Thundering Hearts practice run
Sunday turned out to be another gorgeous 70° day - blue skies with puffy white clouds, an occasional breeze. I was getting ready to head out to Milford for the first practice run of the Thundering Hearts Ride when a co-worker from Children's Hospital, Mike Jansen called to go riding. Mike rides a VTX 1800, Honda's biggest V-twin. I headed over to Mike's place and we rode on some nice back roads to Milford. Most of the riders, about 50 in all, were there because they will be road captains on the day of the Thundering Hearts ride and need to be familiar with the route.
Riding in a large group is very different from riding solo or in smaller groups. There's the "rubber-band effect" when the group tends to get stretched out or broken up due to traffic or stop-lights. Then there are the hand signals that need to be passed to the back. But mostly, the group moves as a single unit, a sea of bikes moving in sync. Its an awesome sight to see and even better to be a part of. While a group of 50 is impressive enought, the organizers are expecting close to 1000 bikes for the actual ride on May 20th! There will be a police escort and they will be blocking traffic at the intersections with the help of the road captains, so that the group can move together for the entire ride.
At the ride, we met a wonderful couple, Jimmy, an ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran, and his wife Pat, who took some great pictures and was kind enough to email me some.
At the meeting point
Ready to roll
At a stop
On the move
Mike's on the right and I'm on the left
Chatting with a couple of veterans
Jimmy, Mike and me
Jimmy and Pat
Riding in a large group is very different from riding solo or in smaller groups. There's the "rubber-band effect" when the group tends to get stretched out or broken up due to traffic or stop-lights. Then there are the hand signals that need to be passed to the back. But mostly, the group moves as a single unit, a sea of bikes moving in sync. Its an awesome sight to see and even better to be a part of. While a group of 50 is impressive enought, the organizers are expecting close to 1000 bikes for the actual ride on May 20th! There will be a police escort and they will be blocking traffic at the intersections with the help of the road captains, so that the group can move together for the entire ride.
At the ride, we met a wonderful couple, Jimmy, an ex-Marine and Vietnam veteran, and his wife Pat, who took some great pictures and was kind enough to email me some.
At the meeting point
Ready to roll
At a stop
On the move
Mike's on the right and I'm on the left
Chatting with a couple of veterans
Jimmy, Mike and me
Jimmy and Pat
posted by Vinod at 11:10 PM
9 Comments:
Lovely pics. I always loved watching bikers riding in groups.... I'm sure it would've been more fun being a part of it. Lucky you :)
Jello, you'll have to join us sometime now that I'll have my own bike! You'll get the experience of a lifetime! ')
nice rides vinod, must be awsome riding in such a big group in formation. but real curious of the disctances covered and speeds with that kinda canvoy.:)
the biggest group i have been in is round 14 bikes, was was real fun in the night in the narrow ghats around ooty. where u could see the tail lamps of the bikes ahead serpant around in pitch darkness.
Praveen: It was an 80 mile ride. Speeds varied from 35mph(56Kmph)through towns to about 65mph (104 Kmph)on highways,strictly within speed limits. On yesterday's ride, the rubber-band effect broke up the group several time, but on the day of the actualy ride, hopefull all 1000 riders will be able to move together with the help of the police escort.
I lived in Ooty when I was a kid for several years. I bet riding those windy roads was fun!!
Looks like it was fantastic ride..... Pics make me so envious.... :)
Watching a group of riders thundering down a road is simply awesome.... I wish I could atleaast see it .. if not be a part of it.
I shall echo Jello's thoughts and say "LUCKY YOU"!!
Gigi I'll take you on, on that one :) I'm pretty sure it'll be awesome!
Amazing man! Got to learn a few things (esp. for non-bikers like me): the rubber-band effect. Now only if you can elaborate a li'l on the "hand signals that need to be passed to the back" :-)
hey Dp, here's a link with pictures of the hand signals used in group riding:
http://www.ama-cycle.org/roadride/groupRideSignals.asp
Vinod, I look forward to reading your blog when the ride's over. Be sure to get lots of pics. You do a great job writing up your rides. I've ridden in a group of 7 and that was a lot of fun. I can just imagine the lump in my throat with riding in a group of 50 and then the possible 1,000!!! AWWWESOMMMME!!!
Safe Travels, Betty :)
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