It’s a difficult day for me today. I lost a rider friend yesterday and all of the weekend’s additional carnage has kind of come home to roost.  This may be the end of group ride organizing, for me, as I know it.
It started with a group ride Saturday – which I missed.  I looked at the roster of attendees, only knew two of the riders and decided to pass. The ride went on, of course, without me, but whatever gut hesitation I had for not joining, proved accurate. The ride had THREE separate crashes, one injuring a rider severely and one that included multiple bikes colliding, after a rider sideswiped a California Highway Patrol Crown Vic! (I know, WTF???)
A successful group ride, but likely the last one I'll organize.
The ride was populated with a half dozen novice riders that had absolutely no business being on technical roads with just enough advanced riders to elevate the pace. It was a recipe for disaster.
Then later, I learned that my first and fastest riding group, also had a multi-bike collision.   In this case, however, the story was different. One advanced rider crashed, took out two other expert riders and it culminated in severe injuries to one and, ultimately, the death of the other.
Now, the weekend’s tragedy has me reassessing how I’m going to ride. I know some might suggest, as it has already been suggested to me, that perhaps it’s time to give up the dangerous hobby of motorcycling. However, for someone like me that’s been on bikes since roughly 12 years of age, that’s just not an option. It would be like cutting out my heart and soul.
Nonetheless, something has to change and with just a night’s sleep (or lack thereof) to think on it, I believe I’ve found the simple answers:
- Â Riders of dissimilar skill levels should not be riding together.
- Â Dissimilar hardware also should not be part of the same ride.
Allow me to elaborate: Although meeting novice riders and enhancing the popularity of the sport are honorable intentions, and it’s socially acceptable to invite them on a group rides, the decision MUST be made very early on whether the “ride” is actually a ride or if it’s a social event?  If it’s latter, bring all the noob riders you want, bench race, have a great lunch together, find a mildly twisting road and ride it at marshmallow speed!  Anything beyond that puts inexperienced riders at risk and indirectly, experienced riders as well.
As to dissimilar hardware, this also creates a speed differential and a HUGE disparity in the comfort level of the riders.  On the extreme, imagine a CBR1000RR on a twisting back road with decreasing radius, off-camber turns and elevation changes;  riding with a Harley – any Harley. Clearly, the CBR rider will be in his/her absolute glory, where the HD rider will be struggling to maintain his/her bladder! The two platforms do not belong on the same ride together, let alone the same twisty road!
So for me, as someone who organizes rides, I fell into a trap and have made mistakes in judgment. I do like the social aspect of group riding, but the plain hard truth is: motorcycles are dangerous and making new friends out on the road is a seriously bad idea!
A top-to-bottom reorganization is required before I organize another group ride and I don’t think I’ll ever bring another disparate group of hardware and riders together.  There’s just too much risk! I’ll keep it simple with 5 to 10 like riders and equipment, (like my core rider group) and learn to meet my friends some other way!
And finally, to my lost riding friend: RIP, Pat Williams. You are already greatly missed!
