Self Shuttle question

[perrymk]

I have heard of people self-shuttling various trails using a pickup truck and motorcycle. Well, I own a small hatchback car. Browsing online I found a folding electric bicycle with a range of 28-38 miles and a speed of 20 mph. I'm thinking his might work for me.

So my questions.
Is it possible to park, bicycle 30-40 miles (max) to another trailhead and hike back 10-15 miles?
Are there trailheads every 10-20 miles?
Are the roads from trailhead to trailhead no more than 30 miles?

I suppose one could also use a regular bicycle but averaging 8-10mph versus 20-22 (with light peddling) seems like a major timesaver to me. This will be especially important as the distance from home (near Tallahassee) increases.

Thanks for any input.

EDIT: This is part of my effort to section hike the entire FT. I have not yet purchased the electric bike and will only do so if the plan sounds do-able.

[fiddlehead]

Sounds like it might work sometimes.
You are probably going to find that shuttles are longer than hiking miles.
Think about it, you are hiking from point A to point B in the mountains, with the AT staying mostly on the ridges.
But, the roads have to go down, then parallel the trail at best and back up, with more windy roads than the trail oftentimes.
Sometimes it will be double the miles.
You might do better with a rack for the back of the car and a scooter type motorbike that uses gas???
Also, remember that you will be finishing these shuttles with a long uphill.
I know where I come from in PA, the last uphill up to the trail at 183 is one of the biggest and longest climbs for a car in our county.
If you electric bike is running out of energy, this hill will finish it off and you may be walking that last uphill.

[WingedMonkey]

Might be a good time to discuss what a "trailhead" is when it comes to the FT.

Although there may be many road crossings, actual trailheads with designated parking and trail usage are kinda sparse.

Many of my own trips have used a bicycle (not motorized) and before they screwed up Amtrak so bad in Florida I even used to take a folding bike on the train buy an annual Florida Resident Pass and bike to the trail in different locals.

Perhaps it you asked about specific sections those familiar with those parts could chime in about trailheads.

I'd be happy to look up any particular section from Sandra Friends book until the new one is published, I use it often to jog my own memory of where I have been over the years.

[Alligator]

He's talking about the Florida Trail Fiddlehead.

@perrymk-It sounds like you are not a regular rider? I rode bike on a recreational basis and typically when using a bike I would shuttle anywhere from 30-50 miles. Sometimes I would arrive in the afternoon and shuttle the bike, then hike a little and once I biked about 40+miles and hiked a 17. This was on the AT. I am not a particularly fast rider, on flats I ride about 16-20 mph.

An electric bike would be sweet for this sort of thing, although that range might come up a little short.

[perrymk]

fiddlehead: Yes, I am aware that the shuttle would usually be longer than the hike.

Wingedmonkey: I have an older edition of Sandra friends book and just received the full set of maps today. There was supposed to be a data book in my order but it didn't show up. I sent an email so hopefully it will soon. I have parked on roadsides to hike in the Apalachicola National Forest without incident. Hopefully I can do the same elsewhere although I would prefer parking lot trailheads.

Alligator: You are correct; I am not a regular rider and only a marginal hiker. 10-12 miles is no problem and hopefully and I will improve with time. I haven't really tried anything longer though. My main thought with a regular bike is the time issue. The wearing-myself-out issue is secondary.

Hopefully I can spend more time this weekend with the maps and older book to see how far this plan might get me. If anyone knows any sections where this definitely would not work, maybe just compiling those would be a good start.

[max patch]

Another alternative - Last year PJWetzel slackpacked his way up (and back) on the AT self shuttling himself in his car. He'd park at a trailhead, hike to the next trailhead, and then turn around and hike back to his car. He'd then drive his car to the next trailhead and repeat the process. He did a "double thru hike" without spending a single night on the trail. I have no idea if this could be done on the Florida Trail.

[Praha4]

on the Florida Trail, given the relatively flat terrain, you could try that self shuttle method using a car and a bicycle. I have a friend here who has done just that on the FT from Western Gate, hiking east all the way down past St Marks Wildlife Refuge in the Big Bend. He left his bike chained to a tree on the trail, drove his car ahead to a FT road crossing where he planned to end his day... then drove back, picked up his bike, drove back, camped for the nite. Next day repeated the cycle.

[perrymk]

max patch- I thought about that and am still weighing it as an option. It would take at least twice as long though. Of course ther's no hurry either.

praha4- Thanks. It looks do-able in my area (Tallahassee). I am wondering about the rest of the trail. I spent a little time with an old edition Sandra friends book and it looks like the southern terminus might be a problem. If that's the only problem area then I might go for it.

[fcoulter]

There's at least one section that your plan will probably not work. The southern most part of the trail involves two to three days of hiking through the swamps, and the first "trailhead" is a rest area on I-75. Then there's another day's hiking to the Seminole Indian Reservation. (This is all looking northbound.)

According to Google Maps (http://goo.gl/maps/XjzgX), it's a 29.7 mile hike from the southern terminus to the I-75 rest area. If you click on the bicycle logo, you get the same route, but nothing I've heard makes that section of trail acessible by bicycle. By car (http://goo.gl/maps/CegYU), it's 56 miles, 16 of which are on an interstate. I doubt that riding a bike on I-75 is legal.

So, in answer to your question about whether you can do the entire trail that way, I'd say the answer is no. However, Chuck Norris provides support services once a year for a batch of Florida Trail hikers going northbound leaving the southern terminus. You may wish to contact him (http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=14398) about filling in this gap next January. (He's already finished with this year's support trip.) He may be able to get you to the starting point, and then get you back to civilization once you've finished the section that can't be done by bike.

[perrymk]

fcoulter-good information, thanks. I was wondering about the southern terminus but hadn't pulled out any maps other than the Florida Trail map yet. My dad lives in Miami so I might be able to talk him into shuttling me on the southern end.

Since I glanced at the FTA maps last night and most of the trip looked do-able with at least plenty of road crossings, I emailed the electric bike manufacturer. I described the forest roads I anticipate will account for a fair amount of the shuttling. They didn't sound enthused about forest roads with the model I had picked out. They have an off-road model but it is pricier and doesn't have the range I want. So it looks like I will have to get use to the idea of pedaling and getting in better condition.

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I'm certainly open to more if there are any.

[WingedMonkey]

You will be surprised after you start biking how easy 20 or 30 miles will become.

[fcoulter]

Just a quick question: how do you plan on charging the bike? I can't imagine plugging it into the lighter socket. You may wish to talk to the bike's maker about charging it on the road: how? and how long?

[perrymk]

My plan has been to do single day and weekend hikes. So I would start with a charged bike. If it were a weekend hike, I would either have to plan on short shuttles (to not deplete the battery) or get a cheap hotel. Knowing myself, I would go for the cheap hotel.

However, the electric bike idea looks less likely for the moment. I'm going to spend some time cleaning up and doing minor repairs on my regular bicycle over the next few days.

[Alligator]

You will be surprised after you start biking how easy 20 or 30 miles will become.

I agree.

Time-wise, it would add roughly 1-3 hours on the first shuttle day, plus you will need to go get the bike at the end. If you take a paid shuttle or have a friend/family member shuttle you, you can avoid this last day shuttle. If you were hiking with somebody and used two cars, you would have had to do it anyway. There is generally at least one shuttle to--entering or exiting--unless you are doing a loop. So there are some additional time issues but not particularly excessive IMHO.

[fcoulter]

My plan has been to do single day and weekend hikes. So I would start with a charged bike. If it were a weekend hike, I would either have to plan on short shuttles (to not deplete the battery) or get a cheap hotel. Knowing myself, I would go for the cheap hotel.

However, the electric bike idea looks less likely for the moment. I'm going to spend some time cleaning up and doing minor repairs on my regular bicycle over the next few days.

I have to say that you comments, while not affecting my hiking at all, have brought up an interesting thought for me in a couple of years.

Central Florida is creating a commuter train system, called SunRail. Unfortunately, the buses aren't really set up to get me to the train station adequately, nor to get me to work from the other train station. (The issue is really that the population density in Central Florida isn't high enough to make mass transit a good idea.)

I'm not at all convinced that I'd save time or money if I had to take a bus, to a train for only two stops, to a bus, to work. The station that's opening next year closest to my house is over half way to my job, so it really doesn't make sense to take the train other than to say I did it. Once.

But once the station is open in my town, it might make sense to ride a bike to the station, and then ride the same bike to work, for a total of less than ten miles biking. And the same thing home.

I get tired in the evening, but having an electric bike might be just what the doctor ordered. And if you hadn't posted this question, I don't think I would have even considered the possibility. The station won't open until Phase II, but it might work for me.

Thanks for the idea.

[perrymk]

This is a little off topic so mods can delete it if desired. Check out http://prodecotech.com/. They are Made in USA and not too far from you so perhaps you could even visit the factory (a small facility from what I understand). I spent a fair amount of time researching electric bikes online and feel these are about the best value. Of course that is just my opinion. I also came across a blog, don't have the address now, of a couple that are chronicling their cross country (US) journey on electric bike (not Prodeco) using only $20 of electricty. It is perhaps the most economical (EDIT: original ecomical was funnier though) motor-powered transport available. It won't fit every situation, but it will fit some.

[soulrebel]

go over to bikepacking.net. You're onto something.

[perrymk]

The bicycle self-shuttle went well. I did a relatively light 6 mile bike followed by a 4.6 mile hike. Walking after biking takes some getting use to though. It probably took more than a mile before I felt like my walking wasn't influenced by peddling. Maybe as I get into better biking shape that will change. I haven't bicycled in years.

The next section can be either 3.4, 8.5, or roughly 11 miles based on the road crossings on the map. The biking distance for this section will be greater in a go-way-around sort of ride so I'm hoping to get a volunteer to shuttle/hike with me.
021613 (1) small.jpg

[WingedMonkey]

Here are my "bike to trail-head" toys.

The red rear panier is from Bike Nashbar. I has a removable panel on the back that hides the backpack straps and belt. It carries everything I need for a weekender.

The other bags carry everything I want.

[WingedMonkey]

Here are my "bike to trail-head" toys.

The red rear panier is from Bike Nashbar. I has a removable panel on the back that hides the backpack straps and belt. It carries everything I need for a weekender.

The other bags carry everything I want.

OK, so I forgot the pic.

Bike Dupruis.jpg