First large group ride- An impressive experience
Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:31 pm
Bear with me if this gets long, but I learned a lot today....
So my place of duty for the day was to ride my bike. Everybody who rides in our organization spent the day going on a group ride through the Texas hill country. Now, I've ridden in groups before, but never more than 4-5. We had around 40 riders today....definetely a different experience.
We started in a classroom where we went over the route and discussed hand signals. This really paid off once we got started. The route was around 150 miles and took us from downtown San Antonio out to the hill country and back into town. We stopped halfway through for lunch.
It was an impressive sight to see 40 motorcycles moving through heavy traffic, interstates, back country roads, and twisties all in unison. The hand signals were used effectively, and even while I was probably the least experience rider of the bunch, I never had any question as to what the group was doing.
What impressed me most, but didn't suprise me was the comraderie of the group. There were probably 3 sport bikes, myself in a sport tourer, and the rest were cruisers. Of the cruisers, about 75% of them were Harleys. There was no animosity between styles or from one brand to another. None of the HD riders turned their nose up at other bikes. Everybody was interested in the other bikes. If it had two wheels, it was good to go. There were a few times where some of the cruisers had a hard time catching up and closing up gaps on some hills or in traffic; I had to remind myself they didn't have the same amount of horses available as me.
I didn't learn about riding my bike today, but I learned a lot about other riders and a whole lot about group riding. I don't think group riding is something I want to do often(it was very relieving to ride home alone), but it was a really good experience and quite a sight to see. Hopefully others have had similar experiences.
So my place of duty for the day was to ride my bike. Everybody who rides in our organization spent the day going on a group ride through the Texas hill country. Now, I've ridden in groups before, but never more than 4-5. We had around 40 riders today....definetely a different experience.
We started in a classroom where we went over the route and discussed hand signals. This really paid off once we got started. The route was around 150 miles and took us from downtown San Antonio out to the hill country and back into town. We stopped halfway through for lunch.
It was an impressive sight to see 40 motorcycles moving through heavy traffic, interstates, back country roads, and twisties all in unison. The hand signals were used effectively, and even while I was probably the least experience rider of the bunch, I never had any question as to what the group was doing.
What impressed me most, but didn't suprise me was the comraderie of the group. There were probably 3 sport bikes, myself in a sport tourer, and the rest were cruisers. Of the cruisers, about 75% of them were Harleys. There was no animosity between styles or from one brand to another. None of the HD riders turned their nose up at other bikes. Everybody was interested in the other bikes. If it had two wheels, it was good to go. There were a few times where some of the cruisers had a hard time catching up and closing up gaps on some hills or in traffic; I had to remind myself they didn't have the same amount of horses available as me.
I didn't learn about riding my bike today, but I learned a lot about other riders and a whole lot about group riding. I don't think group riding is something I want to do often(it was very relieving to ride home alone), but it was a really good experience and quite a sight to see. Hopefully others have had similar experiences.