On Saturday, April 25th, the Bakersfield Harley Owners Group hosted the first ever Road Captain’s Training Ride. HOG welcomed 16 Road Captains and 4 Road Captain candidates. The purpose of this ride was twofold; one; we wanted to pre-ride the course to the Reagan Presidential Library and, two: we wanted to give a chance for some candidates to get some training in regards to group riding.
Before leaving, each candidate was assigned to an experienced Road Captain to mentor them for the day. Les Peters worked with John Cleveland; Rick Hodges worked with Owen Freeman; Richard West worked with Hal Onsum and Bobby Rowland worked with Gary Crawford.
Our ride could not have been more successful. We had the 4 candidates working in lead and sweep positions all the way to the Library. We stopped a couple of times to switch the positions so everyone could get a chance to do some sort of RC duty. The mentor RC’s explained the duties of each position and when we changed, we discussed the last portion of the ride and critiqued the segment.
We got to see how a decision at the front of the pack affects every rider in the group…sometimes in a “not so good” way. The training also reinforced some of the basics of group riding that many of us take for granted or flat out forget.
Once at the Reagan Library, our group split up. Some of us stayed and toured the grounds while 12 of us left and headed toward Santa Barbara for lunch/dinner. Our group continued the training to Santa Barbara and then rode home via Hwy 166.
I thought this was a great ride but what I heard on the way home while “splitting up” made my day. One of our riders told me over the radio, “This was the best ride I’ve ever had.”
I couldn’t agree more. We rode just over 400 miles and learned a lot. I hope to hold another Road Captains training ride at the end of the summer. This ride provides an opportunity to get together and share the great experience of group riding while at the same time, learn more to make HOG rides that much better.
Dave Fisher
Director