Lesson time (forest creatures)

From today's group ride: We were well fed from lunch and into our second of three passes for a twisty 400 mile day. Clipping along and Eve says "Look, a bear!". Somehow I looked the right direction and saw a very large (~500 lbs.) Cinnamon-colored Black Bear booking it through a meadow toward a grove of Quakies. I pointed at it, like Eve was already doing, so the riders following could maybe see it.

Imagine my surprise when I turned back to the front to discover that one of our fellow riders had decided to stop right in his (and now my) tracks. There would be no stopping, so all I could do was jerk the bars enough to miss by inches.

So who was that masked blue bike rider? You all look the same to me. Did it seem like inches to you also, or am I exaggerating? I think you turned toward Sac with the other riders just down the road where we split up.

I assume he stopped to look at the bear or something. Pretty sure Skyway was leading as he told me he was just a few seconds from striking the previously mentioned VLB as it crossed the road in front of him.

I think there were two lessons to learn here today. I learned mine. Riding and sightseeing don't mix.

Glad nobody got hurt.

Glad to hear you and Eve made it out of that one TC. That is a lesson for all of us to remember.

--G

Another lesson - If something unusual is going to happen it is going to happen at the worst possible time . . .

The bear sighting occurred right when we were in the middle of passing a group of 5 Harleys reacting to the bear sighting as well. What are the odds of that?

This reminds me of a story . . .

I was bicycling in a tight pack of about 25 riders known as a Pelaton doing about 18 mph. One of the front riders saw spilled nails in the roadway and pointed down yelling "NAILS". Everybody reacted by hitting their binders and a nice pileup evolved. Now that I think about it, with an average perception reaction time of 1.5 seconds, pelatons are stupid.

When we ride these windy mountain roads maybe we should think about stretching out our spacing for an extra margin of safety? 3 second gaps are probably unnecessarily close on curvy mountain highways. I am going to increase my gap. So what if 8 bikes stretch out over 1/2 mile? I think the riders I follow will appreciate it as well.

Hey TC I don't think is was me; I pulled off the road to the left to get a longer look at the beast. Don't feel too bad though, when I got going again I watched one of those bikes we passed drift into the right side drainage and do their best dirt bike impression for about 20-30 yards.

Seems like the times I really scare myself are when I'm gawking when I should be riding.

On our trip yesterday - going up Rt33 thru Shennondoah park - FJR Gary and I saw a bear (cub) too. He (or she) only took a step on two on the road, saw us and turned around and went back into the woods. Don't know how he saw our faces, we had helmets on!

All you guy's stopping for a look at the cute Bear do realize, that a Bear can outrun a Quaterhorse for a short burst. Their 0 to top speed time is almost instantaneous. Not a good idea to mess with Bears, if it's a Momma with a cub or two around, She can spoil your day real quick.

Do they make a bear whistle for vehicle like the deer whistles. You might need them as an added farkle. :blink:

Sorry to hear about your close call and kudos on your willingness to share the experience with us so we can all learn.

I am new to riding in a group of more than just a couple of friends. I'm sure that the more often you ride with each infividual the more you get used to each other's style and the safer you are. +1 on the idea of spreading out as much as possible, but too big a gap will invite cagers to pull out into the middle of the group. Like most things in life, you can overdo it.

I frequently have a black bear in my yard. It used to be only after dark but the critters seem to be more willing to come out in the daylight every year. Probably because I don't have dogs any more. So far I have been able to chase them off simply by yelling at them but I have to be wary whenever I first step out; I wouldn't want to startle one.

So that's what all that slowing and pointing was about. Stoopid lookee-loos! I hope these same people will remember this occaision when a cager pulls the same stunt at an accident scene, but they won't see the parallel.

I glanced over once and had to slow down for the "tangle" of bikes forming. I saw Brad pull off to the left shoulder, then it was "work you way through" those twisting and turning to look. I think I looked back one more time....at nothing. Who knew?

Good point, Bob. If you see something you want to look at, turn on your signal (or flashers) and pull to the shoulder. At least that way everyone behind you will, or might, be on alert.

Rick, I really enjoyed riding "sweep" for the first half of the trip. So what if I lagged 1/2 mile! (Yes, madmike riding sweep............and lagging. Imagine that! Of course, the catching up was fun, too.)

Perhaps we should add a "be responsible to the group around you" comment during the safety/awareness pre-ride speech on the next group ride.

While leading over Monitor Pass and having just rounded a corner after passing a group of 3 bikes(?) I had my first ever bear encounter. It had just crossed the road in front of me and would have ruined my day if our paths had crossed. Did I say fast, that bear was hauling *** for its size. I slowed and pointed for the first group that appeared way back in my mirror, but never got any bikes close enough behind me to cause an incident.

They are bigger than I imagined them to be, in fact a lot bigger. I will be a little more cautious hiking in the back country around here from now on.

madmike2 said:

Perhaps we should add a "be responsible to the group around you" comment during the safety/awareness pre-ride speech on the next group ride.

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Hmm, so where was the "be careful" talk you normally give before departure? Or was this Bob's responsibility?

madmike2 said:

I glanced over once and had to slow down for the "tangle" of bikes forming. I saw Brad pull off to the left shoulder, then it was "work you way through" those twisting and turning to look. I think I looked back one more time....at nothing. Who knew?

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Mike, did you pass the Harleys or were you caught behind? I thought we were near the back of the group, but we were in front of the Harleys as well. I never slowed appreciably, just looked away for a couple seconds then looked back. The bike that was stopped in the right tire track of the lane must have been just behind Skyway. The rider was looking in the bear's direction. It's a good thing he wasn't checking his six because he might have reacted into my escape route. The bear was about three seconds from the grove of trees at the rate he was moving, so I don't imagine there was much to see at all for any bikes behind the Harley group. Daamn, that could have been a very bad accident, us rear-ending a stopped bike at speed. Even a glancing blow would have had us testing our suits fully and had potential for some serious injuries.
I'm gonna seriously rethink organizing rides like this. The last one I put together had some riders partaking in alcohol consumption during a lunch stop and now this. Lots of responsibilty, lost sleep and guilt to deal with if something were to happen. It's supposed to be fun, not adult day care. That's why I'm a driver at work. I only have to be responsible for a machine (not unlike Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty", workin' at the drive-up window).

On the plus side, Eve enjoyed herself but was very tired and ready for a break from the bike and long rides in general (this one covered 13 hours for us). It's cool, as her next scheduled long ride isn't until WFO and, as I pointed out to her last night, will be 70 miles shorter than yesterday's ride. She should be ready by then, and has a better appreciation for her fugly crash suit. I may still need to take her for a visit to the local burn unit while they have some formerly hot biker chick in for major road rash to ice the cake.

Being in Clovis, we have some awesome roads in our own backyard, but people don't want to travel 3 hours to ride with us (can't say I blame them). In order to join popular group rides with the always fun & friendly Northern Clan, we're the ones travelling to the start point. I think it's best we just stay near home most of this season. Don't want Eve to get disenchanted and end up with a cold ugly fuel cell on back

Hmm, so where was the "be careful" talk you normally give before departure? Or was this Bob's responsibility?

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That would be my responsibilty, but it shouldn't have to be anybody's. There's no way I would have remembered to cover the part about not stopping in the roadway if you happen to see something you're not used to seeing, like a bear or UFO. It's also hard to stay focused on the pavement five seconds ahead of the bike with granduer like we had surrounding us the whole time. Like I alluded to before, I only want to be in charge of myself, my wife and our machine. If yesterday's close call was any closer, the collision would have been solely my fault in the eyes of the law. Now there's a heapin' helpin' of guilt to deal with.

toecutter said:

I'm gonna seriously rethink organizing rides like this. The last one I put together had some riders partaking in alcohol consumption during a lunch stop and now this. Lots of responsibilty, lost sleep and guilt to deal with if something were to happen. It's supposed to be fun, not adult day care.

On the plus side, Eve enjoyed herself but was very tired and ready for a break from the bike and long rides in general (this one covered 13 hours for us).

Being in Clovis, we have some awesome roads in our own backyard, but people don't want to travel 3 hours to ride with us (can't say I blame them). In order to join popular group rides with the always fun & friendly Northern Clan, we're the ones travelling to the start point. I think it's best we just stay near home most of this season. Don't want Eve to get disenchanted and end up with a cold ugly fuel cell on back

Hmm, so where was the "be careful" talk you normally give before departure? Or was this Bob's responsibility?

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That would be my responsibilty, but it shouldn't have to be anybody's.
, I only want to be in charge of myself, my wife and our machine. If yesterday's close call was any closer, the collision would have been solely my fault in the eyes of the law. Now there's a heapin' helpin' of guilt to deal with.

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Lots of good points Bob, same thoughts have crossed my mind many times leading the group rides, same fears too. Am I riding my pace, a beginners pace or " The Pace "? Can everyone one ride this pace, who's new, how many new, who's a regular, who's riding wing, who's sweep ? Any one drinking at lunch, where did they line up after lunch? It runs through your mind the whole day.

I can also relate to the long hours with a pillion, we're usually about 2 / 2-1/2 from the start of the runs also. It means long days, 13 -14 hours for sure. We used to do it all in one day but lately we changed game plans, we either sometimes ride up the night before or usually find a hotel / B&B close to the end point. Both have their advantages. Treat the wife sometimes, you know what they say about momma being happy !!

In the end although we fret about having the responsibilty for the others, it's really the other riders responsibility to ride their pace if the leader sets it to fast. I've seen others slow down when this happen so it's all about being responsible for our own actions, irregardless of the pace set by others / ourselves.

And speaking of bear encounters...... this from our trip to BC before WFO3. Another major decision in the middle of nowhere... no way to quickly flip a U turn two up, heavily loaded, on that skinny road, do we sneak and crawl past the cub / young adult, or wick it up and blast past. When in doubt gas it they say, so we rounded the bend at high speed into safety, but a husband / wife team had their bikes parked on the side of the road, her face as white as a ghost. I'm positive she had a close encounter with something!!

'toecutter' date='Jun 4 2006, 12:40 AM' post='107594']

"I think there were two lessons to learn here today. I learned mine. Riding and sightseeing don't mix.

Glad nobody got hurt".

Amen to that.

I think I will share your story with my riding buddies as we leave for our annual trip to Americade (Lake George, N.Y.) tomorrow. We usually do mucho riding in the Adorondack Mountains where there are plenty of forest creatures too!

Stay Safe!

Glad everyone is OK.

This is the biggest problem with group rides...unpredictability.

Glad everyone made it through that near miss. It seems as motorcycle riders we try to emulate what other people do ( remarks have been made about them.-- cagers ).

Are we any better than they are or do we just tell ourself that to makes us feel better ?

Hope some one comes up with some ideas as how to prevent an accident from happening when some thing like this happens.

Safety is no.# 1 weekend rider

Bob, I understand your concerns about the group riding, I have thought about it too myself. If/when I get to lead (it just happened to be this weekend) I prefer to stretch it out in the twisties, and I mean stretch. It is not my responsibility if someone wants to ride outside of his/her ability in an effort to try to keep up. We are all adults and must take responsibility for our own actions. I think that in the tight mountain passes a large group of bikes bunched up is way more dangerous than a string of riders stretched out having fun by themselves. At some point we will all be back together at a vista spot or some other pull off anyway. There is no prize for first place.

It also doesn't hurt to have a good sweep to keep an eye out for the group ahead. Luckily we had a pretty darn good one this weekend. Also if your in a group and a rider is chomping at the bit behind, wave them through for crying out loud!

The biggest problem of the rides organized through this forum vs. your bubbies who you hook up with on a regular basis, is that we don't know each others riding habits and abilities. The problem is that the bikes all perform and look the same (well except for them blue ones ), its the riders who vary greatly.

HIGHLANDER said:

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Your bear looks like what the bear that had just crossed my path this weekend would eat for a snack. Them damn bears get BIG.

Put Yellowstone National Park at numero uno on your list of places NOT to go on big group rides. Stunning beauty, to be sure, along with bears, bison thicker'n'flies, and various elk and moose type critters on the loose, not to mention gawking tourists in cars who think little of stopping in the roadways.

Best to ride here with maybe 1 or 2 or 3 others but that's it.

Glad to hear everyone went home with their paint intact .

toecutter said:

Mike, did you pass the Harleys or were you caught behind? I thought we were near the back of the group, but we were in front of the Harleys as well. I never slowed appreciably, just looked away for a couple seconds then looked back. The bike that was stopped in the right tire track of the lane must have been just behind Skyway. The rider was looking in the bear's direction. It's a good thing he wasn't checking his six because he might have reacted into my escape route. The bear was about three seconds from the grove of trees at the rate he was moving, so I don't imagine there was much to see at all for any bikes behind the Harley group. Daamn, that could have been a very bad accident, us rear-ending a stopped bike at speed. Even a glancing blow would have had us testing our suits fully and had potential for some serious injuries.

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IIRC, I had just passed the #3 Harley and was closing on #2 when they began to "twist and point". Everyone was slowing down and swerving around to look. It was scary stuff, to be sure.

I've been thinking that I'd like to have a "Sequoia Ride Redux". That was too pretty and we didn't have enough time to go left in the park and ride the whole thing. If I pursue the idea, I'll be staying at the "Princesses" house so I get plenty of sleep rather than riding 2 1/2 hrs from Sac before the ride.

Yep, starting and leading a group ride isn't quite as simple and easy as it appears on the surface. Lots of forethought, organizing, planning and worrying. I think we'll split the group on the 24th as there are just too many bikes (21 at last count) to ride as one unit. I think we'll do the "aggressive group" vs. "normal group". :lol:

Toe...you might not agree with this....but....if you organize a ride....& someone drinks....1 or 21....(alcohol peaks in the human body approximately 1/2 hour after the last drink)....& you feel you must take responsibility...cut them out of the group...it's the only fair thing to do for you @ the group (if your taking the responsibility)....think about it....on a track day or race day what do you think others would do if they found out you had been drinking prior to going out....not trying to be mean here Toe....just drinking (& especially riding don't mix...ever)....no I'm not a cop ....just a semi retired racer who doesn't like others taking my life...(& especially the SO's) in their hands when they don't have full use of their faculties....I don't want to argue this with anyone but....1 or 21 your not @ 100%....if you think you are...your full of ****!....if something were to happen to my SO...& the person had had just 1.....I guess their families would miss them (not a threat...just a fact)...lost to many good poeple to this type of stupidity....sorry for the rant but I would hate to hear you felt responsible for someone else's stupidity.......oh ya & jacking the thread....Mike