I'm an IAM member but I rarely if ever go to local meets. Went out this morning with them at the suggestion of a mate who goes regularly, and I remembered why :roll: Met mate in Shrewsbury and rode to the meet point at Telford. After hanging around for ages for unclear reasons, although committee business, shop talk and planning a route seemed to take forever and a day, I was getting cold, wet, and pissed off :twisted: so started up the bike and put lid on - the others at last got the message - and after 45 minutes of nothing, off we set. Led by a Goldwing, with a Pan, a Kawasaki 1400 something or other that was simply enormous, an old Viffer, a Thundercat, a GSX-F (nope, not R) 750, and my 675. We were a sight for sore eyes Well despite the endless discussion of the route we were less than a mile out when it became clear that some didn't have a clue how to get from Wellington (west side of Telford) to Trench (east side of Telford). And then we went on at a sedate/slow pace, with pointless observations too numerous to mention, through Newport and back to Shrewsbury where I was so bored that I turned off and I'm now sat at my office PC as I have a pile of work to get through. This is not an IAM bashing thread, it simply sets the scene. We were going so slow, at times much lower than the limit, and it was mind-numbingly boring. I love riding but today - well I wish I hadn't gone as it's put me in a grump. Is any ride better than no ride at all? Even a dull ride that has no sparkle, no excitement, no nothing. Is it better to be out on a bike whatever rather than cooped up indoors? Your view? Ed
In my opinion its all about enjoying it Edski. Any ride is not better than no ride if you ask me. And that not only includes the route/weather, it also includes the company :? If I cant ride with anyone else then I'm more than happy to go on my own (in fact due to working shifts I frequently have too).
umm ..this is a problem with group rides , it usually involves a fair bit of arseing about & waiting . sometimes i think its good to go on your own or 2-3 of you . yesterday i had a blast down the m6- m5 to bristol stopped at st Michel wood services ? (other side of the bridge) , quick coffee & back home , yes it was piss boring route but i just wanted to put a few miles on my new tyres & to get out, having been away on holiday for a week . not the best ride i have ever had but sounds better than Eds ?
I don't like group rides - the pace is rarely the same as your own personal pace, and that can get frustrating real quick. As Andy said, 2-3 riders is great -no more than 6, IMO. Solo riding is great fun also - especially during the middle of the week - I can head off up into Azusa Canyon & Glendora Ridge Road & not see another vehicle for 50 miles of riding....very nice.
I had no-one to go out with today so made the decision to stay in with my new son and family. Looking out the window at the sunshine now I almost wish I'd popped out even just for a bit. The weeks at work seem very long and the weekends very quick atm Oh well off to Pizza Express! Steve
I think it all depends on how you want to ride, that would bore me - i like to ride a 675 in the way you would expect me to ride a 675. not in the way i would ride if i owned a bonneville. i do try to ride with other sportsbike riders.
I'm no Rossi. Not fast but getting faster. But OMG it was boring. I kept saying 'self, be glad you're out at all' but couldn't talk myself into it. Thing is, nobody buys a bike to ride it slow - or do they? It did get me wondering.
I too am an IAM member, but evry ride seems like an observed run and so I just don't go out with them any more.
I used to go riding after the observered rides and these were mad. Full out full throttle normally with a police class1 rider leading. You must have dull group ...and in answer to your question - a shit ride is shit and some times it's better to stay at home
edski you will have to come for a ride out with keithspurs and i more often..... we dont do boring lol theres no such thing as a boring ride its what you make of it im sure IAM is worth doing but that ride out sounds like it seriously sucked ass lol i think i would of done my own thing if it was bad as you said ed you have my sympathy
Hello guys (first post I think, or first for a while!). When I read the subject, I would have empathically said "yes", but after reading your post, perhaps not When riding solo, I think the most boring ride is still pretty damn good, when you add in other riders, it gets diluted. Add in riders who ride in a different style and it gets even worse. One of the best rides with other people I did, was up to the Peak District and while there was a mixture of different riding skills/speeds, We all knew to wait at the next intersection for the person behind you. That mean that you could cut loose between junctions and it was great fun. It also meant that (hopefully) no one felt stressed into riding at anything other than a speed they were comfortable with, and when that happens, everyone can have a great ride. With all respect to goldwing riders, there is little more boring than having to go at the speed of one when you are on a sportsbike. The styles are just too "different"
I'm in the same IAM group as Godzilla and the one ride I have been on with them, wasn't like this one. They knew the route beforehand and apart from a very short briefing at the begining to say where we are going, where we are going to stop and what to do if any of us drop off, we were off. They do stick to the speed limit but then when you are on country lanes and they are still at 60 on the bends, you realise how advanced some of these guys are! As for an answer to the post question, No. I got stuck going through Glossop the other week and the trafic was so bad and the roads so narrow, I couldn't even filter. So I sat there on a bike for about an hour in the sun!!! I'd much rather have been at home or in a car!!
Today redeemed Saturday. Fetched my bike from Wylies in Telford (had had a 6K service, I'm £172 lighter :roll: ) and road tested it Sweet And then went for a ride. Sorry about the crappy phone camera pics. Does anyone recognise where I went? It took about an hour and a twenty to get there:
The back marker stays the same for the entire journey and knows the exact route. The other thing is that the person who is second to front stops whenever they turn to act as a marker. Once the back marker arrives, they pull out and sit in second to last. This goes on throughout the ride and contiunally changes the pack order. This means that the ultimately the entire pack can only ride as fast as the slowest rider.
The pics aren't brilliant but nope not Derwent. It's Careg-Du in the Elan Valley, near Rhayader, mid-Wales. It's simply stunning. Wild, in fact. I saw a family of red kites soaring and swooping - terrific. Disturbed the peace though, and I had a fair few accusatorial looks from the red-socked brigade, I could see them all saying 'bloody bikers' - I didn't care. I near ran out of petrol - so glad of the fuel station in Rhayader where I put in 15.37 litres
Edski , you old rebel you Ive never been there though, must put it on my places to go on the bike list
