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Post by Jim Palmer on Jul 12, 2010 22:55:00 GMT -5
This is an open message to all of the groups. Tonite, after finishing my ride, I was treated to an earful by part of a motorcycle group, who were very disturbed at the lack of courtesy displayed by the groups on their way to Byron. Now, I wasn't there, but the main complaint voiced was riders not being over far enough for motorists to pass, and/or being 3 abreast. I'm just the messenger, but I have seen it myself. I heard a rumor of one of the motorcycles "buzzing" riders in retaliation. That is a scary thought.
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Post by Jim Palmer on Jul 12, 2010 22:59:44 GMT -5
A footnote to my message. Look at the pictures of the group on the home page. My eyes are getting old, but I think these pictures are a very nice example of how NOT to ride in the road. That is one very large shoulder, and very vacant. Why are these folks out in the lane of traffic? Just asking.
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Post by Doug Chartrand on Jul 12, 2010 23:03:24 GMT -5
Yeah, how arrogant of those bike riders to use the roads. They are made for cars! And they don't pay taxes, or have licenses! They should get off the road and ride the bike trails!  |
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Post by Dave Hallaway on Jul 13, 2010 6:24:49 GMT -5
A footnote to my message. Look at the pictures of the group on the home page. My eyes are getting old, but I think these pictures are a very nice example of how NOT to ride in the road. That is one very large shoulder, and very vacant. Why are these folks out in the lane of traffic? Just asking. Jim the shoulder there is only wide during the turn and then it becomes a small 18 inch apron with 6 inch wide roadside rumbles on it. The small shoulders are harder to use now that they have county made bumps on them to kept cars and motorcycles safe. |
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Post by Dave Hallaway on Jul 13, 2010 7:21:50 GMT -5
This is an open message to all of the groups. Tonite, after finishing my ride, I was treated to an earful by part of a motorcycle group, who were very disturbed at the lack of courtesy displayed by the groups on their way to Byron. Now, I wasn't there, but the main complaint voiced was riders not being over far enough for motorists to pass, and/or being 3 abreast. I'm just the messenger, but I have seen it myself. I heard a rumor of one of the motorcycles "buzzing" riders in retaliation. That is a scary thought. The best part of this is the fact it was a group of motorcyclist. Over the weekend we drove to Fargo and into Wisconsin, during both trips we followed groups of motorcycles using both sides of a four lane road weaving back and forth. I'm not saying we are clean in our group rides, but it is funny a group of motorcyclist were doing the complaining. Our group does need to get smarter, stop signs continue to be a problem and many of us tend to ride unaware of were we are. Moving over a little to show we are aware of a motorist is trying to pass goes a long ways to improve the drivers perception of us. |
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Post by lochrider on Jul 13, 2010 8:40:24 GMT -5
Last evening, I was out "chasing" my wife and niece who were in a hot air balloon from Pine Island to Byron. My perspective was as a driver going westbound or southbound as three groups of cyclists approached on the opposite side of the road. At these points, the shoulder was adequate for a two-up group. In every instance I viewed, the entire group rode on the shoulder. Cars easily passed. Those groups represented themselves well on that stretch.
Cheers,
Ian
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Post by Sarah on Jul 13, 2010 9:51:15 GMT -5
???Hmm. I wonder how much education motorcyclists who ride in groups of 10+ themselves have about group riding. Do they pay attention to their etiquette and manners? There are always at least 2 points of view to consider. For example, it is probably not a great idea for ALL of the motorcyclists to try and pass at moments when the road has no shoulder and is traveling up a hill like on the way to Byron from Salem Corners.  |
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Post by Steve Boyd on Jul 13, 2010 11:33:26 GMT -5
I completely agree with Dave's comment:
Our group does need to get smarter, stop signs continue to be a problem and many of us tend to ride unaware of were we are. Moving over a little to show we are aware of a motorist is trying to pass goes a long ways to improve the drivers perception of us.
I love the group I ride with. We ride well toghether, communicate well, socialize during the ride well and generally enjoy rides....especially last night....what a beautiful night and ride.
That said....I think we....note I said "we"....I'm guilty as well....could do better job of moving over a little when cars are trying to pass. We have every right to use our portion of the road, but the polite thing do do....when it is safe....is for both lines to move as far right as is comfortable and safe....heavy emphasis on safe.
Just my $0.02
Steve
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Post by Dennis Maurer on Jul 13, 2010 17:13:44 GMT -5
My first question would be were the motorcyclists riding on Co. RD. 5 or some other road?
Our group was passed on 5 by a group that looked to be mostly female riders. If I'm not mistaken they passed us on an uphill and I don't remember if they crossed a solid yellow "no passing" line or not. But our group was riding to the right. There are times when rotating when we are 3-4 abreast for a short while, otherwise we stay pretty much 2 abreast.
If I'm not mistaken several of the motorcyclists had to "crack open" their machines just to give us a blast while passing us; so much for their being courteous.
To bad Almonzo wasn't with us with his helmet cam when they came by, maybe he has some footage when they passed him, that might be interesting to see!
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Post by Marty Cormack on Jul 18, 2010 20:49:40 GMT -5
In my opinion, being courteous and considerate to motorists with whom we share the road, is every bit important to our own safety as any other safety procedure or piece of safety equipment we use.
For the most part, most of the riders I ride with are exemplary in their courtesy. But there are some times we could do a better job.
The one example that comes to mind most is when we of the slower groups are stopped to regroup, too many of us do not move off the road or as far to the side as is possible. Please let us try to do a better job at that.
Thanks.
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Post by kb on Jul 21, 2010 13:33:56 GMT -5
I've cycled for over 40yrs and in many situations. I am a little concerned about the method used in our pacelines, i.e., rotating backwards on either side of the 2 column paceline. This effectively makes it 4 abreast for a certain amount of time, seconds to minutes. And sometimes we have both oncoming and following traffic. Why can't we simply rotate 'echelon' style to keep the paceline at 2 columns wide. The wider paceline (it happens a lot) places us at risk and irritates drivers following us. Just sayin'...last thing we want is motorists trying to 'scare' us..i've had friends end up in the hospital from 'scares' turning into 'brushes'.
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Post by Ed Prosser on Jul 21, 2010 13:58:56 GMT -5
kb, your point is well taken. However, we've seen that it isn't simple to "simply rotate echelon style", even in the faster groups. A single rotation requires that everyone consistently keep the same steady pace, and attempts to ride in a single rotation that I've been party to have often caused the group to run less efficiently because some people unconsciously pull through too long/hard and disrupt the flow. These disruptions have more of an impact than when riding in a double rotation.
There's no reason we can't work on these issues, improve, and avoid the double rotation. Just wanted to say that, based on empirical evidence, it's not as trivial to switch as your post would make it sound.
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