Team riding: Spacing without spacing out

By David Dirig

First off, I want to welcome a number of new members that I have met at pie
rides and parking lot practices (PLP's) over the past few months. Beyond
hospitality, its my obligation to make sure that everybody knows how the
chapter rides together as a group for safety. Some of the things I am
covering may seem like old hat to some of you, but it never hurts to revisit
safety issues. If any of this is unclear, feel free to call me or email me
at any time! Remember, the only bad question is the one that's not asked!

I would like to get away from the concept of group riding and have everybody
think of it as Team Riding. We may have a group of 15-25 bikes heading to a
restaurant or rally, but once we hit the road, each of you is an integral
member of a 5 bike team. The goal of this team is to have fun and get where
we're going. However, the number one priority of this team is to reduce the
risk of injury or death to each team member by being out on the freeways
with autos and other heavyweights. Each team member is important! The front
and back door are obviously important, and I will discuss this more in the
future. But what about those in the middle?

Bikes 2, 3, and 4; what's your role in the team? Front and back doors are
making way for you, but they can't ride your bikes for you. Now, it cannot
be stressed enough that each of us should always RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE and
never try to go beyond our capabilities. Having said that, beyond
responsibilities to yourself and your co-rider, each team member also has an
obligation to reduce risks to the team. Its your role to keep the group
organized as a tight team and also protect each other. This could be as
simple as warning of road debris or telling the bike in front of you that
their top bag isn't latched. But the most important role of these three
bikes is to maintain the spacing of the group. If you're riding in staggered
formation, you should keep a 2 second interval with the bike in your track.
In other words, bike #3 should be in the left track of the lane 2 seconds
behind the front door and #4 should be 2 seconds behind #2 in the right
track. This puts individual bikes ~1 second apart. A good rule of thumb is
that if you can see the face of the rider in front of you in his/her mirror,
you are about 1 second apart. If you go to single file, you now allow a 2
second interval with the bike in front of you, so this doubles the amount of
distance between each bike in the group (front and back doors; consider that
this doubles the overall length of the group).

Why are these numbers important? Motorcycle Safety Foundation allows ~0.5
seconds for an individual's reaction time. This means you've eaten up half
the distance to the bike in front of you and a quarter of the distance to
the bike in your track before you realize anything is wrong! Okay, so lets
make even more room -- why not give 3-5 seconds between bikes? Now, there's
enough room to enable/invite cars to enter the group. If you are the #2
bike, and you allow too much room between you and #1, a car entering the
team leaves the #1 bike by itself and you just became the leader of a 4 bike
group. If you're in the #3 slot and don't keep proper spacing, now a car has
split the team into groups of 2 and 3. Everybody's risk has been increased
by a lack of proper spacing. By maintaining the recommended lane position
and spacing, each rider is allowed enough time to avoid obstacles or
troubles ahead without inviting other autos to join the group and endanger
other team members. Beyond lane position and spacing, team members have
different obligations/concerns, depending on bike position.

Bike #2: If you don't have a radio or you are a new rider, you should be in
the #2 position. Being a new rider doesn't just mean you just got on a bike.
What if you just bought a new bike, or you just started riding 2-up?
Wouldn't you like to have the increased reaction time of having no one in
the right track ahead of you? Wouldn't you like to have the front door to
follow in case the team gets split up? If you don't have a radio or any
aspect of your riding could be considered new, the #2 position is where you
should be.

Bike #3: Assuming that #2 is a new rider or without a radio, what happens if
#1's radio goes out or you get split up by a traffic light or a car? The #3
position should be ready to take over for the front door in case of radio
troubles OR be ready to lead the smaller group until the team can be
re-united.

Bike #4: The same concept applies in case the back door has radio trouble or
gets separated. This is actually more likely, as you may get 4 bikes through
a light, but not have the back door get through (especially if you're riding
single file). If the team is split up, the back door should notify the front
door that bike #4 will be the back door until the team is re-united. If the
back door has radio problems, its up to #4 to take over and communicate with
the front door and safely change positions with the former back door.

So you see, each team member has important roles in making sure that the
team gets where they're going safely. Beyond maintaining the proper spacing
and lane position within the team, situational awareness is critical. If
each member of the team is aware of their surroundings and knows what to do
in different situations, this reduces the risk to the team overall. We will
be having group/team riding seminars in the future, but until that time,
PLEASE come to me or Dori with any questions or concerns. Lets all ride safe
and have fun!

So until next month, COAST (Concentrate On A Safe Trip)

David & Dori Dirig