meh, washing my hair that weekend. chortle. i dont want to derail yer mans thread, give us a shout if it goes ahead, maybe get a pic of me with teeth this time
Indeed, in some groups the members seem intent on racing each other, but that is not what I'm talking about. As Bumpkin says, overtakes done respectfully and as you would (should) with any other slower vehicles, are not the problem. I've been in large groups where overtaking is not permitted - if anything I think I believe they increase risk because the faster riders will be getting frustrated and the slower ones will be conscious that they are holding up faster riders - the drop-off system (with overtaking allowed) solves that problem.
Another problem with larger groups is simply finding somewhere where everyone can park up safely and toddle off to take snaps. Anti social? no...I prefer a group of one
I remember stopping for petrol in Switzerland, ten motorcycles, it took 30 minutes. Fuel only, no toilets, nothing. Just one petrol pump. The attendant would not let the next person fill up until the first had paid. Mentioning fuel, you will be stopping when the person with the smallest tank or most thirsty engine (goes hand in hand often!) need fuel. Worth knowing what others will be riding.
I was merely giving my very own personal point of view here. In a good group, ie no more than 7-8 riders with homogeneous riding skills, there’s absolutely no need to overtake. Faster rides up front, waiting for slower ones at major intersections. Everyone happy ! Edit: what is it you guys call « drop offs »?
The rider behind the leader stops at a junction / crossroads / roundabout, and directs the following bikes. When the tail end bike arrives the dropped off bike re-joins in front of the tail end, and moves up through the group until its his/her turn to stop again. Keeps the group together and all moving in the same direction.
Got it, thanks! I’ve never ridden like this. Sounds adapted to large group maneuvers. The group I ride with works with a slightly different method. Each rider is responsible for keeping the following bike on track. What ever your position in the group is, if the rider directly behind you is delayed for some reason, you wait for them at the following intersection so that they don’t miss a turn. That works a treat within homogeneous groups. We ride 400 km days like this, with no intercoms and such. Most of the time last rider is in sight of first rider anyways. But again, imho, riding in too large or too contrasted groups, in terms of riding skills, is no fun at all…
Thanks for your comments and experiences It looks, as I feared, I would not be able to stomach the numbers, I could maybe get on with a group of 7-8 but any more would be purgatory. No way of telling how many shall book, and obviously the tour company want as many as they can. Moreover I virtually never ride in groups these days and quite enjoy organizing my own trips. Socially I tend to get on with most people but never appear to make friends (ask others not me!) I actually don’t mind being alone (I do it a lot for work) So maybe i shall start on organizing a trip, picking of the Alpine passes, that way maybe I could do it my own way and pick up a number of them from central point’s rather than a new Hotel every day. Maybe I shall throw it open to other and we could get 10 or 15 of us going…hold on..wait!
Ride to your own ability & if you want space, create it. Depending on the marker system for marking junctions or changes of direction that should be all explained by leader & usually they have a last rider marker. Which I'd usually take if in a group.
Nothing wrong with giving it a go mate. If it becomes too much, simply do your own thing. Get the destination and tell them you’ll see them there
This ^^ works, but it does need a reliable group with decent observation skills and some discipline. Lots of people think they can lead a ride, but it takes a conscious effort to keep the group together. I remember a holiday when I was TEC one morning (tail end Charlie) in a small group of 4. Due to traffic, the group got split in to 3!. Lack of observation from two front riders, the middle rider did not keep track of those in front, or the one behind. Then claimed to have been left behind. Riders 1 and 2 fucked off. Rider 3 arrived at destination annoyed, a lot late and very tired. Rider number 4 tried to contact riders 1, 2 and 3 several times. To no avail as they were scattered across Germany and did not have the skill set to re group. Rider 4 went back to the route pre set and agreed on the sat nav and had a great ride on superb roads, as per the original plan. Thanks very much
That’s correct. You need to be able to look in your mirrors and understand what’s going on, while your following someone or navigating towards destination (lead). You also need to have everyone know where you’re headed and what’s the general position of the group and way towards destination. These are the conditions for a good group experience, imho. Very much like when your fly formation. You first learn to follow as a wingman before you can be trained to be a lead. On a side note, something I really struggle with is people navigating with Waze (or equivalent real time software) whispering directions in their ear. Working on real-time updates based on reported traffic and obstacles (which are reported for cars and generally not a problem for a bike…), it makes their navigation totally unpredictable and at times, really stupid. I find following someone navigating like this utterly aggravating, as when riding across a town, you often end up in the most ridiculous side streets and places, miss the nice roads everyone had agreed on before the ride, etc. I also find it disturbing when they stop hurriedly to reset or turn off their device because it’s gone crazy and keeps repeating: « Turn around… Turn around! » in their ear drum. Finally, I always laugh when they stop without warning and hand you the lead over saying « my phone’s battery is dead, don’t know where we are. » Seriously? I, for one, have a passion for maps and finding my way memorizing itineraries is 50% of my pleasure when riding. I certainly get lost every know and then, but always know where I globally am. Have never been late for the « apéro » when riding up front!
We could have a whole separate discussion on navigation. Having used maps (honest!) Garmin, Tomtom, Copilot, Googlemaps, Motogoloco and Basecamp. All have issues and should be 'guidance' only and not taken as gospel. I missed the Col de la Machine last year due to someone not believing their own eyes for signage and blindly following sat nav.. (now forgiven lol) The major thing is common sense. Sat navs often want to re route, often down no entry roads, dead ends etc. Also depending on settings, make, model year, will even give differing results with a pre loaded route. All fun. Got to keep your wits about you. edit...and remember only the person at the front can lead, even if they are momentarily lost and off piste!!
I never ever ridden in group and not planning to 1. Its fucking boring as you bound by a slowest rider in the group. 2. You are not free anymore, as if you were driven by your wife. You can't veer off just because you saw a road sign to unknown mountain pass and want to check it out. 3. All accomodation needs to be prebooked so no way you can stay at last minute in a nice hotel you just noticed in the mountains 4. it's fucking unbearable to hear inexperienced mates talking about their riding experience when you have beers in evening. It's literally like watching Sex in the city with female friends of your girlfriend/wife. Always solo, always fast, never book anything
