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Old November 15th, 2012, 09:28 PM   #1
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Ride Your Own Ride

In this motorcycle culture we have it's easy to get caught up in being competitive. Group rides are a great place to socialize and expand your motorcycling knowledge and skills, but too often it causes that competitive nature to bubble to the surface and make us take unnecessary risks. Personally, I'm an extremely competitive person, dinner? First one done. Video games? Top score. Grades? Well I didn't do my homework but I'll get the best test scores. Btw Unregistered my 250 IS faster than yours. Doesn't matter what I'm doing, I'm competing to be the best whether everyone else knows it or not.

That is except for one activity and that's riding. I ride my own ride, I go my own speed and I'm comfortable at those speeds. I'm capable of speeding through the twisties faster but I slow it down because I don't know if there is a stopped cager or a dead bambi around that blind corner. I ride at a speed that ensures I have the skills necessary to handle that unexpected hazard, and you should too.

Watching other riders speed through and tear up the twisties can tempt us to do the same and put us in over our heads. This is the case of what happened last month with Tim Wong. Tim was a new rider on a group ride and when he saw the riders in front of him take off he tried to follow. He sped up and rode over his head. It wasn't long before he came upon a curve after a blind turn that he was unable to negotiate where he crashed and died.

I had spoken with Tim on a previous group ride and told him to hang out near the back and go the speed he felt comfortable with; ride your own ride and don't try to keep up with the guy in front of you. He acknowledged and we had a safe fun ride. A few weeks later he had forgotten what I had told him and he paid for it. Tim died because he was trying to keep up with the riders in front of him.

Tim's death is a solemn reminder of the undefined dangers of a group ride. Undeclared competition. Even when riders are encouraged to ride their own ride they can still feel pressured to keep up. Don't. That **** will get you killed. Ride at a pace that you are comfortable with, don't worry about the guy behind you or the guy in front of you, they aren't going to leave you behind. They would all much rather wait a few minutes at a stop for you to catch up then watch as the paramedics scrub your brains off the asphalt.

Don't get it in your head that "if he can do it so can I" because thats not always true. I'll guarantee you can take that turn faster than you are now, but I'll also guarantee you that you won't have the skills necessary to be safe and at those speeds it only takes one mistake to kill you. So I encourage you, ride your own ride, and encourage others to do the same as well. Don't compete and try to show off, be comfortable and have fun.




And if someone tells you to keep up you tell them to STFU and you punch them in the throat.

Side note, if you find yourself wanting to go faster and push the limits, go do a trackday. They have an ambulance on hand as well as no cars, no obstacles, no trees, no gravel or any other hazards. The risk of injury from crashing is greatly reduced and $200 is a small price to pay for the safety offered.
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Old November 15th, 2012, 09:41 PM   #2
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Old November 15th, 2012, 09:46 PM   #3
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This is a great post. A good reminder too. I'm also a very competitive person, and the thought does scare me. I hope to not be a competitive rider, but after reading this if it happens, I'll definitely try to think about this. Sitting at the cool table with the cool kids just isn't worth your life.
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Old November 15th, 2012, 10:13 PM   #4
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Can't be said enough. Doesn't matter if your an experienced or new rider, "Ride your own ride" especially true when/if riding with other/s that you haven't ridden with before. If they don't like it, they aren't worth riding with.
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Old November 15th, 2012, 11:47 PM   #5
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Old November 16th, 2012, 04:46 AM   #6
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Great post and advice Jiggles When I did the MSF course the instructor said that if newbies happen to be on a group ride they should ask to lead the group, that way they set the pace and don't feel the need to try to keep up. If the more experienced riders in the group don't like it, don't ride with them 'cause they're just A**holes who are not worried about the wellbeing of fellow riders.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 05:27 AM   #7
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Good advice to all riders not just new ones, and btw there was nothing faster than my 250R

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Old November 16th, 2012, 05:38 AM   #8
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Old November 16th, 2012, 05:41 AM   #9
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Here I have to say Mr. Jiggles

this is worth
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Old November 16th, 2012, 05:53 AM   #10
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good points, but I'd have left the deceased out of it. skepticism about why his situation ended up the way it did doesn't help anyone.

I recently led a small group ride with some co-wokers... despite being on the smallest bike, I was the fastest rider. It was a conscious effort to check up on them, make sure I didn't leave them in the dust, and make sure everyone was still upright. Putting the slow guys up front wouldn't have made the ride fun for the two of us that didn't mind ripping through turns (within VERY reasonable limits) and then slowing down on the straights. It's about keeping yourself strong, sticking with your gut, and taking a few jabs if you have d-bags in the group.

it's all about avoiding peer pressure... remember those talks in elementary school?
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Old November 16th, 2012, 06:25 AM   #11
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Putting the slow guys up front wouldn't have made the ride fun for the two of us that didn't mind ripping through turns
Not trying to be a bitch, more of a devil's advocate What's wrong with having a bit of a boring ride every now and then if you're helping someone build confidence in their riding ability instead of that person feeling the need to keep up and end up being in way over their head??
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Old November 16th, 2012, 06:29 AM   #12
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I think jiggles has been abducted by aliens and they are using his account to educate us... That's the only reasonable explanation for such a useful and informative post from him
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Old November 16th, 2012, 06:41 AM   #13
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Part of the reason I dont do group rides. The sport bike crowd tend to treat rides like a street race. Thats not for me. I like to ride to enjoy it..... not to fly at 150+ down the highway so I can make fun of the slower people. In this case the Harley ppl win. You go on one of their rides and you can actually get a chance to enjoy the scenery and what not.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 07:15 AM   #14
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So much truth. I had a friend who got his first bike not too long ago, and when he went to ride with his friends he tried to keep up and totally bombed it around a turn. Came out with minor scratches and bruises. Thank god he was wearing full gear.

On a side note, this is why I only go on group rides with a bunch of guys on scooters.

Just kidding guys.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 07:43 AM   #15
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Not trying to be a bitch, more of a devil's advocate What's wrong with having a bit of a boring ride every now and then if you're helping someone build confidence in their riding ability instead of that person feeling the need to keep up and end up being in way over their head??
nobody got left behind, or felt the need to keep up in the turns. It's up to the leader and every rider to keep an eye on the person behind them, and not leave them in the dust.

i can show you the chicken strips on my bike and you'll see what i mean, they're huge. I leave a lot of room for error.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 09:00 AM   #16
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Actually, with absolute respect to Tim's memory (though I didn't know him), sometimes it is good to "put a face" to something. Otherwise a lot of people just gloss over things, saying, "oh yeah that sucks, sounds good", instead of being like "wow, that is a rude awakening and I need to slow down and pay more attention."

We had an insurance guy come to our company to talk about safety in the workplace and whatnot and he used actual people's mishaps to demonstrate and teach. Definitely makes it hit home a bit better.

Great post Jiggles. I don't even care to ride that fast anymore. When we go on rides around here, we don't even try to go fast, we try to be smooth and careful around the corners, and just go to enjoy being outdoors and see the scenery (we stop a lot for photos). As far as ripping around twisties, the more I ride the less I want to. There are just too many occasions where there's so much debris in the road that going fast is just scary dangerous. Unless I can see through the end of the turn and then some, I take it easy.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 10:35 AM   #17
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Great post. My MSF instructor talked about this last night. Thanks man.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 10:45 AM   #18
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I think jiggles has been abducted by aliens and they are using his account to educate us... That's the only reasonable explanation for such a useful and informative post from him
race tracks change people.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 10:52 AM   #19
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Old November 16th, 2012, 11:10 AM   #20
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nobody got left behind, or felt the need to keep up in the turns. It's up to the leader and every rider to keep an eye on the person behind them, and not leave them in the dust.

i can show you the chicken strips on my bike and you'll see what i mean, they're huge. I leave a lot of room for error.
Uhm no, you should not be worrying about the guy in front of you or the guy behind you. Choose stops to meet up and ride your own ride
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Old November 16th, 2012, 11:23 AM   #21
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because he was trying to keep up with the riders in front of him.
Happen to me too. Luckily, I low sided into a nice soft dirt pillow

Its a hard lesson to learn without crashing.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 12:58 PM   #22
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I don't do group rides because of the competitive nature of a lot of people, especially young men.
I don't have the kind of testosterone coursing through me like they tend to, which can get people into trouble.
Not that older men or women can't get in too deep, but it's definitely more of a temptation for a bunch of juiced-up boys to out-do one another, and it's a shame.

I'm an incredibly careful rider...I don't think I'd be a lot of fun to ride with anyhow. xP Maybe on the freeway....but I don't corner like any sort of pro.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 01:15 PM   #23
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Uhm no, you should not be worrying about the guy in front of you or the guy behind you. Choose stops to meet up and ride your own ride
Respectfully disagree on this one. Yes, ride your own ride and the group will (should) follow. But, keep an eye on the person behind you. If they suddenly vanish from sight, slow down. If they don't reappear after a reasonable distance, stop and wait. That will cause a change reaction up to the leader that there is a problem. The rider behind you may be the last person and if they wreck, the one ahead of them is the first in the group to know about it and go back to help.

One group I was with had "catch up" spots about a hundred miles apart. You can still ride comfortably and see for quite a distance behind you. It worked out well with the quicker folk up ahead, the moderate riders in between, and us noobs bringing up the rear.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 01:25 PM   #24
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Well ideally there would be a sweeper in the group. If you are slowing down for the person behind you they may feel just as pressured to keep up with you. If that's what you are going to do you really should have a conversation with the person behind you, tell them that they need to ride their own pace and that you will be slowing down to keep them in sight.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 01:28 PM   #25
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Very true. I've ridden a few times with the vintage riders, and it's usually slower, scenic routes, but one part of the route goes through a relatively nice twisty road, so I make it a point to tell them that I'll be going hard on it (because despite my bike being 40 years old, I like to run it hard in the twisties), and that they don't have to keep up.

I have seen someone go down too because they tried to keep up with the front, despite the rear going at a very reasonable, safe pace.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 01:50 PM   #26
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Teri, any group worth their salt will have an experienced sweeper performing that task. It's their job to stay behind the last rider and communicate with the pace setter when an "off road excursion" has occurred.

In a very small group of 2 or 3 riders, then you have to watch out for one another and "trust your gut" when it tells you something is not right. Because in my neck of the woods, seeing 2 or 3 corners back is not possible due to terrain. So you have to just slow down to their pace or "feel it".

When you lead a few groups you will know what I mean and catch up spots 100 miles apart is too far depending on the roads, group size and skill spread of the riders. Sounds like it should have been 3 smaller groups instead of one large one, 3 pace setters and 3 sweepers and instead of "catch up" spots, they would be "rest stops", where a longer than average wait time should be expected of everyone. Maybe that is what you meant, dunno.

Setting expectations and communication (a la Mountain Dew's comment) are the KEYS to a successful group ride with division of tasks and roles a close second. And if anyone is going to break the pace at any time, there at very least needs to hand signal or something if not communicated ahead of time.

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Old November 16th, 2012, 02:13 PM   #27
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Teri, any group worth their salt will have an experienced sweeper performing that task.
nope. Someone volunteered to be the last simply cause they wanted to go slowest.

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In a very small group of 2 or 3 riders, then you have to watch out for one another and "trust your gut" when it tells you something is not right. Because in my neck of the woods, seeing 2 or 3 corners back is not possible due to terrain. So you have to just slow down to their pace or "feel it".
That was more the rule of the day. From the group's "Code of Conduct"..

1. Know where the rider behind you is & remember it is your responsibility to make sure the person behind you doesn’t get lost.
2. Know how many riders are in the group & know if you are the last rider. If you don’t know you are the last rider you won’t know if you left someone behind (If everyone in the group can’t follow these guidelines then use the designated Lead & Caboose method).
6. Use “common sense” on long stretches of rodeway & check back every once in a while to make sure you know where the rider behind you is. Even though they might not see you at least you still know where they are.
7. If it is apparent the rider behind you is not coming then go back to where you saw them last or the last location of a complete group. Don’t keep going forward or go off looking for them, the rest of the group will come back to you. If the group doesn’t get back together within a 1⁄2 hour then go into search & rescue mode.


Different groups, different rules. I stuck with the Ride my own ride and just enjoyed the day rather than trying to keep up with the leaders.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 02:47 PM   #28
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You don't get to go last simply because you want to. That falls in the line of braking the group pace and leaves that rider hanging out to dry with no assistance and on their own. If you want to ride solo then why are you part of the group? Just tell them to ride on and you will meet them at xyz destination. Either way... your not really part of the group anymore no?

And I for sure know that different groups have different rules. The problem with your points is that it takes their focus away from the front. I normally want riders in my group to have their focus forward. It's enough for any given rider to worry about themselves, traffic and the road ahead, much less what the rider behind them is doing. I am normally up front and another track ho is "the last" rider, if you wanna go slow... fine he goes even slower.

On my 100+ mile normal Sunday rides there are 15 or so turning points and 3 rest stops. Then entire group recollects at each turning intersection and rest stop and the sweeper gives the thumbs up to the pace setter that everyone made it. If not, the group finds a close safe place to park and waits for word and the crash guy as well as someone certified in CPR and such rides toward the last point the group was collected or sees the sweepers bike parked on the side of the road.

It's simply the fastest and easiest way to keep everyone together and their attention where it needs to be. It even works well with smaller groups of around 4 bikes.

Now there are groups that do their own thang. For example there are 5 riders that normally show up at my meeting spot on Sunday. These riders go really fast. They have their own understood rules and methods that work for those riders. Their risk level is higher too.... To each their own.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 02:49 PM   #29
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Old November 16th, 2012, 02:58 PM   #30
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And I for sure know that different groups have different rules. The problem with your points is that it takes their focus away from the front. I normally want riders in my group to have their focus forward. It's enough for any given rider to worry about themselves, traffic and the road ahead, much less what the rider behind them is doing.
+1 On a spirited ride I was riding with another 250 rider who was in front of me. We had a few cars that needed DY passing and he was waiting until very long straights where we could both pass because he was worrying about me. Doing so put extra pressure on him to concern himself with 2 bikes and extra pressure on me to keep up with him.

It would have been safer for him to pass when he could and continue on and for me to pass when I could.

That's another point that should be brought up, if you are in a group ride that will be passing cars you especially need to not try to keep up with the guy in front of you. I've seen it quite a few times on group rides where the lead passes easily and the 2nd follows, then the third guy decides he doesn't want to get left behind and rockets past cutting it close and then the fourth guy decides the same thing and ends up passing in a blind turn.

We are all meeting up at the same spot, there is no need to foolishly pass like that simply to keep up with the person in front. If you get separated by a car its no big deal, pass when you can or don't pass if you don't feel comfortable doing it
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Old November 16th, 2012, 02:58 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by alex.s View Post
race tracks change people.
It wasn't the track

<--- It was that
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Old November 16th, 2012, 03:04 PM   #32
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I don't get why I am in this post??
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Old November 16th, 2012, 03:07 PM   #33
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its cause jiggles' bike is faster than yours
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Old November 16th, 2012, 03:15 PM   #34
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Old November 16th, 2012, 03:18 PM   #35
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@csmith12 Hurm, I feel like I am suddenly defending a group that I have no knowledge of. I rode with them once, and that was the rule, keep an eye on the guy behind you. It made sense to me as I am used to driving in small off-road groups, that's what we do, and so went with it.

But as I discovered group riding is not for me, I said thanks to them for the ride and have since gone my way.
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Old November 16th, 2012, 03:33 PM   #36
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No worries mate. Don't feel defensive either. You disclosed you where in the rear of the group. You should have had no other responsibility other than to arrive safely. I think it's great that you shared your experience. Was that the only group ride you have every went on?
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Old November 16th, 2012, 04:22 PM   #37
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Yeah. Found out I like being able to stop when I want to stop or go when I want to go. Oh try that restauant rather than the group hang out. Too independent for my own good. LOL
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