There were 9 of us in the group.....I need to go back to the drawing board for a method of getting a group that big through as quickly as possible – any suggestions?
Nine bikes is not a big group. Depending on:
(1) The combined (and individual) intelligence of the nine
(2) The number of booths available
(3) Whether the booths are manned or unmanned
(4) A number of other indefinable factors, including but not limited to: Wet tickets, dropped coins, recalcitrant barriers, the efficacy of the vehicle detector, suitability of the charge or credit card proffered up for use, lost tickets, wallet kept in a safe place inside a zipped pocket beneath two layers of clothing and a one piece wet suit, the speed of the vehicle(s) in front.... The potential list of horrors goes on....
I would estimate somewhere between five and ten minutes; hardly a lifetime.
If you want to do your utmost to speed the process, a lot of the success involves little more than common sense, often employed before the toll barrier is even reached.
(A) On the approach to the tolls, look at the lit up signs, choosing a lane most appropriate to the individual rider's needs
(B) Where possible, avoid all nine going lemming like down one lane. Divide yourselves between lanes. This requires a little thought, looking ahead and using a little imagination.
(C) As with fuel stops, dissuade those that go through first (this may well be you if you are chief posse leader) from dismounting, taking off their helmet and gloves, wandering off for a piss, ringing their mum, taking pictures and / or pressing wild flowers whilst they wait patiently for the couple of minutes it will take the rest of the posse to clear the barriers. Why? Because the later arrivals will all start to do the same and time will vanish.
(D) If the posse is unable to avoid (C) do not fight gravity, go with it. Take the opportunity to have a break. Then avoid having another break twenty minutes later and again ten minutes after that.
(E) Work out that, as bikers you'll be eschewing motorways and tolls, more often than not in favour of 'Great roads, mate'. The lost ten or so minutes that it might take to get eight semi-literate bikers you have chosen to ride with, through the tolls, will not be an every 10 minutes occurrence through every hour of your waking day. In short, ten minutes is nothing... Make up the time (if you really must) by getting out of your pits and setting off ten minutes earlier in the morning and / or spend 20 minutes less back slapping and marvelling at the wonders of motorcycling when you stop for lunch.... Save it for the bar in the evening, you'll get there quicker and be there longer.
knowing how tight some of them are there is no way they would pay....
High quality technical advice of this nature usually demands a £12 levy. Waived in the spirit of biker brotherhood and in the hope that (unlike your eight companions) you are not really a tight arse.
(I was in the car)
