ONE of the most interesting things I’ve done on my motorcycle is group riding, both short and multi-day trips. I’ve ridden with hundreds of people in my time group riding and have come up with some observations and ideas I thought I would share with others. I’ve ridden with people who have never ridden in a group before, I’ve ridden with every skill level from complete beginner to highly experienced. And in that time, regardless of skill level I’ve seen many people face the same challenges and be turned off group riding. My hope is that by sharing some of my observations and ideas with you, you may get turned on or back on to group riding.
For some people, riding a motorcycle is a solo activity. They want to get out, crack the throttle and leave all their worries and life behind them for a short time. For others, they appreciate the social aspect of riding. Sure they want to go for a ride, but they also want to meet new people, make new friends and/or chill out at the end of the ride and share stories and talk motorcycles. If you’re one of the latter, this article is for you.
Why Group Ride?
Group rides have tremendous potential for riders to bond with other like-minded individuals. Some people make new friends, some people find riding buddies, and some even find love. Done right, group riding can be fun, social and time well spent. Done wrong, you can even be turned off from riding altogether.
I’ve met some amazing people through group riding and have even been lucky enough to form a small group of friends that take trips together on their motorcycles, experiencing all sorts of fun and shenanigans.
There’s security in group riding done right. You can go on longer adventures and know that if something goes wrong there’s someone there to get your back. Following other people means you don’t have to know the route, don’t have to worry about when to get gas and you can discover new roads and scenery without taking chances.
Expectations:
Managing your expectations in advance of your first ride with a new group is important. As riders, we all have a large variety of life and riding experiences. The motorcycle community is as diverse as it is large. So you’re going to ride with people who don’t necessarily believe in the same things you do and who don’t ride in the same way you do. That first group ride isn’t about having the perfect experience, it’s mostly about identifying other people of like mind and riding style. When you see people ride or listen to them talk and they seem like people you may like to ride with, approach them at the social portion of the ride and make friends. Maybe friend them on facebook afterwards or send them a message on messenger. Perhaps just watch for the next group ride and see if they are attending. Or, just show up for the next group ride and ride near them in the pack and socialize with them during the social phase. Soon enough you’ll end up riding with these people regularly and this is the basis for fun group riding. The best group riding happens when you are riding with people you are comfortable with and whose riding style is predictable. You know what they are going to do, how they ride in a pack and can comfortably follow along behind them and enjoy the scenery without worrying they are going to pull some random maneuver. So when you go out for that first group ride, be very aware that you don’t know who you are riding with. You need to be extra cautious about everything you do. Leave extra space between you and the rider in front of you at all times, watch your mirrors carefully for anyone following too closely and always obey stop signs and lights, even if that breaks the group up for a bit.
Knowing what’s expected of you in a group ride is important also. If you haven’t been on a group ride before, research group riding before you do. Understand staggered formations, where you should be in the lane, what the role of the leader and the tail gunner is and what to do if the group gets split up. You *should* also research the route and try to remember where the destination is so that if you get lost or split up you can at least catch up at the next stop or destination.
Group Riding Etiquette:
There’s some things to know about behaviour on group rides. These are more guidelines than rules and mostly common sense. One is be polite. Another is don’t offer unsolicited advice to other riders on their riding. If someone asks and you have an educated opinion, by all means answer their questions, but don’t be that person who goes around telling everyone how to ride, it’s super-annoying. Leave lots of room between you and the rider in front of you. They are checking their mirrors compulsively, worried that you may be a newer rider and might pile into them from behind. Give them some space and they will have a better time. More on that later.
Yet another is be prepared to be flexible. Group rides often go longer than planned. Leave lots of flex time in your plans for the day. Show up early, not right on time and certainly not late. A good group ride will have a briefing at the start that will cover things like route, stops, destinations and other important information. You don’t want to miss this. A really important piece of etiquette is to be fully fueled up prior to the briefing. Running out of gas or pulling out of the ride because you are low on fuel is really embarrassing and having to adjust the riding plan for someone who needs to find a gas station is a pain for the leader and the rest of the group.
Riding in the Group:
My intention with this chapter is to prepare you for group riding with people you may be unfamiliar with. Riding with people you know well and have ridden with often is a whole different experience and is what you want to aspire to. I’ve already mentioned some of the more important points to consider when riding in a new group but I’ll rehash them here for emphasis. Be hyper-vigilant. Watch for people getting too close from behind you and people in front of you who brake unexpectedly or never flash the brake lights when slowing.
Don’t watch the scenery, watch ahead of and behind you constantly. Think of your skill level as as percentage. You never want to ride in a group above 70% of your skill level. Keep lots in reserve in case of a crisis. This means in those fun, twisty corners, you will need to perhaps go a bit slower than you usually would. Leave extra room behind you and the rider in front of you.
On courses you will learn to stagger bikes in a pack. This means the leader will be in one lane position – often the left lane position. The next person will follow 1 second behind at 50km/h staggered in the right lane position. You should allow 2 seconds between you and the rider in front. This distance should expand as your speed goes up. At 90km/h you should allow 4 seconds between you and the rider in front. A good rule of thumb is to only stagger the formation when there is a painted road shoulder. When there isn’t one, simply revert back to single file and take the whole lane, expanding the gap between you and the rider to your front appropriately. Definitely on narrow sections of road, revert to single file and take the whole lane so you can avoid unanticipated obstacles such as bumps, potholes or wildlife. When the road widens or the painted shoulder is back, revert back to the staggered formation. In heavy traffic at slower speeds, keep the distances between bikes as close as is safe. This will prevent traffic from trying to maneuver in and out of the group which is unsafe.
Try not to just look at the bike in front of you. Look ahead down the road. If your reactions are timed to the bike in front of you, you’re losing critical response time. If you are watching what’s happening ahead of the group you can react in good time and are unlikely to get too close to the bike in front of you.
At stop signs and lights, you will feel pressured. You will feel pressured to run the yellow and you will feel pressured to not come to a full stop and do a proper scan left and right before advancing. Always, always, always come to a full stop at stop signs and red lights before advancing in any direction. Scan in all directions before advancing. Be watching for lights to change from green to yellow. When approaching an intersection at a green light, pump the brakes and slow down a bit in case the light changes to yellow. This will warn the rider behind you that you may stop and give you time to safely stop if the light does change. Don’t worry about breaking up the group. This happens all the time. When it does, a good group leader will find a way to get the group back together.
When on a multi-lane road and your group is in the passing lane, be hyper-vigilant for spacing, lane position and drivers in the slow lane. If you leave too much space, drivers will cut into the group. If you don’t leave enough space you lose reaction time for things like a yellow light or something worse. Typically, a group will always stay in the slow lane except to turn or to pass.
When you’re parking at stops, don’t worry about parking in a perfect lineup with the rest of the bikes. Park where it is level and flat and where you feel comfortable. One of the few mishaps I have seen on group rides has been a dropped bike over a parking job.
Be cautious of the “Accordion Effect”. Some people will be faster through corners than others. If you come out of a corner slower than the person in front of you, you will want to catch back up to the group. The difficulty with this can be that the person in front of you may need to slow down again for the next corner or for something in the road. That puts them slowing down, you speeding up and the speed differential can put you in the unexpected position of having to brake hard. So, before you speed up to catch up, ensure you’re looking further down the road to see if there’s a corner coming up or some reason the rider in front of you may need to slow down. Also, it’s normal in a group situation for people to be on and off the throttle a bit, causing you to have to speed up and slow down. Experienced riders are better at maintaining an even speed, but when you don’t know the people you’re riding with you may run into this. If you’re riding behind someone who is constantly speeding up and slowing down, just try to adjust slowly and leave some extra space between you.
Occasionally, you may wind up riding behind someone who can’t keep their line. They drift in and out of their lane position in the group. It happens. When it does, just revert to single file, so leave at least 2 seconds between you and them. If it drives you nuts, just change your position in the group at the next stop.
Here’s the most important part of this chapter. Don’t do anything unsafe regardless of what other riders are doing. If you feel uncomfortable at any point, flip your signal on, pull to the side of the road, let the group go on by and head off on your own. I’ve had several people do this on group rides I’ve been on, and I’ve done it myself. Sometimes you get hooligans out on rides doing marginal things and that makes you uncomfortable. Maybe the pace of the ride is more spirited than you are comfortable with. Whatever the problem is, don’t be shy about putting your safety first. Also, if you are following someone, or being followed by someone who you are uncomfortable riding around, at the next break, change your position in the pack. Your comfort and safety trumps everything else.
Finding a Group Ride:
For me, finding a group was as easy as getting on Facebook and searching for motorcycle groups in my local area. I searched and found a local club with 3000+ members and joined. I say easy but honestly, it’s not as simple as that. Once I found my local club, I had to figure out new terms. Some people would post “casual rides”. My very first group ride with them was a casual ride. It was anything but casual. It was screaming around local roads faster than I was comfortable riding. I ended up dropping off the back of the pack and leaving the ride. Turns out there’s a difference between “casual ride” and “casual pace” which is what I was looking for.
Now depending on where you live, you may not have a lot of choices out there for group rides. But, if you do have an active group that posts group rides, look for the pace of the ride. If the ride is advertised as “casual pace” chances are the ride will stay close to the speed limit. If the pace is mentioned as “spirited” then it is likely to be quite fast. Pace is a good indicator of what you are getting into.
Conclusion:
To wrap things up, here’s what I consider to be the main takeaways. Group riding opens up a brand new level of motorcycling. It opens you up to new roads, new friends and new challenges and can be extremely rewarding.
Sometimes you have to go out on a few different rides before you find a group that works for you. There are all sorts of groups out there; ladies only groups, religious groups, groups by motorcycle type, casual groups, serious groups, veterans groups, you name it there’s probs a group out there for it.
When you ride with people you don’t know, you have to ride cautiously. But the goal – the dream – is to find people you ride with all the time who you get to know and become comfortable with through the experience of riding with them repeatedly.
Your safety is your responsibility. Do what you need to do to get home safe. Thanks for reading!