Do riders from the Western US ever ride in the Eastern US?

[jhl99]

Why or why not?

[JRA]

I haven't.  But not because I wouldn't want to.
I just have lots of riding that's closer to where I live.

[stumpyfsr]

Looks like everybody going west to ride "real" mountains. I rode some trails here and there and want to say that Appalachian has trails even steeper and more technical then some in Colorado. A huge advantage of riding west is that many trails are above tree line and views are spectacular. And it's not as crowded as East coast. Just my 2 cents

[joeydurango]

There's a lot more public land out here, so longer trips are possible without pavement/road interruptions.  That said, I hail from back East (near Louisville KY) and there is definitely some good riding on that side of the country.  I've ridden great trails in KY, IN, OH, WV, NC, NY, NJ (!), VT, Quebec CAN, etc.  I've never done any multi-day stuff back there, but my impression/feeling is that it would take a lot more planning to do a long MTB trip without some serious road riding.

Bikepacking aside, though, there's nothing wrong with the trails themselves in the East.  Dirt is dirt.  And yes, I do remember some CO folks coming out to a race we had in KY once upon a time and complaining about how steep everything was.  It may have only been a half-mile climb - but it would be almost straight up the hillside.  Benchcut?  Eh?

[verslowrdr]

East = too far away, haven't even scratched the surface of what's available in Washington, and if we're feeling like something amazing BC is *just right there*...

FWIW nobody I know of is ripping off 100+ mile days here in the central Cascades even unloaded. Just too steep. Anything over about 18 miles and you might be into an all-day adventure depending on where/what it is. Incredibly beautiful, wild country to be had though.

As I always tell husby, "Not all miles are created equal". Carrying my bike up a thirty-something-percent shale covered chute on the way back from Miller Peak (the big red triangle behind me- trail actually goes across that front face).

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

When I go home to visit family and friends I always take my mtn bike. Getting to ride the trails I grewup on is a real kick and just as much fun as anything I live near.

[wahday]

Bikepacking is a more recent thing for me, so it was not even on my radar when I was growing up back east (Philadelphia area). But I did do a fair amount of backpacking and would imagine some of those places would make for some great riding. Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey Pine Barrens, Allegheny National Forest, Monongahela National Forest, Green Mountains in Vermont and White Mountains in Maine are all fabulous places I have explored by foot. I have also biked a good deal in the Fairmont Park area of Philadelphia which  huge and has some great challenging riding (and is the second largest urban park in the nation, as I recall).

I agree with the comment that in the West, public lands are generally more accessible. There is also just less density and development overall, so finding your way to remote areas can be a little easier. But I would love to get back east and do some bikepacking. I just don’t have any family back there anymore, so not much of an incentive to visit let alone drag my bike along.

[Chunt]

The undeveloped areas accessible to bikes with good backcountry camping ops here in the east are really few and far between. Most of the areas I've been in, one had to go in with intention of camping rather than the necessity. Most areas can be traversed in a day from one developed area to the next, so you have to either go in circles or connect areas to make a bikepacking worthy adventure. That being said, there are areas that have a level of technical difficulty combined with a loaded bike that could slow you to a pace which would necessitate a camping option. Pisgah has some routes that would fall into that category. Linking up some of the tougher routes in that relatively small area with a loaded bike would be an overnight adventure for sure. In the east, often you're creating your own situation.