The reasoning behind this simple yet oft overlooked piece of advice is the same reason a highway patrolman will instruct you to give "3 seconds" of space between you and the car in front of you. At some point it's likely that your friend may have to react suddenly to avoid some danger or terrain feature and you want to have enough time to react to their movement. If they get stuck on the side of a hill and you're immediately behind them guess what…now you're stuck too.
A smart and experienced rider watches the man or woman in front of them, keying off the movement of the rider and quad in front of them to alert them to upcoming obstacles or anything they might have missed. This involves being far enough behind to read, analyze, and react to what's happening in front of you.
If you're tailing your friend too closely…and they have a wreck, you've just compounded the matter exponentially. You will probably wreck on the same thing they just did, hurling yourself and your ATV into the air after them. What might have been a recoverable accident or a minor wreck can become very serious when you throw in another machine and rider to the mix (see entry on speeding through campsites and populated areas).
Some of you speed addicts will ask... "Well what about racing? If I want to race doesn't it require me to be sort of close to my riding companion?" If you MUST race with your friends (which I don't advise unless you have the skill and knowledge to do so safely) make sure you do it in an area that's wide enough for you each to take your own path and that there's no blind corners or lack of visibility in your immediate area.
You want to have enough room to maneuver so that your only concerns are the quad, your body position, and the terrain you're traversing. Throwing in what another rider may do because you're close enough for it to directly affect your actions can be a recipe for disaster.
Also make sure your chosen area is flat enough, without any significant obstruction or obstacles. Hitting even a small berm or rut at speed can end your day in a quick and unfriendly fashion (trust me, this one's from direct first-hand knowledge).
When in doubt remember the risk/reward ratio. Is it really worth ruining the weekend with a broken bike or worse a broken body just to beat your friend in a meaningless, "for fun" type of race? No one is saying you can't go fast, get your thrill/adrenaline fix, and still be relatively safe. The key is to PICK YOUR SPOTS. Be a calculating, thinking type of rider (those are the ones that truly impress your friends and peers anyways).
It's ok to punch it once in awhile, so long as you have the skill, experience, and setting that will help minimize your risk.
Follow these simple tips to help ensure you have a safe and fun adventure with your friends and your toys. Nothing will ruin a trip faster than going home with a thoroughly broken machine, or even worse a broken body. Trust me on this.
You're much better off picking your spots to go fast, and maintaining a mentality of vigilance, understanding that the wrong mistake could be a life altering one.
