Tuesday, June 25, 2013

It's Not Failure, it's Feedback

The countdown continues.  Just three more days to our epic multi-bike trip to Colorado that I am calling "Six Bikes and a Diva".  My packing is done, only loading left to do.  Tomorrow Mr Man and I are heading to Zippo and Spyderman's house to load Zippo's bike and the truck.

This is my third attempt at a large group trip.  The first one ended shortly after it started when my transmission attempted to run away from my bike in Roswell, NM.  The second trip was completely re-planned in the middle of the trip because what I organized was a hot rolling mess but we finished and had a great time.  Each trip has taught me new things that I hope will help this trip be successful.  so what have I learned so far?

1.  Democracy has no place in a motorcycle line.  There should be a leader who is In Charge while on the road.  This person should be in front.  Dinner time once we are at our destination is the appropriate place for people to have an opinion.

2.  Someone should be In Charge of planning the trip start to finish.  This does not have to be the same person as above.  In our case, it's not.  I am our Road Captain.  I plan the trips, make the rough route, choose the stops, book the hotels, and I dole out jobs to everyone else as I see fit.  Mr Man is our leader on the road.  He and I consult a great deal ahead of time about the route, the line order, where we are going to eat but...once we are rolling, his word is law and he is In Charge.

3.  Expectations are paramount.  Everyone has to understand when the trip is going to suck and when it's going to be fun.  Everyone should know when we'll be doing things together and when we are doing things on our own and what the goal of the trip is.

4.  My expectations should be realistic.  I need to really understand what everyone's limits are and route accordingly.  In a situation where I can't, I need to be upfront about what we are going to have to do in order to leave Texas.

5.  A good group trip must have something for everyone and not completely please any one of us.  It needs some nice roads for Mr Man and he also needs a day he can go off by himself and ride crazy miles really fast.  Spyderman and Zippo need moderate days and beautiful locals to bed down in as much as possible.  I need everything to go smoothly and nothing to blow up.  Union Jack and the Billy Goat Gruff are still a little unknown to me.  I suspect that Union Jack needs to ride with the group as a member and have the chance to stop and take pictures on occasion.  Although I don't know what the Billy Goat Gruff needs to have a successful trip, I bet I will when I'm done.

Just three more days and the adventure begins.  I'll have more lessons learned after this.  Hopefully, I'll also have a wonderful group trip to tell stories about.

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