Thought it worth posting to let you know what happens and is involved in these rides.
These rides are organised, led and shadowed by people that volunteer their time to help new and L permit riders familiarise themselves with different riding conditions, either on evening or day rides and give them a safe and fun place to learn group riding skills.
It is up to you the L rider to source a shadow from the Learner Shadow thread
HERE it has been set up for this purpose. There is a large number of riders who have expressed their willingness to help, you should be able to source a shadow for nearly any organised learner-newbie ride or for one off’s either during the day or evening. Try to spread the load so as not to wear them out (unless of course they let you know that they are prepared to shadow you whenever). Please do not abuse their goodwill.
Feel free to post in an organised ride if you need a shadow, but remember not all shadows read the threads all the time, PM them to organise a definite shadow.
DO NOT turn up hoping that there will be someone to shadow you, if you are unsure that you will be able to make the ride on time, your shadow can PM the ride leader to find out where the ride is going, so that you can both join along the way.
Display your L’s at all times. An R1 or CBR1000 with L’ plates, sacrilege maybe, but it shows that you are mature and are attending the rides for the right reasons.
These rides are not at break neck speeds and are designed so that hopefully, no one is left behind, there is always a TEC (tail end charlie), and a number of riders have been to every ride and know the routes, these riders will be spread out among the riders.
You are expected to keep at least 2 bikes lengths between you and the rider in front, you own the road where you are riding and the 2 lengths in front, you may change from the left handside of the lane to the right handside if conditions dictate that you need to. If you see them brake you are expected to as well, if the rider in front of you is slower into and around a corner, then you will need to adjust your speed to suit. You may pass if safe to do so, but not on or near a corner, preferably at the next road junction, traffic lights etc.
At some rides there may be only 15 riders, at other times we may have 30, be prepared to enter roads from the start point, traffic lights (especially at right hand turn arrows), junction roads in pairs, this is the only time you should have a rider next to you, this is to help the flow of the ride and minimises the chances of riders being left behind at lights etc.
We are all riding to the same place, you don’t need to get anywhere faster than anyone else, if you pass the ride leader, consider yourself not invited to future rides (though there may be exceptions to this rule).
If you have an issue with a rider or riders on one of the rides, please speak to your shadow (if L rider) or to the ride leader or TEC if a new rider, we need to have issues sorted as soon as possible, to avoid any problems.
DO NOT attend these rides if you don’t want to ride to the rules or at a pace dictated by the current speed zones in the suburbs that are being ridden. With all that being said we look forward to meeting you there.
