View Full Version : day hiking with a bike
lilygrrrl1
01-23-2010, 20:23
hey all.
has anyone day hiked using a bike to get back to the car??
we'll be day hiking the beginning of june in the shenandoah's (south of swift run) and are working on the 'hiding the bike in the woods' logistics. :-?
any thoughts and suggestions would be great!
krinkles
JustaTouron
01-23-2010, 20:35
did it once worked great.
1. park the car at the end of the trail. Ride the bike to the trail head (instead of leave car at trail head, with bike at trail end)
2. if you own multiple bikes -- use the beat up junkie one you got for $25 at a garage sale, not the $700 racing moutain bike.
3. both hide the bike and lock the bike
Toolshed
01-23-2010, 20:38
Have done it while sectioning NJ. Helps to not have the bike 20 Yards into the woods by the trailhead where anyone stopping to pee or poop would stumble across it. Instead park it about 1/4 mile from the TH in the woods. lie it down. If overnighting, cover with a small camo tarp.
I routinely do this when the trip will come out at trailheads a few miles apart. Mammoth Cave was a very common spot for me to do this. My wife would take off while I drove to the take out trailhead, rode the bike back to the starting traihead, and then stowed, locked, and hid the bike.
Buy an army suplus poncho for a few bucks and a good cable lock. Get the bike decently off-trail where brush would pretty much hide it any way. Lay it nearly flat and cable lock it to a sturdy tree. Wrap the poncho around it to break up the outline more and give it some protection from the elements. Cover it further with leaves and perhaps light deadfall. I've never had a problem with any one messing with my bike, though I've occasionally had to look an extra minute or two to find the camoflaged bike.
I've used it on solo trips up to 50 miles between trailheads (Land Between the Lakes North-South Trail in 2002). My mountain bike also handles forest service roads quite well. I carry gear in panniers while I ride (for better balance), then transfer everything to my pack once the bike is hidden.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/bearpawat99/Croatan%20NF%20Neusiok%20Trail%202004/cro1.jpg
shelterbuilder
01-23-2010, 22:16
I actually did this the year that I sectioned Mass. ALONE after my partner cancelled at the last minute!:mad: I made arrangements to park the car near the half-way point and rode the bike back to where I had hidden my pack (frame pack, locked to a tree, under a camo tarp). Swapped the bike for the pack, hiked back to the car during the next few days. Left the pack with friends, drove back to retrive the bike, drove to the end of the section, left the car and rode back to the mid-point, where I locked up the bike in the woods under the tarp. Hiked from the mid-point to the end, got the car, drove back for the bike. I lost about a full day's worth of hiking (which didn't matter too much on a section hike), but I didn't have to cancel my trip.
Bottom line: good heavy-duty bike lock, camo tarp, good hiding place in the woods away from normally traveled areas of the trail - you'll be fine. The shorter the time that the bike is hidden, the less the chance that it'll be found and messed with.
I've did it once last summer, without the car, for a weekend hike.
Easiest in summer when you can pack light.
Helps if you can get the hiking food near the end of the bike section.
I only biked one way though, and got a lift home. This year both ways maybe.
Blissful
01-23-2010, 22:46
My hubby did that to hike with us when we did southwestern VA. He did it twice - near Bland and again near Catawba. Nearly killed himself one time trying to bike one of these gravel roads to the trail.
Just be forewarned, the Skyline Drive in SNP has lots of elevation changes.
Cookerhiker
01-24-2010, 16:32
did it once worked great.
1. park the car at the end of the trail. Ride the bike to the trail head (instead of leave car at trail head, with bike at trail end)......3. both hide the bike and lock the bike
Section-hiking the entire AT in a myriad of ways, I used this technique about half a dozen times. This is correct way; do the bike ride first. It's usually - no make that always - the tougher trip. Typically the road crossings are at gaps so your bike ride is downhill followed by rolling and ending uphill. Not all rides are like this though.
As Blissful said, think very carefully if you want to do this in SNP. Skyline Drive is mostly up-and-down and some of them are long.
If you're eventually planning to section hike the whole trail, the stretches where I did these bike-hikes are as follows:
CT - Undermountain Trail trailhead on Rt. 41 & Rt. outside Salisbury
CT & NY - Rt. 55 and Rt. 22
PA - From Rt. 225 to Rt. 325
PA - the Cumberland Valley, Boiling Springs to Rt. 944
VA - Rt. 50 to Rt. 7 - the "Roller Coaster" - the hike wasn't bad, the bike ride nearly killed me!
Just be forewarned, the Skyline Drive in SNP has lots of elevation changes.The trick with bike shuttling is to park your car at the top of a hill and coast down to a low point,then walk back uphill ot the car. (Coasting on a bike downhill and walking up is easier than pedaling up and walking down). Easy in the Shennies where the trail is always close to the road. I hiked the whole 100 miles uphill this way when I did this on weekends while working in DC one summer.
Toolshed
01-24-2010, 22:02
I might add, Iused to bike commute in MA, and riding a bike with A 25 LB daypack is not much fun and tends to change your weight distribution. I ended up going to panniers, as Bearpaw mentioned (they hang alongside the rear or front wheels), but you might not have that luxury. If you don't feel comfortable with the weight in a backpack, clear your pack of food and water and bring that back with you, leaving everything else under the tarp where you can come right back and pick it up.
Also, I had clip pedals, so I left my biking shoes with the bike and wore NB-80X's on the trail and then change over when I got back to the bike.
lilygrrrl1
01-24-2010, 23:11
thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions!
i have sectioned hiked from swift run, VA --> vermont....but now i'm day hiking with my year old son and my girlfriend. so....we have very little option other than having someone ((in this case my girlfriend - who's first love is cycling)) to ride back to the car AFTER the day's worth of hiking.
that's great suggestion to walk uphill....and ride down hill to the car. i'd much rather carry a 24# child uphill than have one of us ride a 10% grade uphill after a day's hike.
plus we will certainly need to pack the 'clip' pedals and invest in a heavy lock and camo tarp/poncho.
now let's hope for dry weather. :)
krinkles
thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions!
i have sectioned hiked from swift run, VA --> vermont....but now i'm day hiking with my year old son and my girlfriend. so....we have very little option other than having someone ((in this case my girlfriend - who's first love is cycling)) to ride back to the car AFTER the day's worth of hiking.
that's great suggestion to walk uphill....and ride down hill to the car. i'd much rather carry a 24# child uphill than have one of us ride a 10% grade uphill after a day's hike. Actually, it is best to leave the car at the top, coast downhill, and walk back to the car.
The odds are that neither bike nor car will be stolen, but the odds are greater for the bike. Last thing you want is to hike all day and be 10 miles from your car.
Cabin Fever
01-25-2010, 14:31
I know a guy that section hiked a great deal of the trail using a scooter and his truck. He would hike a couple of days and ride the scooter back. No hill problems with that. He put camo over it in the woods while locked to a tree.
Cookerhiker
01-25-2010, 15:13
The trick with bike shuttling is to park your car at the top of a hill and coast down to a low point,then walk back uphill ot the car. (Coasting on a bike downhill and walking up is easier than pedaling up and walking down). Easy in the Shennies where the trail is always close to the road. I hiked the whole 100 miles uphill this way when I did this on weekends while working in DC one summer.
......that's great suggestion to walk uphill....and ride down hill to the car. i'd much rather carry a 24# child uphill than have one of us ride a 10% grade uphill after a day's hike.....
I can see where that would work in SNP but only for very short stretches. If you're looking for a 10-15 mile day-hike, chances are the Skyline Drive cycling would involve both up and down. I suppose you can break hikes up into short stretches by cycling down to a gap from one direction and hiking north, then cycling down from the other direction and hiking south. But I'd guess these hikes would cover less than 5 AT miles each.
One of the stretches I had mentioned in aprevious post fits exactly into Frosty's point - in PA just east of the Susquehanna, parking at Rt. 225, cycling downhill to the intersection with Rt. 325, and cyclying 325 to the trailhead. Easy cycling but again, this covers only 7 AT miles.
The more I re-look at where the Trail crosses roads and the potential for bike-hikes, the more likely it seems that what's more typical is what I described earlier: cycle steep downhill from the gap, along the valley (usually rolling) and a steep uphill to your starting gap. So if you intend to hike a lot this way, be prepared for that last uphill.
Finally, I had mentioned that I bike-hiked the northernmost and southernmost stretches of CT. I had intended to bike-hike all of CT but I observed that Rt. 7 was not conducive to safe cycling.
Pedaling Fool
01-25-2010, 17:50
I can see where that would work in SNP but only for very short stretches. If you're looking for a 10-15 mile day-hike, chances are the Skyline Drive cycling would involve both up and down. I suppose you can break hikes up into short stretches by cycling down to a gap from one direction and hiking north, then cycling down from the other direction and hiking south. But I'd guess these hikes would cover less than 5 AT miles each.
One of the stretches I had mentioned in aprevious post fits exactly into Frosty's point - in PA just east of the Susquehanna, parking at Rt. 225, cycling downhill to the intersection with Rt. 325, and cyclying 325 to the trailhead. Easy cycling but again, this covers only 7 AT miles.
The more I re-look at where the Trail crosses roads and the potential for bike-hikes, the more likely it seems that what's more typical is what I described earlier: cycle steep downhill from the gap, along the valley (usually rolling) and a steep uphill to your starting gap. So if you intend to hike a lot this way, be prepared for that last uphill.
Finally, I had mentioned that I bike-hiked the northernmost and southernmost stretches of CT. I had intended to bike-hike all of CT but I observed that Rt. 7 was not conducive to safe cycling.
I would assume (could be wrong) many roads along the AT would NOT be conducive to safe cycling, at least for someone that does not do a lot of road cycling. SNP roads are really not conducive for safe cycling, other than the fact that the roads are not high-traffic, nor high-speed, and A very important factor is that commercial trucks are almost non-existant.
Some backcountry roads really suck and can be very scary.
.
Cookerhiker
01-25-2010, 19:02
From the safety i.e.traffic standpoint, Skyline Drive & the Blue Ridge Parkway don't have a lot of traffic on weekdays in late April or early May which are nice times to hike the AT in those areas. The absence of trucks certainly helps.
hey all.
has anyone day hiked using a bike to get back to the car??
we'll be day hiking the beginning of june in the shenandoah's (south of swift run) and are working on the 'hiding the bike in the woods' logistics. :-?
any thoughts and suggestions would be great!
krinkles
I did it a number of times on the flatter sections in New Hampshire. I used an old (VERY old) WOMAN's three speed bike (very un-theftworthy), walked it up the trail out of sight, then OFF the trail out of sight and chained it to a sturdy tree. It was always there when I came to it.
Pedaling Fool
01-26-2010, 09:09
From the safety i.e.traffic standpoint, Skyline Drive & the Blue Ridge Parkway don't have a lot of traffic on weekdays in late April or early May which are nice times to hike the AT in those areas. The absence of trucks certainly helps.
That was my point, the construction of those roadways are not conducive to safe cycling, but the low traffic volume and low speeds mitigate that to a great degree.
However, the road construction of SNP/BRP is not unlike a lot of backcountry roads (I would imagine this applies to many roads along the AT), in addition they can be very congested, with speeds practically the same as interstates and then you got the TRUCKS!!
All I'm saying is be safe out there. I never travel without a mirror.
A couple of places I'm tempted to think of making a loop bp trip out of using a bike are:
-MD's http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/greenridge.html backpacking trails, loop back on the C&O towpath
-PA Mid State Trail between Ramsey and Blackwell, loop back on Pine Creek Rail Trail
Cookerhiker
01-26-2010, 10:35
Yes as I've learned, one can't simply look at maps, see connecting roads, and assume that they're safely bikeable.
Fussymary
01-26-2010, 11:21
This is a great thread. I would be interested in knowing if anyone did this in any sections of the Trail. I am also section hiking and often have to hike in and out - which is frustrating but the only way I can do it sometimes. I've often thought about the two-car approach but using a bike would be much more practical for me.
Cookerhiker
01-26-2010, 11:25
.... I would be interested in knowing if anyone did this in any sections of the Trail. ....
Yes, there are some examples in this very thread.
It would be helpful if more respondants weigh in and if those who live near the Trail would relate the feasibility of bike-hiking where they live.
In PA, Boiling Springs to Pine Grove Furnace, and PGF to Caledonia would both be good for biking around the A.T. I used to ride down the valley through there when I lived in B.S.
If those sections are too long for your dayhike, can break into rough halves at tne new parking lot at PA 34, and Big Flat, respectively.
(I'm not enough of a biker to like heading up to Big Flat from PA 233, but if one does the PA 225 crossing as earlier mentioned, it's much more bike friendly than that climb up Peters Mtn!)