Military Order of the Purple Heart Ride - 11 August 2018
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| Utica Harley-Davidson® - The dedication before the Ride. |
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| The dedication before the Ride. Don Ehre on the right.(head down) |
The dedication before the Ride. Mike Kraeger, Anna & Ed Weeks, Maria & Angelo Capelli, and Chris Ford. |
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| The dedication before the Ride. Vicki & Chris Ford. |
Before the ride. |
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| The line-up for the start. Notice that nobody is wearing rain gear? |
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| All these bike won't be shiney for long! |
Afterthoughts
While it was overcast at Utica Harley-Davidson®, weather radar showed a large storm to the South. Frank Wrisley and I put on our rain pants, but it looked like everyone else had decided to wait and see what happened. As you can see from the photos, there's no rain gear in sight. The route, which was never explained, took us down Route 5 through Utica to Route 5S. We barely made it 3 miles when it started to rain lightly, but instead of stopping the ride to let people dress in their rain gear, which many of us had, the leaders continued - right into a full-out rain storm which continued for the rest of the ride. It wasn't long before riders were abandoning the ride left & right, but the leaders continued on right through to Richfield Springs, where we were finally able to rest and put on our rain gear - over already soaked bodies - at least those of us that remained. I estimate that close to 2/3 of the original riders left the ride. What would have been a fairly nice ride (in good weather) turned into a chore. The route was good, the blocking was fine, but the lack of foresight concerning the weather turned the ride into a soggy grind.
- Why were there no preparations for rain? There was clearly a large storm cell just to the South of Utica, but it was never mentioned before the start.
- Why were there no communications between the lead Police car and the Ride Leaders?
- Why didn't the ride stop to allow rain gear to be put on?
- 1. Always check the weather radar before starting, and inform all riders of any possible adverse conditions.
- 2. If you have a Police escort, make sure you can communicate with them while the ride is in progress - not just before and at the end of the ride. This will enable you to make command decisions on-the-fly if need be.
- 3. Have dedicated riders within the body of the ride that can communicate any problems they encounter.
- 4. Dedicate one or more riders as Sweeps to ride at the rear of the group who can communicate problems they encounter, such as stragglers, mechanical failures, etc., so that help can be summoned or the speed of the group can be adjusted.
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