Kids first ride

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cat_man_mike

New member
The day has finally come where my boys are old enough to go on their first real trail ride. We are staying in Tomahawk this weekend due to the shorter car ride to get there and the less traffic on the trails than further north. This will be my first time riding in the Tomahawk area and I was wondering if there were any cool spots along the trail they would enjoy, or some fun places to stop. Also, does anyone have any tips or advice on riding with youngsters. I am looking to take them on short loop rides with alot of stops to keep them interested. Any help getting some future sledheads a good start is greatly appreciated!
 
xsledder

xsledder

Active member
Is mom with? Don't let her dictate too much of the ride; like, it's too far, it's too cold, not enough stops. Because once the kids see this, they feed off of it. (And because they don't ride using all of mom's excuses not to ride, I'm selling one Phazer right now and another one next year. :mad:)

Here is what I learned. Tell mom we are going for a ride but don't tell her how far you plan to ride (any distance is too much). Start them with a 20-40 mile loop stopping every 10-15 miles (for girls to pee), but don't tell them how far you are going or how far you have been until the ride is done. Stop along the trail about every 5 miles asking them how their doing. Finded out if they're having troubles operating the sled and show them how to adjust their riding style, or fix the sled (if it is too hard to drive or control, forget about them riding again). Make sure you always have a ditch point in case you have to cut the ride short. Have a candy bar, or some type of snack, for them. And always have them dress too heavily, it is easier to shed cloths and cool off then to get warm (once they are cold, they are cold).

Other than that, don't do what I have done or you will be selling all your sleds to buy one new one. (Cave into mom thinking they will come around.)

Oh yes, have fun!
 
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cat_man_mike

New member
I am not worried about mom. She is a sledhead and has been looking forward to this as much as I have! They will be riding with us and not on their own sleds. My 5 year old will be riding in front of me on my sabercat and my 7 year old will be riding on the back of a rented 2 up with mom. (I know, a little young, but he is a big kid)
 
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momoney2123

New member
bonnevier said:
Here is a link to the Northwoods Passage trail map: http://www.northwoodspassage.com/images/Northwoods_Passage_2014_Map.pdf

A very nice area to hit is the Willow Flowage/Swamp Lake area. There are a numerous stops including Moran's Landing on Swamp Lake, Little Rice Resort and Willow Haven Super Club. You are also not far from Lake Nokomis that has a bunch of places as well.

Hope that some of our JD folks from the Tomahawk area will chime in!
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X2 on this area. also across the willow flowage over to willow lake there are 3 places to stop, bucksnort(personal favorite), boyles, and reel em inn's.

Also willow wood next to willow haven on the flowage is good place to stop. Litte rice resort, which is inbetween swamp lake and willow, and also swamp lake, which is first stop north of nokomis pending on your route. They have the famous swamp water and kiddy swamp water(non-alcoholic) , which as a kid i loved. Head north from nokomis and you cant miss swamp lake. All these trails are in excellent condition.I grew up riding these trails from 10 years old and still love them to this day. The stops are what makes it fun. I will be in this area starting tomorrow. I'm sure our paths will cross somwhere.

http://www.swamph2o.com/
 
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jonesin

Well-known member
tell them "catch me if you can" and pin it!

just kidding, i hope you have a riot.
how many are you taking?
my 14 year old has just started riding with me off our property and i love it.
i took him "boondocking" on local farms in the few miles around my house and told him i was going to do my best to get him stuck but he did great and except for falling off in a large drift, he didnt get stuck once.
give them the old stay right, pay attention, dont worry about hand signals keep your hands on the bars, my break lights mean watch out..... talk
ive waited a long time for this, as did you, i hope it goes great!

whoops, didnt see that you were taking them on your sleds until after i posted, duh
 
bearrassler

bearrassler

Well-known member
When my kids were young, and also people I rode with that had young kids, they would fall asleep on the trail. Our club had a family ride near Bemidji, MN in the early 90's and when we got back to the motel about 12 to 15 kids were sleeping and about 8 or 10 were awake.
 
xsledder

xsledder

Active member
5 and 7, their fine. Your biggest concern is them falling asleep on the ride. Put some boot warmers in their boots and give them some hand warmers. It will take A LOT to kick the 7 year old off the sled behind mom. The two-ups are more stable and take the bumps better.

(And my wife grow up on snowmobiles. She sarted riding before me. Go figure? :confused:)

It will be fun. You can go longer without them driving. Wake them when they fall asleep by goosing the throttle. Sometimes you get a scream of joy and sometimes you get crying. There looks to be a nice pizza joint down there that I always wanted to ride to from Sayner, but haven't got the chance. (Maybe someday by myself, and mom and the kids can drive a car.) The name of the place is currently escaping me.
 
xsledder

xsledder

Active member
jonesin said:
tell them "catch me if you can" and pin it!

just kidding, i hope you have a riot.
how many are you taking?
my 14 year old has just started riding with me off our property and i love it.
i took him "boondocking" on local farms in the few miles around my house and told him i was going to do my best to get him stuck but he did great and except for falling off in a large drift, he didnt get stuck once.
give them the old stay right, pay attention, dont worry about hand signals keep your hands on the bars, my break lights mean watch out..... talk
ive waited a long time for this, as did you, i hope it goes great!

whoops, didnt see that you were taking them on your sleds until after i posted, duh
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My kid is 14 going on to 15 and did his first 100 mile ride this year over Christmas. (Wahoo) Hasn't been back on the sled since. I asked him if I should turn his Phazer back into a short track last night. He said no, and yet he didn't say when he was riding it again this year. Little does he know I'm switching it back to factory and selling it. Too much time wrenching on it for one ride a year.
 
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jonesin

Well-known member
xsledder said:
My kid is 14 going on to 15 and did his first 100 mile ride this year over Christmas. (Wahoo) Hasn't been back on the sled since. I asked him if I should turn his Phazer back into a short track last night. He said no, and yet he didn't say when he was riding it again this year. Little does he know I'm switching it back to factory and selling it. Too much time wrenching on it for one ride a year.
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i can see the snowmobile trail from my back door and with the good snow down here in lower mich he has been begging to get on the trails but i've had a bad luck year with injured ribs and then the first 5 times i rode i had to fix my sled each time so the year is just starting for us i'll see how he does after a long ride, should be interesting
 
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elf

Well-known member
We started our kids at 2 & 3 riding in a Equinox sno coach and then at about 4-5 they moved onto the sleds with us. Just stop lots and do fun things to keep th interested. We cook out on the trail side alot, used to bring the roll up tobaggons along so they could go sliding and lots of hand Warner's. now they are both riding on their own so it's even more fun. But a lot more expensive.
 
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zimmer1310

Member
bring a couple sets of the portable hand warmers for their gloves and boots. we have been taking our two boys to the UP for years and they love it. the oldest rides locally on his Bravo and has a blast. a couple more years til he can get his certificate. enjoy the weekend.
 
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Tankjo

Member
Well if your renting near Tomahawk,I"m guessing your either dealing with Tomahawk sports or Erv"s (polaris). All around Tomahawk you have places to stop. You have at least 8-10 places within a half hour to 45 min ride from either place. You can head towards lake Alice or Mohawksin and head south from there. The Harrison Hills area has great trails and is only about a half hour ride from Tomahawk. Stop at Nutzee"s (on trail 16) and tell the bartender that TANK sent you and your sure to get a good deal in some ice cream (if not free) for the kids. We take our grandson there it"s a must stop for him! (great food there). From there take them over to Fishers, you"ll get a warm welcome from Macie their yellow lab,grandsons second favorite stop. Then you can do the "loop" and take the trails back into town. You are looking at maybe 50 miles or so pretty easy for the kids. Our grandson is 8 this is his first year he didn"t fall asleep. The willow area is also very nice great trails!
 
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jmag

Member
congrats mike, you have been looking forward to this for a long time, hope you guys have a blast. dont be surprised if the kids fall asleep right away once the ride starts. hope everything is going well.
 
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chickenbone76

New member
Yes, have a good ride. I've had my 3 year old out this year and he loves it. Just at cabin this past weekend and he rode 25 miles with me on Sunday. Was asleep for about half of it. That was the longest ride so far to. Again have fun.
 
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