[pct-l] Bikes on the PCT

[Stephanie Best]

I have to strongly disagree with you Bob.  I live in a town (in CO) with a huge 
mountain bike presence (the town is dubbed "Mountain bike capital of the USA"). 
 It has gotten to the point where my friends and I simply do not hike during the 
weekends because we have the added bike traffic from the Front Rangers who take 
over the trails.  We have been bumped with handle bars, our dogs have been 
injured and we have been cussed out for not hearing them behind us.  It is not 
my job to constantly be looking behind me to see if I'm in a bikers way.  Not 
once has a biker yielded to me.  

I hope you will reconsider your position.

Stephanie
________________________________
From: Bob Bankhead <wandering_bob at comcast.net>
To: PCT List Forum <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 9:12 PM
Subject: [pct-l]  bikes on the PCT
  
Mountain bikers and hikers can co-exist on the same trail. Look at the Colorado 
Trail. With the exception of a few wilderness areas, non-motorized bikes are 
allowed anywhere along its length. Parts of the trail are included in the 
routings of the Leadville and Breckenridge 100 mile races, and there is even an 
annual bike race from Denver to Durango on the CT. There are designated biker CT 
road routes around those sensitive wilderness areas.

How do they do it? Respect for each other. Bikers put in hundreds of manhours 
each year maintaining the CT. I've never met a disrespectful biker on the CT. 
Quite the contrary, they are a great resource for hikers, often sharing water, 
trail condition, and providing rides to/from remote trailheads. Yes, the bikes 
do cut ruts into the trail tread, but fixing that is where a lot of their 
maintenance hours go.

The rules of the road are everyone yields to stock, and bikes yield to hikers. 
Courtesy modifies that a bit such that descending hikers routinely step off the 
trail for bikes pedaling uphill. It's a lot easier to get going again for the 
hiker. Bikers are well aware of the presence of hikers and make a concerted 
effort to avoid collisions on blind corners and sweeping curves, even during the 
races.