Wolfman1

I know the best thing that helped when I moved from a cruiser to a sport bike was riding longer routes with a couple of experienced riders.  It was a whole new world for me on a sport bike, everything I knew and learned on my cruiser was now different.  It took a few seasons just for me to feel comfortable with my new bike.  The guys I continuously ride with are great, always giving advice which helped me tremendously with turns.  Where to pick my line, how to position myself on entry, entry speed, what gear to be in, when to accelerate out, all things I never thought about before that veteran riders were able to help me with.  We also trade positions, I will lead a segment and set the pace, then sweep the next segment, then ride the middle in the next.  This also is priceless practice that veteran riders can help a NewB with.  I never wanted to lead, but I did it to help me learn how to set the pace, how to space yourself from the next rider, how and where to pass cars, how to notify the riders behind you of debris or dead animals in the road, etc.  I learned all this riding in a 2-3 rider group with veteran riders.  The best thing for that dude is to continue to get to know and trust his bike and ride with a couple veteran riders who are willing to run a slower pace to critique and help him to become more comfortable.  Once he can maintain a comfortable pace with 2-3 riders, a 10 -12 rider group really doesn't change anything, I know it didn't for me my first big group ride.

 Great job Whaler!  I was the guy just behind him in front of Whaler and when we hit the very first corner of the ride, I could tell he was in the wrong group.  I ran up on him so fast in a few turns it made me uncomfortable being behind him.  You can see how much room I gave him so he wouldn't feel pressured or pushed.  I didn't want to see him go down.  Great decision on both riders parts!  The sweep for stopping him and the rider for recognizing he was out of his league.  The sweep has just as much responsibilities as the leader to make the right decisions for the group.

Welcome to the OR forum!

Downloading video to my computer now from the event... Quite a bit of footage to surf through, but I'll put some stuff together.  For the beginning part of the footage, I gave the camera to our sweep, whaler, so it'll be him in the back catching all the bikes in the field. Then after the gas stop, I put the camera on the back of the bike and faced it backwards to catch everyone behind me... I fear that part will be not great because it gets really buzzy back there... We shall see, I will post when I get the videos edited and rendered... Should have some tonight...

Derek, just posted all the pics I took including a few from our med-fast group at the gas stop.

Going to apologize for the long post in advance.

 

Thanks to everyone who helped with inputs on putting this ride together. All the help through this thread really made it run about as smooth as possible. Hopefully, we will continue to learn and improve on each of the major rides that we put together moving forward.  Most importantly we had no crashes from any group which is incredible!! I'm glad everyone stayed safe and was able to make it home because that it was it most important. 

 

 

Dizzledan, pleasure meeting you and thanks for taking all the pictures. It made the media side of things a lot easier knowing you had it under control.  I wanted to take more video on the drift, but with trying to organize and getting the t-shirts out, I didn't get as much time trying to do that as I would have liked.

 

Isaac's Papa, pleasure meeting you as well. Thanks for being helpful when tracy's hands almost fell off. She looked really sad and you put a nice smile on her face when she needed it.  Also thank you for helping mojocho find his way when we got left on the way down lol.

 

Whaler, thanks for the sweep of the group. Sorry I made a few wrong turns but no one went down, most everyone seemed very happy with our pace, and we enjoyed ourselves. Job well done.

 

JSChaf, thanks for leading the NE group down and leading the fast group. I look forward to the next time you can leave me in the dust playing catch up.  Was the ticket for speeding or going down the closed bridge on wrong side of the road? I ask, cause I've thought to just romp down that side to avoid the detour.

 

Wolfman1, excellent ride back home. That last stretch of 83 from New Concord to Wooster was very enjoyable.

 

NinjaDoc - Nivin, thanks for making the journey to come visit us with something you created. I'm more than honored to continue helping keep this ride going.  Only great things are to come in future Epic Rides. Also thanks for the support with getting this together. It definitely gave me some credibility when you backed some of my ideas, and that was much appreciated.

 

Hellmut/Snot - Thanks for organizing the Dayton group. It made it much easier to organize knowing you would have all your group on the same page. Pleasure meeting you as well.

 

Mojocho - Thanks for not bowling into my bike at the red light of construction and the kind words you sent to me in the PM when you got home. I look forward to the next time we get to ride.

 

To anyone else that I met on the ride, I apologize for not mentioning you by name (calina, cdub, etc.)but it was a pleasure meeting you and hopefully I'll see you at the next group ride or the next Epic Ride in the fall!

Awesome ride man!!  Thanks for taking the bull by the horns and seeing this thing through.  I am looking forward to the next one.  I think I wore my wheels out going up 83 on the way back.  We were roll'n buddy!!

just came home safe, except my mind and hand is numb from the 10000 mile slab

Glad to hear you got home safe.  Great to see you again Doc.  Look forward to hanging with you on the next one.

Glad I got to join in with the Med-Fast group for a little bit. It was too cold for my sensibilities this morning, but meeting you guys in McConnelsville worked out great.

Sorry for the route confusion in Somerset. I thought you guys wanted me to head to 664, not 668.

Either way, nice to get out and ride with you guys!

I was behind you on 668 in the blue FZ1.  I could tell you dig that route.  Pretty smooth through all the turns.  Need to meet up for the fall ride.

For feedback purposes, did anyone think of something that we could implement into future rides that would make things much better?  I know we tried to group people into sections and I think that went a little better for organizing...

 

I definitely think we need to try and find more leads for the groups... more people are willing to last minute sweep if needed but we had a bit of trouble finding leads for the groups, even at the event. 

 

I brought "Hello my name is" stickers, but totally forgot to bring them out. I think that would have been useful for a lot of people who are A) either to shy to introduce themselves B) Reinforcing people's name with username to a face.  I met a few people who told me their username and I forgot it 10 minutes later lol...

Yeah, i even bought a marker at a gas station stop because someone forgot to bring one.  Too funny.  I think it would be a good idea to use them for the fall ride to make it easier to recognize the OR name with the face.

Did you see that horse practically buck the Amish buggy when we came up on it? The next 4 or 5 buggies after that I shifted up to 5th gear and kept her at 20 mph just so my crossplane didn't freak them out. I think it was still loud. I know a field of sheep took off when we came up on them.

That's right boys and girls the R1's Siren song scares women, children, sheep, and Amish horses.

That thing sounds awesome!  I heard it for the first time at the bike races at Mid Ohio and have wanted to ride one ever since.

Thanks Paul. I was hesitant to go on this ride for a couple reasons but I'm glad I sucked it up & went. I didn't anticipate leading part of our group thru fog & admit I was glad when you jumped ahead of me at one point. Needless to say I got ALOT of twisty road practice, enough for at least a month or so.

Tracy, it was nice meeting you.  I think you did fine getting down there especially with frozen fingers and a fogged over helmet!  i have never ridden through fog like that before.  It was nasty.  I had to take my glasses of and ride with my visor open.  Long rides take some time to get used to.  Keep on riding and you will get there!,

Tire pressure good! Oil level good! Tank bag loaded! Fz1 and I are good to go! See you all in the AM. Going to be a chilly start. Be safe!

Radar is lit up all across the route. Some areas reporting hail. Glad we rescheduled for Sunday.

That was always my vote, whether I attended or not.

One can still be planned for the fall.  Those who cannot

make this one, or who decide the weather isn't working

for them, can possibly make it later in the season, and

some will attend both.  Plan it up.

 

.

Had a feeling it would need to get called. Safer this way and gives other OR riders the chance to make it due to work or other obligations on Sat. Good call on moving it to Sun. Weather is supposed to be much better.

Weather still looking crappy for tomorrow.  Start temp in NEO is around 38.  Have to bust out the cold weather gear!

Good point.  Might need to do a check on the roads as whether there is water across them or not.  Even if the water recedes, there could be all sorts of fun stuff left on the road like a layer of mud and gravel.

We were going a little fast through that part, so it is possible we didn't notice.  Good info. though regardless.

Hearing what you are putting down on the weather NinjaDoc!  Checking all sources multiple times a day.  I am fine with cool temps, not looking forward to rain.  Also, I don't remember 78 having any pot holes when Whaler, Derek and I rode the route last month.  There are almost always a few areas with gravel, which we can never seem to get away from in Ohio.  I would be more concerned about gravel with all the heavy rain we have had recently.  My yard is a lake!

Derek, do we have a contingency plan for the weather?  If too crappy, are we moving the ride to Sunday or another date all together?  The weather outlook is bouncing from rain to cloudy across most of the state for Sat.  Again, its Ohio and these things can change in a hurry.  Temps are showing a start temp first thing in the low 40's and topping out in the low to mid 60's.  I am not worried about riding in cooler weather.  Done it many times.  I believe last years Epic ride was on the cooler side as well.  Sunday weather looks much better, partly cloudy with a high closer to 70.  I am down for Sunday too if it needs to be moved due to weather.

No worries!  Its all good.  Just looking to have a relaxing ride to start my riding season off right. 

Might be a good idea to have at least one or two standby riders willing to take the bull by the horns and lead or sweep in case a lead/sweep cannot make it at the last minute.

Derek,

I noticed someone has listed me as a lead.  I never volunteered for the position.  You might want to repost your confirmed leads/sweeps count so everyone is on the same page.  I wouldn't want the leads count to be skewed with false info.

Derek, we have stopped here before.  It will work just fine.  Last year we did stop way too early and by the end of the second half both my legs were cramped up and my ass went to sleep.  Good call on the route change.

I am down with 7:00 meet time.  Gets warmer as you go south.  This is a good route.  Ran it with Derek and Whaler a few weeks ago.  Got to get through Wooster and Millersburg first, then it gets real nice.  Once you get into the twisties, you will forget about the cool start temp!!