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[Black Bob]

Originally Posted by Char

I thought you voted for me

Oh but I DID, but not in the category that you won! (Which wasn’t present on my voting slip anyway.) I even admired it in flow along 50 miles of the A272… thanks to you and Mart for the company going back, by the way.

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

Ah! So that's the Belgian way. Well I think it rocks.

It does rock, but it’s not really Belgian, it's just the Drop-off system. Way better than sticking to a convoy.

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

It's actually not too hard to keep up with JP, but then it's always reasonably steady at the front of the run.

JP was intentionally taking it steady, trust me. As he said at the briefing, it was intended to be more of a parade than a fast ride, but the beauty of the drop off system is that even that allows for some fun when gaps inevitably open up.

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

Hence it makes more sense for Captain Slow and his nervous mate to be at the front with Captain Flashheart at the rear.

Some of the old British owners clubs practice a method where you always keep the bike behind you, in sight...So a bit of waiting and loitering is not unknown...Perhaps not really suitable for Monsters?

In my experience, that method just leads to frustration for those who want to move on a bit, and undue pressure for those who don’t, and unwanted responsibility for everyone to keep someone in their mirrors. The drop off system lets everyone relax and go at their own pace, knowing there’ll be someone waiting at the next junction. And and as long as people are sensible and courteous with their overtakes, it’s arguably the safest of the two methods.

A nice tweak to the drop-off is if the leader matches his pace with the bike in #2 slot, and then everyone gets a chance to admire the swan-like grace of the leader for a bit, and maybe even learn something.

A really nice bonus tweak is NOT flying up the INSIDE of another bike on the same side of the road in a 40 mph limit - I'm mentioning no names/bikes here, but you'll know who you are.

I thought it was a flawlessly run ride-out Sunday. Nice one JP.

[Mr Gazza]

Originally Posted by Black Bob

I thought it was a flawlessly run ride-out Sunday. Nice one JP.

I agree 100% with all you said.

Just in case anyone was in any doubt, I though both runs were BRILLIANT....

[J.P]

The Drop off system works well, when people pay attention at the briefing.
This year everyone did and I thank you all for it and it's just as much thanks to you lot that the ride went pretty darn well.

Over/undertaking of other bikes on the Rideout isn't encouraged if it has no meaningful reason to have been done. So don't.

I'm glad that my flawless (almost) planning, meant we had a pretty darn good route the whole way without too many of the snags that some parts of the country suffer from.

And yes, I was going sensibly.

I've led the National Rideout, and many others, for a good number of years and there's a lot of planning goes into them to make sure we all have a good ride. The benefit of being at the front is that no one can hear me scream when I get it wrong. That include's 'JP Shortcuts' or 'Green Laning' as it is somethimes known. Just remember, there's a better road just round the next corner. Yah.

Glad you all liked it and I'm happy to mail the route to anyone if they care, and want a Garmin .GPX file.

Otherwise, just follow me the next time....

[Albie]

Originally Posted by J.P

The Drop off system works well, when people pay attention at the briefing.
This year everyone did and I thank you all for it and it's just as much thanks to you lot that the ride went pretty darn well.

Over/undertaking of other bikes on the Rideout isn't encouraged if it has no meaningful reason to have been done. So don't.

I'm glad that my flawless (almost) planning, meant we had a pretty darn good route the whole way without too many of the snags that some parts of the country suffer from.

And yes, I was going sensibly.

I've led the National Rideout, and many others, for a good number of years and there's a lot of planning goes into them to make sure we all have a good ride. The benefit of being at the front is that no one can hear me scream when I get it wrong. That include's 'JP Shortcuts' or 'Green Laning' as it is somethimes known. Just remember, there's a better road just round the next corner. Yah.

Glad you all liked it and I'm happy to mail the route to anyone if they care, and want a Garmin .GPX file.

Otherwise, just follow me the next time....

You always do a good job J.P. Lets face it the 1st time we did it was much faster and far busier down the narrower lanes from Mayfield roundabout . We had horses and cyclists then. I was filming all the ride and was around 1 hour 20 and all very good except for the traffic lights which is always a slow junction in Hawkhurst and always will be. There were some really nice flowing roads there. I enjoyed it for sure.

Thanks J.P.