Ride Routes

[mst3kguy]

does anyone live near tRoy?  it appears hoffman has broken into tRoy's love palace and is using his computer.

[Smola67]

Would you like to meet at the mt. Pisgah inn on Wednesday TRoy. If so what time will you in the area?

[higbonzo]

What the procedure for curves.  I road one of the skyways in NC near 129, and if you stayed in formation around the corners you would hit your head on the guardrail on the inside lane.  Especially if you were travel at any great speed.  It is the same for many of the corners in the mountains.  The mountains are just to close to stay comfortably on the inside lane.  Plus, it work against using the apex of the corners.

I am not trying to be smart, I am just wondering if riders are expected to stay in formation on sharp corners, or when cornering at higher rates of speed. I've always followed or lead, with it being the responsibility of the riders behind to make safe passes and keep a safe distance.  And the distance will close the more comfortable the riders are with each other skills.  The formation on strait aways, and sweeping corners is good to know, but I have never seen it done on hard corners, or high speed corners.  Oh, I tried it once, ONCE.

I am so jealous of you all.  I rode down A1A to N. Daytona 2 days ago.  It made me feel a little better, there is nothing like cruising by the Ocean.

Later......

[the fan]

If it gets twisty single file seems to be the accepted method.  No formation flying here.

IMO the most important things are all centered around communication.

WATCH YOUR 6: Ride the pace you are comfortable with, not what the rider in front of you is doing and watch your mirrors. You are responsible for the guy behind you, not the one in front. If he or she disappears from your mirror, you need to slow down until they appear. Faster riders may want to pass. If you are watching your 6 you will know when they are there and can control the pass when you feel comfortable. make sure to acknowledge that you are aware of them and most will be patient. Ignore then and prepare to be banzai-ed (remember others may be working up through our group, I would neverbanzai an fj

SIGNAL A "SAFE" PASS: When you pass a car or another bike you can often see better than your buddy stuck behind, especially on the winding mountain roads. As a courtesy signal the riders that the road is clear and it is safe to pass by making a large obvious windmill gesture with your left arm. This is a somewhat risky procedure so err on the side of safety and remember that the guy behind you is trusting you. Conversely if you don't trust the rider in front of you don't risk it.

WAVE OFF A few of us like to sprint off from time to time. If this is you make sure to wave a big goodbye to signal that you are leaving and that the person following you is the new group leader. Its a courtesy thing. I am known for occasional irresponsibility and prefer to ride alone or with a few trusted friends and wind up at the same place as everyone else. I will often take off and would hate to find out someone went into a ditch trying to keep up. (see above)  conversely if you notice another rider following you and keeping pace give a little wave to let them know you know they are there an you got 'em covered.

In all cases stop and regroup at all major intersections. Its not a race and we are all there to have fun.

It doesn't take long for the group to fragment into small groups of like minded riders. If you tend to tear up the roads try to be ready when the group leaves to avoid passing the same guys over and over. If you prefer to do a bit of sightseeing, let the faster guys leave first...

[mst3kguy]

bill wrote:

"WATCH YOUR 6: Ride the pace you are comfortable with, not what the rider in front of you is doing and watch your mirrors. You are responsible for the guy behind you, not the one in front. If he or she disappears from your mirror, you need to slow down until they appear. Faster riders may want to pass. If you are watching your 6 you will know when they are there and can control the pass when you feel comfortable. make sure to acknowledge that you are aware of them and most will be patient. Ignore then and prepare to be banzai-ed (remember others may be working up through our group, I would neverbanzai an fj"

i think this requires a bit of clarification.  you don't need to slow down immediately if you no longer see the person in your mirrors.  if you've lost sight of the person behind you, and you're in a bunch of corners, i think a lot of us consider it optional to slow down, especially if you're in a good rhythm.  you know there will be a straightaway ahead.  when there is, and you still haven't seen the person, then just slow down.  we really, really encourage everyone to really slow down in the straights.  wave to people.  avoid speeding tickets.  get back in formation more or less.  and i don't wait for the person to get back on my tail, i just keep an eye out for the headlight, once i've seen that, i move on.

to add, if we're on a state route, or main road, or whatever, as long as we stay on that road, we don't stop.  we just keep going.  however, if we change roads/routes, everyone stops until everyone has caught up, realistically speaking.  we don't need people getting lost.  especially me.

[higbonzo]

I agree with the aspect of always looking in your mirrors to be sure you have not lost a rider, and waiting in the straight to be sure you see the other riders (rider) has made the corner.  What I am saying is while in the corners it is the responsibility of the follower to be sure he keeps a safe distance and make passes with enough clearance to be sure as to not interfer with the lead riders line.  Last time I went up the Dragon Tail I was busting ass and really focus on getting up to the top as fast and safely as possible.  I was hard on the throttle and hard on the brakes all the way up.  I was focused on my line and my braking points only.  I was kicking ass.  Well I had no time for rearview mirrors.  I was passed about halfway up by a much faster and more nimble sport bike (Ducati).  He passed me safely and didn't interfer with the line I was on.  Obviously I tried to run with him after the take over, and I stayed fairly close until we broke out of the tail and he went full on past the lake and on into the mountains.  I ran the same way coming down, and had a few scares, I forgot about gravity for the moment, but I was reminded very quickly going to hot into a few corners.

I have seen to many times when the follower is not paying attention to the rider in front of them and run into them or bumped them.  On straight aways and sweepers all riders should be aware, or try to be aware of the other riders.  But, when it gets into hard cornering it is the responsibility of the following rider to keep a safe distance from the rider in front because it is impossible to watch your mirrors during hard cornering.  That is one of the reason they have you remove you mirrors when on the race track.  They do not want you to be distracted looking in your mirrors.

Still jealous........  Hope you all have great fun, sunny days, and great riding.



Later....

[Marsh White]

Nah,  if you don't notice another rider suddenly on your ass after a few corners you are riding above your means AND not as good as you think you are.  I had a similar experience on the Dragon (with this group actually)  - except I was the passer...     I think I was inadvertently labeled a squid because of the incident...but trust me...I chilled for at LEAST 8 corners before getting annoyed enough to say fuck it and fly around...

[the fan]

at 3 corners I get annoyed and start with the horn....I like to look back and wave once I am by...I then play dumb at the end of the road. "who me? on this old pile? you must be thinking of someone else."

[higbonzo]

Nah,  if you don't notice another rider suddenly on your ass after a few corners you are riding above your means AND not as good as you think you are. 

Maybe so, but that is what horns are for, but if you are watching your mirrors in corners you will soon be in the trees.   Besides, I was doing most of the passing and there were no bikes near me (not braggin, everyone must have been taking it easy that day).  Like I said he had a much faster and much more nimble bike than I did.  Beside, I by no means set the pace, once I saw a few sports bike in front of me let it go, I just did the same.  I never saw him come up on me, and he gave no indication that I had upset his progress.  He just new the road better than I did and new when to safely over take me.  Which was my point in the first place.    And he was the only bike that did so, so I must not have be holding up progress to much.  It is the rider that is just poking along you have to worry about because you never know when they are going to just switch lanes, slow down, swirve back and forth.  On the other hand the guy that is hauling ass is set to a certain apex and braking area, which makes him more predictable. Bottom line, the rider following is responsible for making safe passes and keeping a safe distance.  That is the Law.  And, as I also said, the distance can be closed when the riders understand and get to know each other riding and skill levels.

Like the rules say, it not a race, and we each have our own comfort levels.  I am 47 years old, and have a few years and over 100,000 miles of riding under my belt, but I ride much mellower than I did as a young man.

Later.

Still wish I could be riding with you all, even if it is in the back of the pack.  

[Marsh White]

Nah,  if you don't notice another rider suddenly on your ass after a few corners you are riding above your means AND not as good as you think you are.  

Maybe so, but that is what horns are for,

True...good point.  I have never used the horn under wanting to pass circumstances...I actually never thought of it.  There, I learned something!    I'll try and remember that and make it a habit.

[the fan]

just make sure to do it in a strait stretch. Its pretty frickin funny when you catch them off guard.

[the fan]

So whats the deal marsh. Are you and Pat heading over for the fall rally? I thought I remembered you saying you were, but this has been a crazy year.

[higbonzo]

just make sure to do it in a strait stretch. Its pretty frickin funny when you catch them off guard.

That is exactly what he did.    

From the point where Killboy takes pictures there were 2 sports bikes behind me, one was a Honda F4i, and the other was the Ducati 1098S Tri-Colore.  I never saw the 600, but the Ducati obviously overtook us both.  All I can say was the rider of the Ducati was Bad Ass.

I did not mean for this thread to digress.  I just wanted your rooky rider to know they are not expected to keep formation when the corner get tight, or in sharp high speed corners.  The most important thing is to stay well within your lane in those situations.

Later......

[CodyNKR]

The thread didn't digress....
All I got to say is, I ride with NancyG and she's yet to lead me astray.
And we let all ya'll fast un's leave first.
Can't wait to get up there. Having breakfast this morning, Jeff asked me where would we be next Sunday at that time. I said having lunch someplace cool.
NancyK

[TRoy]

  hook line & sinker!

I'd just like to clarify that my post about poker run, riding formation, etc..  was complete, total sarcasm ~ in response to the "ride captain" comments. It was copied from a rolling-road-block-biker website.

I'd hate for a potential rally attendee to not come for fear of being bored to death.

We are Sport Touring Enthusiasts. We know how to fucking ride. We don't like groups larger than 7. There are no winners, we are all losers. 

The best advice I can give you is: BACK OFF!/DONT FOLLOW TOO CLOSELY the person in front of you just might change their mind.

When riding with a mixed group (slower>>>faster), the riders in front will pull off at a stopping point or significant intersection & wait for the others.. it's all good. You won't get left behind and you won't get lost.

... unless you're REALLY slow 

..and here's a photo to remind us all that passing on the right is OK as long as you stay on the right side of the white line 

http://tinyurl.com/34qyl7