Keep The Group Together
A typical OFMC evening after a day’s ride.
The one participant on this RMMRC Great River Road ride who I have not mentioned previously was Phil, Tom’s cousin from Ohio who rode out and met us in St. Charles, Missouri, and rode with us a few days. The reason I bring him up now is that at one point he spoke about how a group he rides with back home have a rule that if you’re going on a group ride you ride with the group, you eat with the group, and you stay at the group hotel.
I’m not normally the sort who takes to demands of conformity like that but I see their point. And I see it a lot more clearly now after this ride.
The part about riding with the group is the one place where I diverge. This ride was set up to be a ride-your-own-ride kind of thing, with people going their own ways as long as you know where to end up at the end of the day. In reality only a couple of us did that at all but I like doing it that way.
As for lodging and eating, I get it a lot more. Because I was slow in signing up for this ride I was stuck trying to find someone to room with. I ended up tying in with Tom for most of the trip but for the nights when Phil would be with us I ended up rooming with Charley. Not a problem.
Except that Tom, originally not having a roommate, had opted to make his reservations at different motels that were less expensive than the group motel. With me to split the cost it would not have made a lot of difference but alone it would have amounted to some significant cash.
The result of this, though, was that we’d ride all day and then they’d go to their motel and we’d go to ours. And they usually were not particularly close to each other. So we frequently did not eat dinner with those guys.
What that meant was that we ended up missing out on any end-of-day camaraderie that is a big part of doing a group ride.
And then the last night out, in McCook, Nebraska, we did have the same hotel because the one the group had intended on staying at was being remodeled and they had had to change their plans. So what happened?
Well, first, we couldn’t agree on where to eat. Tom and I aren’t keen on chain places if there are one-off local places available. And fast food is OK for lunch but not dinner. And there was a nice local place not far but it was hard to persuade the others to go there rather than the Wendy’s across the street. And once they agreed another voice spoke up saying Wendy’s was his destination. So they all went there while Tom and I went elsewhere.
We all got back to the motel at the same time but what happened? Everyone just went to their rooms and that was that. No hanging out in someone’s room, in the lobby, or at a nearby bar. Just good-night.
What I’m accustomed to with the OFMC is that even if we split up for dinner we still get together afterward and have some beers. Out by the pool, in someone’s room, in the parking lot–somewhere.
Is this what we had been missing all those nights? Nothing? Except for dinner, of course.
So yeah, I get it with Phil’s group saying the group stays together. I can see I’m going to need to have some conversations with some people before I go on another long ride with the RMMRC. Surely there are at least some other guys who are in tune with my inclinations.
Biker Quote for Today
Why motorcycles are better than women: You can ride a motorcycle as long as you want and it won’t get sore.
Tags: RMMRC
