Code of the Road?

[Cloner]

Ya know, today after this episode....

A number of us hung out at PJ's this morn, (Zaster,Cloner, Goduc, Adam, Desertduc, Stu & even Plumber rolled in for a bit) then went for a little ride.  Actually, for Cloner & I it was a very little ride. Jonzeys feminine hands couldn't seem to tighten the license plate bracket on the 1098R enough for it to stay on, so he & I's ride was mostly looking for the damn thing.

It struck me that I broke one of the rules of the group I rode with for years in Tennessee before I moved out here.  That group had a "code" for lack of a better term, and it was simple and sweet.  It went something like this:

1)  Ride your pace.
2)  Hold your line.
3)  Dress for the ride.
4)  Stop at each turnoff to gather the group.  If someone hasn't shown up in five minutes, go see what happened.
5)  Don't leave the group unless you tell someone.
6)  If somebody does something boneheaded AND unsafe, you HAVE to tell them about it.

That's it.  Pass all you want (safely), though not much passing occurred during most of our rides.  Go as fast as you want, though the pace was generally mundane everywhere except on the "fun" parts in order to minimize LEO attentions.  If you don't feel someone is safe, feel free to beat them about the head and shoulders, or at least ride behind them.  (You'll recall that when I appeared here I made it a point to ride in the back.....nothing personal, I just didn't know any of you....and I really do enjoy riding in the back of a group and watching other folks ride just about as much as I like an insanely fast pace.  Almost.)

After KB pointed out that the license plate had fallen of of PJ's 1098R (yes....it'll run) I back-tracked to find it without letting Karl, Dave, and Adam know that I had gone back to look for it.  That was pretty inconsiderate and I hope you guys didn't waste too much time wondering what happened.  Apologies.  My only defense is that I was so overwhelmed by a $40,000 piece of machinery falling apart beneath me that I wasn't thinking clearly.  My bad.

This got me to wondering, though....does the HDH group have a set of rules or guidelines for group rides?  The ICR group in Tennessee made anybody that had never ridden with the group listen to their rules once through before allowing them to ride with the group, but I've never heard anyone here so much as mention a set of rules or a code for this type of event. 

Should there be such a set of rules?  Is this a topic worthy of discussion?

Thoughts?

[gratefulduc]

all i know is I've bought 5 or 6 bikes from PJ's and i am still waiting for my turn on the "R"...at this point it would definately feel like crusty corners of the brownie pan!
and yes the group should have gone looking for you

[kingbaby]

Yes.  And, as you & I have talked about this eve,Scott, most of the "code riders" have moved away, so, I agree after sitting on the back for the first time in a long while, there needs to be some basic rules re-established/visited.  
You tend to forget that the group changes & morphs over time.  The days of, dusty, bonfy, kawboy, jeremy, ddgm, goduc. zaster, hp (greatfulduc) & mouse locked on my rear wheel like fighter planes were some of the greatest riding times of my life. I knew what they were going to do, and they knew what I was going to do. Especially, those of us that went on the "epic" trips together.  But, names change, new friends & memories are made, so, this was a great point.
 
No matter how short the ride was, Cloner...I still had fun ridin' with ya' today.  ...It was kinda' like a treasure hunt at 60mph.  

As the great poet Bonfy once said: If ya' got no code...whata' ya got?   Or was it just: They've got no code!!!!

Either way, I think the recipients always got your point.    Miss Ya', G.

[Zaster]

Sorry Scott...my mistake
We stopped at the gas station and I found
out that you and KB had turned around heading back to PJ's.

[ms. mel]

I think it's a great idea, especially if a noob like me ever goes on a ride with the alls of yous

[Cloner]

Sorry Scott...my mistake
We stopped at the gas station and I found
out that you and KB had turned around heading back to PJ's.

That's REALLY not what I'm fishing for, Karl, but I'm at least as "guilty" as anyone else in this episode.

What I was hoping to stimulate was a group conversation about what OUR rules of the road should be!

If YOU (that's each of you, of course) could write down 5 unbreakable rules, what would they be? 

Thou shalt not ride without coffee in thine system?
Thou shalt always be on the gas?
Thou shalt never defer to the judgement of Lance when alpaca are afoot?  (the plural of alpaca is alpaca, isn't it?)

That sort of thing.

Ready......GO!

[Diavolo]

Some rules I know.  The fist on the top of the head means cops ahead.  Others from here.

http://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/Group_Ride.pdf

Because of my work schedule and odd weekends, I'll probably never ride with y'all.  Still, good to have a set of rules for group riding.

[Plumbers Crack]

5 rules..
1.Group saftey.. RIDE YOUR RIDE [moto], dont pass on the right, dont show boat,   Who you have behind you is your responiblilty, signals(hand gestures) turning or have problems.

2. Krystle and my self have agreed to no longer have more then one beer and ride.. I know still its a beer though..

3. Wait on the group. If your the leader/or not and you know you counted 6 heads when u left and there are only 3 there .. A red flag should raise..

4. As a group we need to show the public/new people that not all riders are crazy and wild.. That give us this bad name as a Sport rider.

5. That we are always there for each other.. if its to lend a hand in the wrenching side or helping move.. Ive got ur back..

Just my 2 cents.


Matt

[DucMouse the Mighty]

Thou shalt aviod little critters(its not my fault they ran under there)
Thou shalt eat bacon before every ride
Thou shalt pray to the motos for a wonderful ride(even if need to sacrifice a virgin)
Thou shalt ride your own ride [moto]
Thou shalt drop to your knees when u see nicky 

just trying to be funny and light on the idea..dont get me wrong i do take it seriouly


you said it babe! better then i could

[Plumbers Crack]

BUMP.. Im very curious about this one.. Please chime in.. [moto]

[Duck-Stew]

Ok, now that I'm in front of a keyboard (as opposed to the Iphone).  Here's what I got for pointers in no particular order:

The leader of the ride doesn't necessarily have to be the one in front of the pack, just the one 'in charge' of the pack.  Which means knowing 'how many are there in front of me?'  'how many are there behind me?'  'Who's my sweep?'

EVERYONE needs to have at *least* an idea of the route.  If you don't...you should.  If you still don't, then you need to be within visual range of at least one person (that one person by default could be the sweep).

The leader of the ride and the sweep NEED to know the route.  No questions here.

When arriving at a terminus point along the ride (a junction in the road, a point of interest, a 'hang-out', etc...) everyone needs to stop and count heads.  This goes especially more for those that feel more adventurous than the ride leader and are going ahead of him/her.  Maintaining a head count is critical...

RIDE YOUR OWN GADDAMN RIDE.  If you can't keep up with a guy on a ysr50 but you're on a 1198R...so be it.  The trophies are at the racetrack, not the street and every-damn-one needs to keep that in their mind.

For me anyways....the best thing about riding is this:  Living again to do it another day.

[ms. mel]

Thou shalt aviod little critters(its not my fault they ran under there)
Thou shalt eat bacon before every ride
Thou shalt pray to the motos for a wonderful ride(even if need to sacrifice a virgin)
Thou shalt ride your own ride [moto]
Thou shalt drop to your knees when u see nicky 

just trying to be funny and light on the idea..dont get me wrong i do take it seriouly


you said it babe! better then i could

ok i'm a noob and lame, but nicky? zabiki? mrs. bronstrop? little nicky?

[Plumbers Crack]

ok i'm a noob and lame, but nicky? zabiki? mrs. bronstrop? little nicky?

u just opened ur self a can of worms.. LOL

[DucMouse the Mighty]

ok i'm a noob and lame, but nicky? zabiki? mrs. bronstrop? little nicky?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hayden

http://www.buzzinmotogp.co.uk/files/2009/09/3775442396_099a24c526-copy.jpg

http://resources.motogp.com/files/images/xy/2008/MotoGP/n496257_236595_Ducati+rider+Nicky+Hayden-1280x960-jan22.jpg._original.slideshow.jpg


if i wast at work i would post pics but work filters so i hope these links work

[Ratfink749]

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hayden

http://www.buzzinmotogp.co.uk/files/2009/09/3775442396_099a24c526-copy.jpg

http://resources.motogp.com/files/images/xy/2008/MotoGP/n496257_236595_Ducati+rider+Nicky+Hayden1280x960-jan22.jpg._original.slideshow.jpg


if i wast at work i would post pics but work filters so i hope these links work

Got ya covered





Ok I'm done helping the threadjacking.