The Corner-man System
This system can be used with as little as 2 riders or as many as you like. It allows you to go out on an organised ride without actually knowing where you are going and you don’t have to use any maps.
The system also allows fast riders and slower riders to travel at their prefered speed without affecting other riders. It’s a great way to spread riders out and not travel in each others dust all day.
LEAD RIDER:
The lead rider is in charge of the ride and determines the direction and stopping points along the route. The lead rider is often seen wearing a green vest. The lead rider places corner-men along the route as markers for change of direction, hazards and or possible confusion spots for the trailing riders.
SWEEP (Rider and or Support Vehicle Driver):
The designated sweep (last) rider or support vehicle driver in the group. If the sweep is a rider he is often seen wearing an orange vest. They are in charge of sweeping the route, waving corner-men on, back-tracking for missing riders, helping with broken bikes and rider injuries. They are also responsible for informing the lead rider of problems. The lead rider and the sweep are kept in contact via UHF radios (when in range).
CORNER-MAN:
The corner-man must stay at the position the lead rider placed them at until the sweep arrives and waves them on. All riders approaching the corner-man will see the direction of the bike and go that way. If someone misses a corner the corner-man will inform the next rider or the sweep (whichever arrives first) and that rider or sweep will chase down the missing riding and return to the waiting corner-man.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE CORNER-MAN:
You must stay at the corner until the sweep waves you on, failure to do this results in the whole system breaking down. Sometimes you can be waiting on a corner for a long time due to rider and bike issues. The system is foolproof as long as the corner-man does his job.
RIDER:
Riders just start the ride and follow the corner-men until they reach the lead rider. The lead rider will then make them a corner-man. See Corner-Man above.
HOW IT WORKS:
When the lead rider determines a change of direction that could be missed or confused by trailing riders, they will stop and indicate to the rider behind him to become the corner-man at that point. The corner-man will then remain and signal to other riders the direction taken by the lead rider. The corner-man must remain at that point until he is given the signal (wave) from the approaching sweep to continue on.
THINGS TO KNOW:
# Always follow the trail in front of you, do not take any sidetracks, major or minor unless indicated by a corner-man.
# The corner-man must have his bike facing in the direction of where the lead rider continued on and also be in a viewable position to the trailing riders.
# Look before you cross a road, even if there is a corner-man there! They are not traffic controllers!
# The corner-man should count the riders as they pass by, when the sweep arrives the count should match the rider numbers that the ride started with. This also helps you to know when the sweep is coming and for you to be ready to move on and not hold the sweep up and in turn the entire ride.
# The corner-man does not have to be alone, 2 or more riders can be a corner-man.
# If you get lost, go back to the last place you saw riders or the corner-man… ride slowly and then wait. Don’t move again, someone will realise your lost/missing and back track to find you.