|
Rules for Group Riding
Safety
The purpose of riding in an organized group instead of an undisciplined pack
is to provide the additional safety that a well-organized group inherently
generates. This comes from within the group and from the outside. When a
group rides in an orderly fashion, people dont get in each others way, and
the organization of the formation itself discourages cars from attempting to
cut in. I have even seen trucks move to the far side of their lane to
minimize wind blast when they see a well-ordered formation "single
up" and move as far away from the truck as their lane allows. Once
riding rules have been adopted by a club, EVERYONE Riding with the SCRC is
expected to follow them. Anyone violating the rules, and compromising
everyone else's safety, will be warned, and if their actions continue, will
no longer be welcome to ride with the club. The following rules are compiled
from a number of sources. Most clubs that ride in orderly formations follow
similar rules. Details may vary from one club to another, sometimes because
of the style of riding they do, or sometimes because there are a number of
reasonable options, so they chose the one they prefer.
DRINKING AND DRIVING IS ILLEGAL; ANY MEMBER WHO CONSUMES ALCOHOL DOES SO
AT THEIR OWN RISK!!! IF THE MEMBER
POSES A SAFETY HAZARD, THEY WILL IMMEDIATELY BE ASKED TO STOP, SEEK HELP, AND
WILL NO LONGER CONTINUE RIDING WITH THE GROUP!!!
Formation Riding: Will be in a standard State Patrol
(staggered) formation. In staggered formation, the bikes form two columns,
with the leader at the head of the left column, so he will be able to view
all bikes in the formation in his/her rearview mirrors, and be able to see
around vehicles the group approaches. The second bike will head the right
column, and will ride approximately 1 second behind the leader (and in the
opposite side of the lane). The other riders will position their bikes 2
seconds behind the bike directly in front of them, which puts them 1 second
behind the diagonal bike. This formation allows each rider sufficient safety
space, and discourages other vehicles from cutting into the line. The last
rider, or Tail Gunner, may ride on whichever side of the lane he prefers. He
will have to change sides during the ride, based on the situation at the
moment.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Ride Leader: The Ride Leader must be aware of the length
of the columns, and must gauge the passing of merges, highway entrances and
exits, etc., to allow for maximum safety and keeping the group together. He
must make sure that he leaves enough time/space for the formation to get into
the appropriate lanes before exits, etc. All directions come from the Ride
Leader. The Ride Leader makes all decisions regarding lane changes, stopping
for breaks and fuel, closing of gaps, turning off at exits, any concerns of
what lies ahead, accepting/rejecting radioed messages from other individuals,
and so on. No individual will assert himself independently without direction
from the Ride Leader to do so.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Tail Gunner: The Tail Gunner serves as the eyes of the
Ride Leader. He watches the formation, and informs the Ride Leader of any
potential problems within the group. He watches other vehicles, and informs
the Ride Leader (and anyone else with radios) of hazardous conditions
approaching from the rear, such as vehicles trying to cut into the formation
and trucks passing with potentially dangerous wind blasts. He will watch for
merging lanes, and will move into a merging lane (or stay in a merging lane
just vacated by the group) in order to "close the door" on other
vehicles that may otherwise find themselves trying to merge into the
formation. At the Ride Leaders request, the Tail Gunner changes lanes before
the formation, to secure the lane so the formation can move into it.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
New Riders: The position of new (inexperienced with GROUP
riding) riders within the group is significant. New riders should be
positioned as close to the front as possible.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Lane Changes: All lane changing starts with a radio request
from the Ride Leader to the Tail Gunner. The Tail Gunner will (when it is
safe to do so) move into the requested lane and will inform the Ride Leader
when the lane is clear.
At this point, the Ride Leader has three options:
(A)
Simple Lane Change: This is an ordinary lane change, and
can be used in most situations. After the Tail Gunner has secured the new
lane, the Ride Leader will put on his directional signal as an indication
that he is about to order a lane change. As each rider sees the directional
signal, he also turns his on, so the riders following him get the signal. The
leader then initiates the change. All other riders change lanes too. The
important concept is that NO ONE moves until the bike in front of him has
started moving.
(B)
Block Lane Change: This can be used interchangeably with the
Simple Lane Change. It requires a little more work, but it is well worth the
effort. Its quite impressive to watch, and gives the riders a tremendous
feeling of
"togetherness". This sounds a little complicated, but is actually
very simple to do. After the Tail Gunner has secured the new lane, the Ride
Leader will put on his directional signal as an indication that he is about
to order a lane change. As each rider sees the directional signal, he also
turns his on, so the riders following him get the signal. The leader then
raises his left arm straight up. Each rider repeats this signal. Then, as the
leader lowers his arm to point to the lane into which he is moving, he
actually initiates the change. All other riders lower their arms at the same
time and change lanes too. This allows the entire formation to move from one
lane to another as a single block.
(C)
Rear Fill-in: This is sometimes necessary if a long enough gap
cannot be maintained in the new lane, for example when trying to move from
the right lane to the center and vehicles from the left lane keep cutting
into the opening. After the Tail Gunner has secured the new lane, the leader
(usually at the suggestion of the Tail Gunner) will call for the group to fill
in the space from the rear. He signals this by raising his hand to shoulder
height and "pushing" it towards the new lane. All riders repeat the
signal, and the last bikes move into the space in the new lane ahead of the
Tail Gunner, then the next-to-last bikes move in ahead of those, and so on
until the Ride Leader finally moves into the space ahead of the entire
formation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Emergencies:
In the unlikely event of an emergency condition, the Ride Leader will make
every attempt to move the formation to the shoulder in an orderly manner. If
a bike breaks down, let the rider move to the right. DO NOT STOP. The Tail
Gunner will stop with the problem bike. The Ride Leader will lead the group
to a safe stopping place.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Hand Signals:
Each rider (and passenger) should duplicate all hand signals given by the
rider in front of him, so that the signals get passed all the way to the back
of the formation. The following signals are used in addition to the standard
(right turn, left turn slow /stop) hand signals.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Block Lane Change:
The leader (after having the Tail Gunner secure the lane) raises his left arm
straight up. Each rider repeats this signal. Then, as the leader lowers his
arm to point to the lane into which he is moving, he actually initiates the
change. All other riders lower their arms at the same time and change lanes
too.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Fill in from rear:
After having the Tail Gunner secure the lane and putting on his directional
signal (which is repeated by each rider), the Ride Leader raises his left
hand to his shoulder and "pushes" his open hand toward the lane
into which he wants to move. This signal is repeated by all riders, and each
rider in turn, rearmost first, moves into the space ahead of the riders
behind them.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Single up:
When conditions warrant single file (narrow road, anticipated wind-blast from
trucks, obstruction, pedestrians, etc.) the Ride Leader will raise his left
hand straight up, holding up just his index finger. All other riders will
repeat this, and the two columns will merge into one.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Staggered Formation:
After singling up, when single file is no longer necessary, the Ride Leader
will raise his left hand with thumb and pinky out, other fingers closed,
rotating his wrist back and forth (indicating left, right, left, right). All
other riders will repeat this and resume staggered formation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Tighten Formation:
When the Ride Leader feels that the formation should be tighter (bikes closer
together) (usually after being informed by the Tail Gunner), he raises his
left hand with fingers spread wide and repeatedly closes them into a fist.
All other riders repeat this and close up all unnecessary space in the
formation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Road Hazard:
This is the one signal that can be initiated by ANYONE. Anyone seeing a
hazardous condition on the road surface (road kill, oil, gravel, significant
pot hole, etc.) will point at it. All following riders will repeat this, and
all riders will avoid the hazard.
|
