CVMA Chapters 23-14 and -23-24 put this together. Chapters 23-11 and 23-26 also rolled in to Big Sandy for some comradarie, good food, cold beers and enjoy the ride and nice weather (we got lucky!)
Had a nice ride yesterday with a small group of 23-11 for about 150 miles total myself (I had the shortest of the group). Thought we'd get soaked but turned out to be a beautiful day. Still, got to thinking while in the pack about a few things. The good thing is everyone rode tight and it was basically almost a perfect ride. But my position in the pack got me to thinking ....
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| Up early, ready to roll |
For
the last 12 years or so I've found myself leading the groups 95% of the
time I ride. It just happened that way. In the beginning, I didn't
want to .. but the group I was with always asked me to lead so I did.
After awhile it was second nature. Over the years I've blogged about
this as I've learned all the dos and don't s. Gotten a little
opinionated about it all. But yesterday I started off #3 which hasn't
happened for awhile. Since we weren't in twisties and mostly 'straight'
roads, we were able to ride tight. DP, our lead bike took the inside as most do
(Should? Not all do), #2 was Orion on him really tight so I did the same to him. If he
fell back, I did as well. The leader rode like I used to, right up on
the yellow line. Over the years when riding 2 up, Lucy has asked
(begged?) me to get off that line so I tend to ride in a notch more now,
on the car tire track for no better word. Few years ago, I was pulling
up on a guy on the interstate (several bike distances behind him), we
were doing about 85 when he apparently hit the edge and all hell broke
loose because he rode to close to the left shoulder with the wire barrier. That was a scary sight
to see him go down. Since then, I stay off the far left edges so to
speak. One thing that I keyed on was you have to really pay attention
to two bikes not just one. No bigggee, sort of a natural thing but
again, I was analyzing it. Distancing off Orion on my upper right,
lined up sort of off DP in front. No biggee... but compared to
what I'm going to discuss next, a little bit of 'work.'. On the way
back, I found myself in #2 spot. This is where I'm normally at when not
leading. In some ways, this is the easiest spot to ride. Only thing
you're thinking about is your distance off the leader. No brainer,
simple. Well, not for a guy I was behind again .. a few years back. On a
sweeping left turn he found the edge and went into the ditch hitting a
6x6 at about 50mph. So again, I now don't ride as close to the shoulders
as I used to. One thing I've learned over the years though is pay
attention to the lead bikes blinker's if he's not using hand signals,
especially in town. Had a close call few years back when from a stop,
the leader was taking a right at an intersection. Never saw his
blinker. No hand signal. No discussion of it when we were BSing at the
light. Had I grabbed the throttle hard as I often do, would have been a different
outcome. As he began to move I noticed his front tire turn, no harm no
foul. Today, I ALWAYS take a quick look over at this rear blinkers in
that situation. Always. Have to admit, makes for an enjoyable ride in
this spot. Halfway home, DP jumped out of the pack with a wave headed home
as we continued onward. I do a quick move to the left lane and
I'm in the lead. Now, I'm smiling. Guessing DP doesn't have cruise, but I'm addicted to it. The majority of the time, whenever possible...
my cruise is on. When back in the pack works well to rest your hand,
grab a drink whatever but can be a bitch syncing up to the lead bike's
speed/cruise. But when you're the lead bike, you set the speed, relax
your grip and enjoy the ride. Only thing you have to worry about is
making sure everyone gets through a light. Everyone can pass with you
(wait up for them if they didn't make the pass with the group) and ...
look for the speed limit reductions (might have fuk'd that pooch a few
times over the years!). Otherwise, it's a no brainer and simple. I've come to love
leading the rides overall. If you're relying on your GPS .. well.. that
can suck sometimes. On local rides where you know the roads... LOVE IT.
Who'd of thunk' all this BS crossed my mind in a few hours of riding yesterday. DP has some nice Bluetooth earbuds I was admiring. I've got a killer
stereo system on my bike but with loud pipes and doing 75mph ... well,
can't hear shit. He told me the ICS quieted things down, they stay set
in his ears.... maybe .. .I need to start wearing mine for some nice
tunes down the road and not blasting everyone else......
Damned that was a nice ride ... ready for the next.
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