Group Riding Page Three
Group Riding Flowing With Traffic
Flowing with the traffic should be done at all times possible. Speeding and weaving in and out of traffic will get somebody killed. If traffic is to be passed, stay in the left lane and go by the traffic, most traffic will move over for a group of bikes. Passing in the right lane is in the highest risk factor area you can be in. Riding in the right lane anytime, is suicide and should not be done unless you are going to turn.
Speeding must be done if traffic is moving above the posted limit but try to avoid it. I remember riding in Atlanta where the average freeway speed was 80 to 85mph+ and that is what we did to keep from getting run over. Keep your eye on the front wheel of traffic that might pull out onto the road way in front of you, if it moves, prepare for it.
Now days, windows have too much tinting so there is little to no eye contact.
Practice counter steering for a quick reaction to avoid an object in the road way, it will save your butt someday.
Watch the front wheel of vehicles that are beside of or in front of you for drift into your lane. Don’t follow too close if you don’t have to, but sometimes you have to stay tight with the traffic or someone will cut in front of you. Stay in the right track of the lane if you are in the left lane because you are more visible to traffic coming up behind you and you are less likely to be cut off by a vehicle moving into your lane from the right side.
Speed limits are the safest bet you can make because you won’t get tickets, and you will have time to react if someone pulls out in front of you. The road engineers designed the speed limits to create safe conditions for you and every vehicle on the road. On open highway, you can do whatever feels good for you but do whatever the group does, 5 to 10 mph over probably won’t get you ticket but gives you some satisfaction. Neighborhood speed limits are where you will get into trouble, so do the limit, besides, grandpa will pull right out in front of you because you are invisible to him. Most accidents happen within 5 blocks from home.
Approaching traffic that is slower up ahead of you can be handled by slowing down and staying back, or move left and pass but do not catch up and stay in their blind spots or behind them in the right lane. If you do, you are in a high risk zone and will eventually become a statistic. Watch the drivers head, he will look at his rear mirror at a glance if he plans to change lanes. This will give you a little indication of what he is going to do a second before he actually does it. Don’t follow too close, look as far ahead as possible and you will never run into the rear of a vehicle if a panic stop occurs ahead.