Group Riding - Some pointers

So, we're off to Laconia tomorrow - @marina, @nick303, @teramuto, one of @teramuto's friends and I. While I've ridden with everyone but Paul's friend, it's the first time we'll have all ridden together as a single group. To top it all off, we're not all starting off at the same place, and nor are we sure where we are meeting.

Challenges

If you're experience of group riding is limited to a Sunday afternoon jaunt in the country, this is not it. What I'm talking about is probably best described as Group Touring. This is riding with a destination in mind, and not much time in the day to make it. You've got a lot of things that can screw you up and a lot of challenges to overcome. I'll list a few below:

Challenge One - Understanding the riders in your group

Let's look at the people who are riding in the group. To protect the innocent, I'm going to name the characters and avoid actual names

• Neophyte - every group has one. It's not necessarily someone who's slower than everyone else, but they are less confident

• Loner - experienced, but does most of their riding alone. Doesn't always play well a in group and likes to go fast

• Unknown - OK, this is @teramuto's friend - We've simply no idea how he rides

• LeisureRider - Riding for a while, he's not out to push himself but he's incredibly reliable, if slower than the loner

• Dad - Loads of experience but plans everything based on his skills and probably overestimates everything

If you've ever ridden in a group, you probably recognize at least half of these people already, and I'm sure you're at least one of them.

Challenge Two - understanding the people in your group

This is more or less the same as the first challenge, but it's looking at the limitations of individuals. For example:

• Do any of your group have a weak bladder?

• Does anyone have a medical condition you need all be aware of?

• Has anyone been up until 4am the day before?

All of these things will impact the number of times you need to stop during a day. And as all long distance riders know, every stop you make kills your time.

While I'd hope it's obvious, I'll point what these two challenges mean:

• Not everyone will be able to ride at the same speed

• Not everyone can ride as far in one day

• Not everyone's bike has the same range

Challenge Three - The unexpected

Murphy's law states that "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". It's the pessimist's mantra. What it boils down to is this: On your trip something will happen that you have not planned for, and how successful your trip is depends on how you deal with it. This might include:

• Getting lost

• Traffic conditions

• Someone gets injured/sick

• Someone gets stopped for speeding

• Mechanical failure

All of them have happened to me at least once and I'm sure you can think of more.

Challenge Four - Communication

In this age of micro-electronics, communication is not the problem it used to be. You can get an in-helmet communication system for just a few hundred dollars now. They're great - not only can you communicate with other riders, you can listen to music, your GPS and a raft of other things.

They do have a drawback, however, in that none of them are compatible. If you have a Sena, you can't connect to your friends N-Connect or Scala devices.

As such, in a group ride, you have to resort to the time-honored hand signals.

Solutions

Given the challenges, you might think that group riding is more problems than it's worth - It's not. It's a great way to see the world and share it. If you've got good and generous friends, it's also a chance to swap bikes and learn something new.

The following is a list of tips that I want to use, and I think will help you get more out of your next group tour:

• Agree on a destination before you even get on the bike. You also need to decide how long you want to take to get there (and back) and what you might want to do along the way. This sets the minimum mileage you need to do each day. Make sure everyone understands that this is the minimum and they will almost certainly be doing more. If this is more than your neophyte has ever done before, you're probably over-doing it. As a general rule of thumb, you might be able to do 800kms in one day, but for every other rider added to your group, that's reduced. With five riders, as we have, 400km in a day is about the max you can do without good planning

• Everyone gets directions - It's great if you've got a GPS, but what happens if it breaks? Gets lost? Or your party is separated? Everyone should have a copy of the route, the destination address and each others' phone numbers. Better yet, use our Group Ride tool.

• Agree on Times

• The night before, make sure everyone agrees on what time you'll all be leaving. Nothing is worse than getting packed and waiting for one slowpoke.

• On the day of the ride, talk about when you'll be stopping, what time lunch is and what time you can expect to arrive.

• It's also advisable to talk at every stop so that everyone knows if you are ahead or behind schedule - This keeps the dad busy and everyone informed

• If it's not obvious by now, it's advisable to all get gas, take bathroom breaks and lunch at the same time and maximize your road time

• Agree on positions - Rider order is important for safety, but not massively so. As long as you ride in staggered formation, and as long as you ride with experienced riders at the head and the tail, you should be mostly OK. I'd recommend the neophyte and unknown are somewhere in the middle, but make sure everyone understands their position. You're lead rider should also be aware that they are setting the pace, and that it needs to be suitable for all party members

• Have a plan - Unless your group ride is down to the shops and back, you will get separated at some point. It may be a car in the middle of the group, or it might be you get split and take separate directions. This is where our Group Ride tool can help but here's some other options:

• If you're on the highway and in the lead group, don't exit. Instead, slow down a little and try to let the chasers catch up. If you're in the tail group, again don't exit and increase speed to catch up. You should be together again in minutes

• If you're not on the highway, for the lead group I'd recommend continuing at a slower pace until your next turn off or 10km, whichever is less. At that point, wait. If you're in the tail group, speed up and do the same. If you suspect the other group turned, this will ensure you're not too far away.

• When you stop, I'd suggest pulling out your phone and texting, calling or checking Group Ride for your other members

• If you can't find each other after a short period of time, don't hang around. You have distance to cover and, if you read point one, everyone has the ultimate destination to hand. Just meet there. Better yet, designate safe stops along the way so you can regroup sooner

• Worst case, change your schedule - I've learned this the hard way. If you're lost or behind, you are probably better off stopping early and starting out earlier the next day than pushing into the night

• Agree on communication - There's a few hand signals everyone (probably) knows. Tapping the top of your helmet means cops. Pointing a foot means beware of road conditions. To signal, you might need to catch up to the rider ahead, or make sure the rider behind can see you. I'd suggest you also add the following to your repertoire

• I need gas - exaggeratedly point at the tank

• I need to pee - point down from the bike

• I need a rest - Point to the side of the road

• You're more likely to see these from the neophyte than anyone else. If so, listen and take the stop as an opportunity to coach, as well as remind them of schedule. Just try and keep the stop short

• Build in the fun - Not everyone rides at the same pace, and for those with a need for speed (especially the loner), it's a good idea to try and pick a route with stretches they can enjoy it. We all know the road - twisty, low-traffic blacktop you cannot resist - Every trip should have one. Your group should identify stretches of this ahead of time and agree to potentially separate when they're encountered. Ideally, pick stretches between small towns and agree to stop at a gas station/ice cream bar or other obvious location. No turn offs means no-one gets lost and everyone has a go.

If nothing else, remember you guys are a team out there on the road. Stick together as much as possible