Group riding is one of the greatest parts of belonging to any HOG Chapter and our Raleigh NC Chapter is no exception. We love to ride and have many group rides throughout the year.

Here are some of the basic group riding techniques that we follow:

• We obey all traffic rules.
• We ride in staggered formation, 2 seconds behind the bike directly in front of us, 1 second behind the bike to our left or to our right. The safe riding distance is 2 seconds.
  • When traveling behind a trike, position yourself behind the bike that is in front of the trike. A trike normally travels in L2. If the bike in front of the trike is in L1, you should be in L1.
• We fill in gaps, such as when a rider leaves a ride returning home, based on the situation.
  • If a stop will be coming soon, the gap can be maintained until that stop. At that stop, riders move forward to fill the gap, then the group leaves the stop in the normal staggered fashion.
  • If there is no imminent stop we follow MSF guidelines, meaning the rest of the group should re-form the staggered formation by crisscrossing into the next vacant position.
  • Neither MSF nor Raleigh HOG recommend passing another rider within a lane because it is risky.
• When making a turn or passing, check your mirrors. Both of them. 
• We always use our turn signals. We also use hand signals and these will be described by the road captains prior to the ride.
• We NEVER leave anyone behind. If you pull off, one of the road captains will pull off and stay with you.

Follow this link to read more of our MHPC HOG Riding Manual.