Riding in a pack

I have not had the experiace of riding in a pack or an opportunity to do so, on Sunday will be my first. I am going to ride in the 29th annual SLO County Toy Run. From what I have heard over a thousand motocyclest take part in this event. Does anybody have any tips or advice for riding in such a large group? I will be honest, riding in a group for the first time is kind of intimidating.

Try to stick with the sponsor group (HOG,MC or Shriner's) they know where they are going and will have the most organized ride up at the front of the pack! Arrive early and register and be ready when they are and stick with them & don't downshift to slow down people behind you are watching for brakelights! Don't worry to much go with the flow you should be fine
Good Luck!

Personally I don’t do large pack riding, 8 to10 good friends at the most. My advice would be keep both hands on the handle bars don’t try to wave at everyone along the way and pay close attention to the guy in front of you.

If ya ain't sure - either run at the front or at the back and stay out of the middle. Some of those guys and gals even try talking on a cell phone just like the cagers do. And running that tight is scary enough. I get about two big group runs in a year with my ABATE buds and so far have seen some crazy stuff.
I think the worst time I had was with some Legion riders on a poker run from one post to another (5 in all) and by the time I got back over half of those guys were about 3 sheets in the wind. The ride was a ball but drinkin and drivin don't cut it with me. I've lost too many good friends that way.

One of the most important things to do if you're pack riding is to learn and use hand signals.
http://www.mwsbike.com/hand_signal

Keep a comfortable distance behind the rider in front of you, pay attention to whats going on at the front of the pack, if you think the guy behind you is too close,signal for him to slow down.

Basically, be aware of whats going on around you and if the pace is too quick for you slip to the back of the pack.
Have fun...stay safe:devil:

Thank you all, for the advice. I took it to hart and followed what you guys said. And you guys were right, at time it was chaos, some people didn't know how to ride, and other times people rode my ass. The Ca. Highway Patrol and Sheriffs Dept. blocked traffic to let us though the turn signals, but one guy, two bikes in front of me stopped for a red light anyways. The bike in front of me almost ran right into him. I kept my distance which gave me time to slow down. This whole ride was awsome, for the frist time I felt like I was truly apart of the motrcycle community. To be surrounded by hundreds of people that loved to ride was amazing.Thanks for helping to make this experiance a great one.

Also experience will teach you that sometimes you have to think like the other guy and second guess what he's gonna do.
After 40+ years as a pro driver, I can ussally fiqure out what the other guy is going to do before he does it, then use a what if secranio to avert his stupid move before he does it. Use to drive all day long thinking about some of the things that could happen on the road and then plan a move to counter it. Do it often enough and it becomes almost second nature to react without thinking when you have to.
Must've worked cause I'm still here after 5 million miles of wheeling all over the country.