Road Captain
Please take the time to read the
following guidelines for group riding.
The Road Captain: a person who devises group riding rules or
guidelines for an organized group ride. And who communicates these guidelines to
the group, and who generally plans and lays out group rides. The Road Captain
may or may not ride lead for a particular ride.
The Lead Bike determines the group’s direction, speed, choice
of lane, and formation. He or she often must make quick navigation decisions in
the face of road hazards, changes in road surface conditions, poor signage,
construction and other obstacles while maintaining control of his or her bike
and communicating to those following. If there are three groups on a ride, there
will be three Lead Bikes.
A person who rides in the last position in a group is the
Drag Bike. The Drag Bike must secure a lane for the rest of the group during
lane changes into faster traffic (move first to block oncoming traffic) and
close the door (move to block passing traffic) when a lane is lost in a merging
lane situation. Usually this is the most experienced rider in a group, for the
Drag Bike is the rider who stops to assist a rider who has mechanical trouble,
loses control, or drops out of a ride for some other reason. The Drag Bike should be prepared to
render aid to a downed or disabled rider in a group. If there are three groups
on a ride, there will be three Drag Bikes. The rider in this position is
sometimes called the tail gunner.
For group parking all bikes in a group follow the Lead Bike
in single file into a parking lot, making a U-turn such that they can all line
up next to each other in the space available with the rear of their bikes
against the curb or edge of the lot, the front tires pointing outward.
When riding in Parade formation, all the motorcyclists in a
group ride two abreast.
In Staggered formation, motorcyclists in a group in which the
Lead Bike rides in the left track of a lane, the next bike in the right
rack (slot), and the next bike in the left track, and so on. Bikes in a group
generally maintain a minimum interval of two seconds travel time between bikes
in the same track, and one second travel time between each bike in the group.
The Drag Bike may ride in the left or right track depending on the number of
bikes in the group. It is preferable for the Drag Bike to ride in the left track, so as to have the
same visibility line as the Lead Bike.
For Single file formation, all the cyclists ride in one track
of a lane.
When entering traffic, the Lead Bike for each group sees that
all riders are helmeted, sitting on their bikes, motors running, and ready to
depart, he or she will check for traffic and enter the roadway. Usually the Lead
Bike will not attempt to exit a parking lot unless there is room for all or most
of the group to follow immediately. If the group is split, the Lead Bike will
normally take the slow lane and keep the speed relatively low until the group
can form up in the positions the riders will keep for the duration of the ride.
This may mean traveling slower than surrounding traffic, to encourage
four-wheelers to pass and allow the group to form up. Occasionally this cannot
be accomplished until the group has made a lane change or entered a freeway,
depending on where the entrance ramp may be.
Regardless of the Lead Bike’s signals, a rider is responsible
for his or her own safety at all times. Ride Your Own Ride.
Once all members of the group are together, the group will
take up a staggered formation and will stay in it most of the time during the
ride, unless the Lead Bike signals for a change or the need for a change is
obvious. Reasons for changing out of a staggered formation could be a passing
situation or poor road surface (single file), dog or other animal charging the group
(split the group), or coming up to a traffic signal (two abreast while waiting
for a light).
When a group of motorcycles is changing lanes, many safety
considerations come into play. Should every rider move into the adjacent lane at
the same
time? If not, should the Lead Bike go first, or should the
Drag Bike move first to “secure the lane”? What if another vehicle sees a gap in
traffic and tries to cut into the group? If part of the group gets separated from the
other riders, should everyone change relative positions (tracks) so that the new
Lead Bike is now riding in the left track? The recommended procedure for a
group lane change maneuver depends on how the surrounding traffic is moving at
the time. The goal for the bike which moves first is to create a gap into
which the other bikes can fit.
Regardless of what other riders in the group are doing, each
rider must personally check to see that the new lane is clear of traffic before
entering it.
Changing Lanes as a Group:
There is virtually no time (absent an emergency) when a group
of riders should all move at the same time into a different lane, in regular
traffic conditions. The wide gap required for a whole group to move is difficult to
find in heavy traffic, and if it exists, it will be an invitation for other
drivers to jump into it, perhaps while the group is moving.
Spacing Out; Especially on less-congested rural back roads,
the riders in a group may spread out to create larger intervals between
motorcycles. This allows a rider to relax a bit, to enjoy the scenery and the ride. If
no four-wheelers are trying to pass the group, this is fine. However, the riders
should remain close enough to each other to be able to see hand signals being
passed back from the Lead Bike. It is possible that a rider will also “space
out” in terms of losing his concentration and will forget to practice safe riding
strategies. If a rider is not riding safely enough to avoid endangering others
in the group (because of lack of experience, medical problems, fatigue, or some other
reason), the Lead Bike will usually discuss the problem privately with that
rider at the next stop. If a problem cannot be solved reasonably in this way, the Lead
Bike has absolute discretion to request that a rider leave the group and is
entitled to expect the group to support this decision. In the case of a mechanical
or minor medical problem, it is not unusual for another rider to accompany the
distressed rider to get help. Sometimes if the Lead Bike just reassigns the
riders to new positions within the group, this is enough to bring a spaced-out
motorcyclist back to a state of alert awareness.
Checking Out The Curves:
On any stretch of curvy road and in any corner, a group may
ride in single-file momentarily, to enable each rider to corner at his own speed
and to have as much room as possible for maneuvering. This is especially
important to riders with little experience in a group, as they may “wobble” or
be nervous about making turns with another bike to their side or riding close
behind them. This is an accepted variance to staggered formation; usually the
Lead Bike will not signal for single-file at each turn but will expect the
riders to choose their own path of travel.
Hand Signals:
Certain hand signals are optional in group riding: turn
signals on the bikes ahead will usually advise a rider that a turn is coming up,
for example, and hand signals in a turning situation may actually add to the danger
for some. However, other hand signals are extremely helpful to the rider who has
no other means to communicate. The most important two hand signals are these:
pointing to an obstacle in the road, warning the rider to avoid it; and pointing
to the tank. See Hand Signals page.
Exceptions to Normal Guidelines:
The often-heard rule, “Ride Your Own Ride,” means that any
guideline for group riding can and should be ignored when it doesn’t make sense.
Determining whether this is the case and acting prudently is each rider’s
individual responsibility at all times. Under normal circumstances, the Lead
Bike will choose a lane, will determine the speed at which the riders
are to travel, will suggest the formation which makes maneuvers most safe, and
will navigate.
Common exceptions to these guidelines occur with a rider who
is not yet experienced with group riding. If a maneuver looks too dangerous or
awkward
for the new rider to complete safely, he or she should do
what he needs to do to protect himself and avoid an accident. This may mean
passing up a turn or taking it very slowly, or parking somewhere not with the
group, or going more slowly through a curve than the riders ahead of him.
Each rider commands his entire area within a lane and may
move to left or right in it as required.
Another exception: the Drag Bike may not travel in the same
path as the rest of the group. If, for example, a two-lane road is narrowing so
that a lane is about to be lost, the Drag Bike will frequently “close the door” by
moving out of the group’s staggered formation into the lane which is soon to
disappear. This is to prevent a four-wheeler from trying at the last minute to pass
part of the group and then have to cut into it when the pavement runs out. Even
if the riders near the back of the group observe that the Drag Bike is no longer
in the position where he has been riding most of the time, they should maintain
their own place in the group.
Rubber-Band (“Yo-yo”) Effect:
Reaction time for a motorcyclist when confronted with an
unexpected threat is, on average, about one second. If the need to react is
anticipated (such as when a turn has been announced), then riders can usually react
within about half a second after the bike ahead begins to react. When a group of
riders change speeds very gradually, however, it usually takes two or three
seconds for a rider to recognize this and begin to change his speed to maintain
his position in the group.
This doesn’t sound like much time, but experienced group
riders manage their risks reasonably well with a minimum one-second interval
between each bike and a minimum two-second interval between bikes that are
traveling in the same track. When the group has more than six bikes in it,
however, gradual changes in speed within the group can become tricky.
When a Lead Bike begins to accelerate, the second bike
doesn’t instantly start to travel at the faster rate. Instead, a gap grows
between them while the second bike is reacting -- and it continues to grow until the second
bike is fully up to the increased, stable speed of the Lead Bike. Clearly, once
the speeds are the same, the gap will remain the same size. However, since most
groups prefer to keep a one-second minimum interval between bikes (two seconds
between bikes in the same track), the new gap caused by the Lead
Bike’s acceleration may be larger than is desired. When this occurs, the second
bike must go faster than the first one for a brief time in order to “catch up.”
If we assume that the Lead Bike speeds up from 60 to 70 mph
over a period of two seconds, the second bike will have to ride at 75 mph for
two seconds (after his reaction time passes) in order to close the gap. Then he
will take another one second to decelerate back to 70 mph to create a gap of the
proper size. If there were only two bikes in the group, this example is easy
to follow. But when the group is larger, and the bikes involved are riding
further back in the pack, the “rubber band” effect can be especially dangerous to all
bikes from the middle of the group to the Drag bike.
For example, the third bike in the group has this problem:
About two seconds after the second bike has begun to accelerate, the third bike
responds. Now, however, the second bike is moving at 75 mph rather than at
70 mph like the Lead Bike. The third bike must use even more effort to catch up
to the second bike than the second bike did to match his speed to the Lead
Bike’s new speed, if the gap is to stay relatively constant. He will have to
move at 75 mph for four seconds, not two, to catch up. The fourth bike will have to
accelerate to 80 mph!
In a group of only six motorcycles, the last one will find
the gap between himself and the fifth bike has grown to 143 feet before it
begins to close, once he starts to speed up, given these average reaction times. And it will
be at least 11 seconds after the Lead Bike first began to accelerate before the
sixth bike does so.
Now, imagine what happens in the group if, while this is
taking place, the Lead Bike must apply his brakes! This rubber-band effect
becomes extremely
important if the Lead Bike happens to make an abrupt and
major change of speed at certain critical moments, such as when approaching a
sharp turn or a tricky curve. Those who ride as Lead Bike, or near the lead
bike for their group should be aware of the importance of avoiding sudden
changes in speed if at all possible, so as to reduce the risks to those following.
The rubber-band effect can be reduced by following these
guidelines:
-Lead Bike changes speed more gradually
-All riders watch farther ahead than just the bike
immediately in front of them in
order to notice and to react quicker to changes in speed
-All riders restrain the impulse to “crank it up” in order to
quickly re-establish
normal spacing.
-Lead Bike does not increase speed within 15 seconds of
entering a curve
which may require braking or some slowing down to maneuver it
safely.
-All riders abandon the one-second
spacing rule when riding twisties.