That group did you a big favor by leaving you behind. I would not have bothered even trying to catch up.

 

Agreed!!

I like to ride with 2-3 other bikes max. If I find others who share that mentality they are welcome to join along, just don't expect me to join the careless majority.

 

Years ago I used to hang out at my local dealer for coffee and doughnuts on Saturday morning and visit. I was friends with a few of the 'old guard' and we would watch allthe posturing and politicing that was going on amongst the rest of the crowd. Eventually someone would come over and ask my friends if they were going to participate in the upcominggroup ride.They would always act interested butpolitely decline. I finally asked why he never went on one of their rides-he had 8 bikes, was retired, and pretty much all he did was decide what bike he was going to take where, next. His response floored me-'hell, you see the way these folks are...you think I would actually ride with them?" I died laughing! He summed up what I was thinking with just one statement. Your best ride is going be with good friends that you can trust on the road. Leave the politics and posturingfor the others.

 

The only group rides I've been on were Memorial rides that were run by the local ABATE chapter and the HOG chapter and they were well run and everybody seemed to know there $hit. Speed was reasonable, staggered formation, good spacing, everything you could ask for.

 

I just went on a group benefit ride yesterday for Hackensack Medical Hospital for Children sponsored by Joseph Sanzari Construction. It is called Party under the Bridge. It ends in a park under the George Washington Bridge. There were about 600 bikes and it was very well organzied. The ride had a total police escort so we never had to stop the whole way. There was an accident at the beginning of the ride involving a bike. We were unable to get any info about it and had to continue on in line. I checked the local paper today and the ride was posted with pics but nothing about the accident. Not all group rides are bad. That is a shame that the people were rude though. I pulled up into a meeting place about 15 minutes before my friends showed up. The other riders who were already there walked right up to me and stuck out their hands introducing themselves. Hats off to the Lenape Nation MC of Ramapough Mountain. They are a real class act and know how to make everyone feel welcome. Also, all my experiences on HOG rides have always been wonderful.

 

been on lots of group rides mainly in my sportbike days. best rides was a group of about 5 of us "old" guys who were used to riding together. usually, the bigger the ride (especially with sport bike riders) the better the chance of someone's ***** getting bigger than their britches. was on four rides in 2005 where people crashed and totaled their bikes. luckily noone was seriously injured. in 2006 riding with a large group and they were crazy. me and my buddies split off about about 10 miles. the next day one of the crazies was killed. single rider accident going around a curve too fast and high sided; apparantly landed on his head and broke his neck. yes, he was wearing a full face helmet and leathers.

did my first ride with the local hog group this past weekend. probably about 20 bikes. was nice andhad fun; notbody acting crazy and didn'tseem to be any brand new riders. great group of guys and gals. made my wife and i feel welcome. but Istill prefer smaller groups about about 5 - 6 max - just easier to coordinate and less time gassing up, etc...

 

i have never had a good time on large group rides. if we have a large group now, i think the best way is to brake up into groups of 4, with each group knowing the route well. then ride, if the groups and stay in line with the other groups, awesome, if not, not a big deal. at the next stop, we wait for everyone to get there and have a rest before heading out. seems to work well.

now i have never had problems with people being rude, ever really, well other than the hardcore bikeraholes that hate everyone that isnt just like them.

 

One of the hardest things to do is to find a group of riding companions that shares your style of riding. We have friends we have known and enjoyed for 30 years, that we rufuse to ride with, simply because their style of riding is way different than ours. There are a coupla groups here in town that have a organized ride every week. One meets on wednesday nights and they draw a name out of a hat to pick the leader for the night. Their ride ususally consists of a 15 to 25 mile ride to someplace to eat and then back home......we rode with them once. The other group gets together @ 10:00 am every Sunday morning. Their ride usually consists of a day long hop from bar to bar with a half a tank of gas used up before returning at dark......we rode with them once also. Along the way tho, we have found a few folk that like to ride like we do, and altho we don't have much in common with some of them otherwise, we ride well together and enjoy each other as long as we're on the bikes.

One thing I have always told new riders in any group I have ridden with.......never push yourself beyond your capabilities and/or your own comfort zone......no matter what....and if you find yourself uncomfortable riding with the group, don't be afraid to pull over and ride alone....just make sure you tell someone in the group what's going on. Any group should have a sweeper that takes the back to make sure everyone in the group makes it to the destination. That way iffin the group gets split up in traffic or by stop lights(or because the road captain wants to show off how fast he is) there's someone that knows where the next stop is. If the group doesn't have a sweeper or a plan to keep the group together or a predetermined route and is assured everyone in the group knows it, they ain't been riding very long. We have been on several charity rides where we either felt unsafe or just didn't like the route and/or the company and dropped out to go our own way......and made a good day's ride out of accident waitin' to happen.

 

On our rides the sweeper issometimes a Jeep, truck or other cage. These can become very usefull if there are mechanical problems.Although solo is fun in its own lonesome way, I prefer groups when on rural type rides. No machine is perfect, and it's good to have friends around whenthings go badly.They will eventually, you can count on it. Having AAA gold RV is a good idea too , mag wheels, tubeless tiresand a tire repair kit. Ok, so as long as we going this direction - bring plenty of water too. Dehydrationoccurs swiftlyin a 60 mph wind.

 

I'm guessing this was an MC ride.