Tough spot to be in. Everyone is responsible for riding their own ride,period but.. after the first time he ran off the road, myself I would have slowed down since he didn't know the road. I have been in the situation myself(twice) of having someone crash trying to catch up but it was them lollygagging and then trying to catch up and not them trying to keep up.

 

Two riders to blame here. It is a shame and those injuries are not minor.

 

The first ride off into the cornfield should have warned you this dude is having trouble.
I would have made a u-turn and followed the other rider back to where you started.
Ride cancelled.

 

you are all being pretty rough on the OP. Yes, i agree he certainly should have slowed down for the benefit of the group. But i don't think the blame falls completely on his shoulders. He was told the rider was experienced (13 years). And i think the fact that the injured rider already rode off the road once into the cornfield, but CONTINUED to ride beyond his abilities speaks volumes about his mental capacity, and or rational thought process.
"keep up or get lost" as stated by HarleyGTP? perhaps the injured rider should have asked himself "get lost, or get hurt"? if given the choice on the latter, any rational adult would take "get lost".
like i said, yes the OP should have slowed down for the group. but lets not forget the injured riders role in HIS accident.

 

the leader of a group is responsible for setting the pace for the GROUP, not himself. if you were "never out of site", how did you not see the rider behind you go off the road the first time?

fault lies with both, the leader should have been paying attention to the group and should have known if a rider right behind him falls back (slow down) or ran off the road. also the rider that ran off the road once should have slowed his pace right then.

are you responsible for him crashing.. no. are you responsible for creating a situation that caused a crash... yes.

 

Didnt see him run off the road the first time. It was immediately before the actual accident. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw they were getting too far back, so I shut it down and checked the rearview again and saw the bike on the ground. There was 3 bikes behind him and we all have cell phones. Nobody was getting lost.

 

If my choice is get "lost" and ride within my comfort level and ability or ride on the edge to keep up and risk injury then it is an easy choice. Everyone has that choice. I feel bad for you and bad for the rider that is injured, but the fault is his alone.

Then again I don't do group rides that require briefings so maybe I just don't get it.

 

Didn't see the first ride off. They were behind me. It was immediately before the accident. He regained control, got back on the road and gunned it right into the next ditch. This recounted to me by the couple on the bike right behind him.

 

ummmmm......he was behind me. and I don't know about you, but I spend most of time looking forward when I'm riding.

 

Apparently I'm in the minority here, but I put little blame on you. You feeling guilt is natural. I'd feel it too, and any decent person would too. But if this guy was outside of his skill level, he shouldn't let his pride put him in a situation that could cost him his life. Especially if he's been riding for 13 years. Taking the responsibility away from him because you were leading the pack is a total cop out. It's the same thing as blaming a teacher for a kids bad grades when the kid doesn't even try. All that said, this situation could have happened to most of us, and it's shitty any way you slice it. I hope he makes a full recovery and I hope you can put the whole thing behind you.

And as was said before, don't sell your bike just yet.