My son & I went for a little ride today. For part of the time, I lead and for the other part of the time, my son lead. As my son lead, he made a huge error. He drove directly thru a 4 way intersection. Luckily, no one was coming in the opposite direction on that blind & unmarked trail. No one got hurt and nothing got broken. Only damage was on the wildlife. RE: Me yelling at him and jumping up and down in the middle of this intersection. My loud yelling at him will echo in the trails for the next 2 days. From now on, my son follows me on the trails. He'll only be allowed to lead in open fields.

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Killerex I disagree on the ALWAYS part. It is good to let them lead in certain areas, it teaches them things like good decision making. Like I said before depends on the area that your riding in. Some places have trails that are one way only, these would be excellent places to let them lead.

 

generally, i lead. then i can size up the terrain, stop, talk about how we're going to get thru it, and if they're okay with it. i'll help them thru the spot after i've done it. I totally agree about being the offensive lineman for the kids. my quad is bigger, headlight always on, etc. In more open logging road area, I'll let them lead.

And i always look back frequently, or stop periodically for everyone to catch up. I've noticed sometimes I'm inadvertently pushing the youngest too fast. ya, if it's steep downhill, i'll ride ahead to be a bumper. on the uphill, I'd rather get off and wait in the tricky spot to grab rack or help out.