"Come ride with me."
"I'll show you who's big-time!"
"I'll show you who's big-time!"
El Pichon
GROUP RIDING
I wanted to be truthful about this trip and, as I mentioned earlier in the blog, I would address why the large group broke up. Most of this trip I rode solo. But there was that part where I met up with 12 other riders in Vegas and then rode out together to California. Problems arose. I was going to talk at length about that, getting into the dynamics and the details, but have since changed my mind. So I'll just get to the meat of the matter: 13 alpha males in a pack just don't work. Thirteen is an unlucky number anyway.
At the onset, while still back home in the planning stages, we had a group meeting to discuss the trip. Right off I knew there were conflicting personalities and diverging interests. That's not to mention that some of us were new to each other. These things and others came to play on the road from Vegas to Bakersfield, CA in a way that was predictable I think. However, in the enthusiasm of the moment and interest of doing the group thing we went ahead with it.
I believe what ultimately broke the camel's back was that one set of riders, let's call them group A, rode at a higher rate of speed (the speed limit really, which was 70 or 75mph on the straights) and more in unison (being used to each other) than another set, let's call them group B. Other things came into play: the punishing desert heat tested everybody's tolerances, breaking down in the desert, ego's, and on and on. Things got heated that evening at the hotel and words were exchanged. But cool heads, I'm happy to report, prevailed.
In the morning, after sleep and rest, calm and order was restored. But what emerged was a different riding configuration. Rather it was two main groups traveling at different speeds and with different destinations and probably different riding philosophies, agendas, and expectations. By mutual agreement (and what I thought for some time was always inevitable) Group B went on ahead in the morning. Group A stayed behind to wrap up the repairs to the broken down bike and then embarked for the desert west towards the coast.
Group A caught up to Group B in the desert later that day and there was a small, impromptu reunion and everything seemed OK. There were reassuring gestures from both parts by then, I think, realizing that some friendships and alliances needed to be reconfirmed, and, what the heck, we were all grown men. It was time to start acting like it. But what was done was done and I think the residue of discontent remained somewhere in the back of the primal mind, possibly for some more than others.
A few days later we all regrouped in Los Angeles and had a pretty good time in the hotel and surrounding establishments we visited. However, the large riding group never reunited.
What I learned from this I already knew. It is better to keep to smaller groups when you are doing a long distance trip. It is probably unwise to ride long distances with people who's riding styles and skills are unknown to you. If you designate a responsible person to lead, then the others automatically agree to follow. If you can't do that then you shouldn't be in that group or, at the very least, should stop to address the problem calmly. Communication is imperative, at all stages and levels. Patience and understanding, equally important. Don't bitch.
