I'm courious. If your a parent and you have little ones. Do you have them follow you when you are riding? Or do you follow behind them?

I follow my kids most of the time. Gives me the oppertunity to see where they are going and never let them out of my sight. A quick blip of the throttle will get me out front if I'm not following to far behind.

There was one time up at Kennedy Meadows my son crashed, cause I couldn't get out in front of him fast enough, but so far, thats been the only bad experience doing this.

So what do you do, and WHY???

Thanks!

At this point... both ...though I voted for lead

The boys are too young yet to navigate the terrain... so we'll sandwhich them, I'll generally lead and then the wife or someone else will follow directly behind.

i do both....depends on where we are and if its me and my wife both one leads and the other follows for the most part....again depends on the situation

ok...lemme clarify...

if its just you? (no wife or other adult)

I lead to pick the "best" path. We uaually don't go very fast because I like to have mom follow up in the back of the pack.

I voted lead but now my older son is getting alot better at selecting lines and getting through the terrian it is turning more into follow now. If my wife goes the kid is in the middle.
Good topic I was thinking that this past weekend at the Cinders.

Follow.

On Foot.

4 yr old on ATC70 w/ Governer barely enough to even idle.

Dmax has seen me huffing and puffing around camp chasing the boy.

kid isnt big enough to dune yet..only 4.5 yrs old...he's a camp tramp........got the ole remote kill if'n he gets a little too fiesty

If we are going on a longer ride I will lead. On a short ride to a place they are familiar with, I will let them lead and I will follow them in a manner like you do.

Sometimes the younger kids will have tunnel vision and not see a possible danger coming up on them - i.e. witches eye, a fast coming group of riders or a sand rail. That is why I like to lead them on rides to and in places they are not familiar with.

Hopefully, while following, they are also learning how to pick a good line through the dunes too.


Besides, it is important for them to see how good my a riding skills are. They cannot experience that if I am following them.

Plus, if they are following, they can avoid crashing in the same places that I do; they will be able to circle around and ask if I'm OK, or should they ride back to get mom and the truck.

I've never really ridden a quad in my life. Thought I'd join in on a kid ride EZrider was leading one day. I didn't even make it to the dunes, turned around and went back to camp before I hurt myself. So it's neither for me.

I usually lead when it's jus me and him, but for those of you that know my kid, it's not gonna be for for very long anymore, this old man can't keep 4 wheels on the ground so I'm sure Conner will be leading soon and waiting for me to catch up.

When we go on the big rides, he's in following someone and I'm right behind him...trying to keep up

now that I see the clarification... If it were just my kids and I then I would be leading. But like Steve I tend to follow in a group ride so that I can see what's happening with them. I'm pretty confident that if something happened then i'd be right there to take care of them.... I find i'm looking back alot when I'm ahead of them..

I stay behind so that I can keep an eye out on them and whats around us...

When its me and the wife - I'm out front and she takes up the rear with me falling back every so often to make sure everything is ok...

I usually have Amy riding at the back of the line with me up front. If I go out with just the kids then they still follow me but I'll be in the Rhino instead of my quad.

I lead , my boys are eight and ten. They've been riding before they could walk, and are pretty fast. I still lead mostly to keep them safe. I can wave them off on the bad stuff ,and I'm also the first one to encouter another bike. We ride everything from Glamis to the technical trails in Big Bear. It's worked for us.

I lead for the Most part but then at some time Have them lead so I cam see if they are learning how to read the dunes.I also will lead out of camp sometimes then stop when we get out so far and say Ok you lead me back to camp.That way they will learn were they are and How to always get back to camp if anything ever Happened

tim always in front and me at the back

if i didn't ride he was in front and would watch

never a problem except patrick would follow to close and one time tim turned to tell him to stop and off he went flying down a hill..landed it saying a bad word on the way down and bit his tongue

he stayed back some after that

For my girls, I lead because they don't pick good lines and just aren't confident enough yet. For my son, I do both. He has the confidence and ability to lead or follow. His only problem is a little over confidence. He is one good wreck from being a good rider, meaning he needs to have a little ooopsy to gain some respect for the quad and know his limits. I don't want him to wreck, and am not talking about a bone breaking wreck, but I know the times I have laid it on it's side have made me a better, more capable rider because I learned my limits.

i am 90% lead, at times i will let my son lead just so i can see how he is doing on his own. i lead cause i want to be the one to find the hidden obstacle.

9 & 11 yr olds. I lead and try to ride as if I'm light (don't turn up into dunes etc) ALWAYS looking back. my kids know that if they get stuck, or crash dad will be back in a matter of seconds. when my son was 7 he talked me into leading once, went off of a drop off and fractured his wrist. He did however suck it up for 3 days, rode and didn't complain about it unitill we got home knowing the trip would end.

Nurse "what were you doing, how old are you, when did this happen"......

Dad "that's my boy"!

great answers everyone.

Mr Pete, your as honest as the day is long, and i commend you.

Our boys always follow, even if it's just me or my husband. If the 4 of us are out riding together, I still end up leading with our oldest (11yr-old) 3rd and hubby last. (They like to break off from us to hit jumps and play because following our youngest (6yr-old) can get boring following at a trx90 pace)

The best part about leading is because you can emphasize all the moves (leaning into turns, when to stand, using your whole seat, etc). Since they learn by repetition, it becomes habit for them in addition to verbal explanation.

Basically, when the kids do it over and over again the right way, it becomes second nature. The ATV safety course might be really boring to a seasoned rider, but it really does a great job giving the 'right way' to handle a quad, or at least the words to what might be second nature for us that we never realized.

(hmm, did that make sense?)

I have generally had other riders with me..and we put em in the middle..but when they were way little I used to hook a rope to the back of em and tie our bikes together..kinda like a leash...and I would let them lead..that way I could brake them if they were doing something I did not like....were talking putting speed though...

We try to have an adult lead and a adult follow.

What kids ....j/k I have them no more but when my 27 yr old comes out with us I like to follow him...cuz as a mom you still worry......and I like the "little guy" to make his own lines.

well now that ill be riding alone with my kids... not to sure what to do... maybe side by side on a flatter surface , no dunes yet , until I get better riding myself. Definetly not let them lead, they dont have a clue whats ahead of them.

I follow, I have 3 and a 6 year old. I dont have rear view mirrors so I kinda like seeing what my kids do! But we do not hit any big stuff. Mostly around camp or on the 70 track.

Usually will sandwich them in between 2 adults, but if riding with them alone I usually lead so they will follow my lines.

just around camp putt-putt style and there is usually a trust-worthy adult riding in front of him

Always lead !!! my boy's are 7 and 9 although the have been riding for three years now i still feel more comfortable about being in front in case something happens.... Besides that i find better jumps than they do ......