[pct-l] Bicycles on the PCT

[Matthew Edwards]

I have been following the threads regarding bicycles on the trail for a while. Last year on the PCT I only ever saw one bicycle and it really pissed me off. To think that someone would desecrate our trail, ignore our "No Mechanized Travel" signs.
Look, I have no problem with bicycles on their own trails. Many of my friends throughout my life have been avid bikers. I, in fact, hiked in part to raise money for a cause created by a bicyclist. 
But after having hiked the CDT and experiencing downhill "assaults" by bicycles on the Gray's Torrey's peaks route I have come to realize that there are places where bikers and hikers should never "collide".
It is Ironic that this year on the CDT I had to contend with armed motorcycle riders, ATV's with gunracks, 4WD vehicles on steroids, the occasional rusted pickup racing at breakneck speed, as well as downhill mountainbikes.
To me the PCT is the Cadillac of trails now. I never would have believed what an incredible, lucky, and glorious trail it truly is. 
In all ways the CDT trumps the PCT EXCEPT for it's(PCT's) lack of motorized traffic and perhaps the glory of the Sierra Nevada (The Wind River is really close! IMHO!).
Even Colorado, that great outdoor enthusiast state, has many places where we must "share" (read: Eat Dust) the trail with all manner of motorized vehicles.
This is not to say the CDT does not have wilderness sections, just pointing out what an incredible and valuable resource we all have in the Pacific Crest Trail.
The PCT is an asset worth fighting for! Never should we let the "No Mechanised" designation become the "No Motorized" designation so often found in the mid-west.
We have an incredible trail.. Let no man put it asunder.
Long Live the Pacific Crest Trail: The Premier NON-Mechanized Trail of the world
-Iceaxe
Sent on the go from my Peek