Pre-trip shake-down ride
Fail to plan and you plan to fail. I have heard this said so many
times in project management courses that it is starting to feel like
something people say for the sake of saying it. However, my own
experience with managing projects and teams confirms this saying.
Still having a plan is not enough. This, then, is the reason for the
shake-down ride.
The gang met up on a rare night that occurs once every four years (29
Feb) to see how they fare with some of the unexpected situations that
they may encounter on the trip…you know…situations like being
separated by traffic, getting lost, being worried about keeping pace
etc. This is an account of how that shake-down went.
As with every group ride, there needs to be some simple ground rules so we can handle unexpected situations safely and efficiently. The idea of the shake-down was to test how we interpret and execute these rules. Our ground rules were very simple:
- Ride at your own pace. Many people have the perception that the most important thing in a group ride is to keep the pace. While it is important to keep the pace in general, this can become dangerous if keeping the pace meant riding outside of one’s ability. The fact is that we are more confident when we ride at our own pace. We become more tuned in to the environment, we are more aware of what is happening around us, and we can take the necessary precautions when unexpected situations occur. When we try to keep the pace and ride outside of our ability, we become flustered by the need to ride faster. This reduces confidence and increases the probability of making mistakes, mistakes which can sometimes be fatal. So it is very important to ride at our own pace.
- Keep sight of the rider behind you – Most people will keep sight of the rider in front of them because they do not want to get lost. However, if the objective was to keep sight of the rider in front, it can very easily lead to someone trying to keep the pace in order to not lose sight of the person in front. This ground rule may seem counter-intuitive at first, but if we think about it, it makes perfect sense. When we ride in a group and everyone keeps sight of the rider behind them, nobody will really get lost. The lead rider will make sure the second one does not get lost, the second rider makes sure of the third and so on until the last rider. If anyone were to slow the pace down because they were not confident of a particular stretch of road, the whole group will slow down eventually because the rider in front will slow down, and the rider in front of that rider will slow down, all the way to the lead rider. Obviously, there will be times when we cannot see the rider behind, especially riding through tight bends. But the rider will eventually come into sight when we hit a straight or when we slow down our pace a little. This is the best way to keep the group together.
- When in doubt, stop and call the lead rider. Murphy is a very good friend and we can always count on a nice friendly visit, especially when we least expect it. So even with the best ground rules and the very best riders, there is bound to be a time when someone does get lost. When this happens, it is important to stop and call the lead rider rather than guess where the riders in front are. It is a lot easier for the lead rider to stop the group, circle back and retrieve the missing riders this way, than it is when the people who are lost try to guess and make several other turns.
So how did the gang fare to these simple ground rules? Well, the first shake-down ride went rather well. We rode from Jurong all the way to Kranji without incident. Everybody stayed together and arrived at the first checkpoint. At this time, we decided to put the ground rules to a more challenging test. We released each subsequent rider some distance away from the rider in front. In the real ride, each rider can be separated by quite a distance both for safety and the fact that people ride at different paces. So we tried to simulate that environment here. In order to simulate an “unexpected situation”, I made a turn at the next junction and waited 10 metres into the turn. What happened next was classic.
Essentially, the entire group did not make the turn. The second bike obviously did not see me turn even though he had enough time to look ahead before I made the turn. This was too good to be true from a shake-down perspective as it presented us with the perfect learning opportunity. I expected a call from the second bike in the next few minutes. However, I did not receive a call for a good three minutes or so. At that point, I decided it was time for me to chase the group down and see what had happened.
I had thought that it would be a short chase. However, I had to ride through the entire stretch of New Tiew and still I did not see the group. It puzzled me when I reached the end because they must have made a guess at where I had turned since there was no way for them to ride “straight” at the junction with Lim Chu Kang Road. At that point, I made the call instead and found that they had taken a left turn and ended up near Ama Keng Road. After leaving instructions to rendezvous back at the starting point at Kranji, I proceeded back to wait for them.
The kicker came when they finally showed up…minus two riders. I asked where the other two riders were…and guess what…the rider in front did not stop because he wanted to keep sight of the rider in front…especially after the group got lost the first time round. The other two eventually made it back to the starting point safely. This classic situation made for a better learning opportunity than I could ever have planned for and I am happy that everyone had the chance to better understand what to do the next time something unexpected like this happens. In the debrief, we concluded that if the second bike had called earlier, we would have saved some time. If on the way back, every rider kept sight of the rider behind them, we would not have lost those two riders on the way back to the starting point. And that the important learning here is that we need to keep to the ground rules and never forget them.
The lesson for me that night was a simple one. Everybody makes mistakes. It is impossible to ride, or live life, without making a mistake. We would never enjoy ourselves if we did not allow ourselves to make mistakes. However, what is important is that when a mistake is made, we correct the mistake immediately, especially in the context of a group ride. This saves time, energy and anxiety. This keeps the group together and everyone will have the opportunity to enjoy the ride from beginning to end.
I feel satisfied with this shake-down ride. In the end, I had a good time riding with the gang. It was great fun…great conversation…and great learning.
Check back here often and follow along as we do the rest of the ride!
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because of above reasons I quit organizing or join a team of riders. I have been riding solo for almost decades. Except one occasion recently I joined another rider to Kukup. 2 people ok la. Anyway, I am shocked with the above rehearsal and mock test you ppl performed. Anyway, last two yrs u always post the map and plans. Where for 2012 ?