[pct-l] bikes on the PCT

[Glen Winters]

As a teenager way back when (late 60's early 70's) I used to ride dirt bikes. There were 3 motorcycle tracks near my home and a couple of areas on private land where we were left alone to ride. We enjoyed tearing up the dirt making berms and ruts, etc. I also rode dirt bikes also known a MX back then don't know the current term, but with the same mentality. Just so you pro bikers understand, I like mountain bikes in fact this year at the community center in Warner Springs I ran into a Mountain bike racer who had pulled out of the race due to dehydration and was biking his way home, he ha no cash on him, only a credit card so I bought him lunch.. A few weeks later I'm coming to the red carpet cache and meet a mountain biker heading up the hill on the PCT so in a friendly voice I ask if he knows he's on the PCT and try to talk to him about it. This is what I got out of the conversation He claimed to be a local Lake Hughes area I believe and claimed the
 right to be on the trail because he didn't think bikes damage the trail and other hikers didn't seem to mind. Next I was rudely informed he wouldn't debate the issue with me and to get out of his way. Unfortunately I get stubborn when you try to dictate to me so I blocked the trail with my body and poles and asked him politely to turn around and leave the PCT. I was then threatened with bodily harm, obviously he doesn't know me, I was kinda hoping he'd take a swing. Eventually he picked up his bike and climbed up and around me. I sat at the Red Carpet Cache which by the way I'm happy to report no longer has trashy red carpet on the ground, to calm down, eat lunch and try to get back into the hike. I asked the next 4 hikers about their encounter with this guy. One hiker was pro bike, one hiker was anti bike but didn't want the hassle, and the other two kinda ambivalent.

Even within the hiking community we will not have 100% support for the position of no bikes allowed. I believe the majority of motorcyclists and bicyclist already abusing the PCT are probably the worst of the lot, meaning they are comparable to the bad apples in the hiking community like our infamous taggers a few years back. I think what bother me most is the worst abuse of our trail is in the areas with the greatest amount of legal bicycle trails, for example Big Bear has numerous bike allowed hiking trails, jeep roads, etc. but also has a high number of bike tread marks on the PCT. Anyone who has hiked into Tehachapi is aware of not just minor damage but horrible damage not just to the trail but to the entire mountain from dirt bikes, as they used to be legal in what now is mostly a wind farm, so the motorcyclists in most cases knowingly tore up the trail and forest illegally since it was convenient, unspoiled, and a low probability of enforcement. I
 see opening the PCT to bikes is just giving people a legal means to go out and destroy the trail and also off trail for fun, while there are probably a large number of mountain bikers who would try and respect the trail, hikers and equestrians in the end it will destroy the trail for hikers at least, and from how spooked some horses get just seeing a guy with a pack or poles I would suspect many equestrians will not be able to use the trail either.

If you want to convince me the PCT should be open to bicyclists, what I want you pro-cyclists to provide is One: proof or even suppositions(which we will disprove if inaccurate) that the areas you want open do not have other legal bike trails in reasonable proximity to the population centers nearby and Two: the areas you think should be open are not in national parks, forests etc. But there's still an issue of injury do to speed difference which by the way applies to vehicles on the highway as well, and lack of noise or warning. Read up on the issues of electric cars and especially electric motorcycles and their lack of noise. The silent bicycle would surely be the cause of injuries. As has been pointed out and no response yet from the pro bike advocates the difference in speed is a major issue. Bicycles/pedestrians are not allowed on most freeways and ?some major highways? for the simple reason its not safe because of the huge difference in velocity.
 And yes I pay motor vehicle fuel taxes and other taxes yet I can not and do not want to go for a hike on I-5.  In fact there's even a difference between a motorcycle and a motor driven cycle In the state I reside one is not allowed on the freeway but is allowed on the highway simply because it may not be able to keep up with traffic ie. a difference in velocity being an accident waiting to happen. Tell me how you propose to mitigate the safety issue, not just anecdotes or feelings. Maybe a speed limit for bicycles then who enforces the rules? No skidding, again who enforces this, no off trail riding again same point. I will concede that their probably will be bicyclists who will help maintain the trail but will they offset the loss from the disappointed hikers and equestrians who will abandon this trail, and from the higher maintenance cost, in case you hadn't noticed federal and state governments are not increasing funding for parks, forest, trails,
 etc. In most cases budgets are cut and fees are increasing.

I suspect your idea of sharing the trail is kinda like how my older brother used to share a snack if there was only one or he was especially hungry when we got home from school and had more then one. I would get a crumb so he could claim to have shared. As has also been pointed out paying taxes and public use for any purpose do not go hand in hand. I would love to fly an F-16 or even an A-10 or 
how about drive an Abrams tank I paid taxes for them I just want to goof off 
and see how much fun they are that seems about as reasonable. Maybe you 
should get food stamps too even if you make 100k a year after all you 
did pay taxes. Hey I should have been receiving SS checks when I was 20 I could have been retired for years that would have been a blast. Now if you want my support changing a law convince me that its unfair or unreasonable or unjust. Like do you have glaucoma and want to smoke weed. Do you want to drive a horse drawn cart in Tennessee and don't want to have a man walk 100 feet ahead of the cart holding a kerosene lantern after dark, like maybe use a battery powered light on the carriage? Yes there's a law to that effect. Or change welfare/disability laws to give an incentive for people to work if able, for example every dollar you earn only cuts 50 cents of your benefits so the more you make the better off you are not worse off when things go wrong. I understand your desire to want more places to ride, I don't believe there's a lack of available areas, in general we in the US are very supportive of bicyclists. There are also many hiking trails in the US
 but only 3 true long distance hiking trails with the continental divide trail already having a mountain bike race which covers some of that trail, and the other 2 are mostly protected for hikers and or equestrians do you really believe we should loose those? Do you think it would be reasonable for me to create a iron man race on the same roads and at the same time as the Tour De France. How about a marathon in Long beach on the same roads at the same time as the Long Beach Grand Prix? The PCT the AT and the CDT are the hikers equivalent of climbing mount Everest, or driving in the Indy 500 or driving the Baja 1000 or riding in the Tour De France, or running in the New York marathon, I don't expect to exclude bikes from the CDT I don't understand why you feel its right to take the PCT from us.

Argentina