Ride your own ride, at your own pace

[Zepp]

I was out riding today with a few friends and another rider that I met this Winter. I had never ridden with this new rider, but he has been riding for several years I believe. Anyways, we were riding roads that my other buddies and I ride all the time, I'm not sure how many times the new guy has ridden out there before, but I think he has ridden there before.

Me and my friend Jerry took off like we always do, our other buddies fell way behind, they can't handle the speeds that Jerry and I like to hit the curves and always ride their ride. Well the new guy couldn't handle the speeds of our buddies, but tried to keep up with them. He crashed on the first road of the twisties. This is a double left hander that has crashed 40 bikes that I know of, in just the last two seasons. It isn't a real technical corner at all and we take them really fast. Our buddies are quite a bit slower but still moving along pretty good too. The new guy was riding too fast, outside his comfort zone, went wide and crashed. All 40 people that have crashed here, crashed for the same exact reason.

Everyone, the new bike season has started again for most of us. I just wanted to mention something that is extremely important.

Ride your own ride. If you're in a group that is going too fast for you and out of your comfort zone, slow down. There is no shame in slowing done and riding your ride, it is smart.

When riding on twisty roads, this is more important than ever. People often crash because they leave this comfort zone. Doing this doesn't allow them a cushion, enough room to react when something happens. It also causes many people to go wide and off the road in corners.

We all have our own comfort levels, riding abilities, etc.
RIDE YOUR RIDE, the others will wait for you at the end of the road, no rider will be left behind

Nobody wants to see someone get hurt. The whole purpose of riding is to go out there and have a good time, enjoy yourself!!!

[sassyduck]

Thanks for the reminder...it is an important lesson.

[JBLUE]

That is the number one lession that new riders must remember ride for you and not for someone else

[jdm5770]

Good reminder, I hope he is okay.

[woobie]

This is why every group ride needs to have a "talk" before hand.

who's lead, who's sweeper, what's the route, ride your own pace etc etc.

BTW How did he make out? hopefully nothing too serious.

[Fullmetal]

Very good lesson... How did he turn out? Is the bike repairable?

[Salz07]

Did he get hurt ?? I hope not . Have you guys name the corner yet? There is a turn in KY that MD has named "The Guardrail". He told me about be we got there and behold sorry to say there was a Yamaha up against the rail. We stopped , the guy was OK and waiting on a truck.Maybe MD can expound on it more. So everyone heed Zepps advice , I will tomorrow. Zepp how did it feel to be out??????

[Zepp]

He is ok, the bike is totaled though. His ankle was sore but he was walking around on it so it might just be bruised or sprained.

Riders have been warned over and over about this corner on rides.

The local bike forums all joke about it, all the time. It doesn't have a name but everyone and the brother has heard about it.

I had a guy crash right in front of me on it last year. I knew several seconds before hitting the corner that he was going to crash. Well, he crashed just as I thought.

Here is the problem. There is a straightaway right before you get to the corners where people usually pick up speed. You come up to the blind corner through a slight elevation change. People can't see what the road does until they start approaching up the elevation change. There is a big sign with an arrow showing the curve. The problem is that people don't set themselves up for the corner properly by getting to the outside of the lane first, they stay in the middle or inside the lane near the center lines. When you are coming up to a corner, get to the outside before entering the corner, otherwise you will go wide on exit. They start going wide, target fixate and go right off the road.

It is to the point where we won't ride with anyone that isn't really experienced at riding, out on our twisties. I thought he was experienced, otherwise I wouldn't have been out there with him.

I'm very glad that he is ok. We normally ride with a small select group of riders for this reason. We all know how each other rides, trust one another and know the roads. We don't want to see anyone get hurt while riding out there. Every big group ride they have out there, someone crashes in that corner. The group has ride captains and discussions before the ride. The Ride Captains communicate via Chatterboxes during the ride with each other. Proper hand signals are used, staggered riding, etc, etc.

Never fails, someone always crashes there.

Zepp how did it feel to be out??????

It feels great to be back out riding. I have ridden the last three weekends now and rode all week to work

Spring is finally here. WooHoo!!!

[PADEROLIS]

Glad the rider is relatively alright, sucks to total your bike especially when the riding season is just starting. I hope he gets back on two wheels soon and heals up even faster! Keep riding safe everyone, thanks for the tips Zepp!!

[Robgsxf750]

Wise words Zepp.

[woobie]

Anyone thought of doing like the Deals Gaps locals and putting a warning on the road itself? kind of like they did up on the Cherohola?

Sounds like the normal signs are not enough.

[md86]

Did he get hurt ?? I hope not . Have you guys name the corner yet? There is a turn in KY that MD has named "The Guardrail". He told me about be we got there and behold sorry to say there was a Yamaha up against the rail. We stopped , the guy was OK and waiting on a truck.Maybe MD can expound on it more. So everyone heed Zepps advice , I will tomorrow. Zepp how did it feel to be out??????

Nope , that's pretty much it . You tend to remember the turns that spook you , and this one spooks EVERYONE . When we hit a road like that , I like to warn people . I don't wanna waste time JB'ing stuff back together whilst getting eaten up by skeeters .

[steves]

It's also a good reason to have someone run sweeper that knows the roads fairly well. Let the fast guys take off, and tell the newbs not to worry because someone has their back.

[600Kat4EB]

Thanks for the reminder Zepp! I pray everyone has a good safe season....there have already been a few accidents around here and a fatality already as well.

[zuma]

I enjoyed reading your post, Zepp, but I'm more of a straightliner. It's sort of hard do be much else when most the roads here, as well as the horizons comprise a straight line.