Group Riding

Responsibility Of Ride Captain?

Only some groups have road captains. Some folks just trust each other and wing it. Others ride far behind and don't trust anyone.

Bottom line, it's the rider's responsibility to be careful and not hurt anyone and know where they are supposed to be.

One bad rider can hurt a lot of people.

I suggest you stagger and have 3 to 5 bikes between you and the guy next to you. Double that for the guy in front of you.

But of course that never works in a large parade and people get on top of each other.

Ride safe.

thank You Very Much....good Informative Answer.

Even though it's against my better judgement to enter into this conversation...
I feel I must.
I have been a Road Captain in various organizations for years.
To answer the question of responsibilities....
The RC is responsible for making sure his/her riders know as much about riding safety as he/she can.
A competent RC will stress that all riders know the basic hand signals, and follow a safe distance riding formation. IE: staggered formation, with 2 seconds between you and the rider ahead of you.
If you can not judge 2 seconds, use this method. As the rider ahead of you passes a marker such as a shadow or tree or an over pass, count 1001, 1002. If you have reached the spot before 1002 slow down, if your are at 1004 speed up...
Also I try to get everyone to either do a safety check themselves or have one have one of my co-captains help them , to ensure that their bikes are road ready. I try to discourage anyone from riding with us on bald or low air tires.
Maintain the same speed as your RC. Going slower and making gaps in the line invites cages to move in. This is dangerous because both the cager and the rider tend to get nervous when we mix...Any number of things could happen.
The idea for staggering the riders is to allow a safe place to go if you need to "get the fuck out the way!"
A good RC knows where he is going and won't get you lost or ride you into a construction zone with stop and go traffic, or lead you down a gravel and sand road...unless that's where you are supposed to be going.
In my organization...I have a contact number to contact your family or whoever you designate in the event of an accident...I also have all of my riders insurance info and Dr. numbers. If needed I can contact their insurance and arrange for their bike to be towed to a safe impound. I can contact next of kin or Dr's to direct them to hospitals or where ever needed.....
I don't allow ass holes in my parade...if you can't follow my ride rules...I'll politely ask you to leave the group.
I do not want to have anyone hurt on one of my rides, and in all of the years of leading as an RC I still have a spotless record of no accidents.....
I tend to stay out of unorganized rides. I do participate in a couple in my area because of the cause they represent...but it has so many hot dogs and ass holes riding in them that the groups safety is totally compromised...and we are talking rides with anywhere from 2500 to 4000 in them. I do not RC in these rides, because I can not control the attitude of that many bikers...better to be able to leave if I feel unsafe than to be responsible for a 500 bike pile up....
Always worry about your own safety first...if you see something unsafe. try to communicate it to the RC or his/her wing riders...
That's a brief idea of what the responsibilities of a Road Captain entail....
There are a lot of behind the scene things , like charting routes, knowing where rest areas and gas stops are, setting up rides and meeting locations, knowing where the eating establishments are, and so on that the group never sees...but they appreciate that the RC does it all so they can just have a great and safe ride....

I'm Impressed