Hand signals while riding when your the leader

[KDX220rm]

Man, it just irritates me when I come upon several riders and the leader doesn't let you know he has riders behind him.

When I am leading a group, I always slow down when approaching someone from the other direction and give them a finger count of how many riders are behind me.

Last weekend I came across two incidents where I meet a group of riders from the other directions and the leader gave me no form of indications that he had several riding buddies behind him and I almost ran into one. :p

When you are the leader, use good riding etiquette for the others that are on the trails. :yeehaw:

 

[KiwiBird]

That bugs me too - it doesn't take much effort to signal how many riders are behind you and if the last one holds up a closed fist then you know there's no more.

 

[Rodzilla]

Amen, I don't know how many times I've signaled riders behind (or more common that I'm the final rider :think: ) and just had the other guys wave.


Grrrrr.

 

[Camstyn]

What about if you're in a group of like 30 people? You can't possibly show him 30 fingers without crashing into him.. :)

 

[JWW]

If Im with a large group I will flash 5 fingers a few times. I usually count on the guys behind me to count it down when they get to the end.

 

[Ol'89r]

Originally posted by KDX220rm


When you are the leader, use good riding etiquette for the others that are on the trails. :yeehaw:

Every rider in the group should do this. Not only does it show the passing riders how many riders are behind you it also helps keep your group together. You have to be careful when passing quad riders though. Especially if you are the next to the last rider in the group and you have to signal with only one finger. :eek: Be sure to use the right one. :) :) :thumb:

 

[dirtybkr]

It's funny , sleders around here will use the count down method but I have never seen bikers do it . I do , but I have never talked about it with the guys I ride with ( soon to change ) .

 

[RM_guy]

I'm guilty of not signalling how many riders are behind me...never actually thought about it. It sounds like a real good idea and I'll do it from now on. The only problem is if the oncoming traffic doesn't understand the signal. At least I'd be doing my part.

 

[Treejumper]

Most of the trails i ride you cant use hand signals. The trails are too tight so by the time you see someone coming your looking for a place to swerve into.

 

[zio]

I know of only once when I didn't do it- on my very first trail ride. I picked up pretty quick, though- he raised up 5 fingers, I waived back. :thumb: After passing 4 more riders, I realized he just signaled me. They were probably wondering where the other 4 guys behind me were :confused:

 

[a454elk]

RM, that's cause you are always the LAST guy, don't worry bout it!:):) Our groups are usually more than 10 so doin a no hander is common for our rides when signaling the number of guys behind us!:thumb:

 

[KDX220rm]

You guys are a riot. I am laughing at some of the comments made.

I learned from a great group of guys on proper signals. I am not foundly of being the group leader for fear of crashing headon with another rider coming around a blind corner, so I enjoy being the sweep man and riding in the rear and giving a close fist or zero sign indicating I am the last rider.

The leader knows if I don't show up, something has happened between him and myself. Most likely conclusion is that I got lost. :eek:

 

[oldguy]

I guess I should start signaling riders as they pass me but that means I would have to go out and count the number on the starting line. then I would have to keep track everytime I get lapped how many do it. Then I also would have to have a rear view mirror so I knew someone was coming up to pass me again so I could let him know how many other riders haven't had the chance to lap me yet.
Of course on really bad days I do sometimes encounter many riders going the other way and they all wave at me to warn me about those following them- those guys along side the track are usually pretty helpfull also with those flags and things as they also warn me about oncoming traffic

 

[High Lord Gomer]

Everyone that is going to DW needs to remember to slap Oldguy on the helmet as you pass so that he can keep count, ok?

I better tape up my hands for this one!

 

[bsmith]

a no hander is common for our rides

I heard these no handers are typically due to an operator error :p

 

[RM_guy]

Actually on trail rides where I’ve led we seem to loose people. I always look back to make sure the 1 or 2 guys behind me are still there. I expect them to make sure the 1 or 2 behind them are still there, so on and so forth. When we finally get to a stopping place there is only 2 guys behind me. Now I know I’m not that fast so not everyone was doing their job. How do you guys handle that one?

 

[a454elk]

We drop bread crumbs and hope for the best!

You are 100% correct smith!

 

[2001yz250]

Originally posted by KDX220rm
Hand signals while riding when your the leader

That leaves me out. :(

 

[Rodzilla]

I realize that many of thes posts were intended to have a grin factor built in :) but just in case someone doesn't know, the proper signal for "More than 5" is five fingers above the forehead .

Learnt that from my mtn. bikin' buddy, course the one finger salute to those passing me is entirely different! :confused:

Rod, the last in line...

 

[slo' mo]

I honestly never knew there were hand signals when trail riding. I am usually too busy trying to get around Oldguy. :)

 

[Jamir]

Hey Rick, if you ever see me in the woods, I will give you the finger no matter how many riders are behind me!

 

[KDX220rm]

Hey RM_guy,

That is the policy I like to use also and I mention it to the guys riding that they are responsible for the rider behind them and so forth and to make sure they know where we turned off and if they get out of site, stop and wait a minute and if they don't show up, turn around and go see what happen. This should be repeated until the leader finally figures out no one is behind him and he turns around.

I have came to the conclusion that more than 5-6 riders, its almost impossible for everyone to stay in line.

 

[ktmboy]

Oldguy makes a great point: after a couple guys pass me I have no idea how many are behind me, so I just guess!:)

 

[mackay]

I'm the same..I didn't know about the hand signal thing other than using it to warn the riders BEHIND about turns or stopping....so number of fingers = number of riders behind, 5 fingers above the forehead means lots behind, last rider closed fist indicates all have passed.....are there any more?? :think:

 

[fatty_k]

Usually I try to give hand singnals to how many peoply are behind me, but they just end up waving back at me like I was waving at them. Usually there is only like 2 or 3 ppl behind me so its easy to confuse that with a wave. but that one finger salute might come in handy on my next ride. :)