Good reminder for those of us that ride to see...

I never ride without a helmet, jacket, gloves, and boots. I've been around a few times when people have gone down with just a helmet, and the damage to the hands, elbows, feet, and sometimes the back is just not worth the risk. One guy I know still can't walk right because he was riding in tennis shoes and went down 2 years ago.

The group that I ride with has some pretty reasonable rules that everyone agrees to when we leave.
1. Minimum gear: Helmet, Leather or armored textile jacket, appropriate gloves, and some form of over the ankle (well attached - lace up) boots.
2. Ride your own ride... We stress this frequently. We'll wait at turns for the whole group, but never try to keep up. It usually ends poorly.
3. No alcohol. I know some get away with it, but on our group rides, no one drinks. There is too much happening too fast to purposefully inhibit oneself.
4. Don't Crash.

I've been down once, doing 15MPH and having armored elbows in my textile jacket saved me from a world of hurt.