[pct-l] bikes on the PCT

[Jim Banks]

The PCTA does receive some taxpayer money from the Forest Service and BLM
for maintenance of the trail, but it is a very, very small part of the
overall cost of maintaining the trail.  The vast majority of the expense of
maintaining the PCT is the sweat equity put in by the hikers and equestrians
that volunteer to do the trail work.  If there were no volunteers, the
taxpayer money would not be enough to maintain 100 miles of the trail.  As
one of those volunteers, I can tell you that if mountain bikes are ever
allowed on the PCT, a majority (maybe a super majority) of the people
willing to give up their time and put in the hard work maintaining the trail
will quit. 

The trails that allow mountain bikes are also partially funded by the
taxpayer.  Following your line of thinking, motorcycles, quads, and jeeps
should be allowed on those trails as well since those trails "are not meant
to be for the exclusive use of any group."  You see it cuts both ways.

I-Beam

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Zorglub
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 5:42 PM
To: PCT
Subject: Re: [pct-l] bikes on the PCT

Commuting by bike is great, but that does not really address the anti
mountain bike bias I see on this board.  It seems to me, and I'm sure all
will disagree here, that the issue has to do with sharing more than anything
else.  Hikers, and the few horse riders left over (from what I read earlier
on another post) are used now to have the PCT to themselves and are not
interesting in sharing.

I'd like to remind everyone that the PCT is funded by the taxpayer and
should be therefore not meant to be the exclusive use of any given group.  I
don't see the USFS creating new trails exclusively for mountain bikers, so I
really don't see why the PCT should be the exclusive use of hikers.

In 12 + years of riding all over, I've never had one bad encounter with
anybody.  


________________________________
 From: Brick Robbins <brick at brickrobbins.com>
To: PCT <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] bikes on the PCT
 
On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 3:49 PM, Craig Giffen <cg at lunky.com> wrote:
>During my hike of the PCT in the mid 90's, I saw more illegal mountain 
>bikes on the trail than I did horses...and no, they did not yield.  One 
>came around a blind corner so fast he nearly hit me head on.  He 
>apologized but I told him other hikers might not be as nice as I was.<

And FWIW, I would like to point out that Craig exclusivity commutes by
bicycle and does not own a car. I own a car, but only drive 1 day a week.

If you look at Craigs website www.lunky.com you will see his "ride around
Australia"

Both of us are fiercely pro-bicycle, just not on the PCT
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