Group Therapy with John Hudson

This entry is part 15 of 22 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #2

APC Rally owner and organiser John Hudson knows a thing or two about how an adventure bike should work. Not only does he organise Australia’s premier adventure event, but he’s completed a few Australian Safaris. So when Homer wants to offer a few tips, we’re keen to listen. This issue he shares a few thoughts on basic setting up for adventure riding.

The friendly atmosphere of adventure riding is a huge, positive attraction to our sport.

A lot of trailriding groups are welcoming and happy, but with adventure riding, friendly and happy is only a starting point. When things get challenging, the strength of team feeling within a group is vital. Without it, someone’s possibly going to be left behind, injured, lost, or in any one of a dozen nasty situations.

Here’s a few things to think about that might help you become high on everyone’s list of invited riders.

Lucky dip

It’s always great for a group of riders who are about the same speed, on the same type of bike and who like the same type of terrain. People will probably gravitate to that kind of group with their regular riding, but for adventure riding, the unknown is a big plus, and that can go for riding partners as much as terrain. I see it a lot at the APC Rallies. We recommend individual riders form at least a partnership with one other rider, and that they stick together.

A group is better. Naturally, we’re thinking about safety. If a rider has a problem – not necessarily an injury or something cataclysmic – he has at least one other person to head to the next town and pick up spares, notify someone, or even just share knowledge to deal with the situation.

That’s straightforward enough.The thing is, a lot of these groups and partnerships are formed either at the start line or in a country pub at night during the Rally. So effectively, a whole batch of strangers are thrown together, and they have to get along.

Up to you

Now here’s the thing.

Under those conditions there are going to be a lot of theoretically incompatible riders sharing the ride of a lifetime, and that could be a recipe for some unhappy individuals. It doesn’t work out that way, though.

For starters, there’s a common bond among the riders. They all obviously love the same kind of riding (they’ve entered the same event), so there’s some shared ground straight away. They’re all trying to achieve the same thing using roughly the same resources and therefore facing the same challenges, and that gets them off to a good start.

Where things can get a little wobbly is if one rider is uncompromising or unwilling to adapt to circumstances surrounding his mates.

For instance, if there’s one rider in a group who’s constantly the slowest. He’s the one guy everyone always has to wait for. That can be very annoying for the rest of the group. But if that one slower rider constantly does ADVENTURE
his best to minimise that problem, he’ll be a very popular part of the team. He might make sure he’s always the first one away from a stop, or leave earlier than everyone else in the morning. That will very much reduce the time the others spend waiting for him, and the rest of the group will see that. They’ll afford that rider due respect for his efforts.

That rider is bound to have strengths in other areas, so although he’s a little slower than some in the group, he might be a gifted mechanic or a highly qualified medic who’s always the first to offer help.

Do you see what I’m getting at here? Don’t just sulk and think, “These guys are way too fast and they’re always annoyed at me.” Do your best to minimise that possible irritation, and try to make yourself a worthwhile member of the team in your area of strength. Don’t just sit back and hope it happens.

This kind of thing forges amazingly strong bonds and often leads to lifetime friendships. And of course, it makes for happy, friendly adventure-riding groups who achieve their goals, thanks to the contributions of the team members.

That’s one of the best things about adventure riding.

A problem shared

As I said earlier, there’s a real ‘band of brothers’ feel about motorcyclists of all disciplines, but for adventure riders the bond is far stronger than most. We need our riding friends so we can fully enjoy – and sometimes survive – our riding. So here’s a few tips to making yourself a valued member of any team:

• Make their problems your own – if someone’s forced to deal with something nasty, park your bike and deal with it too. Just because it’s not your bike doesn’t mean you should sit back and let the owner sort it out. Get in there and see what you can do to help. It’ll improve everyone’s level of optimism and hopefully arrive at a resolution much quicker.
• Offer encouragement – if someone’s struggling a bit, and you can see they’re doing what they can to deal with things, let ’em know, and let them know you appreciate what they’re doing to keep the group moving.
• Share and share alike – if things are going well for you and your bike’s faultless, don’t hold back on offering spares or set-up help to someone who may not be doing so well.

These might seem obvious, but if everyone in a group is offering this kind of positive outlook, imagine what a strong and unstoppable group it will be. And that’s what you should be thinking. You want to do your part in making your group or partnership a strong, happy, great group to be in. It doesn’t just happen by chance.

Lead from the front

A never-give-up attitude will create great memories. I once had a mate barrel roll his brand-new bike at high speed in the second hour of a threeweek trip. It all looked hopeless, but we laid out a tarp and just started to put all the pieces back together as best we could, one piece at a time. Four hours later we were all riding again. At the end of that trip three bikes were written off by the insurance company but we all made it to the end.

We had some luck that day, for sure, but people who never give up always give luck the opportunity to happen.

I get to lead a lot of rides, of course, but that doesn’t mean I’m not part of the team. A lead rider should still contribute to making the group a good one for all involved. Here’s a few key points I use for keeping the group happy and saving time when I’m the one calling the shots:

• Decide on a departure time for each day before the trip starts and make it realistic. Advise that riders really need to be at the bikes, packing gear and getting things sorted, at least 30 minutes before that.
• Fuel up at the end of each day whenever possible. Do bike checks at the fuel stops. It’s better to work on issues where compressors and clean work areas are available.
• All riders need to be advised of the minimum fuel range needed for the ride. Never turn up to a ride thinking the organiser got the distance wrong and you’ll be okay. If the organiser says 300km, you need to plan on being able to do 330km in case conditions are bad.
• Everyone should always fill up together. It doesn’t matter how much fuel you use or how much you reckon you’ll need. Your extra fuel might be needed by another rider. With fuel it’s better to look at it than for it.

• When you have a close group of mates a kitty for the fuel and food can save a heap of time on a trip. Whoever is the sweep gets $100 from each rider at the start of the day, then the sweep pays for all fuel and food from that kitty. The lead rider will often order food for everyone. That’s another big time saver. Taking turns paying the group fuel bill can often be very unfair.
• If you’re riding with a crew that has different levels of experience, sometimes a ‘sweep bag’ is a very good idea. It should contain a compressor, spare front and rear tube, jumper leads, patch kit, tow strap, first aid kit, sat phone and some tools for basic work. When the sweep duties change the bag is given to the new sweep. My worst turnaround distance to get gear back to a stricken rider was 280km. He’d used his own spare tube and had got another flat. Most experienced guys will be thinking, “I carry all that stuff anyway, so why the sweep bag?” Let’s just say not everyone carries the gear that they should.
• Start the ride with new tyres, ultraheavy-duty tubes and 24-28lbs of pressure. Your mates won’t mind changing tyres but will soon get angry if they find you’re using lightweight tubes and the one-hour stop could’ve been avoided.
• Don’t book pubs until lunchtime. That way, if you have dramas in the morning you can easily readjust your plan. A tight swag and a loose plan is the go.

See you next issue.

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