Riding with others

[northwind]

I don't like riding in front of other riders... If they're inexperienced, I don't want them copying my bad habits, and if they're experienced I don't want them watching me I know they probably don't care in the slightest, but it doesn't matter, I don't react well to being watched at anything.

It is horrible having someone behind you. Keith says that he doesn't watch me, but I just feel that he is and get paranoid.
If any other bikers catch me up, I pull to the inside and blip my indicator to signal them to go past when they're happy - that seems to work well.

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Tina

Am i being unreasonable?

Possibly, but we really can't decide at a distance.
If you're not happy you're not happy, that's all there is to it - no right or wrong about it. If it were me though, and in your position of being a relative newcomer, I'd like someone to tell me that there isn't only one way to ride a bike, just 'cos it isn't how I'd do it doesn't mean it's wrong.

Ride your bike, when you get more experienced you'll perhaps find that there's something that you can learn from everybody's riding - even if it isn't immediately obvious.

You don't have to ride "closely" to be riding together. I often ride with people of various capabilities and sometimes, on a longer ride, we may spread out with maybe 10, 15 even 30 seconds between us. It doesn't mean you're not "riding together", you're just riding for yourself, but as a bunch of mates.

We still stop at the same places, fuel up, and take breaks together, but we're just not always riding in a close pack, and to be honest, on some roads I'd prefer not to be...

I also find that my mate that also has a 'Blade rides it very differently from me. He likes to not use the breaks at all, using the torque and engine braking, while I prefer to accelerate hard, brake hard, dive into the bend and bang it out hard again. We're of similar speed but I guess I use more fuel than he does

.

You could both join the the local IAM group and do the Skills for Life course. They will correct any bad habits, build up your confidence and you will certainly get used to someone scrutinising your ride.

[jambo]

I feel you may be being just a toutch harsh, you're clearly judging your boyfriend's riding (and have decided that you disagree with some of the things he's doing), But want to make sure that he doesn't watch or pass judgement on yours?

Life's a 2 way street and as many people have pointed out, there are many ways of doing a similar pace on a given road, just because hs is diferent doesn't make it wrong.

Do your own rides, ride at your own pace and try riding with others so you get a cross section of styles. Remember that when following on the road it's up to you to give enough space so if he does brake hard for no apparent reason (Note this is completely different to no reason at all due to the diferent views you have of the road) it's not a problem for you to slow down or stop safely behind him.

Chill out, enjoy your time together and find a way of riding that you both enjoy, this may well change as you get more experiance

Thankyou for all your replies, each one had helped me lots.

I think we should discuss our riding together to find ways
of complimenting one another.
we have a long ride over to Ireland soon so i'll keep you
posted on how it went!!

xx