Yeah! Sit nearer the front next time and don't talk!   

O.K! For the benefit of others as well as you, I'll explain.

What Ian was trying to point out is;

Before the ride begins the Ride-Out Leader seeks a volunteer to stay at the back of the pack, commonly referred to as “Tail -End Charlie”! Everyone should make themselves familiar with Tail-End Charlie and note what bike they are riding.

As the Ride-Out Leader negotiates a junction or exits a roundabout they point to indicate that the junction/exit requires marking. The person directly behind them stops IN A SAFE POSITION AT THEIR OWN DISCRETION to indicate to the rest of the group which direction/exit to take. 

AT NO POINT DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE TO STOP!

As Tail-End Charlie approaches the junction he acknowledges the junction marker, who can then set off and rejoin the main pack.

At the next awkward junction, the process is repeated all over again.

Seeemples! 

Rob D.

Well! If people had abided by the rules then nobody would have got lost at all!

On next month's ride you're all going to be tied together in a line. That way if one gets lost, we all get lost!!

I actually like the suggestion made that we should all buy a pair of Day-Glo orange undies like Paul was wearing and wear them on the outside of our riding gear like Superman does. We'd be a laughing stock, but at least we'd be able to identify PMC members. 

But! Despite the difficulties, it turned out to be a great day's riding along some good roads and a magnificent turn out (32).

Well done to Paul!

Rob D.

RAF Cosford Ride-Out Sunday  11th April 2002

Having been on, and conducted a fair few ride-outs, I found this weekend’s turn out by PMC club members impressive. Was it the weather? Was it because it was the first ride-out of the season? Was it the destination? Whatever – 32 riders turned up to ride to RAF Cosford in Shropshire. As far as I know we have never had so many people attend a ride (the next largest was a visit to the Southport Airshow).

 When these numbers of riders are together, the logistics of keeping the group as one are almost impossible to achieve. As far as I am concerned, getting over 40 miles into the trip to the first stop without losing anyone was a minor miracle.

 The ride-out system expounded by both the ride-leaders and the club committee works. Absolutely. No question. But people have to understand the intricacies and subtleties of the instruction set – and have a reasonable idea of where they are going (which is why, usually, everyone gets given a route on paper at the start of a longish ride).

 What it boils down to is this: If a junction or roundabout is NOT marked then it’s straight across, if a rider marks it then follow their directions. As another poster said “simples!” (But I mean it).

 So what went wrong? How did 30 riders lose the leader less than 15 minutes away from the destination?

Only one of three things can have happened: a) a motorcyclist not part of our ride-out (from another bunch or club) was, by coincidence, marking a junction and once a couple of PMC riders turned off, the rest followed; b) a PMC rider thought they saw the ride-out leader take a turn at the roundabout where it all went wrong and followed; or c) a rider just took the wrong turn.

A) Is a genuine error that no one can account for. B) The junction would have been marked by a rider if the leader was deviating from going straight across (remember the guidelines) and c) the ride-out guidelines state, “ if a junction or roundabout is not marked then assume it’s “straight across”.

 What about Hi-Vis – wasn’t the leader wearing it and shouldn’t he/she be easy to pick out?

Your joking of course, every one and his dog is now wearing hi-vis (a sensible thing to do I may add). With so many people in hi-vis it‘s not practical to use that as a guide as to whom to follow.

 It’s a pity really, as the roundabout where it all went wrong had a huge signpost indicating the direction to “RAF Museum”.

Okay, we had radios at the front and back, why didn’t they come to our rescue.

The PMR446 radios used (the only ones allowed legally) have a limited range dependent on weather, topography and a whole host of other factors (don’t believe the 2 or 3 miles you see in the ads). With 32 riders the “string” can get inordinately long. As only the leader and back marker had radios, occasionally communication was impossible.

Other general factors impacting on the ride included the numbers of other bikes out and about. Sometimes it was difficult to figure out who was actually with our group and who was not - there were that many people out on bikes (suppose everyone with a bike had a bit of spring fever).

 All in all I thought the ride-out was a reasonable success, with Cosford being a cracking destination.

If members have any ideas on how to improve ride-outs (everything can be improved) to the benefit of everyone then the club is more than willing to listen to suggestions of a practical nature.

See that discarded, gnarly, rotten pice of road kill lying forlornly in the gutter hoping to be picked up by a passing crow …….

I missed it can any one post  me the link of the ride.I too want to enjoy it..

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