ideally, you know and trust the people you ride with. However, there has to be a first time for any riding companion. A pre-ride discussion of your plans, preferences, and requirements helps everyone avoid surprises. Talk about a pace, signals, details like fuel stops and routes, and make sure everyone gets to offer something. If you ride with a club, it may have a fairly detailed set of rules for group rides, with procedures for a variety of situations. This post will establish riding criteria for the IMG.
On the road, don't be afraid to use hand signals and use those signals liberally, be sure that other riders are aware of your intentions so that no one is caught by surprise.
The group's leader should signal early and slow gradually. Ideally he knows the route intimately and has a plan to get everyone safely along it without disrupting other traffic. But if it is his first time there, he may get surprised too and have to make a quick decision such as whether to turn abruptly or miss the turn and try to find a way to get everyone turned around safely on down the road.
It's always good to have an experienced rider at the back of the group to ride sweep and attend to those who have problems. He should have a cell phone to call for help. He should also have the group leader's number PRE-PROGRAMMED into his phone.
If you aren't comfortable with the riders you end up riding with, give yourself plenty of margin until you discover your companions' habits. Or ask to be moved to a group with whom you are more familiar. Don't be afraid to hurt someone's feelings if it may prevent a bad situation...like scratched chrome.
If you aren't comfortable with what others in the group do, drop out before it causes trouble. A common problem is a speed differential. Slower riders often feel uncomfortable trying to maintain the pace of faster folks. They shouldn't try to. If the other riders complain that you are slowing them down, tell them to go ahead. We should all know where we are going to end up so there should be no pressure to keep up with a group, we ran into this last season and it didn't turn out well. We are committed to not having it happen again. If we get separated due to traffic or riding comfort levels there are things we can do to get back together, but above all DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TO KEEP UP with more experienced riders!
To help your group get together again, use these three systems:
1. Give everyone an emergency phone number in writing to call (perhaps someone's answering machine which everyone knows the code for) or everyone's cell phone numbers. If you have just a single number, Murphy's Sixth Law of Communication says that phone's battery will be dead when the lost boys try to call it.
2. Agree on the next stop every time you all pause for gas, grub or sightseeing. Be precise, "the first gas station on the west side of town," for example.
3. Make sure everyone knows the afternoon's or evening's destination, preferably in writing.
The basic group riding formation is familiar to most riders. The lead rider rides to the left of the lane, with the second rider to the right and a few lengths back. The third rider is a similar distance behind the second, and so on. This staggered formation leaves room for each bike to swerve to the side and provides reaction time to brake. But you can't change speed and the side of the lane at the same time. Riding side by side limits escape routes when a threat arises. When overtaking and passing traffic, the second rider follows the first, and the third hangs back to let the second pull in to the left to make the pass.
When roads get twisty or narrow, you should open up into a single-file formation. When you come to a stop at an intersection, tighten up into a two-abreast configuration at the stop. If you all stay in a single lane at intersections with two or more lanes each way, it gives the traffic behind you a chance to pass. While it is tempting to block an intersection so your entire group can go through, it is against the law. So is leaving in large bunches at a time from a four-way stop. More than two (you can each say you thought the other was waiting) is also a request for citation. Just use your mellon and we should all be fine.
One common problem seen with large groups is a failure to provide gaps for other traffic. On a two-lane road, it may be impossible for overtaking traffic to safely pass a line of a dozen or more bikes. Some members of the group may get run off the road if a driver tries to pass and has to pull back into the right lane when oncoming traffic appears. On a multi-lane road like an interstate, a long double column of motorcycles may trap a car on one side of it, blocking it from reaching an exit. Some riders act as if permitting a car to cross their column of bikes is a violation of their religious and constitutional rights, and can make a driver already in a panic about missing his exit quite dangerous.
Do address this problem. It's best to ride in sub-groups of four to six bikes and provide a gap of four or more car lengths between each sub-group. These groups can also be responsible for each other, taking care of other members of their group so that the entire fleet of bikes doesn't end up trying to squeeze onto the shoulder, which can create a real hazard.
If the group is stopping, make sure that everyone gets completely off the road. If you are arriving at a destination with a large group, bikes at the front should keep moving to allow room for the one behind to pull off the road.
Motorcycles riding in large groups consistently do a bad job of passing slower traffic on two-lane roads, which can create a dangerous situation. Typically they cut back in too close to the car they just passed and immediately slow down. This not only annoys the driver, it leaves little room for the next rider coming up behind. He or she has to wedge in even closer to the front of the car being passed. I have seen riders get locked out of the lane because those ahead left no space for them to pass. When passing a car on a road with only one lane going each direction, keep your speed up after you have completed the pass, and don't slow back down until there is a gap large enough for all the riders behind you to pull back in and safely decelerate. Stay aware of what the riders behind you are doing. If you are farther back in the group, don't begin your pass until there is a gap ahead of the car for you and the other riders in your sub-group.
For a chart of the approved signals see the next post, it's there along with a few things all IMG rides should have together prior to setting out. We have a hugely diverse group of riders and just as many styles and classes of bikes, ability's of riders and bikes are also at all ends of the spectrum, and in order to coexist with out getting into a giant furball we all have to accept the responsibility to ride with the next guy (or gal) in mind
Ride the Plan
Ideally, you know and trust the people you ride with. However, there has to be a first time for any riding companion. A pre-ride discussion of your plans, preferences, and requirements helps everyone avoid surprises. Talk about a pace, signals, details like fuel stops and routes, and make sure everyone gets to offer something. If you ride with a club, it may have a fairly detailed set of rules for group rides, with procedures for a variety of situations. This post will establish riding criteria for the IMG.
On the road, don't be afraid to use hand signals and use those signals liberally, be sure that other riders are aware of your intentions so that no one is caught by surprise.
The group's leader should signal early and slow gradually. Ideally he knows the route intimately and has a plan to get everyone safely along it without disrupting other traffic. But if it is his first time there, he may get surprised too and have to make a quick decision such as whether to turn abruptly or miss the turn and try to find a way to get everyone turned around safely on down the road.
It's always good to have an experienced rider at the back of the group to ride sweep and attend to those who have problems. He should have a cell phone to call for help. He should also have the group leader's number PRE-PROGRAMMED into his phone.
If you aren't comfortable with the riders you end up riding with, give yourself plenty of margin until you discover your companions' habits. Or ask to be moved to a group with whom you are more familiar. Don't be afraid to hurt someone's feelings if it may prevent a bad situation...like scratched chrome.
If you aren't comfortable with what others in the group do, drop out before it causes trouble. A common problem is a speed differential. Slower riders often feel uncomfortable trying to maintain the pace of faster folks. They shouldn't try to. If the other riders complain that you are slowing them down, tell them to go ahead. We should all know where we are going to end up so there should be no pressure to keep up with a group, we ran into this last season and it didn't turn out well. We are committed to not having it happen again. If we get separated due to traffic or riding comfort levels there are things we can do to get back together, but above all DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TO KEEP UP with more experienced riders!
To help your group get together again, use these three systems:
1. Give everyone an emergency phone number in writing to call (perhaps someone's answering machine which everyone knows the code for) or everyone's cell phone numbers. If you have just a single number, Murphy's Sixth Law of Communication says that phone's battery will be dead when the lost boys try to call it.
2. Agree on the next stop every time you all pause for gas, grub or sightseeing. Be precise, "the first gas station on the west side of town," for example.
3. Make sure everyone knows the afternoon's or evening's destination, preferably in writing.
The basic group riding formation is familiar to most riders. The lead rider rides to the left of the lane, with the second rider to the right and a few lengths back. The third rider is a similar distance behind the second, and so on. This staggered formation leaves room for each bike to swerve to the side and provides reaction time to brake. But you can't change speed and the side of the lane at the same time. Riding side by side limits escape routes when a threat arises. When overtaking and passing traffic, the second rider follows the first, and the third hangs back to let the second pull in to the left to make the pass.
When roads get twisty or narrow, you should open up into a single-file formation. When you come to a stop at an intersection, tighten up into a two-abreast configuration at the stop. If you all stay in a single lane at intersections with two or more lanes each way, it gives the traffic behind you a chance to pass. While it is tempting to block an intersection so your entire group can go through, it is against the law. So is leaving in large bunches at a time from a four-way stop. More than two (you can each say you thought the other was waiting) is also a request for citation. Just use your mellon and we should all be fine.
One common problem seen with large groups is a failure to provide gaps for other traffic. On a two-lane road, it may be impossible for overtaking traffic to safely pass a line of a dozen or more bikes. Some members of the group may get run off the road if a driver tries to pass and has to pull back into the right lane when oncoming traffic appears. On a multi-lane road like an interstate, a long double column of motorcycles may trap a car on one side of it, blocking it from reaching an exit. Some riders act as if permitting a car to cross their column of bikes is a violation of their religious and constitutional rights, and can make a driver already in a panic about missing his exit quite dangerous.
Do address this problem. It's best to ride in sub-groups of four to six bikes and provide a gap of four or more car lengths between each sub-group. These groups can also be responsible for each other, taking care of other members of their group so that the entire fleet of bikes doesn't end up trying to squeeze onto the shoulder, which can create a real hazard.
If the group is stopping, make sure that everyone gets completely off the road. If you are arriving at a destination with a large group, bikes at the front should keep moving to allow room for the one behind to pull off the road.
Motorcycles riding in large groups consistently do a bad job of passing slower traffic on two-lane roads, which can create a dangerous situation. Typically they cut back in too close to the car they just passed and immediately slow down. This not only annoys the driver, it leaves little room for the next rider coming up behind. He or she has to wedge in even closer to the front of the car being passed. I have seen riders get locked out of the lane because those ahead left no space for them to pass. When passing a car on a road with only one lane going each direction, keep your speed up after you have completed the pass, and don't slow back down until there is a gap large enough for all the riders behind you to pull back in and safely decelerate. Stay aware of what the riders behind you are doing. If you are farther back in the group, don't begin your pass until there is a gap ahead of the car for you and the other riders in your sub-group.
For a chart of the approved signals see the next post, it's there along with a few things all IMG rides should have together prior to setting out. We have a hugely diverse group of riders and just as many styles and classes of bikes, ability's of riders and bikes are also at all ends of the spectrum, and in order to coexist with out getting into a giant furball we all have to accept the responsibility to ride with the next guy (or gal) in mind
