The problem of traveling with new groups
So I had planned a lovely day out a while ago with a group of bikers I hadn’t spent much time riding with.
Before the trip, the admin and owner of the Facebook group I had become wanted to go to the beach and had chosen Hunstanton as the destination. They asked me if I could plan a route and lead the ride, I can only assume they believed I was a competent cyclist who could get everyone to their destination safely, and also the group had 1 or 2 people riding on 125 plates and L, it is not a problem to plan a route avoiding highways. I can do that.
Not knowing how many of us were going, I made a post to the group about using the corner man system to keep everyone moving and avoid stopping. Sounds like a good idea and that was it.
Late the night before I got a message that someone else was going to lead the trip and plan the route, okay no problem I can have fun sit and look at the scenery, did I mention my wife would be coming as a passenger too? ? we can have a nice chat on the intercom about the usual married stuff (all married men. You know what I’m talking about, all single men will hear about it).
So we arrive at the meeting point a little early and several bikers are present then I am informed that the person driving can’t find his satnav but has looked at the route okay I said I’ll sit in the back anyway and I can pick up the stragglers.
So finally everyone is here and off we go, having programmed my Satnav with the route, we turn right instead of left and head out, no problem, I remember telling the wife, since We will end at the same point. .
After about 20 minutes of driving, we’re on a two-lane highway, all single file, and all is well (we had 2 125s with us, so speeding wasn’t going to be a concern).
We started approaching a Waitrose HGV don’t worry I’m trying to pull back to allow the other one in particular the 125 a chance to overtake but instead we slowed down to 52mph okay no It is the end of the world in which we travel. just above 50 mph on a 70 mph highway but remember im sitting in the back! now cars dont see motorcycles at best but when traveling around 70 mph they dont expect overtake a group of 6 motorcyclists at high speed. speed after some close calls and a slip road a car had decided to force its way through the group of bikes i decided enough was enough we may have 2 125 with us but this is getting dangerous now and the smaller bikes I can overtake a truck at 52 mph so I move to overtake everyone and gesture to the lead driver that it would be a good idea for him to follow me (I was polite, honest).
so everyone follows me and I motion for everyone to pass me and get back into position in the back and we’re doing a comfortable 65-70mph this time, happy days.
It wasn’t long before I noticed that the guy in front of me was acting very strange, I mean in the sense of panic, something had flown into his crash helmet and it was buzzing, now we all know that feeling of panic. get from time to time, but this is real, I know it’s happened to me and it scared the hell out of me.
So the first chance he got, he stopped and I followed him to make sure he was okay.
After quickly removing our crash helmets and waving our arms around a lot we were back on our way, this person was on a 1000cc bike as was I so catching up with the pack wasn’t going to be a problem and we headed out.
We rounded a curve on the dual carriageway and to my surprise and amazement and amazement to be honest there everyone is parked on the side of a 70 mph road not in a parking area or a safe spot but at side of the dual carriageway.
Yes, amazing, I know. We slowed down and luckily the group caught up with us and again I waved them through and again took up position at the rear.
Ok right now I’m starting to worry about the ride nothing major but some concerns about my safety and that of my passenger and the other passengers in the group also the intercom was busy with my wife’s talk about how unsafe it was the last couple of incidents had been and how we need to do more shopping and something needs to be done about it blah blah blah.
So we finally stop at a McDonald’s and have ice cream and pee etc and the tour leader is busy looking at his phone and telling everyone we’re almost there and it’s the A47 most of the way so no It should be like that. don’t take us long. I’m a forgiving man now and will always give someone a second chance so I decide to say nothing about the last couple of incidents and just try to enjoy the rest of the ride and see how things go, nobody’s perfect right ? We all make mistakes, so let’s just go ahead and have fun.
A little later in the ride we’re all getting along really well staying together and the intercom chatter is the usual about looking at that car etc, you know wife talk!
After several roundabouts and a couple of winding roads we approach a large roundabout and according to the sign it has 5 exits, I look at which exit we want (it’s 2) and we all start piling into this very large roundabout with slip length. roads, and we stop at the roundabout, yes, at the roundabout on the left just before exit 1, now thinking someone just had a problem, since I’m in the back, I turn on the hazard lights and try to see what happens later. , the lead cyclist gets off his bike and walks up to a couple of cyclists behind him and… has his phone in his hand… checking the map! I know, just what you’re thinking, it’s not a rest area or a quiet residential street to stop at, a roundabout, nothing could go wrong, right? thankfully nothing went wrong, we all got back on track and no one was killed or injured, thankfully.
Once we got to our destination and everyone had gotten out, removed their gear, and generally relaxed, I asked him what he was thinking when he decided to follow a truck down the dual carriageway, pull over to the side of the dual carriageway, and, of course. The parking at the roundabout? Well, apparently none of these things happened, although others among us were equally unhappy with the trip in general, that being said, me and the now furious wife went off on our own in search of food.
After a nice meal and loads of coffee we head out to the bikes and a couple of other bikers are hanging around as they all will be back shortly apparently.
I gave them my excuses and let them know that we are now going back alone and thanked everyone.
Once we got back home still thinking about the ride and the things that had happened I decided to rant a bit about it amongst the group I belong to now this group has some very experienced riders and some acquaintances but everyone above everything else , take care of each other when we go out together we can as you can imagine spend many hours riding together and a certain level of trust has been created between us well everyone felt the same as me these events should not happen and there is no excuses for it. end of discussion there really are NO EXCUSES for not keeping yourself and others safe and not putting anyone in harm’s way on purpose.
Well apparently there are excuses for these incidents and some of them never happened or weren’t as bad as I think they all came home after all right? Well, they all did, but not together because after I left them apparently. Lost 2 of the other riders at some point but that’s ok they just kept going.
During the drop of my comments in a private group, here’s the fun part, I was kicked out of the Facebook group that organized this trip and, dear, some of the members who made it home alive that day didn’t make friends with me. am i gutted? disgusted? Do I feel like I was treated unfairly, no not really If you can’t take any criticism and insist on lying about what really happened so you don’t feel bad, go ahead, all I offered was advice on how to stay safer on the road , he is not interested? well go on and I hope you never have an accident or get hurt in any way, I seriously hope that is true because I don’t want people to get hurt and it makes me angry when you would rather lie than admit you made a mistake.
Anyway, this has rambled on a bit, so I’ll leave it there and you can tell me what you think.
By the way, I’ve been to a few other games recently and even led some of them myself and everyone had fun and no one was in any danger, so it can be done.
Ride safe everyone and if you don’t ride a motorcycle just keep an eye on us we appreciate it.
