Leading a Ride and Going On a Ride

[bornwildnfree]

We've had what seems like a large number of accidents this year (I can't compare to last year because of the server crash). So, I have some suggestions.

If you post a ride:
1. Realize you are responsible for the group. Don't just take off and go nuts. You need to lead the group and make decisions that are smart for the group. If you want to have a fun ride and do what ever you want, go with one or two of your buddies. Group rides have very different dynamics and responsibilities.
2. Put the date in the title of the thread
3. Put what type of ride you're going to have in the thread whether it be a nice easy ride or a spirited ride through the canyons.
4. When you meet up with the people, have a discussion about expectations about passing, speed, skill level etc.
5. Let people know that you will wait for them at stopping points and they don't need to keep up. If you are not planning on waiting for folks at stopping points, please put that in the thread.
6. Have a safety talk before you go
7. If it's a larger group, assign a sweeper so that no one gets left really far behind.

If you go on a posted ride:
1. Ask questions about the style of ride when you get to the meet up. If it's not the ride for you, PM me and I'll happily go riding with you.
2. Know your limits!

For everyone...I'll say it once and I'll keep saying it forever...RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE. The road is not the track and and not riding to your level and above a certain level of ego in this sport will probably get you injured or killed (If not, you are very very lucky). If you feel like you are going too fast, you are. SLOW DOWN. Speed does not mean skill. You can not build skill riding at 100%. You can only build skill riding at 70 or 80%. Speed will come, but you will never be able to go as fast on the open road as you do on the track. If you feel like you are running at 100% just to keep up, you don't have the skills to keep up and that's when accidents happen.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Nice! I think the larger rides are more dangerous by their very size. People in large groups tend to get into a "mob" mentality. The larger the mob, the more mental. Plus, with a larger group, you will have a greater variation in skillsets and maturity levels. Add to the the domino effect of people riding in a large group where someone crashes and takes out others or forces them off the road because of the debris from the accident, causing them to take a "dirt nap". Having a large group (flock?) of n00bs in a large group amplifies all these negatives.

[BC14]

my .02 The problem children seem to congregate together, leaving the rest of us to have good, solid, accident and ticket free rides.

[bornwildnfree]

my .02 The problem children seem to congregate together, leaving the rest of us to have good, solid, accident and ticket free rides.

Yea, but new members have no idea what they are getting into when they show up for a random ride so throwing the reminder up there and new members may not know what the club expects when they post a ride.

[UglyDogRacing]

so do you help steer the noobs away from the numerous problem children on this forum or do you let them use their own judgement?

[bornwildnfree]

I try and help new members to feel comfortable asking questions when they show up for a ride. Steering them away from the problem children doesn't always work because we don't get a lot of the experienced riders posting rides on the CSC for various reasons so new members are kind of left finding what they can until they can find good people to ride with. I do what I can to mitigate the problem and encourage everyone to ride safe and smart.

[Spooph]

Thanks for posting this up BWnF! I think this season got started off on a bit of a bad foot with experienced younger riders (eh, hem, Vellos) hosting some really fast rides and some odd ducks joining the CSC (eh, hem, Luna) setting the feel for the season, so to speak. So this is a healthy reminder. Keep in mind folks, just cause crashas be crashin' doesn't mean that is the MO. There are many rides out there where crashes "don't be happenin".

Also, I pointed the finger at Vellos in this reply, and I know we've all jokingly termed it "The Vellos Curse", but just so ya'll know, I just got back from a 3 day long-ass trip with the dude, nobody went down, and there was plenty of fun to be had!

If you ride with him, or any of the other fast guys willing to go fast on the street, please be careful and know your stuff. Or hang back like I do. :P

[grim]

My noobness to this forum is gonna chime in on this with an example and hopefully madvald and zach chime in on this:

I set up one of my Early ass morning runs that nobody likes showing up to on saturday.

Madvald, Zach, and myself were the ones who showed up. as soon as i got there i told zach he was leading..Why? he knows the roads better than me And he's more experienced.

Zach had his sumo which i had never seen someone ride on in the mountain before so i had no idea that within seconds he was going to be completely out of sight!! yet i didnt even think or try for a second to try and catch, or keep up with him. I rode my speed that i was comfortable with being that it was cold and my visor was being a bitch and fogging up.

At every turn that had to be made Zach was waiting for us. The routes we took had alot of spots where there was mud washed over the road from all the rain as well as Gravel. We had our run with no issues whatsoever and that is how i plan to have any run i organize go! If i organize it i may be in charge and responsible for who is with me but if i see someone who i feel is more competent and knows the road more than i do i will ask that you lead and i expect everyone to be respectful as zach was. As he stated "i have no problems waiting for people its better than them trying to keep up and crashing"

thats all i have to say on this matter its important that everyone understand i have no qualms about telling you to fuck off if i dont like the way your riding im not perfect, a master, or even 100% legal all the time but i am always always safe i have a wife and little girl to go home to!!!!

[Cornfed]

BWF has been a great help in pointing me in the right direction concerning group rides and who rides and leads how. Thank you for the help.

Noob

[vort3xr6]

It's a game of numbers. The more riders, the higher possibility of crash. It's like saying that the likelihood of car crashes increase when more than one car are on the road. Duh.

Group riding suffers from the following.

1. Not many riders are good at riding in groups. Duplicate lines, sight fixation, etc.
2. Ego exceeds talent.
3. Does not know the road / route.

[Ricky]

There needs to be a youtube video for noobs. We can't expect every noob that says "hey, let's go ride" to follow all these guidelines. Something simple that states expectations for planning a ride, along with what to expect when you are on a ride. Hand/foot signals, passing other riders, allowing others to pass, stopping points, etc. I can say that when I went on my first ride, none of these things were explained to me. I learned hand and foot signals on my own from watching other riders. I learned all I needed to know from multiple rides, not one single ride. Even the veterans leave out some of the important stuff, that's why a vid for noobs would be great.

[Ricky]

It's a game of numbers. The more riders, the higher possibility of crash. It's like saying that the likelihood of car crashes increase when more than one car are on the road.

That's not necessarily true. The smallest group I've ever ridden with (4) is the only ride I've been on where a crash occurred. Other riders don't necessarily cause accidents. From what I've seen, the vast majority of accidents on group rides come from people making a dumb mistake (or not) and dumping their bike on their own. Not because there were 10 bikes on the ride instead of 5. If people learn to just ride their own ride, it doesn't matter how many people there are.

[bornwildnfree]

I don't expect all noob riders to know all the safety stuff, but I do believe that if you post a ride and random people show up, you need to change your expectations of the ride. It is no longer you and your good buddy you are responsible for...it is a group of people with different skill levels and riding styles. You can no longer just do your own thing. If that means that you need to turn let someone else lead, then do so. If that means you split up the groups, then do so. If it means that you notice someone riding like a squid and being really unsafe and calling them on their behavior and sending them home, then do so. Do as much as you can to make sure that everyone gets home in one piece. You can't control everything but you can mitigate a lot of the problems.

[MetaLord 9]

All things that I would chalk up to "common sense."

[bornwildnfree]

All things that I would chalk up to "common sense."

I have noticed (and now I feel old, "Get off my lawn!") that younger, 18-24ish, people lately don't seem to have a lot of common sense, ThankGod, the one Ranger guy, Vellos, Lunasgixxer come to mind. Sometimes it's up to the pack leaders to smack them on the nose and tell them no. I will say that Thankgod and Vellos have grown leaps and bounds but in the beginning . It took a few whacks to get them to see their mistakes and grow up a little. I know we are making a difference, it just doesn't seem like it because the quite rides don't get a lot of churn. We do have a lot of rides that end up really well and I'm really proud of that.

[MetaLord 9]

So it's the trolls and n00bs who didn't take the time to learn from experienced riders that ended up crashing? I thought that was just called spring in the Rockies.

[bornwildnfree]

Hehe maybe, but one n00b read the thread already so hopefully it'll help.