Cork One Light - Stay to The Right
Thread started by
trickmilla at 06.10.10 - 2:20 pm
I'm starting to think that if the majority of huge rides followed 2 simple guidelines "Cork 1 Light - Stay to the Right" our interactions with cars would be much smoother.
Corking has its place, sometimes it is a necessity based on sheer safety factors. And most all drivers are chill to wait a few minutes but its starts to get rude and ugly when a driver is stuck for 10 minutes because a ride is all stretched out with people mashing up front and scores of stragglers trickling through. If the main group was allowed to pass and at the first safe opportunity the corker switches and "corks" the bikes instead, making sure that at the next red the bikes stop to collect. If everybody did this. the mashers out front would be on a tiny ride by them selves and collecting rides would eb and flow together.
More importantly conflicts with the cops & impatient drivers are greatly minimized.
And staying to the right ... it goes without saying, but if we are going to command a lane and expect it to be respected, we should also give some respect to the the passing lane.
Most all of the aggressive driving and rider/driver conflicts i have seen seem to involve cars (and/or bikes) passing aggressively on the left. And frustrated drivers who have been waiting 2 or more light cycles for a steady but spread out ride.
There are always exceptions, but I think if big rides really stuck to these guiding principals we would have much smoother interactions with the other people using the road.
Yea? Nea?
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Kind of defeats the purpose of corking in the first place, doent it? Not that defeating the purpose of corking is necessarily a bad thing. I'm starting to think that the whole idea of keeping ginormous group rides together is now more trouble than it's worth. But then why cork at all?
PC06.10.10 - 2:46 pm
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Recall: Twin Ride
Skull wants to reiterate:
RIDE TWO-BY-TWO TONIGHT!
The Twin Ride is a doublelicious experiment that will work only if we ride
in a long, two-abreast formation. So ride alongside your twin!
This will also help us to stay to the right. The goal of Ridazz is not to
take over the entire road and pick fights with cars, which usually rewards
us with tickets and accidents. We are there to show our presence, share the
road and have a good time.
When Skull says MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ, you say RIDE ON.
-Skull
5/12/06
(hint: it didn't work; everyone rode everywhere)
What we need is that spirit of wanting to have a good time with the whole group. You know where everyone wants to ride together as a whole group. If people "cared" it would happen.
How do you get people to care?
md206.10.10 - 2:46 pm
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to find an space between corking for 10 mins, long after the ride has thinned out
and stopping for every red.
Allowing people to mass up and maximize efficiency without being a 15 minute traffic stopper.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by PC
06.10.10 - 3:03 pm
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If people didn't already care, you wouldn't have these ten-minute corks (or these interminable fucking stops, but that's another issue). Could it be that caring isn't enough?
PC responding to a
comment by md2
06.10.10 - 3:04 pm
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to find an space between corking for 10 mins, long after the ride has thinned out
and stopping for every red.
Allowing people to mass up and maximize efficiency without being a 15 minute traffic stopper.
OK, but what about the swagglers in the back--the ones who are now being somehow restrained by corkers and separated from the group--what are they supposed to do? Mind you, *my* answer to that question is "who gives a shit, they'll find something fun to do in this gigantic city" but you're the one who still wants to keep the group together. How do you propose to reunite that rump group with the main group get up front? You know very well that the front group isn't going to wait.
PC responding to a
comment by trickmilla
06.10.10 - 3:08 pm
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Stopping for reds is not uncommon as it is.
I just think it should be a bit more common.
Stragglers are a lot less straggly if they wait for those behind them instead of crashing lights in a desperate attempt to catch up to those in front of them.
The bigger the groups of stragglers are, the more chance they will know where to go, or have contact with somebody in a different pack.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by PC
06.10.10 - 3:20 pm
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I actually don't think that mashers "don;t care".
Their bike has a comfortable speed, their legs have desire an d their attention is focused on what is in front of them not behind them).
When people desperately chase after, yell after, and speed up the ride to catch these mashers in an effort to slow them down, the entire ride spick up speed. Many people unconsciously chase mashers.
Slowing down the ride by consciously waiting at more lights lets theses people ride off the front. They will stop, turn around, or re-navigate when they realize they are no longer "leading" a giant ride.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by md2
06.10.10 - 3:24 pm
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*that would be: "the entire ride
picks up speed."
trickmilla06.10.10 - 3:26 pm
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The bigger the groups of stragglers are, the more chance they will know where to go, or have contact with somebody in a different pack.
Then why cork at all?
PC responding to a
comment by trickmilla
06.10.10 - 4:16 pm
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There are times when the momentum & density of the ride, it makes sense to keep things together and take a light.
At the same time, I think we can taylor this practice so it minimizes negative impact on our fellow road users.
trickmilla responding to a
comment by PC
06.10.10 - 6:21 pm
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