ShayneJack

Awesome! I like the fact that all it takes is for someone to press any button and WHAMMO! the info is right on the screen. ICE is a great thing to put in your contacts as well, but figured if it's posted on the "wallpaper/screensaver" it might save just a few seconds that lord knows I just might need! Mine looks like this... names changed to protect the innocent of course... sample

Granted, the ICE method on your cell phone is a GREAT IDEA! But STILL write the information down for your wallet, or resqtag, give it to the group organizer, etc. Quite a few of the mountain areas I travel to have little to no cell phone range. Heck, one of the mountains has a 40 mile stretch with ZERO BARS! Nope, I can't hear you now. But have a back up plan. If your cellphone is disabled (ie. wet, smashed, dead battery, so forth) then you're back to square one. 1. CELL PHONE - save under contact ICE - HOME and ICE - CELL. Try posting a picture to your phone to save as a screen saver that has this same information. 2. WALLET - take a post-it and write your emergency contact information (I like two people), then secure it to the back of your driver's license. 3. JACKET/HELMET INFO - as Bailey mentioned, post the info in a place that will be QUICKLY seen by EMS. Sticker on the helmet, resQtag on zipper pull, dog tags (I would stay away from the digital dog tags, or at least check with EMS in your area if they are able to download your data on scene.) 4. LIST OF EMERGENCY CONTACT INFO - when in a group, make sure there is two copies of a ride roster sheet. Two emergency contacts with phone numbers. Make sure lead rider has one, and sweeper (tail) rider has one. If you prefer not to give out this info fine, just make sure you have it on your person so it is accessable. I know this is a difficult topic to converse about. But after experiencing the CONSEQUENCES of not having this information this morning it made me think to post this up in hopes of avoiding anyone having the same experience. And if you KNOW you have this information with you, pull it out and check it. When was the last time you did that? Are these people still your contacts? Have their phone numbers changed?

Today I went on a ride that someone else had organized from a different forum. In all seven riders showed up, two 4th gens, a 5th gen, and four 6th gens. Knew three of them from previous rides but did not know the other three. At any rate, we all saddled up at 9:30am and headed up a mellow-twisty section of highway to our lunch destination. The ride organizer asked that I choose the riding order, so I went up to each of the riders I didn't know and asked how quickly they prefered to ride. One said medium, the other two said slow-back of the pack. Fine. We took off and the lead pack (3) pulled over at the summit to wait for the others. I get a call on my cell that theres been an accident at the bottom. So we head back, and find the accident scene within the first two miles of our original meetup location. Rider down. Save the gory details but this is not a sew-it-back-together and continue type of accident. By the time the lead pack made it down the hill he had already been taken via ambulance to the hospital (of which we are still trying to find which one...) Information gathering. CHP is on scene, about 6 units. From what I gathered, the rider who fell was 6th in order when we started. It appears that he passed #5 and #4 and then target-fixated on the next turn and managed to ride into the next turn and run wide into the guardrail. "Does anyone know his last name?" CHP was able to get this from his license I'm sure. "Does anyone know if he's married, what his wife's phone # is?" unknown "Has anyone ridden with him before? Know anything else about him?" unknown... Sadly I'm sure I'll be reporting back with his condition as soon as I know. (SEE BELOW) But it did manage to cause a major reality check for the rest of us. I've always organized rides with the new members riding towards the back. Stay in the order assigned. If for any reason you'd like to move up or back, do so VERY CAUTIOUSLY and ONLY WHEN SAFE. For best results, wait until the next rest stop, then make sure the riders in front and behind know of the change. EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION I'm not a salesman, I won't sell your personal information to the highest bidder, I won't google your personal information, I won't give it to the police and tell them I think you're a drug dealer. THE ONLY REASON I COLLECT EMERGENCY INFO FOR EVERYONE IS FOR INSTANCES LIKE THE ONE THAT OCCURED TODAY. There was no one to call. There was no way of asking him who to call. There was nothing we could do. But sit there and watch the motorcycle being loaded on the back of a tow-truck to be hauled away to who knows where... I personally wear a resQtag. I hope I'm not overstepping the boundaries by advertising this, but check their website at www.resqtag.com It's a small 2"x2" vinyl sheet that you write all your information on. Then fold it up, held in place by velcro, and attach it to a zipper on my jacket. There's also a sticker that goes just below my visor on my helmet that states "EMERGENCY INFO ON ZIPPER PULL". You get two of them for about $20. Then carry the same information in your wallet. I also made a picture (MS Paint) with my primary emergency contact's name and phone number and saved it to my cell-phone screen saver. If EMS finds my phone, just pressing any button displays the name and number. Write down two emergency contact information, their names, phone numbers, relationship. DO IT TODAY. We could have called someone right away. Instead the CHP will have to research his history via DMV to find any relatives, etc. LOCAL NEWSPAPER LINK LATEST UPDATES: 5/31 3:30pm Received voicemail from hidesertmlb, DEAN is in Arrowhead Medical Center. Michael mentioned it was difficult to obtain information without his full name or approximate age... Will update with his status as soon as I know. Thanks redneck7769 for stopping by Loma Linda to check if he was there. 5/31 9:45pm Just got off the phone with hidesertmlb, Dean is stable, in a neckbrace, arm in a splint, and leg stabilized. Looks like he will be ok. Most concerning to find out is that his only emergency contact had a disconnected phone. I hope for a full recovery.

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Nice! Next time you're in vegas give me a holler and I'll take you up to Big Bear... scratch that... LOL

Hey, I've got a question, what about the opposite side, on the rim itself. Has anyone ever come up with some kinda of "centercap" for the hole in the middle of the rear rim? Just curious...

YIKES! Maybe it's just me being a military brat but organization on group rides seems to be the safest approach for everyone. Now in your case it would make it a whole lot easier to move forward or back if the ride isn't in formation, but overall I think it's safest to be in staggered formation when riding in a group. (unless single file for the twistys :goofy: ). It comes down to trust and experience, the more you ride with a particular group, the better able everyone will be at determining their place. Maybe move up from last ride, or move to the back...

good questions Bob, and yes, they have come up before. It's hard to organize a ride order especially when there are riders the leader is not familiar with. After a few rides the pack seems to be able to determine for themselves the most 'efficient' pecking order. For example, I know that when I go on a ride, than JTG will most likely be right behind me and that MICHAELF3 is usually towards the rear. But this has taken four group rides to determine. As far as "during ride" position changes, I think it's hard to do safely without cooperation from the riders either in front or behind. If you want to ride in front of the guy in front of you, maybe a polite horn with an extended index finger pointing towards the front might work. And if you want to move back, a simple left hand forward wave can tell the guy behind you to move up... I don't know. Maybe some others on here might have some suggestions. I think alot of the order NEEDS to be established prior to start just to avoid any shifting during a time when all should be focused on the road at hand. As far as our recent so cal VFRD rides Bob, don't worry, we usually have people fighting for the back of the line... Regarding two groups, ABSOLUTELY! I'm a strong believer in that. Just as long as the leader of the second group doesn't try and catch the backmarker of the first group then both groups have a great time!

on a side note, the two rides mentioned above were NOT VFRD exclusive rides. I've had three VFRD exclusive rides with NO problems (other than michaelf3 leaning over so far he broke his left side mirror (side joke, not really)). I'm pretty much figuring on only doing rides with VFRD folks, (and my Aprilia buddy) since riding with bigger/quicker bikes only seems to lead to unwanted attention and BAD LUCK!! go figure...

I feel the need to share experiences and post some additional guidelines that should be followed. BAILEYROCKS posts: Never pull off/ turn around/leave your group without telling someone. Signal somebody in your group what you are doing and why! Each group should never lose a member for any reason, communicate your needs and make sure your entire group stays together. Two weeks ago I went for a ride with total of 7 bikes up a local mountain/canyon road. I led knowing the road best, and everyone behind fell in according to comfort/ability level. Myself and #2 took off at a brisk but manageable pace up the mountain, me comfortable with #3 to lead the remaining riders. As me and #2 get to the first stop sign (ie. checkpoint) we waited patiently for the others to catch up. #3-4 show up a few minutes later. That's it. We wait no more than 5 minutes from initial stop and decide to retrace our tracks to find #5-7. We find #5-6 at the 2nd turn back, #5 had cooked his front brakes and mentioned he lost them and was headed home. Fine, where is #7? So now there are 5 bikes slowly cruising down the mountain looking for him, when we reach the bottom with no luck, my heart sank. This is bad. #2 has time constraints and takes off, kinda bummed he couldn't stay to help. So now 4 bikes are going uphill on the shoulder with hazards flashing and stopping at each and every corner to check for our lost rider. 45 minutes go by, one of us gives me his cell phone # and heads off to the Park Ranger Station to report a missing rider. I try calling the missing rider but mountain area, no signal. the remaining 3 bikes are now walking on the shoulder looking down into ravines, and peeking over cliffsides thinking the worst. it's been over an hour since anyone last saw #7 and not looking good. Then my cell phone rang. "Hey guys, I'm over at the lunch spot saving you all a table..." NEVER, EVER LEAVE THE GROUP WITHOUT TELLING SOMEONE. IF THE GROUP IS FASTER THAN YOU, CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THE ASSIGNED ROUTE (AT YOUR OWN PACE), THEY WILL WAIT FOR YOU... I was able to call my other buddy before he was able to report the missing biker to the Ranger Station. That was last Sunday. Flash forward to today, Saturday 8/9/08. I'm doing the exact route as last week, only with a very close friend and two of the riders from last week (#7 not included). Representing today is my '07VFR, an Aprilia RSV1000M, and two CBR1000RR's. After a quick meetup and discussion, we take off. I'm lead again, more traffic than normal so we are basically just cruising. NEVER CROSS THE SOLID YELLOW LINE. Get up to the top, and head down the front side on a four-lane curvy highway. I change lead for the third spot, Aprilia and CBR take over in front, not too aggressive on the straights, but maintaining a quick pace through the turns. No problem, we're all having plenty of fun, leaning hard into tight turns maintaining a speed limit +5/10, nothing to cause unwanted attention. We're all in formation until the 3rd to the last turn... I'm leaned over on a left-hand sweeper, constant throttle, maybe 65ish. The guys in front are about the same, maybe a hair-trigger faster. WHAMMO! OPPOSITE LANE PARKED 200 YARDS AHEAD ON THE SHOULDER. BLACK AND WHITE. Ok, no big deal, I'm not speeding, neither are the two in fro......... #4 must have gotten a bee in his helmet because OUT OF NOWHERE, A RED AND BLACK BLUR PASSES ME ON THE RIGHT... Fasted prayer in history, "Please don't be one of us..." FLASHING LIGHTS, LEO PULLS OUT IN FRONT OF THE LEAD BIKE. We follow him for almost a half mile before he finds a place to pull off and motion to the four of us to pull over. Ticket book comes flying out of the car. We all present the typical literature, LICENSE, REGISTRATION, PROOF OF INSURANCE. Then he proceeds to drill me, "how fast were you going?" "in between 60 and 65 sir." "Don't you mean more like 94?" "No sir, I maintained 65 for the..." "What spot were you riding in? Third?" "Yes I was sir." He walks ahead to the other guys drills them and writes #4 a ticket for 94 in a 55. Not good. Which, long story kinda short, leads me to my next suggested guideline... TRAV72 states: NEVER pass in the same lane as another rider. If you're not happy with your group riding position then communicate that at your NEXT STOP/CHECKPOINT. Don't take it upon yourself to rearrange the order mid-ride unless motioned to by the appropriate rider (to move up or move back). Don't ride 200 yards behind someone then redline in 3rd to pass them on the right mid-corner... You NEVER know what (or who) is lurking around the next turn...