Sticking Together: How Tightly?
Monday, May 26th, 2025
A group of bikes enters Yellowstone National Park.
We’ve all faced this situation I’m sure: When you’re riding with a group, what extremes do you really need to go to to keep the group together?
In the few days I was with the RMMRC California trip group I had several opportunities to consider this question.
I, for one, am of the school that it really doesn’t matter all that much. If everyone knows where you’re going to wind up at the end of the day what does it matter if someone separates or gets separated from the group? Of course, that assumes the separation is voluntary: you don’t want to lose sight of someone behind you and keep going, only to find out later that they had mechanical trouble and could have used your assistance. I have been that guy who got left behind and I did not appreciate it.
In the old days it was a different story. Before cell phones. Back then, getting separated could be a real problem. But that day is long gone.
But I’m really not even talking about that kind of separation. What I’m talking about here is keeping all bikes in one group with no other vehicles in between. That means passing, for instance. If you have six bikes–which we did–and you go to pass someone it is not a surprise when one or more bikes are not able to get around immediately. Does it really matter? I think not but I’ve seen people make risky passes just to stay with the guy ahead. Why? Why not wait until it’s really safe and then pass?
The flip side of that is the guy in the lead. If you’re going to pass someone, don’t get by, pull in, and then ride sedately. You need to maintain some speed so that you open up space for the guy behind you to pull in ahead of the car you just passed. And then for the guy after him and the guy after him. On this trip I saw both of these things happening.
And yes, sometimes the leader passes but cannot keep putting distance between themselves and the car they passed because there is another car in front of them now. That should be visible to the guy behind and he should respond accordingly. But I didn’t think that was much at issue on this trip. Maybe it was and I just didn’t notice.
Bottom line is, don’t do risky stuff just to keep the bikes together. Problem is, some people seem to do exactly that.
Biker Quote for Today
I ride motorcycles because punching people is frowned upon.
