What is your take on riding with little ones? If it's just the 2 of you, is it better to lead or follow when going trail riding? If I am familiar with it I tend to let them lead. However, if I am unfamiliar and am leading, how can I watch them to make sure they are ok? What can your experience tell me?

Thanks,
Dogg

 

Basically I agree with you.I like to ride behind so if he gets in any trouble I can be there in a second to help out.Of course this is with familiar trails. Alot of trails we ride on cross gravel roads so in this case I will ride in front to make absolutely sure he cannot cross the road until I give the ok.There are mirrors you can buy cheaply that strap around your wrist for keeping an eye on junior and I just look back alot as well.Luckily my wife usually comes with us so we have him sandwiched in between our two quads and this isn't necessary.

 

My experience is that my child wants to watch me do it first. I think it builds confidence in her. But the downside is that I am always looking behind me instead of where I'm going.

Guess that beats her looking behind though! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I try to lead on all trails. I've found that if they are familiar with the trail, and I let them in front, they tend to get a little wilder, and faster. I always ride behind them going up hills, and in front of them going down. That has save my sons many times. It probably sounds crazy, but the best thing I've done to keep an eye on both my sons is to let them have loud pipes on their quads. Each has its own sound, and I can tell exactly when and how much throttle their giving it, and how close they are behind me. I also do alot of looking back, and have a dent or two in my front bumper because of it. (dang trees jump out in front of you when your not watching)
Some on here are using headsets. That would be a great idea, except I have 1 son that talks the whole time we ride. (even if no one can hear him) Sounds like your doing the best you can, and remember, accidents happen. Both of my sons have wrecked within arms reach of me and I still couldn't do anything about it.

 

It all depends on the "young rider's" emotions, ability to know their limits and your trust in their driving abilities. For us, we often switch postions. In the beginning, I would always lead. In my mirror, I didn't like what I seen. My son was driving like he was struggling. So, I let him lead for a while. To my surprise, he drove much slower. Then I realized that my "little faster speed" will pulling him above his comfortable driving speed. When my son leads, "he sets the pace". When my son isn't comfortable with the trail (or I feel it's too wild of a trail for him to lead), we switch postions. My son often says, "dad, I'm tired of leading, can you lead for a while?". To me, leading down a known trail goes above quading. By allowing your "young rider" to lead, it shows that you trust their driving ability and most of all, it turns them into a leader. Today, kids need more of that. They need to be given more chances to show "they can lead way" and they are doing a great job at it. For my daughter, who's the complete opposite of my son, I'd probably NEVER let her lead. She's an emotional time bomb who only has 2 speeds. Stop and wide open. As mentioned earlier, it all depends on the "young rider's" control, maturity and your trust of their speed limit on any trail.

If wondering, our Pred-90 has a driving mirror on it. It works great when my son is leading. If you allow your "young rider" to lead, purchase a driving mirror for their unit. $6.95 for a univeral bracket and $12.00 for an inexpensive mirror. Who knows, this mirror could stop your "young rider" from driving into a tree. A lesson learn I wanted to share with you...

Hope this helps...

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Spike I agree with you to a point. It depends on the area that we are riding in, as in how many other riders are in the area riding. I like to lead on trails beacause if another rider comes around the corner I would rather meet them head on than my children. In the dunes where it is more wide open I like to let them lead, I can usally see far enough ahead and can also get around them to get them to stop them if need be.

 

always ride in front of your child so if a yahoo comes at you wide you get hit not your kid

 

Thanks for all the comments. I may try the mirrors. It sounds like a good idea. As we venture out more, I wanted some experienced insight. In the beginning I thought what have I done, but he has the hang of it now and respects the quads power. The first time I saw him take a spill I thought "his mother is going to kill me", but he got up and said "I'm ok, I'm ok". We now have a rule that whatever happens on the trails stays on the trails unless we both agree to discuss....whew!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Here's a good one...

On the trails, my son sometimes leads. To get me going, he'll decide to go cross country and slowly drive between 2 trees. His little mini is skinny enough to make it through. He pulls a head 10-15 feet, stops, turns his body around and watches me. My adult size quad immediately gets wedged between the same two trees. Then, he starts laughing. As he laughs, I start laughing. Between the mud spraying every time he gets stuck, tree wedging and "daddy, pull me out - I got no reverse" events, we have lots of fun. And yes, pay back is going to be so much fun....

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we like to take them to open places to let them ride by themselfs
we watch them as they ride and it builds up their riding ability so they get comfortable
riding before we go out on a small trail. they ride between us so 1 person
see's whats a head and the other can watch them in case something happens
and sometimes we let them follow us and they have more room
and if its just 2 of you I think its best to lead and let them follow
I would hate to see them take a wrong turn and tumble down something
that they didnt see was coming