my 8yo lad is really keen on riding and has polished off the blue at llandegla.
he wants to move on to the red but even though they are a step up technically i really dont want to rule it out for him, especially while he is so enthusiastic.
however, while tootling along on a blue is expected by other trail users but i am mindful of causing a moving blockage for the more serious rider on a red.
even leaving a big clear gap and allowing all visible riders to proceed will inevitably see him caught up at some point
i’d be worried if he had to take evasive action under pressure of someone bearing down so what’s the best tactic?
Not take him yet?
Wear a hi-viz vest printed with a warning?
advice and experiences would be appreciated.

Go mid week early in the morning when nobody’s around.
He’ll love it

My lad done his first red route aged 3.5, he’s just about to turn 7 and I’ve never had so much as a grumble from anybody. Had smiles and encouragement from the last two riders that happened to come up behind us.
Couldn’t care less what somebody on a strava run thinks.

Just give way and ignore the strava dickheads. The sport needs people learning young.

I have been taking my little boys around reds at Cannock, Llandegla & parts of Coedy for the past 2 years… They love it, and so do I.

I find that most riders we meet think its uber cool that such little kids are riding reds on 20″ wheel bikes, and do respect them, and give them some space. I find the best thing to do is to be their “rear guard” and when appropriate (not all of the time though… Little Uns get “flow” too) tell the kids to pull over and let any riders pass.
…. My oldest is a bi of a hill climb demon though and regularly overtakes adults on “Cardiac Hill @ Cannock” which never ceases to make me crack up, a I’ve thought him to say “alright mate” as he passes them !

Just use your head and keep your little un safe, you’ll both have a blast.

* my boys are 7 & 8 years old BTW

Couldn’t care less what somebody on a strava run thinks.

This 100%

If people wanna really ‘get serious’ they need to enter a race..
Trail centres are public access facilities meaning that you will invariably encounter the public..

All are welcome and whilst your boy might slow a couple people down, who’s to say they haven’t spoilt an even faster person’s run themselves

it’s all relative innit

Ive found the best approach is to ride behind and be a buffer so if anyone comes behind it will be you first, stopping any issues with your son having to deal with someone on a ‘mission’.
We all started somewhere and I think some forget that, good luck and hope he carries on enjoying it.

Go for it, always great to see younger kids on the trails. why should he have to take evasive action? I always give younger ones time to slow down (or let them past me 😳 )

As Tom says ignore the dickheads

Just take him along and ride to his comfort level. Only an asshole would have a problem with this on the trail, you have just as much right to ride with him as anyone else.

Have fun!

Please don’t make him wear a hi-vis, that’s child cruelty and won’t do anything to help this country get out of it’s moronic hi-vis obsession.

Another vote for get him on the red trails, if folk coming up behind are all that good they’ll have no problems getting past.

That’s great, thanks for the encouragement and putting my mind at rest.
I was a bit worried that he’d get grief if he caused an obstruction.

So, keep an eye out for him, bright orange helmet and red Spesh. He is very enduro.

Yep, we have just been careful for a few years.

Only once have we been given a lecture by a fellow rider, at top of Spooky Woods at Glentress. He was unhappy I was taking an Islabike riding, lycra clad 11 year old down there – he thought it irresponsible, and would slow everyone down.

When said rider, replete in body armour and 5″ travel FS, pulled up to a stop at the bottom, he was squeaked at by the 11 year old, who had stuck to the back wheel all the way down, just to prove a point. 😈

Now the 11 year old is 13 and is showing a few folk how to ride black and red bits at speed…including his dad…

I’m watching this one with interest too. Me and the kids did the North Face a few weeks back when there was some event on. We couldn’t work out if the trail was closed or not and so I hung back loads and shouted every time there was a rider coming through. The kids then stopped at the side. All the riders were fine with it. But then we did give way to absolutely every one, which we wouldn’t if there wasn’t an event.

Last year we did have a moment at deglla when the son’s mate and dad were with us. They faffed around on the first big fast berm on the Red route and ended up just at the side of the track whilst a big group of 6 thundered past very fast. It was a complete bit of a mess to be honest and I nowadays I’ve learned to brief the kids very clearly. As with city road riding I think you need to be quite clear to people behind if you’re holding a line or not. I think the accidents would happen when people think they can pass but can’t.

If you can teach him to make space for the passing rider all well and good. Almost all riders will be prepared to wait and pass safely at a suitable point. Those that won’t will find that Karma is a hard mistress.

I think that anyone giving kids grief at a place like degla needs to have a word with themselves. Take the kids, be reasonable. Make it clear when people can pass. If anyone gives you grief then tell them where to go.

I was hoping to do the Red there with mine this weekend but the little one has hurt his hand 🙁

He’ll be fine.
If you encounter someone being a cock its because they are a cock.
You can’t do anything about that:-)

Have fun, me and Lewis (13) are doing the Builth marathon on Sunday. can’t wait.

Just ride it and give way when safe to do so

never had any issues though I dont ride trail centres that often

IME even walkers are fine when you are on a footpath with cute kids

I came across a couple of young and relatively slow riders at Cannock on Tuesday. I caught them up but re-assured them I would wait while they finished the section.

Both were too self-conscious and simply pulled over – that was fine by me but I felt bad that they couldn’t ride to the end.

So I say take your kids and ride whatever you want – most people are decent human beings.

Trails are for everyone, not just Strava chasing folks. Only a dickhead would begrudge him having a crack at a more technical trail.

Ive found the best approach is to ride behind and be a buffer so if anyone comes behind it will be you first, stopping any issues with your son having to deal with someone on a ‘mission’.

This, plus if there are folk behind you at the start, just tell to give you space before they set off as you aren’t going to let them past.

Only had a problem once when my kids were young, and he didn’t get past me 🙂

As said in some of the posts really and just to reiterate, i am always aware that there may be a rider young or old in the trail, male female or keen MTB guy takes out not so keen Girl friend, Lads and dads etc, i always shout out that theres no rush and dont panic, i just get by when i can, i always offer words of encouragement to the young uns. the sport needs all kinds to become what it is and if you cant acknowledge that STRAVA or not then you deserve bad Karma.

Sod the impatient idiots, you have as much right to be there as them. Good on you for encouraging your lad. I love it when I see a father & his kids out riding on the dog at Cannock, as that’s what I’ll be doing when my eldest is more capable.

Just you wait a few weeks, they will be doing this. Always remember – kids on bikes ROCK 8)
[url=https://flic.kr/p/bTNQ8i]Grantown on Spey bike trails[/url] by matt_outandabout, on Flickr

As said, go for it, and just ride behind. It’s worth telling kids not to be worried about riders coming up behind them – they can let them through when it is safe to do so, or pull over and let them through, again where it is safe to do so… or just keep going. Most riders seem very considerate, in my experience.

As others have said, I really don’t think it’s an issue and trail etiquette has an easy solution. You’ve as much right to the trail as everyone else.

If it is something you feel conscious about, or putting myself in your lad’s shoes, he might find it intimidating/distracting knowing other riders are behind. Why not find a section and session it?

That way you could transition him onto the reds gradually and be able to check for riders before each run. If it’s a red with a lot of tech, doing the whole course in one hit might be a bit much? (guessing here as I’ve never seen your lad ride!)

Honestly there’s always slower and faster people, the fact that he’s young doesn’t make that much difference except that it’ll be incredibly obvious to the stravaists and other assorted heroes that they need to stop being arseholes. If they’re so superior that they can’t deal with being slightly delayed for a minute, what are they doing on the reds?

Trails are for everyone and if a person can’t enjoy sharing them, they can **** off and join the tories.

I do not have children, and am not their greatest fan in the abstract. I have absolutely zero problems with waiting briefly on the trail to pass some rad kid on an Isla-mission.

🙂

Depends on the child’s ability. I have seen dads with kids with very young kids way out of their depth, seems more like an ego trip then the childs enjoyment. I have a 4 year old that can get wheels off the ground, but we always go early and stick to blues / little known trails

I’m of the same opinion as BigDummy up there BUT if the kid is going to show me up being quicker than me then please get him a playstation and keep him at home. Thanks 🙂

Go early but anyone who complains or isnt considerate is losing 10secs of their ‘pro level’ fast lap of course. I saw a 4yr old on the final descent/bit at Glentress, I was more astounded/,grinning than thinking about ‘hes in the way’.

Does anyone really have a problem with momentarily getting caught behind other riders, young or old?

I love Strava, but I’d never pressure anyone to get through if I catch them on a trail, least of all kids, if they can’t move over, just stop, let them get ahead, and then go again. Is anyone really that desperate to get a decent Strava time, or is it a complete urban myth?

A few months back I caught up a bunch of kids (like 10) all 5-6 at a guess, wobbling down Barry Knows Best. I thought it was brilliant, great to see!

Go whenever suits you and your lad,don’t get up early just to please others,the trails are for everyone,I often see fathers/mothers with young children on red routes,it’s all good,they always look like they are enjoying theirselves,sometimes I stop and have a chat,I’ve just joined strava and sometimes I’ll pop to my local trail centre To have a really good training session but I will make sure I go when there Is no one there and not be a dick and go on a Sunday afternoon and expect everyone to shift and feel like they are in the way,enjoy.

Get him on Strava first 😉

Is anyone really that desperate to get a decent Strava time, or is it a complete urban myth?

It’s just a bit like the Daily Mail/Express in here some days, everything is Strava’s fault even the immigrants.

There are cocks in the world, some of them ride bikes. Just ride behind and let people know, go when it’s quieter and have fun.

Re: Strava if I ride early at the weekends I sometimes come across a whole row/series of open gates on a known stretch. Great for a good time I bet. Shit for anyone who likes to abide by the signs.

I’ve caught a bunch doing this- slabs upto Whinstone Lee Tor in the Peak District. One rider at the bottom, all gates propped open. 3/4 riders starting off the top. It twigged to me as I saw them setting off/remembering the bloke that I’d passed waiting. Wonder if they then pushed backup and shut all the gates again?

My little (11) lad smashing the black at Healy Nab (really proud of him). To be fair, I dont think anyone expects (or should expect) to have a good clean fast run on a weekend ‘cos its busy. If you want a load of PR’s/KOMs then go mid week.Like everyone says, its public access, and reds not technical, tell them to get on the black and orange if they want to time it.

Tom_W1987 – Member

Just give way and ignore the strava dickheads.

This.

Generally when there are young kids around on the trails, I find it can be the parents who panic the kids into getting out of the way as fast as possible, rather than just waiting for the next sensible spot.

If I catch people up in this sort of situation I always call to them that I’m not in a rush and not to worry about getting out of the way until they are happy to do so.
If I catch people at the top of a start of a trail that I know I want to hit at full pelt, then I just have a few minutes wait at the top to give them space and then crack on.

Only time it’s ever been a problem is when you get the whole family out and they’ve stopped right in the middle of a trail to fix a puncture or have a picnic (yes, really) with bikes strewn everywhere and people blocking the whole width of the path.

who are these strava/inconsiderate dickheads we’re being implored to ignore? I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one, I’ve been riding bikes for 30 years so far.

Perhaps I am one?

I’ve caught a bunch doing this- slabs upto Whinstone Lee Tor in the Peak District. One rider at the bottom, all gates propped open. 3/4 riders starting off the top. It twigged to me as I saw them setting off/remembering the bloke that I’d passed waiting. Wonder if they then pushed backup and shut all the gates again?

Passed a group at the top of a Dales descent with three gates, found all three hanging open, so dutifully shut them and carried on to find the other group member at the bottom. I got a nice Strava PR though – thanks lads! 🙂

I love seeing kids on the trails, it feels nice to tell them well done, keep going, stop buzzing my wheel, that sort of thing.

Like everyone else, I think kids progressing on bikes is awesome 😀 We always give young ‘uns loads of room and encouragement too.