Group Ride Etiquette

[Spimothy Leary]

About 4 weeks ago I had an annoying experience with a small group ride and i'm finally getting around to venting about it.

6 ski's planned, 10am launch, lunch at 12, off water by 2:30-3. 4 (reg's) are guys I know from previous rides and two newbs that were invited by two of my reg's off a forum ride thread. The newbs call him at 9, running a half hour late, no big deal, but they get lost twice and 11:15 they finally arrive, two ski's one guy brought his wife. They don't apologize, lollygag while launching, sunscreen, etc, and its 11:45 now.

We skip a side ride and go straight to lunch which was planned and the newbs fuss with the menu, eat slowly, order desert, and drag it out forever while they sip a beer, I was done eating around 12:45, but we're crawling to 1:30, i'm agitated now and we really haven't even been on the water yet ! FWIW they were really nice peeps, easy to talk to but I would really prefer to be on the water. We finally are off the beach at 1:45 because they donk around some more and heading into a long no wake zone. the 4 regs are ideling around 7-8 mph, the newbs around 5mph at best, chatting it up so they are a solid 500 yards behind us when we hit the channel.

we hit the channel (25 mph) around 40 and the noobs stick to about 22, so we circle back for them, take off at 40 again, and they stick under 22. I even asked "is everything all right ?", noob #2 mentions the speed limit and I really didn't argue. this circle back & wait process goes on for 15 miles and we hit the no speed limit zone, open it up to 55ish, the newbs speed up to 30ish and poke along, we circle back 3 or 4 times again. Newb #1 gets his act together, but the couple never did speed up past 30 even in the no limit zones, it was like watching grass grow.

I didn't get off the water until 6pm, all the delays added about 3+ hours to my ride and generally made for a poor experience.

Obviously newb #2 will never be invited back, newb #1 is a "maybe".

FWIW i'm not against "Full day" rides with a lot of social interaction and slow paced riding, but I usually know its planned as a full day ride. Also, i'm not advocating that we constantly break the speed limit, but when 4-5 out of 6 are going 35+, at least go 27ish and not 22ish ! and there is no reason not to idle around 7mph and stay off plane vs 4mph when your entire group is 500 yds ahead of you circling.

Does anybody else get frustrated when a 4 hour ride turns into 7 because of one or two people that slow you down from beginning to end ?

:end rant:

 

[USAF_Pride]

"Just sit right back
And you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip,
That started from this tropic port"

While I agree (and for full disclosure, I have never participated in a group ride), the only way to deal with these types of situations is to outline what is expected and the time frame. Obviously, newbs need more details. I've had experience in this with other "group" activities. Once you leave someone behind, they learn.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I get frustrated by delays that are out of negligence. If you get a flat or are in a fender bender, then ok. But,,, if we all agree to be there at ten you can bet your a$$ I will be there at 09:30 and be ready to go within 10 minutes of that.

 

[lamajama]

I think I would have entertained just leaving the two....but likely not. I'm surprised the guy who invited them didn't talk to them and tell them to get moving..I guess the personal relationship was not there maybe. You and the rest of the regulars certainly gave them them very obvious hints that they needed to get their act together - hints they obviously chose to ignore. I would have been pretty upset too. It's just downright rude and ignorant to be late and even after a "maybe" reason for that to take their sweet time.

Probably why they accepted the invite.....no one else will ride with them...:boxing_smiley:

 

[LouDoo]

Personally I think no more than 4 people, it's a manageable number, four works out better for lunch, it's a lot easier to get a table for four. I know to boaters (which I am one), more than 4 ski's seems to be intimidating, but I do ride on a small lake.

Lou

 

[red2blue]

Well sht..where to start....

Speed limit...what's that?

I've been on numerous group rides....usually goes one of three ways.

1- Everyone in the group hangs together...that is we all run WOT from A to B.

2- The faster guys run together...not always WOT....we get to the first spot...chill and wait for the slower riders. Then we head to the next spot....till someone feels squirly.

3- Everyone runs around the 5Krpm mark...everyone up on plane and at least able to evade the pontoons and bassholes.

I've never invited a single person for a ride who couldn't...or more importantly...wouldn't hang. 22mph?...sheesh...I'm barely on plane at that speed.

 

[Brian J]

Showing up late and then lolly gagging seems to be the norm when planning water events. We have a boat that we invite people out on a lot and we run into this all the time. We plan our day to pick them up at a location and then they change the time or place last minute.

If it was me and I was new to a group or a guest on someones boat you better believe I'll be where I said I was going to when I said I was going to.

As far as bringing the wife, we had a guy bring his wife to poker night one time...WTH??

 

[lamajama]

Showing up late and then lolly gagging seems to be the norm when planning water events. We have a boat that we invite people out on a lot and we run into this all the time. We plan our day to pick them up at a location and then they change the time or place last minute.

If it was me and I was new to a group or a guest on someones boat you better believe I'll be where I said I was going to when I said I was going to.

As far as bringing the wife, we had a guy bring his wife to poker night one time...WTH??

As good as planning a guy's weekend in Vegas and the guy showing up with his wife?? :facepalm:

We cut him outta the herd rather quick...:cheers:

 

[Spimothy Leary]

I wasn't in charge of the group, or I would have left them at the ramp with instructions on how to find us on the water, if you miss us, have a nice day.

I did EXACTLY that on my last ride where I was the host, at 11:05 we left, (after not hearing from the guy by 11, and 5 of us were in the water by 10:45) he txted me back around 11:20 saying he was "here" but I didn't see it until 11:45, I was out having fun.
at 11:05 I had sent a txt that said, "were heading out, up river, look for us about 12 miles up at party island on the right".

this was an unusual one because the riders were always "5 minutes away" but we kept having 20 minute lags between texts.

when I boat with my brother, if he says 10:30, i'm there by 10...ready to help launch the boat, etc.

I have zero problems with a wife going along for the ride, as long as she's not the "slow down your going too fast" type of wife, (we had one of those a few weeks back as well, and now we know, we don't invite him on Ocean rides because his wife is afraid of chop, but he's fine on flat water) the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Jims5543]

I cannot relate with Skis but can with cars. A group of us meet up every spring and fall for some fun roads, good food, copious amounts of alcohol that may or may not have federal taxes on it, and good conversation. We make a long weekend out of it and it can vary from 5 cars to 15 depending on who can go.

Since we have been doing this for a long time (9 years now) we have a pecking order with the cars / drivers. Ego's need to be checked at the door. Any Newb get put at the back (no option) and we run from point to point grouping back up. Sometimes the drive will be 1 - 1.5 hours before a regroup.

The folks that know their way around take turns staying with the back of the pack. Eventually we all get to play as wanted. This past April this guy on a BMW forum asked me if he could tag along in his 5 Series, I was hesitant to say yes but did and explained very clearly to him that he was back of the class. Especially in a 5 series. Most of the cars are 2 seat sports cars and are all dialed in for the track. As luck would have it, one of the guys did not pay enough attention to his car prior to the event and had a corded inner rear tire, so he had to delegate himself to the rear and go slow. He kept the 5er on track.



Maybe give the newbs set destinations at certain times? Your situation sounds unbearable to be honest. You should have left the guy that invited them with them and went on your way. He could meet you at destination points.