Safety Issues on the County Line Ride

Shawn Burke sent this email out to several people this morning. I think he has several valid points about keeping the Tuesday/Thursday County Line Ride safer. I'm reposting this with his permission. -Clint


Hey guys –


I was thinking about 3 things in the pool this morning and I thought it would be worthwhile to see what you guys thought:


First, the Tuesday / Thursday group rides are getting REALLY big.

I want to say last night had 60-70 people start the ride.

I don’t think anyone wants a B group but it probably makes sense…

I saw a bunch of guys last night were short turning the course and then jumping back on…

I have no issue with that…it’s just makes it a little less safe when someone or a lot of people are “over their limits”.

Self-selection and ride speed will ultimately limit this but with the setup of the course…you can pop and then get back on again and again.



Second point is with the group so large, it would be REALLY nice to have some motorcycle / Vespa escorts.

In Panama City, some Harley guys (2 of them) go out with the group on their longer Saturday morning rides.

They provide safety, mechanical support and a phone if needed.

When I was there they actually paced some guys who got caught out by a stoplight back to the field.

With as well connected as we are, I think it would be REALLY easy to invite a few motorcyclists to accompany us for these rides.

The guys in PCB were older retired guys and they really like the “support” role and looked forward to it every week.

In my opinion, it is really only a matter of time until we have an incident / accident with a car.

While a motorcyclist or two will not eliminate the risk, having someone with flashers on and maybe a sign that says “Cyclists Ahead” helps to mediate it.


Last, about the route.

There was almost a wreck last night when Owen heard a guy with a very heavy accent yelling “stright”…yeah “stright” J

Owen thought that was right and he turned when the group went straight…he locked up but saved it at the last minute…it could have been a lot worse.

I think we need to make sure everyone knows the route and if we are skipping spoke 2 then a bunch of us should be yelling that from the overpass to the roundabout…

This is the 2nd time this has happened when I have been on the ride. Just for the record…I knew we going straight and it was not Sassy yelling J



Sorry for the length of this…I have nothing to think about in the pool but the black line so…this happens J

I know 1 and 3 will take care of themselves but having some escorts really would make things a LOT safer in my opinion…it implies “authorization” and I think cars will be more respectful.

Let me know what you guys think…and feel free to forward to anyone else if I missed someone.

Take care,


Shawn Burke
Velocity Multisport Coaching
http://vmscoaching.blogspot.com
shawn@vmscoaching.com
(904) 537-5294