Motorcycle Explorer November 2016 Issue 14 | Page 75

1. FOLLOW THE LEADER
OK so in every club there are those that do lots
and those that do little – but that’s life for you!
There will only be a small core of guys that put
their hands up and volunteer to lead ride-outs.
This might be just putting together a series of
local lanes or a week long tour of foreign trails,
but it’s always the same guys. That being the
case, you have to fit in with what they’ve
planned. Don’t suggest a different route, don’t
say you always do it in a different order because
it’s better, and don’t criticise the day they’ve
planned. If you want to do something different,
organise a run yourself – otherwise just button it
and enjoy the day.
2. THE C WORD
Our second trail riding golden rule is Commitment –
that’s what people like, so if you say your are going to
come on a trail ride, then do the decent thing and turn
up at the correct time and ready for the day. If it’s
limited numbers, there’s nothing worse than people
taking a place and then pulling a DNS.
Oh except maybe those guys that turn up when they
know a run is full and they weren’t on the list. Aggghhh
3. DON’T FIGHT THE SYSTEM
If there are not many of you going
out, then just checking the rider
behind you is still following is good
enough to keep the group together.
For larger numbers, the leader will
probably suggest a ‘second man
drop-off system’, otherwise known
as ‘the cornerman system‘ for you
Aussies, which means that every
junction the second guy points the
rest of the riders the correct way
before rejoining the group in front
of the rear sweeper. This ensures
nobody gets lost, rotates the riding
order and keeps the pace of the ride
going. We employ this rule on our
trail riding tours in Cambodia and it
is incredibly effective. But only if
everybody does it …