BluesDawg

Someone posted this at my club's website. A pretty good set of guidelines for riding safely with groups.
https://oldhomepage.com/bikingsafety.pdf

I know some of you don't like to ride with others, so feel free to ignore this.

jppe

Good find!! Good Communication is truly very important.

Artkansas 

It's a good read for solo cyclists too, just so we know what to expect when encountering a pack of cyclists.

Beverly

+1

Good reading for beginners and a refresher for those who have been riding awhile.

We had an incident on a recent ride where a rider decided to stop without giving sufficient warning and almost caused an accident. Riders were swerving all over the road to avoid hitting her. Thankfully there was no traffic and everyone was able to safely stop. Everyone mentioned the need for her to give us more warning. What really p***ed us off was she didn't even apologize. She said she told the person riding beside her she was going to stop. Huh?? What about the 6-7 people behind you?

oilman_15106

Good info and to show it does not take much in a group to make mess: maybe 10 riders going down a small hill with a rise at the other side. Once starting up the small hill, a guy in front of us decides to stop and pulls his bike across the road! Everyone behind had to think quick with no real time to look at who was going to get hurt. Only one rider went off the road into the gravel and was not hurt. Pretty experienced rider, don't have a clue what he was thinking.

dbg

Learning it the hard way really sucks.

On the WI trip last summer there were two incidents that some might consider my fault. Both times we were not officially in a pace line but the group was tight and moving pretty fast. Each was precipitated by my GPS showing a turn in the route that the "paper map crowd" was (incorrectly) oblivious to. I tried to do everything right. On the first incident I did not initially brake, but rose up out of the saddle and raised my left hand waving and shouting that I was slowing. We actually missed the turn because I didn't want to brake that fast. When I eventually started braking slowly, the rider behind me (headphones may have been involved) was caught completely by surprise. He had to brake hard to avoid me and the two riders behind him slammed into him simultanously. It was horrible and ugly. All three went down in a tangled mess (narrowly missing me). One (brand new) bike was left unridable. The next time we missed a turn I was at the far left of the pack and veered into the oncoming lane (it was open) rather than risk any slow down near the pack. Unfortunately someone well behind our pack was taking advantage of the downslope and the open oncoming lane and came upon me at a very high speed (much faster than our pack was going) just as I was turning a U. I heard him screaming as I commited into the turn. I decided to continue onto the shoulder mainly because I wanted to be predictable and not stop suddenly. No collision, but very close.

Both situations seemed like I could have been more careful. And I'm pretty sure several riders still think I was completely at fault both times. Small consolation that everyone missed the route but me (and my GPS).

stonecrd

This is also why you don't go drafting people that you don't know, or don't ask. I don't know how many times in a ride I get someone on my wheel and in some cases they stay there for miles!. Now if I don't notice it I risk someone slamming into me if I do something unexpected and if I do notice them I have to start doing a bunch of hand signals. If they ask, fine I can say yes or no, but these guys just suck wheel without a word, never take a pull and then ride off.

Jet Travis

Good stuff and one more that was drilled into my head: Think for yourself. For example, just because someone hollars that an intersection is clear, doesn't mean that it is.

mandovoodoo

Why I don't group ride, or if I do, I pair up with someone and keep away from the others.

Retro Grouch 

Good article but it leaves out my big safety issue for the year: "If you go off, stay off."

I've become aware of all-too-many cases in which cyclists drifted off the pavement and tried to steer back on. The typical result is a spill with the cyclist sprawled across the pavement. It's much better to regain your balance and find a safe place to ride back onto the road or even to stop completely and lift your bike back onto the pavement.

rck

Good article. I do 2 or 3 charity rides each year and am constantly surprised at how oblivious people are when it comes to basic safety and courtesy.