210344 Resource 106835 108325 108325 1217604207621 1217604207621 Controlled Group RIding Season

Safety and Group Riding

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A recent group ride across several states gave me plenty of time to think about group riding, and safety concerns.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; First, our group was too big.&nbsp; I know that it is fun to ride with a large group, but it simply doesn't work all that well.&nbsp; When you get up to 20 riders, you just won't make all the lights together.&nbsp; Cars will have to cut in, and you cannot just stay in a long double file formation.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; From a riding perspective, it is better to form into smaller groups of riders that have similar riding skills, bikes, and styles.&nbsp; It just works better.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With a large group, you are going to constantly have riders making decisions about stop lights, going around cars, where to ride in the pack, and so forth.&nbsp; With a smaller group, you have a lot less.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Another factor is that some riders like to stop and look at the scenery, others like to push for miles, some prefer spending time in dealerships.&nbsp; I don't like to spend time in a gas station, except for the minimum time needed to fuel and hit the head.&nbsp; However, it seems foolish to me to constantly blast through the best scenery on the trip.&nbsp; I'd rather periodically breath the air and enjoy the view from a fixed spot off the bike.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While it isn't necessarily safer to stop so much, it is safer to match your stops to your personal preferences.&nbsp; Again, easier in smaller groups.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One key thing to remember is that many of us are social animals.&nbsp; We prefer riding with others, because it adds to the enjoyment.&nbsp; This is particularly true at lunch stops and when stopping for the night.&nbsp; It really isn't that hard to plan the lunch stops ahead, and to provide everyone with a daily ride map.&nbsp; In this way, the urgency to stay with the group is greatly diminished.<br /> 10 application/xml false daily ride map group ride Motorcycle safety smaller groups Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.16) Gecko/20080702 Firefox/2.0.0.16 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 mpadway 63.205.182.177 false true false false true 201650 false false true false false false true 106835 blog blogsite/MichaelPadway/web