Then, there's California. In California, on a beautiful Saturday morning, traffic can be a nightmare. and it becomes nearly impossible to keep a group together. If the group is to actually make the destination, this is what happens...
It's noteworthy that there are 6 or so bikes in front of Paul, who's Go Pro is recording this adventure. I'm behind him and there are about 6 bikes behind me. So, there are more than a dozen bikes (in a group) splitting lanes with traffic to get to our destination. The staggered formation has gone the way of the Dodo in California. What would happen after about 10 minutes of this is that we would need to cross over 3 lanes of traffic to hit our exit. When the lead bike finds an opening, he goes. Others follow as best the can and try to keep up. Cars don't play nice. They are pissed off that they are stuck in this mess. They will shut down any gap that a motorcycle can fit into in a heart beat. This makes for a bit of chaos as there are now bikes splitting every lane on the highway until they all make their way off to the exit. In a group with sport bikes, adventure bikes and touring bikes, some will be able to split traffic faster and the group will fracture. The odds are very low that the group will get to its destination together. Everyone must know the route and everyone must be prepared to go it alone and meet up at the destination. Making this a little better is the Bluetooth headset. At least with that, some of the group can stay together. Plan better you say? The hell I say. We looked at several routes. All of the routes into Long Beach were jammed. Every route would produce the same result. If you want to do group riding in California, stay away from any populated area, you just don't stand a chance of staying together, or if you do, it will take a very very long time to get where you're going. Today's route:
All California to date. Whoops I didn't turn off the point connector.
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