It would seem that as a newbie it is therefore very difficult to find people to ride out with, irrespective of the newbies' experience. Shame really, biking used to be about comradary (sp?). On a previous forum I / we used to do ride outs for all. Some mixed, some dedicated to fast groups some to learners / 125s. All with a leader, a tail gunner and 2nd person drop off system. We even had a couple of police bikers who gave up their time to organise runs where they would give unofficial guidance. People could ride at their own pace and in four years only two minor falls. That has all fallen away as people organised themselves into little groups or decided to ride by themselves because they had fallen out with another. Biking continues but the team spirit appears to be diminishing. I guess the same for riders broken down at the side of the road. Not many stop or even pause to ask if all is okay.
Im a billy no mates really and ride alone. Total escapism and only me to worry about and the next costa or starbucks stop.
I work 2 weekend's in four and travel from Bridlington down to Scunthorpe On sunny weekends like we have just had I pass loads of bike groups heading the other way.I have never seen one make groups always appears to be a gang of mates on varying brands of machines. I would join a ride out more to meet folk than the ride itself. I don't like riding at the weekend far too many idiots and wrinklys about. So I tend to ride midweek on my own
Not a fan of riding alone, find it boring, especially when you stop and its just me, myself and I for company. Prefer a laugh, banter, occasional bit of friendly competitive larking about but also have massively increased my skills by riding with others better than me.
really? according to ukdoggers.com the scene had moved away from there due to the Police interest...they werent arresting anybody, they were waiting in the bushes to see if they could give any law breakers a tug....
I don't mind whether I am alone or not, as long as I am riding. Good points about learning from others though.
I don't mind riding in a group, there's always a mixture of ability and I'm happy to wait for the less experienced to catch up, we have had some good rides with 10 or more bikes, and its always good to chat over an ice cream or cup of tea I still find time to ride on my own, to or from meet points, you can always then have a bit of a blast if required I think a group ride out is what it says, so you need to be more tolerant of people around you, I almost ass ended someone at the weekend who braked mid corner - I was riding too close
Buy a Ducati monster and join the UKMOC, or just turn up at there meets and have a ride with them, I'm sure they won't mind, what bike do you ride?
I'm not a fan of large group ride outs. There are some good reasons for this. 1. In any group of 10 people, in any circumstances, there will only be a max of about 3 people I actually want to talk to. I'd just as soon the rest weren't there. I'm a very small group sort of person. 2. The faff factor rises exponentially with the size of any group. People all run out of petrol at different times, others stop to take so many photos you think they've ended up in a hedge, others fail to read simple road signs. When you finally end up at a café or somewhere, it takes about 30 mins for everyone to decide what they want to eat/drink. When the bill is finally paid (after massive calculations, digging around for change, people agreeing to pay others back etc), you all suit up again and are about to ride off when you discover that 2 people have gone to the bog. While waiting for them to come back, three people light up. etc.etc. So I most like to ride with about 3 mates max who ride like I do - fast-ish, but not brain out. Even this can be problematic as some days I feel more like bimbling than others. I loathe riding behind slower riders as I am always frightened of rear ending them in corners. Biking is mainly all about corners. You don't want to ride behind someone who fucks them all up for you or you may as well stay at home.
I usually get to go on one or two rideouts a month, with mostly the same people, and it is good fun. Other times I go out it's just me and Mr SC. We did have another bike riding couple we used to do days out with, but they are out of the country at the mo, and I do miss those trips. Agree with that :smile: Although I do quite enjoy going out on my own sometimes, I like to do the loop round the B4011 to OYB and back the Waddesdon way, just at my own pace (whatever that may be at the time). I am sooo disappointed to have missed the rideout on Sunday - I was looking forward to Fish Hill and just being out with the gang for the day (dratted Aprilias, grrrr) I see you all had a good time, damn you!:biggrin:
True, but you can always hang back a bit on the straights and leave a bit of room so you can take corners at your natural speed without rear-ending them. Or clear off ahead, then wait up at the next junction.
I systematically choose the second option, as those slow into corners often don't seem to have mastered the technique of accelerating out of them. I'm not in a hurry and happy to wait. You generally find that even when you've hooned into the distance leaving your mates as specs in your blurred mirrors, you don't have to wait more than 2 minutes for them to catch you up, once you've stopped.
Ooo, I don't know. I suspect you might be one of the lucky 3! But I'll accept your apology in case your not.
