Forum Replies Created
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Trailboss wrote:
Quote:Yeah good job again, Crash and myself have done a stack of riding at and around Appin when I lived at Heathcote, could have also been a good ride from Waterfall to Appin but its all waterboard land and we wouldnt ride that would we
Which side of Appin did you ride on? On the westcliff side or on the cordeux dam side?
TB
We tried to get in from near the pub but it is now locked so we headed towards Wollongong and went in at teh Georges River. From there we played around Wedderburn, the airport, Westcliff side withough hitting the waterboard land as that is heavily patrolled and the fines just aren’t worth the risk.
Gaz
Quote:Ktmrat wrote:
Gaz, Hi Mate please dont take this the wrong way but your system only really works if all riders know each other and it has a drama with a few fundamentals of group responsibility and mate ship….let me explain,
The rotating corner man system has lots of benefits for all, the whole idea of the thing is to show the whole pack where to go so no rider gets lost or to also show the pack where a danger may exsisit , with the fixed order system like you use it has the problems of the slower guys will always be sucking the dust of the guy in front, who he thinks he should not pass in case of upsetting the order of things, how are you supposed to learn if you get stuck in the same order all the time.
With the rotating system the faster guys will always find them selves on the corner to point the way for the whole pack to go and then have the challenge of getting through them again.
This sounds dangerous and it certainly can be, but this is where the respect part comes in, as the faster rider is usually more skilled, it is easy for them to take the harder line and pass safely where they can and this is how it should happen, the other benefit of this is the slower rider gets a glimpse first hand of how it can be done, this would not be possible with the fixed order system. Also the slower guys will never make it to the front and therefore never stop, they will soon become better riders from a conditioning point of view real quick with less stops.
Another problem is misinterpretation of the way to go, with the corner system you cannot mistake where to go, there is a guy there pointing, but the other way if you have two close tracks and the rider leaving gets a little antsy, see’s old matey coming through the trees and leaves a little early and then the wind blows the dust across to the other track and the rider arriving thinks we are going where the dust is, you now have the group split in two and that leads to a head on….been there…..done that, not good, the rotating system with a dedicated sweep is the predominantly used system worldwide and for good reasons of safety and continuity of ride pace.As I said Mate don’t take it the wrong way, most rides will find a natural order anyway but with groups of more than 6 or 8 a corner system is fairest and safest to all:)
No offence taken and as you said the system I threw in does realistically work best in a group where riders know each other’s abilities, likes and dislikes.
It is based on a road riding system as that is our backgrounds and is designed to remove pressure on the back markers to speed up as often occurs on road rides by ensuring that the faster riders and/or larger egos are at the front. It is not uncommon on a road ride using the corner marker system suggested earlier that you will encounter problems as the faster rider tries to make their way back through the pack (so to speak) to go at their pace. That behaviour in itself may not be a factor on dirt rides and in my very limited experience has not occurred, but then I also tend to ride with known people (due to circumstances).
It is not a large group system nor a system for internet forum rides as there is always the unknown factor of rider abilities and often not all will know the track, but it does work in a known group. It would also likely not be the solution for single track nor gnarly stuff as that tends to break groups up, although where we do come across some danger we do warn, just that we don’t often come across it on the firetrails we ride.
Your point with regards to stops could well be correct but we have a system that allows a minimum time for the stop from when the last rider arrives. Again this is based on the road system as it is all to common on road rides (I assume some dirt rides are the same) where the fast rider will get to a stop point, have a rest and want to take off again. They may have had a 5 or 10 minute rest but the last rider in may only have rested for 2 or so minutes. Eventually this multiplied and often the last rider in became to fatigued which can and often did result in accident (not had one accident or lost a rider on any rides with the above system). Thus when we ride we implement the minimum rest from last rider arrival. But it is a valid concern on all rides.
The system I suggested was formed after many issues with the standard corner man system suggested earlier, but again this was always on road rides. We did have situations where the faster or egotistical riders did cause anxiety as they carved through the pack or generally rode like absolute tools. We also had occasions where the corner man decided not to wait as the group was to slow for them or the roads to good.
Obviously from teh feedback in this thread the corner man system works better for a dirt ride environment and from what I have noticed with my interactions is that it is based heavily on respect and concern for the fellow riders.
Garry
Trailboss wrote:
Quote:Aaroncilds idea of your username on your helmet, even in masking tape is a good idea, good thinking I try using only usernames as its to hard learning everything else
TB
Mate works.
Call them mate until you hear someone call them a name, worked for me for years and so far so good.
But on big rides with newbies then some form of ID is a good idea
Gaz
Moto wrote:
Quote:The pic of that hill looks good with the mound in it, we had a fair few of those on the Wauchope ride. They make excellent jumps I had my mudgaurd slap my front tyre several times :dry:Do you mean this pic?
They sure do make good jumps and I tend to try to be a legend in my own lunchtime on them, but these ones were very somt on the uphill side, but there were plent of them around to practice.
While the pic above doesn’t show it there are three on that uphill stretch and there was one on the right hander immediately after the top. Was damn fun and once at the top there was an interesting area for later exploration (surrounded a small dam).
Garry
Moto wrote:
Quote:That’s because you’ve got it sorted Garry. I know it won’t be a problem for me, I earn all the money! :laugh:I like your dog by the way, although he/she ddid look sad that you were leaving.
Shadow is a great dog and can be an absolute camera hog.
Here is his ‘blue steel’ look (the serious look from Ben Stiller’s film Zoolander obviously)
And the relaxed face more familiar to him.
A serious great dog.
Garry
Moto wrote:
Quote:You boys give in too easily, where is your resolve? Marraige is a bit of paper, it doesn’t mean much. She can take me for half of everything now being defacto.I’ll remember this thread and laugh when I still get to do what I want years down the line
OMG what has been started here!!!
Geez, been married near 21 years and I can do what I want.
Maybe we never really married afterall :laugh:
Garry
