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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 club
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.
NO ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION WHILE RIDING !!!
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:
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.
Block
Lane Change. This can be used interchangeably with the Simple LaneChange. 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 hes 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.
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 hes 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 (roadkill, oil, gravel, significant pot hole, etc.) will
point at it. All following riders will repeat this, and all riders will avoid the hazard.
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