I've seen and heard lots of lost rider stories. The usual cause is guys getting into a give-er race/chase mode, wherein not letting the guy ahead get even a bike length away from you completely obliterates any recollection that someone is behind you - until you stop and wonder what happened to him and why he isn't behind you. God bless competitive egos. I've seen stop-at-intersection rules and rotating person-signpost methods that work ok if done consistently. As for oncoming traffic, the finger count is the sled method and the back-pointing thumb is intuitive enough for unaccustomed people or for those who have brain-numbness from excessive trail pounding.
Brake lights and a big slowdown are the best warning I know for telling the guys behind you there's a nasty on the trail. It's a physical message because you actually get in the guy's way and make him slow down. Now, if competitive egos make him blast by you, it's time to explain to him that racing is not always good, you slowed down for a reason, and you'd rather not watch him endo etc and scrape him up off the ground. One time an unexpected attempted pass on a mountain switchback almost put a guy over the edge - the passer, not the passee. Would've been copter-medics paraplegic time. God bless competitive egos...
I think oncoming and lost riders are just perpetual problems that will never really have a solution, just varying degrees of mitigation. Call me a cynic, but I believe this will ring true with a lot of folks.
Both!! :ugg: and :flame:
If you're gonne race, make it clear before the ride starts that you're dumping anyone who can't keep up, so they don't feel bad when lost and left to continue their own ride. Of course the ones who do the dumping generally blame the lost people for not keeping up and have no guilt over it, unless a smidgen of responsibility for the group peeks over the left shoulder and outshouts the ego gremlin on the right shoulder.
Flaming over now. :cool: There's good points in the methods mentioned in this thread.