MotorSWATCop
Well-known member
As of yesterday, I don't think I will be leading or setting up any more group rides.
Over the past few months, I have been putting together some small group rides for people I know and people that I work with. My purpose is to introduce these folks to some of the roads I know and make them better (more complete) riders. Almost all of them are sportbike riders who come to me wanting to improve and wanting to be introduced to the twisties. I ride my FJR on all of these rides. The last 4 have resulted in 1 near miss and 3 wrecks. All of these have been rider error and each rider has been briefed to ride his own ride, not get caught up in trying to maintain pace with the rider in front of them, and not to let testosterone ruin their day.
Here are the rundowns of the incidents:
Took 2 guys to Deals Gap (neither had been before). I led them through from the store to the overlook at an easy pace so that they could see the road and what the conditions of the road were for that day. We stopped at the overlook and talked. Both felt good and I took off to make a run on my own back to the store. I find out later that both almost bit it at the Gravity Cavity because the first was running a bit to hard and the 2nd fixated on him when he crossed the lane and almost hit the embankment. I take responsibility for this one because I know that the road is completely different depending on which way you are running it and I should have led them at least once from each direction. This was the near miss and luckily, both guys stayed upright and no damage was done.
Took a group of guys from my department on a tour of some local roads I like to run. I decided to take them to Firetower Road which Fencer had shown me a few weeks earlier. Having a good run w/ me leading. My buddy, who rides a Hayabusa and is a better rider than me (my opinion), tucks in very close behind me and is offset to my left just a little. I enter a hard right hander on the correct line and there is gravel in the corner. My front tire washes and I have to cross the center line to keep my bike up. My friend on the Busa has to do the same and ends up leaving the road and dumping it into a ditch. Minor damage to his bike; major damage to his ego. This is the first wreck.
Took a group of guys from my department on an overnight trip to the Cherohala and Deals Gap. We ride all day and are heading back to Tellico Plains on the Cherohala. I was leading and we were running a very brisk pace but were not crossing any centerlines and everyone was well w/in their limits. A friend on a GSXR 1000 decides it is a good time to pass me and he and the Busa guy blast by me. We are heading into a hard left hander. They pass me cleanly and Busa makes the turn but GSXR is way hot and looks at the guard rail. He gets into the grass, low sides and hits the rail. Bike basically explodes into pieces and gets kicked out in the road in front of me. I'm braking hard and hear a sound to my right. The RC-51 behind me is sliding on its left side and going into the rail. I accelerated out of the "kill zone" and then stopped to go back and pick up my dead friends. To my amazement, both are on their feet hugging each other w/o any injuries to speak of. This is the second wreck resulting in 2 totalled bikes. I do not really take responsibility for this one because I did not make them pass me.
Yesterday, we made the same trip as above. One of the guys invited a dispatcher from my department to come. He had a Triumph 600 sportbike that was in awesome condition. 2001 model that he got about 3 months ago. He rode up w/ me in my truck. I told him that we were going to put him with an experienced rider to work with him and show him the proper lines. He was warned, repeatedly, to stay slow and use the time to learn. I was leading a faster group and we ran a moderate pace to an agreed upon overlook (Just above Indian Boundary) to wait and regroup. We waited a long time and his control rider and he never showed. One of the guys w/ me went back down to see if something had happened. It had. Apparently, they had gotten stuck behind a camper going up the mountain. They waited for one of the 2 passing zones and made the pass. The guy on the Triumph cleared the camper at the end of the passing zone and did not set up correctly for the left hand sweeper coming up. He fixated and panicked stabbing his rear brake and high sided off the road and ended up in a 10 foot deep gully. He had to be transported to a local hospital w/ some rash and a possibly broken ankle. X-rays were negative but he needs to go be checked by and orthopedist to be sure. He was wearing full mesh gear and Icon boots. What I called rash was actually burns from the mesh. If he had not been wearing it, all contact points would have been to the bone. The mesh helped, but was not nearly as good as hide would have been. Bike is totalled. This is the third wreck. I don't know whether to take some responsibility or not on this one.
The point of this long winded post is this: I want to share my love of riding with others that I know. I want them to be safe and increase their skill level. I always emphasize to ride your ride and reccomend getting involved with track days and schools. I am starting to feel guilty for supplying the opportunity for these guys to destroy their bikes. My question is this: Am I FUBAR for feeling like this? What are your feelings?
Over the past few months, I have been putting together some small group rides for people I know and people that I work with. My purpose is to introduce these folks to some of the roads I know and make them better (more complete) riders. Almost all of them are sportbike riders who come to me wanting to improve and wanting to be introduced to the twisties. I ride my FJR on all of these rides. The last 4 have resulted in 1 near miss and 3 wrecks. All of these have been rider error and each rider has been briefed to ride his own ride, not get caught up in trying to maintain pace with the rider in front of them, and not to let testosterone ruin their day.
Here are the rundowns of the incidents:
Took 2 guys to Deals Gap (neither had been before). I led them through from the store to the overlook at an easy pace so that they could see the road and what the conditions of the road were for that day. We stopped at the overlook and talked. Both felt good and I took off to make a run on my own back to the store. I find out later that both almost bit it at the Gravity Cavity because the first was running a bit to hard and the 2nd fixated on him when he crossed the lane and almost hit the embankment. I take responsibility for this one because I know that the road is completely different depending on which way you are running it and I should have led them at least once from each direction. This was the near miss and luckily, both guys stayed upright and no damage was done.
Took a group of guys from my department on a tour of some local roads I like to run. I decided to take them to Firetower Road which Fencer had shown me a few weeks earlier. Having a good run w/ me leading. My buddy, who rides a Hayabusa and is a better rider than me (my opinion), tucks in very close behind me and is offset to my left just a little. I enter a hard right hander on the correct line and there is gravel in the corner. My front tire washes and I have to cross the center line to keep my bike up. My friend on the Busa has to do the same and ends up leaving the road and dumping it into a ditch. Minor damage to his bike; major damage to his ego. This is the first wreck.
Took a group of guys from my department on an overnight trip to the Cherohala and Deals Gap. We ride all day and are heading back to Tellico Plains on the Cherohala. I was leading and we were running a very brisk pace but were not crossing any centerlines and everyone was well w/in their limits. A friend on a GSXR 1000 decides it is a good time to pass me and he and the Busa guy blast by me. We are heading into a hard left hander. They pass me cleanly and Busa makes the turn but GSXR is way hot and looks at the guard rail. He gets into the grass, low sides and hits the rail. Bike basically explodes into pieces and gets kicked out in the road in front of me. I'm braking hard and hear a sound to my right. The RC-51 behind me is sliding on its left side and going into the rail. I accelerated out of the "kill zone" and then stopped to go back and pick up my dead friends. To my amazement, both are on their feet hugging each other w/o any injuries to speak of. This is the second wreck resulting in 2 totalled bikes. I do not really take responsibility for this one because I did not make them pass me.
Yesterday, we made the same trip as above. One of the guys invited a dispatcher from my department to come. He had a Triumph 600 sportbike that was in awesome condition. 2001 model that he got about 3 months ago. He rode up w/ me in my truck. I told him that we were going to put him with an experienced rider to work with him and show him the proper lines. He was warned, repeatedly, to stay slow and use the time to learn. I was leading a faster group and we ran a moderate pace to an agreed upon overlook (Just above Indian Boundary) to wait and regroup. We waited a long time and his control rider and he never showed. One of the guys w/ me went back down to see if something had happened. It had. Apparently, they had gotten stuck behind a camper going up the mountain. They waited for one of the 2 passing zones and made the pass. The guy on the Triumph cleared the camper at the end of the passing zone and did not set up correctly for the left hand sweeper coming up. He fixated and panicked stabbing his rear brake and high sided off the road and ended up in a 10 foot deep gully. He had to be transported to a local hospital w/ some rash and a possibly broken ankle. X-rays were negative but he needs to go be checked by and orthopedist to be sure. He was wearing full mesh gear and Icon boots. What I called rash was actually burns from the mesh. If he had not been wearing it, all contact points would have been to the bone. The mesh helped, but was not nearly as good as hide would have been. Bike is totalled. This is the third wreck. I don't know whether to take some responsibility or not on this one.
The point of this long winded post is this: I want to share my love of riding with others that I know. I want them to be safe and increase their skill level. I always emphasize to ride your ride and reccomend getting involved with track days and schools. I am starting to feel guilty for supplying the opportunity for these guys to destroy their bikes. My question is this: Am I FUBAR for feeling like this? What are your feelings?
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