mountain biking ??

[birdygal]

Does anyone on here do both. I live next to the pinhoti trail one way is 7 miles the other way is a 13 mile stretch including the trial head luckily it is across the street from my house. It takes me 3 1/2 and 8 hours to hike them I am wanting to be able to get through them quicker as I have time restraints on how long I can be away from home. Can anyone tell me about how much faster you can bike than hike. The trails I am referring to are across small mountain tops

[wrongway_08]

Depends on the hills, I can usually do about 20 miles in 3.5 hours by our trails, of course they are really hilly. If the trail is not that bad and you are use to the bike, figure on about an hour to an hour and a half for 13 miles.

[take-a-knee]

Birdy, can you ride a bike on the Pinhoti legally?

[birdygal]

Yes the 7 mile part is open to foot and bikes, the 13 mile part is open to foot,horse, and bikes. no motorized vehichles I did mean a pedaling mountain bike

[MOWGLI]

Most if not all of the Georgia section of the Pinhoti Trail is open to bikes. I'm not sure if the Pinhoti runs through any designated wilderness in the Cohuttas. If it does, that's the exception.

[EWS]

It completely depends on the difficulty of the trail, your skill level, and what shape you're in.

[Mags]

Chomp here on WB is an active mountain biker. He's based in New Hampshire..but who knows, maybe he has mountain biked down in that area?

At the very least, there is at least WBer who is also an active mountian biker. :)

[taildragger]

I used to race and it will really depend on your terrain. I think back in Oklahoma at Turkey mountain (which is actually quite hilly and very rough) I could get an average speed of around 10mph, anything faster and you'd start replacing rims way too often.

When you first start biking, you'll probably be rather slow compared to what you will become. For me, I found that most of my speed came from my skill, I eventually learned to go faster and pick out better lines, being in good shape also helped, but even as a smoker I was able to beat out my friends who biked 20 miles a day, 3 days a week.

IMHO its been one of the most fun sports that I've ever tried, I'd still be doing it if I hadn't bent the frame of my old bike, and if I wasn't ratholing for my PCT jaunt.

[birdygal]

Thanks for your input these trails are not that up and down except in one area getting up the mountain which is on the trail head however the short one is really rocky, we have met more bikers on the trails than hikers. Since my Husband and I have not been on a bike for many years I am sure we will be pretty slow to start.

[take-a-knee]

Birdy, get a front rock shock if you don't have one. Learn to "level your pedals", that is, keep the crank arms level so you don't catch a pedal on tough terrain. Also, learn to pinch the horn of the saddle with your thighs as you lift your butt off the saddle, it gives more control. And BE CAREFUL!