Riding with my three kids this past weekend in Desert Wells, AZ

[tank69]

It was just my daughter and my youngest son on Saturday at Desert Wells, the first time either of them had been on dirt. I'll be honest, I thought my daughter my would be the first to wuss out, boy was I wrong! My youngest son is the one that complained, "my thumb hurts", "I don't want to ride", "it won't go" and the worst, "I can't start it." His TRX90 is a pull start and he was getting very frustrated that he couldn't get it started on his own and still doesn't have the whole shifting thing down just yet. At any rate, they both did really well and I had to threaten my daughter after her fifth, "Just 10 more minutes dad."

Fast forward to Sunday, Desert Wells again, I had all three kids. I cut the my oldest son and my daughter loose down a fairly easy trail while I worked with Alex on his 90 to get his shifting down. We worked on shifting and my trying to explain that sometimes a lower gear can be faster. After I took him on a few hills, he got the point and was having a blast.

While we were at the trailer, my oldest son comes riding in on his sister's quad. "This can't be good" is all I am saying to myself and sure enough, he ran his CRF150 into a bush and couldn't get it out. They were only about a mile away, so I hauled *** out there to find my daughter crying. I thought she was upset because Lee had left her, but it was because he crashed and she was afraid he was hurt. She has such a big heart even though her big brother is a major DICK to her. Bike pulled out of the bush, dry my daughter's tears and were back to riding. The rest of the day was uneventful, we rode for over four hours. Towards the end of the day, my youngest learned how to powerslide his 90...it was awesome and funny at the same time. I told his brother and sister, "Alex is going to flip that thing" and as soon as I turned off the video camera, he high sided like a mofo while pulling off a major slide. The 90 ended up on it's side and Alex on his ***, he shook it off, laughed with us, pushed his quad back over and off he went. It was a great day and we had so much fun together.

Here's some pics and vids.

The Hyundai loaded up

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/loaded.JPG

This is my 05

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/trx3.JPG

Here is Alex after three hours, he needed a break.

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/alex-chilling.JPG

My daughter taking a break as well.

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/sloane.JPG

My oldest son is progressing quite well on his dirtbike.

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/lee.JPG

For 11, my daughter is throwing around that 4x4 pretty well.

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/sloane2.JPG

Lee hijacked his brothers 90

http://www.tank69.com/images/ride/lee90.JPG

Me showing off for the kids. Did a bunch of donuts and wheelied out of it...they think dad's really cool! I did this right before we loaded up to leave, hence the shorts and no helmet.

***NO HELMET NO PIC***

Here's Alex practicing his power slides, it was awesome, he did about 100 of them.

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All three coming down the trail...notice how my daughter takes the time to wave!

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xSWcHD_k-qs"> </param> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xSWcHD_k-qs" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"> </embed> </object>

Here was my donut/wheelie display.

4. Feel free to attach ATV related pictures to you posts. Pictures of riders without helmets will be deleted - riding without a helmet is very dangerous and is an activity strongly comdemned by ATVriders.

[450rJam]

the kids will remember these times forever, but be a good example and put on the lid

(they will all want to do as you do, right down to the boots)

[bwamos]

Good pics and story. Sounded like a good time.

You may want to do a quick edit of the one with you on it w/o a helmet. They have a helmet policy on the site to promote safe riding. Aka.. MS Paint in a helmet so they don't remove the picture. ;)

[tank69]

Originally posted by bwamos
Good pics and story. Sounded like a good time.

You may want to do a quick edit of the one with you on it w/o a helmet. They have a helmet policy on the site to promote safe riding. Aka.. MS Paint in a helmet so they don't remove the picture. ;)

Thanks, the kids were beat Sunday night and I had no problem getting them to sleep! Also, thanks for the "no helmet" update...I figured if I owned up to it, it wouldn't be as bad, sorry!

[07250ex]

is that a 400 or a 450 u have there

[tank69]

450

[TRUE]

Ehh...nice donuts in the parking lot :cool: That's the most awesomest thing in the whole wide world.

Please don't set a bad example for our younger/ future riders. It's only a matter of time before our riding areas will be no more. We need to act a little more maturer if we want our grand kids to ride.

[tank69]

Originally posted by TRUE
Ehh...nice donuts in the parking lot :cool: That's the most awesomest thing in the whole wide world.

Please don't set a bad example for our younger/ future riders. It's only a matter of time before our riding areas will be no more. We need to act a little more maturer if we want our grand kids to ride.

After posting, I wondered if anyone would act negative....thanks for answering my question!

This is full on riding area, there is no "parking area". My 7 year old is learning to ride, he thought the donuts and slides were cool, he's 7. I did mine since there was one other vehicle parked about 100 yards from mine, it hurt nothing. Not sure why I have to get the "maturity" talk, but I guess it's a free world....to be nice or not to be.

[bwamos]

Originally posted by tank69
After posting, I wondered if anyone would act negative....thanks for answering my question!

This is full on riding area, there is no "parking area". My 7 year old is learning to ride, he thought the donuts and slides were cool, he's 7. I did mine since there was one other vehicle parked about 100 yards from mine, it hurt nothing. Not sure why I have to get the "maturity" talk, but I guess it's a free world....to be nice or not to be.

Isn't it fun gettting lectured by teenagers? :) Don't worry too much about it. It was an innocent mistake. It's all about setting an example/precedent that getting on a quad = wearing the proper saftey gear.

You don't have to be going 30mph clearing a tripple to get into trouble. Only need to dump it doing the doughnut and having that grab bar nail you in the back of the skull. That grab bar is not soft, and is the cause for many fatalities and serious injuries. It's like getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer. It will rock your world even with a helmet on, trust me, I know, lol.

Most ATV fatalaties & major injuries can be solved by wearing proper gear and staying off the stinking roads.

But, you know that already. You ride with helmets. But, I'd promote the idea of having a helmet on even when "just in the loading area". ;) If the engine is on, so is the helmet.