Northern Beaches Scenic Route - 16 Aug

Very good roundup of the day Cam. Tks.


More pics @

Sunday 16th August Pics

good round up and great pics.
had a lot of fun today all, so did the radio even if she was a bit
See you next wknd

Well guys a great Sydney day and a great SVR ride!!!
But Harry you take off to quick when people are still getting ready to
leave you need to be more patient some of us arn't as young as you LOL.
Oh and throw TOM away i dont think he's a good navigator


Aj

Good point Aj, I'd have to agree. I was last to leave Maccas, but as I knew the back way I actually came out in front of Phil near the Mosman Junction area. Not everyone is familiar with the territory. Also, particularly on rides like today in areas like the back of Manly, where there are many turns, we should regroup every now and then, which is why I asked Harry to stop. That's just as or more important on long rides as well. Think back to the 3 (well, almost 3) ferry ride where Harry lost the group.

Corner marking is also something we should work at. If you know there are riders behind you and you make a turn, wait (where it is safe to do so) until they know the right way. If there are not enough ppl to corner mark, that's when you need to regroup. Riders, myself included, are always anxious not to lose sight of the leader. But if riders corner marked correctly, and regrouped when appropriate, there is no risk of losing the leader. Think back again to the Tarana ride where Stew and others took the left turn on Jenolan Caves Road. The corner was not marked so there was no reason they should have made that turn. All things being equal, if there are no corner markers, continue in the same direction.

Lastly, if you get through a set of lights, bear in mind the riders following you and slow down to have them catch up. All little things, but done right, they make group riding enjoyable without the stress.

Hi guys glad you had a good ride nice day for it. I was going to come along finished work at 330am was at servo to fuel up and checked tyre pressure at 345am got home at 4am 405 boss called asking me to work tonite which i normaly have off so will make next ride for sure

Yeah agree too Aj and Ed, its not a race by any means. It seems helmets are on and people are off far to quickly leaving many behind with no idea where the rest have gone.
Group rides are just that for the group. I knew leaving Palm bch people took off in front, I could see at least Rudi and Ed still putting on gear. I waited up the road but by that time we were already to far in front. All worked out in the end although I still don't understand the rush to get out of places.
Still a good ride but something we really need to work on.

Hey Nutz, no worries, bloody bosses.
Why don't you join the ride next Sunday to the caves, would be great to see some more VN's on this one.

Absolutely agree on the group riding comments. It's early days for the SVR club and this is a common thing to discuss for any club starting out.

Some people are going to have more experience than others with riding in groups and leading groups and it is important that this knowledge is shared and listened to. It's for the fun factor and also for safety. Hopefully you won't mind me sharing my experiences here.

I have been with groups of 40 to 80 riders on runs with my old scoot club through the streets of Sydney and with practice we got quite good at keeping together and working on corner marking etc. It takes time and practice but it is so much fun when a large group rides together. Sometimes it won't be practical in really busy areas but regrouping afterwards is important then.

At the moment the SVR groups are quite small and it should not be too hard to keep together most of the time. This comes down to a ride leader who is not racing along, is mindful of things like traffic lights and roundabouts and waits if the group gets split up. A simple thing like a few toots of the horn if stuck at traffic lights can really help so long as the ride leader is alert and keeps an eye on the mirrors.

The riders following also have to be awake as well. It is sometimes easy if following the leader to switch off and get into a comfort zone that can be unsafe. You should always be riding to your own abilities and experience and taking corners on a line and at a speed that you are comfortable with. If you feel you cannot keep up then slow down and the ride leader should pick up on this and adjust the speed appropriately. Say something about it at the next stop too, there is no need to be embarrased about not being fast, it's not a race. Do not ride beyond your ability.

I don't think we should get too technical about it with hand signals and stuff like that but a designated leader and tail rider makes sense. The suggestion of corner marking is a good one as well.

Maybe we can try varying the ride leaders by having the person who suggests a ride volunteer to lead it if they feel up to it? It's not that hard, just take your time, stick to a comfortable/legal speed for the conditions and be mindul of who is riding with you and their experience. If there are any L-Platers on the ride then someone could pair up and ride with them to help them along and offer advice if appropriate.

Know your route and if you can you should ride the route as a practice run beforehand to get an idea of how it might go on the day for a group. Take into account busy sections with lot's of traffic lights etc and look for safe areas to pull over and wait should the group get split up.

If the worst should happen and there is a rider down then this is also a scenario that should be thought about beforehand. Depending on the location it is important that the other riders in the group find somewhere safe to pull over and stop. This may be a way down the road from the incident. A couple of people only should stop and assist the fallen rider and assess the situation. It is no good having 20 people crowded around, all offering opinions, on a busy motorway. The couple of people helping can make phone calls and provide help until further assistance arrives.


With summer coming and the riding conditions improving it can only get bigger and better for the SVR! Now is a good time to work a few things out and make it as fun, safe and relaxed as possible for everyone.

Good points mate.
You are spot on also, when saying people ride to their ability. If you are with a group known for leaving people behind it can force people to try and keep up.
I think we should alternate leaders and those cleaning up the back of the pack.
NSWR rides are done really well with designated leaders marshalls throughout the pack, corner markers and someone at the back for the slower people and L platers. The organistion of which is a credit to Rudi and yourself Ed and the others at NSWR.

Anyway we will get there in the end

If we lost someone on the ride, it's not always the leader's fault.

We done a lot of rides and I've lead twice.

On this particular day, I was right on the speed limit and I slowed down so much in some parts because I couldn't see some of us, some of us are just too slow.

As Cam said, the leader should look back, but the one at the back should also be closer to the one in front.

The thing that we can do to avoid loosing for next time would be telling everyone the route that we are going to take. But then again, it has already been discussed in the forum.

We'll talk next time.

HArry i think you are missing the point i tried to make.
Your not riding too fast for me and as such i think most of our group should be
comfortable at those speeds as i'm probably the slowest in our group. Except on the
straights LOL.

Harry my point to you was you get your helmet on and go and dont realise that
some of the other riders arn't ready to leave yet. The leader of the ride should never
leave until given the all clear from the sweeper (tailend rider) which is what you did twice on Saturday!
Your riding was fine mate, you slowed many times to wait for others which is brilliant but by
that stage some had already been lost


Aj

Kruser wrote:

If we lost someone on the ride, it's not always the leader's fault.

We done a lot of rides and I've lead twice.

On this particular day, I was right on the speed limit and I slowed down so much in some parts because I couldn't see some of us, some of us are just too slow.

As Cam said, the leader should look back, but the one at the back should also be closer to the one in front.

The thing that we can do to avoid loosing for next time would be telling everyone the route that we are going to take. But then again, it has already been discussed in the forum.

We'll talk next time.

Not having a go at any one with my comments, just sharing my experience so far on group rides. The group can only go as fast as the slowest rider. Would be good to discuss some strategies in the future...

Spock900 wrote:

Kruser wrote:

If we lost someone on the ride, it's not always the leader's fault.

We done a lot of rides and I've lead twice.

On this particular day, I was right on the speed limit and I slowed down so much in some parts because I couldn't see some of us, some of us are just too slow.

As Cam said, the leader should look back, but the one at the back should also be closer to the one in front.

The thing that we can do to avoid loosing for next time would be telling everyone the route that we are going to take. But then again, it has already been discussed in the forum.

We'll talk next time.

Not having a go at any one with my comments, just sharing my experience so far on group rides. The group can only go as fast as the slowest rider. Would be good to discuss some strategies in the future...

Now i'm the slowest so you lot keep the bloody hell up would ya's

All good mates.