Ride Report for Standley Chasm ride on 07FEB10
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 4:42PM Unfortunately there were no photos taken on the ride, but the Assistant Director has some important thoughts from the ride that everyone should read. I've posted them here on the front page so that anyone can comment...just click on the comment link at the bottom of this post (this applies to any of the posts on the news page) - Webmaster.
"Well we started off from the Caltex Station right on time with 10 riders at went out to Standley Chasm for a pleasant ride. We got attacked by grass hoppers on the way out and we will all be cleaning bug guts off our bikes for day to come. A pleasant morning tea and a ride back as some members were going to try their hand at ten pin bowling. However, a minor incident on the way back is of some concern. One member had a pack that had opened and was dropping gear out of the back. At first it was an empty Gatorade bottle that bounced over my head and while I was trying to determine which of the six bikes in front of me had dropped the bottle more personal gear including a camera came out and bounced of the road in front of me and other riders. Despite flashing my lights for a kilometer or two nobody appeared to notice I finally caught up with the bike that was dropping the gear and got him to stop. Obviously, this member was unaware and we turned around to recover his possessions.
By this time, 6 of the 10 bikes had dropped off the pack to pick up gear. Once that was sorted we resumed our ride back in to Alice Springs. My concern here is the fact that none of the front 4 riders appeared to notice that 60% of the group had dropped off the pack. They didn’t stop at Flynn’s grave as part of the agreed safety plan and appeared totally oblivious to the fact that nobody else was there even after getting into the built up area. From a safety aspect this is of concern and I urge road captains and in fact all club members to be aware of what is going on during our rides. Remember this may not have been a minor incident! It could have been an accident that required medical attention and having all riders aware of what situation their mates are in is essential.
John Dawkins
Assistant Director
AliceHOG Chapter"
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Reader Comments (3)
I agree with all of Mouthguard's points here with regard to how we should do things. However I don't think this ride was unusual in the fact that we need to do it better all the time. We seem to be very good about following the Ride Captain as a group on the way to somewhere, but it's more common than not for things to splinter into faster and slower groups on the way home. The Ride Rules say;
2. The ROAD CAPTAIN leads the group. DO NOT OVERTAKE him or her. and...
10. We ride AS A GROUP to and from our destination until we split up to go home. KEEP THE GROUP TOGETHER on the road, don't lag behind.
Nothing there says it's only on the way to rather than from :)
The stopping at a check point on the way into town is a great idea, that I was completely unaware of. We should be sure that if a good idea like that is decided on at a meeting, it's communicated to everyone. At least one way to do that would be to make sure the Webmaster finds out, so that the Ride Rules can be updated on the site.
cheers,
John M
Webmaster
I like turtles !
Even though it was an "unofficial' ride - been there, done that - and know how it feels to be laying on the side of the road hoping someone has noticed and will come back!!!!!