Sons of Confederate Veterans Motorcyclists
Suggestion for Group Riding

1. Run Leader chosen at the beginning of a ride by ranking SCV Mechanized Cavalry member has complete discretion and authority in general and should be afforded full respect, per rank, stamina, and familiarity with area. Other guest non SCV motorcyclists may participate in the ride, at the discretion of the ranking SCV Mechanized Cavalry member.

2. When breakdown or other problem occurs in which a rider drops out, only the last rider in line and any support vehicles will drop back to assist. Formation will continue on to destination or rest area, gas and food stop. In event formation makes a turn, new last rider drops out to wait; to indicate direction of turn to those who broke down. This enables pack to continue on leaving a trail for those catching up to follow. Only under EXTREME circumstances should entire formation pull off on shoulder of road, as this only causes panic, confusion and danger.

3. Lane choice on multi-lane highways:

a. The Run Leader has full discretion to judge the applicable traffic conditions, and his placement decisions should be followed until and if a new Leader is chosen.

b. Realizing that in-coming traffic can be deadly to us, the far right lane should be avoided in most cases, unless incoming traffic is light, or the group will be exiting themselves soon, and it is actually safer to be positioned for the exit.

c. As a general rule then, in a choice between right lane, middle lane, or one or more left fast lanes, the middle is preferable.

d. If the only choice is between a right and left lane, the right lane is preferable if, by maintaining the speed limit, we are still an impediment to faster traffic. The left lane, however, would be preferable as per 4b, if incoming traffic is dangerous, we do not need to exit soon, or if we are moving faster than most other traffic. After all, speed demons can always pass us on the right!

4. Staggered formation is preferred to side-by-side riding, to allow for a slot to which side of lane to be positioned in by the rider ahead of him regardless of whether that particular rider is positioned properly or not. Do not move to the left or right to fill a slot, travel forward in your lane. Riders should feel free to go single file if necessary on sharp turns, poor road conditions, or if poor visibility exists. No riders should remove themselves from formation except in the event of breakdown or emergency. And riders should always check with the rider ahead of them to make sure they are on the right side of the staggered formation. When the person in front of you corrects his position, you should move into it in the event of sudden slowing. Individual riders should determine their position and promptly correct it.

5. Lane changes should ideally be accomplished as follows: Leader riding in front signals; each rider in order repeats signal down line to last rider. Last Rider then makes lane change when it is safe to do so, blocking off the lane for the safety of those in front; Leader should only change lanes upon seeing lane secured, after remainder of group in order back to front has already changed lanes behind him.

6. It is recognized, however, that in emergency and stressful situations where time is of the essence, such as debris in the road; incoming traffic; about to miss our exit, etc. the lane change must be accomplished more quickly. The basic rule then is that each rider must PERSONALLY look over HIS shoulder BEFORE CHANGING POSITION, and not blindly follow others.

7. An alternate lane change method--for where there are many riders, and/or other traffic is heavy, Run Leader signals lane change, then second rider makes lane change, slows down, blocks existing traffic, and 3rd, 4th, etc. riders get in front of him so that 2nd rider now becomes last rider, run Leader continues to be first rider.

8. Each rider is also responsible to remember those individuals immediately beside, in front of, or behind him, and routinely glance to check on them in an on going fashion (e.g. to note mechanical problems on their bike or luggage about to fall off that they may not be aware of; to see if they have dropped back; to point out debris or ruts in their path, etc.).

Point out any possible debris. That signal should be passed down the line. Keep alert.

9. To signal Run Leader when problems develop any other rider who has perceived a true problem may break out of formation and go up to the front in an empty lane to tell the Run Leader, but an unsatisfactory reason may be cause for discipline.

10. For incoming traffic merging into our lane, the general rule is to ride in a reasonably tight formation so that the group is not split up. (This may not be possible with many bikes, of course.) Otherwise, each rider should yield to other traffic in all situations by falling back or speeding up in order to create a suitable opening for the type vehicle, keeping in mind when more than one vehicle is let into a group we should avoid any single rider being caught between two vehicles.

11. No obscene gestures, cursing, or threats should be made to other motorists for any reason.

12. Riders should anticipate speeding up to make lights, or perhaps even coming to a complete stop on a yellow light, as per Leader's discretion. RUNNERS SHOULD ALSO ROUTINELY STOP ALL TRAFFIC AT ALL INTERSECTIONS ON ALL SIDES IF SAFE TO DO SO, TO ALLOW THE PACK TO PROCEED UNIMPEDED IN FUNERAL PROCESSION FASHION. Wave to approaching motorist to make sure they see you, flash lights, smile, tell them it will just be a moment, etc.

13. National runs should be fully planned in advance, with route maps showing rest and gas tops, indicating hook up point for various parties, to be provided by the hosting members.

14. Before moving out Run Leader should wait to make sure that the whole group is ready to roll out. The loud call of "Mount-up" is a good idea.

15. Members with walkie-talkies or CB radios should contact ranking SCV Mechanized Cavalry member, and make them available per his disposition.

16. For Toll Roads, formation should pull just beyond toll gate until whole group is through and then formation can pull out together. Run Leader should anticipate paying for the whole pack at one time, if possible, so formation can pull out together. 

17. If anyone notices something wrong with a bike, ranking SCV-Mechanized Cavalry member should be notified at beginning of run, or at any stop that it next becomes evident, to repair if practical.

18. In closing, it is best to ARRIVE ALIVE, EVEN IF LATE! Those with farthest to go, say on the way back from a group function, who are anxious to make time, should still realize that we all need to get a good meal under our belts, sleep, etc. in order to be at top capacity and safe.

All these suggestions are a matter of degree. Different people think differently. "We are going to make mistakes".

DEFINITIONS

1. Run Leader: Motorcyclist riding at the front of the column as chosen at the beginning of the run by the ranking SCV Mechanized Cavalry member, primarily because he knows where we are going, how to get out of a place, how to get into a place, etc. Therefore, he may be a guide only and need not be a SCV member.

2. Ranking SCV Mechanized Cavalry Member: Member present holding the highest rank. In the case of a tie, example: two corporals, or two captains, etc. the person with the earliest emission date, as demonstrated by the smaller member # is the ranking member (in #10 versus #27, #10 would be the ranking corporal).

Question, Comments, Suggestion For Improvement, please submit to Colonel Kevin Stone.

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