Multi Bike Crash - Look Ahead!

Re: THE TWO-SECOND RULE

There are no guarantees in life, but there are some strategies that work well most of the time in most situations, and the two-second rule is one of them.

An alternative to single-file group riding -- which strings out riders for miles -- and side-by-side parade riding -- which gives nobody any room to move to avoid road debris -- is staggered group riding.

Divide the lane into three sections: left, center, right. The first rider is in the left part of the lane, the next rider in the right side, then the next in the left, etc.

This alternating left/right spacing allows the lead rider to easily keep track of who's behind. It also gives each rider the width of the whole lane to move side-to-side to avoid roadkill or other debris.

To keep a safe amount of space between riders while still keeping a reasonably tight formation, have each rider watch the bike directly ahead. When the bike ahead passes a landmark, such as a utility pole, count "one-and-two-and." If you pass that utility pole before you get to the "and" of two, you need to back off. If you find yourself counting "three-and" or "four- and," you can tighten up a bit.

This keeps a two-second cushion between riders. It works at any speed. At lower speeds, the distance between riders is less. At higher speeds, the distance between riders is greater.

At 60 mph for instance, a two-second gap leaves 176 feet, or about 9 car lengths. At 10 mph, a two-second gap leaves about 18 feet.

Trying to visually determine a safe gap is nearly impossible. Using a timed interval, however, works at all speeds and automatically adjusts for speed variance.

NOTE: Everybody still has to pay attention.

Re: THE FLYING CLUSTER***** FORMATION

I couldn't see the pics earlier this morning, but now I can.

This appears to be the classic Flying Cluster***** Formation, in which you just throw a bunch of riders into one group of a few hundred riders with no plan or communication beforehand, other than, "follow the guy ahead of you."

An organized group ride is a lot more preferable, in which you break up the group, however large, into smaller groups, each with a leader who has a clear, readable, large-type route sheet to follow.

Each smaller group navigates on its own to the destination through traffic. You don't have hundreds of bikes moving aimlessly like a herd of cattle into everything in its path.

When you hit a traffic light with a herd of bikes, either they all run the red light and ***** off cross traffic (or get run over), or the group gets split up, and those in the back have to scramble to catch of with the front of the group when the light changes.

It's possible to send riders ahead to block intersections, but this puts those riders in harm's way. A better approach is to arrange with local law enforcement to have them there to block intersections along the route, but that's not easy to do.

A group of about 8 riders can navigate traffic a lot more easily than a group of 100. By doing some planning, providing route sheets, and breaking into groups of 8, you can move any number of riders safely to a destination.