Drive alone or as part of a group?

[Pete Underhill]

I've come to accept that for me, to drive alone, as opposed to being part of a group/convoy, is more rewarding in more ways than one.

Firstly, I find I can read the road, spotting hazards and assessing the ever changing circumstances in a more focussed manner when alone.

When travelling with others, no matter how minor the connection, there is always an awareness, a responsibility if you like, which takes away a my connectedness (if that's a real word) with the drive.

Second, my appreciation of the sensation of 'making progress' is heightened when I dictate the speed of travel. Driving in convoy means I'm part of a whole and therefore not all decisions are my own. Take the situation when a group can become separated at a junction. There's a whole heap of anxiety just there - pressure to catch up with the rest of the group and also feel the responsibility for holding up any others that may be behind.

Third, with my driving, I strive to improve, explore and develop, safely. I feel I can get more from a solo drive, possibly with an experienced observer to make qualified observations from the passenger seat. However, a group drive, whilst exhilarating for different reasons, I seldom take anything away from it. I learn less in a group, logically.

 

Don't get me wrong. I do like the sense of belonging that occurs when travelling as part of a group. The attention it creates, the admiring looks, the cheery waves from the farmer with his ruddy complexion bouncing along in his tractor, the giggles from the girls at clocking off time at the munitions factory.... Sorry, I slipped into 'The Dandy' universe for a minute.

I'm not a total anti-socialite, but what I'm saying is I get more long term benefit/enjoyment from a solo drive than a group one.

 

What are the thoughts of the good People of BlatChat?

[Mort]

When I was in the RAF I smoked, as did most others. We all smoked at the rate of the heaviest smoker. When I was into motorbikes, and my mates and I went out as a group, we seemed to ride a lot faster than was wise for the conditions. In both cases a crowd mentality kicked in that overrode normal behaviour.

 

It seems likely that the same thing would happen in a group of Sevens, even with the best of intentions to do otherwise by all concerned. Your point about catch-up is valid, and would, I suspect, exacerbate this behaviour.

 

I enjoy the camaraderie of being in a group, but it only needs one member to develop "little red horns" (which could be me) and the others will follow suit. For that reason I prefer to go out alone too, but I still get a buzz when I find myself unexpectedly meeting, or tagging in with, another Seven - but I tend to give a flash and a wave, and break off after a few minutes, which seems to make such moments all the more special.

[TobyCoulson]

Not overly fussed. Happy to do either.

[Red SLR]

I think your problem is you are trying to learn all the time. You have to accept there is a time for learning, and a time for just enjoying.

 

The best drivers should always be able to adapt. For me group driving is generally not the time to start honing your skills - because the others are just out for fun - and of course their skill set might well be different to yours.

 

Also, as I think you have now found group driving can end up getting quite rapid - on one of my first convoy drives with this club I was at the back and I was seriously thrashing the car just to keep up - I don't think I could have gone much faster for about 80% of the drive. The guy at the front was just driving "swiftly" not fast - but by the time the lag had filtered down 10-15 cars I was really finding it hard to keep up. Looking back now, and if it was today, I would have just dropped back and arrived 5 minutes later - but when you are young you don't really think that way.

 

I suspect you are older than I was at the time - and I probably think in a similar way to yourself now.

 

But that all said, when I am sat in my care home in 40 years time I reckon I will look back on that day and remember the fun rather than the smoking brakes at the end of the run 😬

 

[DJ.]

I can see what you mean, the driver at the back of a group will always lose more time at obstacles whether they are busy junctions or slow vehicles. There is then pressure on that driver to catch up either because they worry about the guy in front waiting at a junction or because they don't know where they are and feel lost.

 

I have found that a group run where all the drivers have the route in the form of a satnav itinerary can give the best of both worlds. The slower drivers don't feel like they are holding up the quicker ones and there shouldn't be any pressure to do a dodgy overtake, because the driver knows exactly where he needs to go and will eventually catch up with the others for a chat wherever they decide to stop.

 

Duncan

[Ozzy]

But that all said, when I am sat in my care home in 40 years time I reckon I will look back on that day and remember the fun rather than the smoking brakes at the end of the run toothy smiley

 

Problem is: Most likely you won't remember a thing, not least of which, who you are 😬

 

[Dave Allen]

I am happy with either but a small group (not over 4) is good.

 

 

[Pete Underhill]

RedSLR, you make a fair point. Differentiating between a recreational drive and an educational one is one way of looking at it.

So far I've only driven the Seven with the company of one other car, but my main experience of driving in any reasonable quantity of cars is with the TVRCC and the HPC, two very different sets of dynamics (and never combined). I'm 54 by the way.

[DDubya]

Pete, Nick.......

 

Miserable buggers

 

Nige, not long to go then 😬

 

Danny

[Pete Underhill]

DDubya, I resemble that remark!

 

[andy couchman]

Always put the slowest car/driver at the front and the fastest car/driver at the back. We so often do it the other way round...

[leon]

I love a group drive (and haven't had one for 18 months plus)

 

If you feel uncomfortable with how close to your personal abilities you are running at then peel off from the blat if necessary by pulling in and informing the following driver (s).

 

I think position in a group is irrelevant as the whole point of travelling in a group is the way traffic/obstacles are dealt with. I have had the pleasure of making progress with members who know how to Blat, a particular skill, which enables moves that are impossible when not in a group. Eg.

 

Car 3 in a group overtakes a member of the great unwashed with plenty of space for him to see through a left hand bend from his position on the opposing carriageway. I (car 4) however cannot assume his road position given the oncoming bend. If he though (in true BLAT mode) stays on the opposing carriageway and leaves a right indicator signal active I know that I can take an aggressive line into the oncoming left bend - NOT (and this is very important) because he is a lifelong friend or someone that I was in the Forces with, but simply that he wouldn't stay in the oncoming traffic carriage if he was about to crash into another vehicle coming in the opposite direction.

 

It requires no trust or knowledge of the driver in front.

Combine this with always keeping the car behind you in sight (and if they aren't visible slow to allow them to rejoin contact, as the car leading you should do the same).

 

I would never want to arrive anywhere on public roads with smoking brakes purely because the speeds involved must be phenomenal. I have however group Blatted 600 miles in a day and never found myself in that situation even with a mix of cars from 250bhp to Fireblades. My 7 runs about 160bhp.

 

The collective in this case is more effective than the individual, whether you enjoy solo more is down to choise but you should learn to drive in a group if you are intent on improving your enjoyment.

 

There is nothing like a blat.

 

Edited to koreckt spoolang.

 

Edited by - leon on 21 Jun 2014 18:21:36

[eagle]

I can relate to this thread from my first group blat a few years ago, so I can understand the feeling of being in the slowest car and being the most inexperienced. I didn't think it was an issue until I was having to try hard to stay in eye contact with the group as I had no sat nav and no knowledge of the route / destination. It finished with me not particularly enjoying the trip.

 

However, Leon makes a lot of good points, especially the one about understanding car positioning and anticipation. I have to say though, leading a pack is more about mirror watching than normal driving - a bit too much for my liking.

 

Interesting post.

[Mort]

Quoting DDubya: 

Pete, Nick.......

 

Miserable buggers

 

 

Danny

 

Not miserable, just horribly sensible Danny. Hitting a telegraph pole on a motorbike in my youth, and rolling an MGB GT end over end before seat belts became compulsory were valuable learning experiences. 😶‍🌫️

[BBL]

I enjoy both, as each has its own positive and negative points.

 

Two weeks ago, I drove 500 miles alone on Friday to join a group for a 250-mile blat on Saturday, and then drove 600+ miles alone again on the return using a different route. All three days were enjoyable for me.

[AntonyH]

Pete, I get where you're coming from - driving in a group can be present a whole bunch of different pressures, if you let it and if the group lets it. It's easy to get fixated on the car in front and stop concentrating on the road conditions and your own driving.

 

Personally I find five or six cars just about manageable, any more and it can get a bit much. Whenever we do a group blat we try to provide as much information as possible beforehand, so each car has the route notes (google maps link, TomTom file, written route notes, etc) and key destinations / waypoints we could regroup at if necessary.

 

We also run to the agreement that if the car behind is dropping back, you drop back to match. That way each car is "responsible" for the one behind only, so the leader only needs to worry about the second car, not all of them. It makes following much less stressful too as you know you don't have to keep the leader in sight.

 

Obviously after major junctions and the like there's no harm in trundling a little way, or stopping safely, to ensure everyone's together.

 

It also helps to pick the more remote roads, where possible, with lighter traffic and fewer junctions (less chance of going the wrong way!).

 

If you have a decent system, as a group, it can be more fun than a solo drive.

 

[Pete Underhill]

Interesting ideas AntonyH. The subject of blatting practice deserves a thread all of its own. 'Blatiquette'?

As I've said, as yet I'm unfamiliar with Seven blats. The TVR sorties I've been on, particularly the annual Cornwall jaunts, we'll use PMR radios to communicate through the group and the group will attempt to travel as a unit, however, on 'Dawn Raids' or even the Tour of Britain with the HPC, you might only encounter another car at tea stops and by chance during the drive. There must be any number of systems to add to and enrich a drive. It might be worth a search to see if they're discussed anywhere.

[John Alston]

What an interesting thread It seems to me these days the art of convoy driving has all but been lost. I have had many an enjoyable drive in motorcycles convoys over the years but my recent experiences in car convoys have been less than enjoyable. There are only two basic rules to driving in a convoy or group.

1. The leader must stick rigidly to or below the speed limit.

2. It is essential you keep the car BEHIND in sight at all times.

By sticking to these very basic rules, no one will be left behind and those needing a quick high speed blat have only to drop to the rear of the group to satisfy their needs. Just remember those in the front are slowest and those at the rear much much faster

Enjoy your driving [8)

[Jonathan Kay]

Quoting Pete Underhill: 

It might be worth a search to see if they're discussed anywhere.

Try this thread

 

Jonathan

[TobyCoulson]

Quoting John Alston: 

1. The leader must stick rigidly to or below the speed limit.

2. It is essential you keep the car BEHIND in sight at all times.

However often the complete reverse happens and ends up with a very fragmented group and a lot of unhappy campers.

[AntonyH]

Quoting TobyCoulson: 

Quoting John Alston: 

1. The leader must stick rigidly to or below the speed limit.

2. It is essential you keep the car BEHIND in sight at all times.

However often the complete reverse happens and ends up with a very fragmented group and a lot of unhappy campers.

 

Yes. I've been a tail-end Charlie once; we were travelling right on the limit of how quickly I could think, given my brain was split between the act of driving and the need to keep the car in front in sight, with no knowledge of our route should I get dropped. Not particularly pleasant or safe.

 

Since then, any time it's someone else's lead, I take plenty of time beforehand to review the route on google (inc street view at key junctions) as I find that helps enormously, by fixing images in my head.

[SBD762]

What a brilliant insight and an excellent post by Pete Underhill.

 

I too (I think) drive a lot better, more aware, more controlled, when enjoying a Blat in a convoy of 1!

 

That said I like the feel, the look, the sound, the spectacle and the comaradery of more than one 7 in convoy. The more the better for me, a group of 7's out together makes the belonging to a club the appeal.

 

As suggested, a "blatiquette" for convoys would be good ....... However I fear any "agreed" format would soon be broken.

 

Sadly by me probably!

 

Ah well, can't have it both ways. I think Pete's take on it is right though

[john aston]

Quoting John Alston: 

What an interesting thread It seems to me these days the art of convoy driving has all but been lost. I have had many an enjoyable drive in motorcycles convoys over the years but my recent experiences in car convoys have been less than enjoyable. There are only two basic rules to driving in a convoy or group.

1. The leader must stick rigidly to or below the speed limit.

2. It is essential you keep the car BEHIND in sight at all times.

By sticking to these very basic rules, no one will be left behind and those needing a quick high speed blat have only to drop to the rear of the group to satisfy their needs. Just remember those in the front are slowest and those at the rear much much faster

Enjoy your driving [8)

 

Bloody hell I thought you were me but I'd forgotten I 'd posted. Nurse...

[k8rum]

There is loads written about this in the motorbike world - one such system is the " drop off system" which is a very safe system IF everyone adheres to the program....

Personally I don't like riding or driving in groups as there are usually too many skill sets in play.

I prefer to ride/ drive the road rather than trying to beat the traffic or the vehicle in front.

I am lucky where I live as there are plenty of quiet roads & some fantastic views if you know where to go

Guy

[FramerateUK]

I have to say, I much prefer driving on my own.

 

I've driven in a group a few times lately, both in the 7 and my Megane 250, and on both occasions I felt a little uncomfortable with the speed involved.

 

I'm not a particularly fast driver on the road. I'll stick my foot down for certain sections but I'll quite happily drive along at a sensible speed. I prefer to get my speed kicks on a track and I find the bumpy nature of our roads unpleasant at high speed!

 

While it's nice to be in a convoy for a while, I'd rather just agree to meet people for lunch instead of feeling that they're waiting for me to catch up.