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Group Riding -- pros and cons

Around here its called "blocking", and I've been on charity rides that do it. It is illegal to do unless the ride is documented, or permited. The well organized rides have the local police join in and do it for you.

I like riding with a small group, and enjoy it on a regular basis. For me, more than 10 is too many.

My .02 cents would be try and find a couple of buds to ride with 1st, and get the hang of it.

If you do go on a large group ride 1st, talk to a couple of guys that look "mature" and tell them its your 1st time. Ask if you can hang close to them.

Sorry if I offended anyone by that statement, but I've been on my share of rides, and that has been my observation.
 
:42: Hey Skratch ... your ride on US-66 sounds like a great trip. Email me offline if you'd like just one more bike to tag along. Best regards! :bigsmiley10: :42:
 
I love it. Our HOG chapter takes it seriously but we still have a lot of fun. Safety is #1 and I have learned a lot as a new rider. We have rides planned every week which is a bit much but you sign up for what you want. I met a great riding bud and we kind of stick together. He's new to the Chapter too but has ridden for years. I do solo rides too. Seems a little more dangerous than riding in a group. We always split up into smaller groups of 6 - 8 bikes otherwise it gets weird. Even with 6 - 8, you usually get some whacko in a cage that wants to ride with us, especially on the freeway which we try to avoid. Bicycles can be a problem too. Seems like they want to ride 10 abreast even when there's a special bike lane. We also have parking lot practices quarterly at the local JC parking lot. Makes you practice tight turns, etc. On group rides, the last guy in the group will hang back with you if you have problems which is helpful on a long ride. The only thing that bugs me is when there's a loud bike in front of you and you can't hear your own motor for up and down shifting. But I get that when I ride with my buds from work too. But, any time you get 2 or more people in a group, politics creeps in. I just laugh it off (and blow 'em off), just like at work. I get plenty of practice at work! People can get way too serious...and IMPOTENT, that's for sure.
 
I like groups around 10 bikes, more than that and there needs to be some supervision,
such as blocking. For some reason, some people get freaky if a car gets in between
a bunch of riders, so best is to not let it happen as much as possible.

I've done it, it can be fun staring down a cage :)

i usually ride tailgunner, that way if I get bored i can simply drop back a bit,
and then gun it for a minute without anyone noticing.

but groups usually have to ride to the lowest common denominator;
i.e. the least experienced rider. So the ride itself is usually pretty boring, but you have
people to talk to at the end :)

I used to organize the annual Toy Run in Montreal, we would get 7000 riders out for that.
Try organizing 100 blockers out of that bunch. we needed meetings and street selection
in advance.. ha ha ha
 
Pro. Riding in groups can be alot of fun, you meet new people, hear different stories, and check out what they have done to thier bikes.
Con. Waiting to get back on the road. Too many times, when it's time to go again you hop on your bike, start the engien, and wait and wait for that one guy that just can't be orginized or always has to be the last one to get back on his bike, who by the way seems to always need to be passing everyone to get to the next stop first.
Pro. The memories and pictures of the ride, being with a bunch of friends, and not calling that one guy to let him know about the next ride.:bigsmiley20:
 
I did some group riding when I was just a pup. Now, 2 or 3 bikes is about the most I want. I just absolutely won't do the poker runs, toy runs, or Hog rides any more. I find I do not have the faith and trust in other riders that I had in my youth.
Really, I much prefer riding alone.
 
I've done a lot of parade duty, and that's fine because it's usually all very experienced riders. The problem with riding in a large pack with unknowns is that the inexperienced riders have a tendency to let the cagers "break the pack", then things can get dicey.

Ride safe,
Jammr
 
I do not like running with a big group of unknown riders !! I did a few Abate runs going to the state capitol to protest helmet laws & some toys for tots runs & I felt very uncomfortable . I do not mind riding with a small group of riders that I know . Most of the time I enjoy riding by myself because I can DO WHAT I WANT & GO WHERE I WANT & that is when I have my best adventures of my life :small3d026:
 
I don't ride in large groups anymore. I usually don't ride with folks I don't know, unless it's in a very small group, 4 riders or less. I don't ride with in-experienced riders. My idea of riding with newbies is we come to a stop sign, they go left, I go right. We'll ride together when you get a few thousand miles under your belt.

I was a HOG member for many years. I was also in charge of new rider orientation and a road captain. So I've done the whole "train folks to ride in a group" thing.

And I found out some interesting stuff...
  • In a group, the lack of rider experience is directly related to just how terrifying the ride will be.
  • Riders of different abilities, for the most part, lack the tolerance and the ability to communicate.
  • A group large of 10 bikes, or more, hinders the groups ability to navigate any type of stop light environment.
  • Casual riders (those that don't ride with each other on a constant basis) are the cause of most problems riding in a group. i.e running stoplights, trying to time lights, can not keep the proper interval, and so on.
  • Most riders will group, or friendship pod, with riders they know or have ridden with before. This causes what I call the Nellie effect. The Nellie effect, or Nervous Nellie effect is a bunch of newer riders that ends up together because others are riding in their friendship pods. They are all nervous because they don't know each other and have never ridden together. This causes longer that normal riding intervals, missed turns, lack of communication, and a generally hazardous riding situation.
I have seen everything from a guy that almost caused a 4 bike rear end collision because he decided he was not going to run any yellow lights and DID NOT bother to inform those riding with and behind him. His guy was on the left side second back from the leader, the light turned yellow, and he threw out the anchor. I made an emergency lane change to go around him. The 3 bikes behind me also managed to avoid him. BTW, he was the only one stopped at the light, the rest of the group continued thru it.

I've seen someone point out a road hazard and a rider thought he meant "lane change". He crossed, from right to left, in front of another rider, mid pack.

I've seen accidents, in low speed corners, because riders don't keep their interval (front tire touches rear tire, both riders go down), low experience riders taking out someone with many years of experience.

Group riding is one of the reasons you need to practice your emergency procedures, because in a group stuff happens. Without having the procedures fresh in your mind, and the confidence to execute them, you may place yourself in a situation you can't get out of.

IMHO, group riding tends to make some folks complacent. The "I'm in a group, I'm safe" attitude becomes the norm. Riders tend to lose their "Situational Awareness". You're enjoying the ride looking around, not paying attention to those around you. That's when mistakes happen.
 
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After reading though this again I remember a group ride I want to share. A friend and I were riding to the abate spring opener a few yrs back when we came apon a couple of guys on the side of the hwy. We stopped to see if we could help. These 2 were members of The Hells Angels and they had a chase truck comming soon but asked us to stop at the next gas station to let thier group know they were ok. We were asked by the in charge guy to ride with them. We did, man these guys, 20 plus bikes like to go fast, we cruised at close to 100 in tight formation for quite some time, we of course were in the back row. An exit came up and the front 10 guys thought it was the one they wanted and began to exit. When they saw the back of the pack wasn't they quickly came back into the lane we orignaly were in. All this without slowing down or seperation from the side by side fender to fender formation. I thought they had a real good feel for the way each rode. We had a car full of people pull up beside us slowly passing so they could check out each bike, they than slow'd so they could again slowly pass one more time. all this at 100 mph. after a couple of miles we could smell something burning, being last in the pack we thought one of these bikes in front must getting ready to blow. At the next fuel stop, the burning smell turned out to be the car, big pool of coolant under it:bigsmiley20: While we fuel'd one guy that had checked his oil forgot to put the dip stick back in and when he started it oil shot all the way to the roof over the pumps:bigsmiley20: we were asked to camp in side of thier roped off area, we did. These guys had some great riding stories that they shared with us as we sat by our camp fire. This is a, pro, for riding in groups
 
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