Who to Ride WIth

Who to Ride With

We've all done it to some extent. Off you go, out riding with a few mates, and it turns into a race, you don't want to lose face so you end up pushing yourself, riding far faster than your comfortable with just to keep up or ahead. You fly past junctions, over blind crests, round blind corners a hell of a lot quicker than you would if you were on your own.

Its not necessarily that you haven't the technique or bike control to cope - on a race track you may be able to go much faster - no its that your not leaving your usual safety margin for the unexpected, you know - the Volvo driver that pulls out without looking, the tractor traveling at 5 mph just round that blind bend, that gravel or diesel spilt on the road surface - it exhilarating but STUPID, you know that you could kill yourself.

So who do you ride with?

The Bad.

The worst people to ride with are those with something to prove - to you or to themselves. First they are always trying to "beat" you, to get ahead, or pull out a gap, first to the lights etc. Second , because you know it means so much to them and they keep ramming it down your throat every time they 've "won". You feel obliged to compete with them just to shut the buggers up, its made worst when you know you're a better rider than them, they ride like an idiot and you go haring after them like a bigger idiot just to prevent that humiliating bragging "So what happened to you then?" they'll ask with idiotic glee, you'll reply "Well you were riding like an idiot, are lucky to be alive, AND I chose not to keep up!" you'll calmly reply;only for them to come back with "Couldn't keep up more like you woose!" .AND they believe it as well!!

You try hard not to bite and to rise above such idiocy but it irritates you because they believe they are better than you , no matter how dangerously stupid they are. Best not to ride with them on the road; take them to a track and whoop their arses.

The Good

That's not to say that trying to keep up is a bad thing, You can learn loads from following a quick rider, it may just be the realisation that you can lean the bike over more than you thought, it may be the lines through bends, it may be your positioning for visibility, it could even be how incredibly hard you can brake if you have to put your mind to it. But there are two things to consider. Is the guy (or gal) in front a good rider , or just a mad bastard! And is your bike capable of doing what theirs can do , its no good trying to keep up with a R1 if your on a CB250!!! Once your satisfied then follow and learn, remember to always make your OWN decisions and don't be afraid to drop back.

The Ugly

Think about it from another point of view. If someone's following you and is trying to keep up, then consider how YOUR riding will affect them. If they are obviously trying to hard, you've got a few choices.

Carry on regardless. Everyone's responsible for their own actions Well yes but if they crash you'll feel guilty that you've led them to their doom, it wasn't your fault but you were involved.
Stop, pull over and explain that you're worried about them. This is probably best, but ten to one they won't thank you for it!
Go even faster and hope you lose them before they crash, Hey, out of site, out of mind!
Slow down to a pace they can cope with , fast enough to keep them behind. Slow enough to prevent them overcooking it. This is the nice thing to do, after all your out with your mates.

Whoever you ride with, think how their riding affects you and vice versa. If your not happy find another buddy to ride with.

Thanks for visiting VirginiaWind.