Another topic I'd like to bring up. The packs...and who leads them. I've been lead sled a few times and there certainly is an adrenaline rush you get as being the 'alpha male'. I think being lead sled typically makes you drive faster and more aggressively than you normally would. I guess it depends on who's behind you too. Agree?

Have you guys been in a pack where you're not lead sled.....and want to race up to the front? Why? Ever been in pack where the lead sledder ends up in the middle of the pack and is just dying to move up...practically passing you?

Weird phenomenon.....isn't it?

With our trail system, the leader is usually the person that knows where he is going :D . Pretty easy to get lost ..... but thats not always a bad thing either. On the weekends it is usually a coin toss to not be the leader just because there are so many close calls on the corners. I usually like being the leader till that first near death experience , then its time to pass the torch on for a little while :p .

P.S. You can't beat the feeling of having an open trail in front of you, no smoke , no snow dust , just clear open trails ! :)

Agreed.......nothing like it indeed....

so what does that make the people who ride at the back?? :huh: i'm an "at the back of the pack rider" and usually pick my way through the bunch and make it to the front and then let everyone pass me and do it all again. :D i find i ride faster when following someone than being out front. nobody likes riding behind me anyways cuz my sled shoots up a lot of crap. :D

Interesting topic , I had never thought of it that way.

Riding out front is like taking point position on a military exercise, your the first one to sacrifice. There are getting to be just too many wacko's out there that don't stay on thier own side of the trail.

When the wife and I ride together I always ride out front, I would much rather get hit than her. When riding with a group I hate feeling as I'm the tour guide and take a position further back and relax when posible.

i know there is usually less dust in the front than the back, maybe thats it, i know in the pack i ride we skip past each other here and there :thumbsup:

Same thing racer x said. It is easier to go faster when following somebody because you know were the bumps, drop offs and turns are. When the time is right go for a pass then do it again. When I lead I never know what pace to set.

I never lead cause I always go the wrong way :D

I usually get the job of the lead sled, not because I have to be, but only because we ride mostly off trail and everyone thinks that I come up with the most interesting routes. :crazy: Many of you are right though about it being a dangerous position, while trail riding I've encountered many close calls but would rather that it be me in that position than someone in our group. The thing that really burns me :cussing: is when I have a close call in the lead and find out later that the same sled nearly took out someone else in the pack. When I do find myself in the rear or middle I sit back and try to enjoy the scenery, something I find I don't do much of in the front :wink: .

I think the alpha Male leading the pack feels as if he is going faster and more aggressively because everyone is behind him. Think when you are at the back of the pack, you are feel less of a driver because you are just following the person in front of you instead of blazing the trail. I like to start at the rear of the pack then climb my way to the front, if and only if i know the trail :D.

My two cents,
Psxbs

Out of our pack, it is either my friend Ken or myself that lead. We usually take turns somehow and we each lead about half the time. I never find myself at the rear unless my wife is along and I go back to be close to her, OR we are in unknown territory....then Ken and I feel that one of us should be up front and one in back, to keep the group in tact. That way he and I can communicate to each other on the status of the group.

Being the leader definitely has it's advantages as mentioned on clear trails. But it can also be a downer in the turns and over the hills if you're riding agressively :crazy: and you're the first one to encounter a surprise in the trail.

i have to agree with all of you guys
ridin up front is the best.. :D
but also , your the first one who hits the crazy S.O.B. comming the other way!!!
:cussing:

plus... your the one they look to, to tell them where your going!!!

below

I hate ridign in the front. No one is ever satisfied. Either your going to fast or you are going to slow. No one is ever happy. Ever.

Although.... it is really fun when you ride like a baby till you hit the approaches, and just as they think its safe to come up a bit closer, you twitch the thumb a little bit, and they get a nice face full of beautiful snow. HAHAHAHA


Bauer

Riding out front in my world equates to being the first one out of fuel. It takes fuel to push snow, we take turns. Nobody wants to be the alpha dog that wimpers "we better go back I'm low on gas"?

I agree with mxzrevman and indysks,

I used to love to ride out front, but there are too many guys out there who think they are Blair Morgan on a sno cross track. :cussing: Now I let someone else lead.

I would let Jawz lead, but he's too slow. :lmao:

i am like most of you i guess. I love to be out front, no snow dust. just easier on the eyes. but there are some things i hate about being out front. You never know who is coming around the corner and what side of the trial they are using. Sometimes i like hanging back and taking it easy, then when we get on some wide open trials, pick my way to the front.
Being the leader of teh pack, you really have to be alert. Its always good to let someone lead that knows the trials in that certian area.
One other bad thing about being in front is if you do get lost, then everyone blames the guy in the lead. Luckily for me last year i got a gps system. this solved the problems i had at getting truned around, but now they always want me out front. I guess its a no win situation. :D

Originally posted by dawg@Jul 24 2004, 11:48 AM
i am like most of you i guess. I love to be out front, no snow dust. just easier on the eyes. but there are some things i hate about being out front. You never know who is coming around the corner and what side of the trial they are using. Sometimes i like hanging back and taking it easy, then when we get on some wide open trials, pick my way to the front.
Being the leader of teh pack, you really have to be alert. Its always good to let someone lead that knows the trials in that certian area.
One other bad thing about being in front is if you do get lost, then everyone blames the guy in the lead. Luckily for me last year i got a gps system. this solved the problems i had at getting truned around, but now they always want me out front. I guess its a no win situation. :D
hey dawg
i love my gps
i got the garmain V

here's a pic!!

When the group of reg. folks that I ride with go out we take turns leading.
We let the lead sled stay 1/2km. or so out in frount then the lead sled stops at the first cross road and lets the rest know if it's clear to cross the road by acting as a flag man. The lead person then takes the back of the group. Then at the next cross road the new leader acts as the flag man and brings up the rear. Everyone gets to lead and we don't have to come to a complete stop at the cross roads. This is the best way to cover miles in southern Ontario were there is a cross road every 2 or 3 miles.
Fraz

I like your plan fraz thats cool.I like to lead for the fresh air too but alot of times I try to be third as to not smell as much oil but see when the other riders hit moguls & turns.Those tuns can get ya in the dark where your glad someone wasnt coming the other way.A lead sled hit a bank at night flew off lucky no tree was there, that slowed him down for a while.Being in front does make you feal like the chief or something. Some go to fast some to slow me just right ,thats one reason I like to ride alone sometimes.