Taking the kids on trail rides

[budget biker]

have bought my son his first big boys toy,crf150
hes got the basics but not a lot of experience, much like his old man
any preferences out there for where to ride on trail rides
at the front to set a safe pace, or
at the back to let him set his own pace

for front
,i can control the pace and hopefully pick a good line , or find a bad line and show him a better way
can warn him of dangerous areas.eg alot of the rides in the naki have drops you dont want to fall off
against front
icant actually see how hes going and i havent mastered the art of riding forward while looking backwards
may hold back his ability

for at the rear
he can set his own pace , he usually rides a pretty good line, though probably a little fast for his current ability
i can be there to pick him up a lot quicker
i can judge when hes getting tired , or out of his league, by the amount of offs,

against rear
him riding above his ability and hurting himself majorly

ideally would ride with others parent/ kid combo so we can share the fun, and it would solve the dilemma

ride hard and ride often(i wish)

[barty5]

Id proberly stay behind then youll know wwhen he is in trouble your going to get a swore neck other wise. Let set his own pace you can allways pull up along side and get him to slow down if need be. Got face it he's going to fall at some point if its cause he's going to quick leason lernt he'll slow up. wont be long and you'll be askin him to slow down so yah can kep up.lol

[Taz]

Probably wont be too long before you have no choice but to follow him and try to keep up. I would follow on trail rides, if he stops for some reason and you're in front you'd not be able to ride back along the trail safely with 300 bikes coming the other way.

[budget biker]

true, was taking my nephew 2 yrs ago on rides and pickin him up.now he picks me up . after lapping me lol

[L Rider]

As others have said follow him. But give him space. As a learner myself i find that when someone is behind me i use to panic & it would cause all kinds of problems. Although that might not bother your son.
When hubby rides with me now he follows but he holds back, lets me go then he catches up & holds back again. Now & then he rides in front but its always a worry if i come off he won't know.

[FROSTY:Me]

I'd probably suggest avoiding the whole issue. Find a small (1km ish) loop that challenges him a bit and get him to practice. Then follow him see how he's doing. Stop him --explain the stuff he needs to work on-then lead him for a bit.
Get the competence level up a bit

[SpikedPunch]

Following works best I think. Somewhere like those waitemata family rides would be perfect for that (on the shorter loops) cause the 'dangers' are marked out with arrows.

[buffstar]

In our family we have found the best idea as previously mentioned is to get your kiddo on the kids track first. Once that is sussed the method we ended up using was 'sandwhiching' (thats a really hard word to spell) thereby one in front picking the line and setting the pace and one bringing up the rear to pick up the peices (if required)
For our kidletts if there was no option of sandwhiching (sandwidging?) I would always take up the rear, and had no issues with major obstacles - unless you count said kid hitting the brakes with no freakn warning when they came to something that made the baulk.........
Best of luck to ya both

[oldskool]

I have no choice in the matter, both my kids prefer to be in front and my daughter in particular insists. On the big trail rides I offer them protection by riding behind them from the impatient idiots who invariably are there who would quite carelessly roll over them to stay ahead of a mate they'd be racing. Funnily in my experience you can almost always pick the bike these trail nazi's ride.

[Reckless]

What frosty said but to be honest you can't control anything. If you ride up front you'll pretty much just be looking over your shoulder and adjusting to his pace anyway. If your slowing him down he'll simply get bored with you. So I'd say at the rear as well. At least then you can cover him from following riders.

I've seen it in my two sons and my daughter. Now it was her that went so bloody fast I knew she was way way over riding. Scared the shit outa me every-time. Nothing I said or warnings I gave would slow her down! "its fun" she said. Then she crashed! Nothing broken, coupla bruises for a day or so and the sensibility is back in her riding. Luckily it was at the learners paddock at Thunder park.

I say the above because the only thing that slows them down is a crash or a fall, hopefully without pain. But its the pain that's the real teacher. No matter how much you tell them they won't listen when they get to that overconfident stage! Just try and control the circumstances, guide, teach, warn as much as possible and be there to pick up the pieces and fix the bike.

Some fathers push them, some cotton wool them. I'm afraid to say when they get those bars and that throttle in their hands "they" make the decisions.
Unfortunatly in our sport falling off is learning. Just make it FUN!!!
Good on ya for doin it! Welcome to KB!

[B0000M]

I have no choice in the matter, both my kids prefer to be in front and my daughter in particular insists. On the big trail rides I offer them protection by riding behind them from the impatient idiots who invariably are there who would quite carelessly roll over them to stay ahead of a mate they'd be racing. Funnily in my experience you can almost always pick the bike these trail nazi's ride.

can i take a guess?

is it big bore ktms? eg 450 +

[oldskool]

can i take a guess?

is it big bore ktms? eg 450 +

lol, I won't mention any names but I like red white and blue but not very partial to orange!

Damn good guess!!! I only just recently had a run in with one a couple of weeks ago at the sandpit

[B0000M]

when riding with my wife at epic events, every time she got taken out by someone or almost taken out by someone it would be a big bore ktm, i dont know what it is, but riders of those commonly stand out to me as the arseholes of the trail.

my view of passing slow riders is you ease past when there is room, and dont feed it to it again until they're out of roost's way - especially the case with novice looking riders and kids. but meh, back to the topic.

i too am a fan of the send them out on the smaller loops and let them learn then offer pointers

[SpikedPunch]

when riding with my wife at epic events, every time she got taken out by someone or almost taken out by someone it would be a big bore ktm, i dont know what it is, but riders of those commonly stand out to me as the arseholes of the trail.

my view of passing slow riders is you ease past when there is room, and dont feed it to it again until they're out of roost's way - especially the case with novice looking riders and kids. but meh, back to the topic.

i too am a fan of the send them out on the smaller loops and let them learn then offer pointers

Yeah surprise surprise the one time I've been run over by a stranger it was one of these guys at desert storm. Never ridden in mud and was obviously struggling so the guy decides it's a great time to get right up my arse - in a woodhill-esque forest where you could easily go around. Gah. I dawdle around kids until it's safe to pass, don't want to freak them out and make them fall off, even if most of them at better riders than me.

[L Rider]

Yeah surprise surprise the one time I've been run over by a stranger it was one of these guys at desert storm. Never ridden in mud and was obviously struggling so the guy decides it's a great time to get right up my arse - in a woodhill-esque forest where you could easily go around. Gah. I dawdle around kids until it's safe to pass, don't want to freak them out and make them fall off, even if most of them at better riders than me.

We take Brooky down to the old carpark at woodhill on his wee quad - couple of places there that i worry about some one coming flying up there & over the top of him. He thinks he's bullet proof though. We've also finally got him to hold his line so that he doesn't move into their way - another scary thing kids & learners can do.