I prefer to ride alone in fact I don't like even 1 other bike with me . riding is a form of therapy for me and I get no benefit from group therapy it has an adverse effect . while out riding a couple of days ago the harsh reality of what can come from group rides when people get geed up .


I came across a accident the road blocked . I saw 3 bikes parked on the road at a corner cop cars ambulance's the lot on my way there I met the ambulance taking the rider who got killed to the hospital . he was pronounced dead at the hospital I later learnt on the news god rest the poor man .


he was in his 50's over touring from another country . the bikes were late model big 4 cylinder fast machines . I had to come back to the same junction from the other side after visiting a friend and I saw the bike in the ditch . the way I see it on group rides you can have someone trying to keep up with more experienced riders maybe the group gets split up with over taking and the riders playing catch up can push it on a bit too much . people can start riding beyond their safety margin and skills .


maybe someone who wasn't around the first time or had a long break between bikes . the pace can increase a lot of people showing off I am guilty of pushing it on a bit in a vain display of riding to the other riders and I have been pulled along at a dangerous pace by a group on big fast 4 cylinder bikes .


I hate charity rides with a passion people who cant ride for **** using the opportunity to pose the kind of people who only get joy from having an audience to see them ride . letting bikes stall at junctions a danger to themselves and every one around them . .don't stack the odd's against you by sharing the road with the clueless newbies . let them crash and learn their lesson in their own time not playing road bowling with you .




RIDE TO LIVE .

 

That's not far off my approach. Last year I rode down from London, UK to St Tropez in the south of France. I wanted to take in some nice alpine roads, and I don't do motorways as they send me to sleep. I only had limited time I could take off work for the trip, so had to make the journey in two 700-mile days. So, given the choice of roads, that meant two 14-hour days.

I posted to see if anyone wanted to join me, and quite a few were interested: I stipulated that I was looking for experienced riders that didn't expect me to look out for them, could do 200 miles on a tank and would ride from one fuel stop to the next without a break (so chain-smokers and weak bladders need not apply either). I also said that everyone in the group would need to have their own maps and/or GPS as we wouldn't be "marking" junctions or running a buddy system. If you got left at the lights, you had to make up the ground on your own. Otherwise you introduce too many unnecessary delays to the ride.

It came across as rude, but once I'd spelt out the effect of each of the delays, most of the other riders decided that it was too tight a schedule for them after all.

I ended up riding with one guy on the way down and a couple, each on their own bike, on the way back. The ride went smooth as silk and we kept perfectly on schedule.

There's one rider in our HOG group who is very dangerous to ride with. She'll change position on the road, or ride between other vehicles (even bikes) without looking. There have been so many near-misses now and small spills she's had that I'm convinced it's only a matter of time until someone is going to have to scrape her off the road. I don't want to be there and have to deal with the corpse when that happens so I just won't ride with her any more. Unfortunately, she thinks she's a great rider, and laughs off any suggestion that she's dangerous, asserting that she's just "aggressive". Oh well, there's plenty of other stretches of road to travel on...

 

Put it on yourself by saying that riding with others makes you nervous. You get distracted trying to ride your ride as well as theirs. That's how it feels sometimes to me anyway. It's so much easier riding alone.

That said, I enjoy riding with good riders.

 

Apart from my wife who also rides, I just don't like to travel with anyone anymore. I'll meet someone at a destination but I won't travel with them. Dicking around at fuel stops, wanting to stop at sit down restaurants three times a day and being ready to stop after 300 miles is the kind of stuff I just don't do.

Many times, I've ridden with people who think they're being prudent and are really taking chances I never would. Like riding 10mph under in the center lane of the highway with cars swarming like bees on both sides. Or starting out on a long trip with mechanical issues that have to be dealt with on the side of the road. Of all the times I've ridden/traveled with others, having someone with me has never worked to MY advantage. It's always been the other way.

 

I had the reverse happen to me. I typically ride the speed limit or maybe five or ten over. A couple guys in our group like to ride fast. I got tired of chasing them all the time and decided to just let them go. This one guy kept telling me to try to keep up and I told him to go ahead, I can find my own way home. He shut up after that. We still ride together. But, I always ride at my pace. I'm not letting anyone dictate how I ride.

 

I learned to ride with a guy that
races cars, and has been riding 40 years. We usually rode 2 lanes at 9 over. Sometimes he would take off 30-40/mph over, in the twisties. No way could I keep up. We would usually meet up in the next town. Sometimes we got seperated. We both agree, it is better to ride your own ride.
I like the suggestion that said just lose him. Before the ride, tell him to meet at the hotel if you get separated.
That would be easy for you. Telling him he is vulnerable to being rear ended, would be harder, but more of a true friend.

 

My feeling, too! There are a few friends with whom I enjoy riding. We're all at similar skill level and have similar interests -- but even so there are times in a ride when the group splits up then regroups at some later point. Everybody understands that, no one gets upset or offended.

Case in point was our ride up to Sturgis. From Baton Rouge to Custer we planned as a 3-day ride. Day 1 was scheduled for 700 miles, to Blackwell, OK. I've done that leg before without problems, but lately I've had a lot of back problems and just didn't look forward to 14(+) hours in the saddle. Rather than risk disrupting the ride for others, I left home a day early, rode solo up to Paris, TX (~400 miles), stopped for the night. Next day I continued solo on up to Blackwell, OK (~300 miles), and was sitting in the hotel parking lot with some cold beers when the rest of the group rolled in that evening.

 

Really! The older I get I find the short truth fits best for about anything.

And the best I could think of is from what you said yourself in the <b>bold</b> below.

 

ride at your on pace, everyone is adults and can find their way. we normally stick together but we have a few guys that ride fast and just let them go.

 

Thanks for the responses. I didn't mean the example guy, I would never ride with him again, but there are others that are just not my cuppa tea to ride with on a long ride.

Some of them you know from group riding that you don't mind a doing a breakfast ride with, but then conversations start drifting to Key West, Leesburg, Daytona (3-4 hour rides on highway) or even overnight trips, and you just know you wouldn't want to ride with them. It's difficult when its people you do ride with most weeks but they are not up to 300-400 miles at a time.