The Pedalshift Project 095: Bicycling Oregon to San Francisco – Part 1

My fall 2017 Pacific Coast bicycle tour ended in San Francisco this week… On this episode, an interview with Daniel, the guy who ended up bicycling Oregon to San Francisco with me!
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September 28, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 094: Pacific Coast Bicycle Tour Preview

My fall 2017 Pacific Coast bicycle tour kicks off in less than a week! On this episode, a tour preview plus tips for working remotely on bike tour!
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September 21, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 093: Fast forward your bike tour with Brock Dittus

Friend of the show Brock Dittus chats about his latest adventure, giving us all tips on how to fast forward your bike tour with mass transit! Read more

September 7, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 092: Morning bicycle touring checklist

Breaking news on the personal front (all good for the pod, mind you!) plus a great morning bicycle touring checklist to give your ride a proper once-over before you get rolling! Read more

August 24, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 091: Your Summer Bicycle Tours 2017

As summer begins its slow wind down, let’s take a look back at some of your amazing summer bicycle tours of 2017! From Oregon to Iceland to Scotland to South Korea, Pedalshift listeners have certainly shrunk the world by bike! Plus, a special early preview of what’s in store for Pedalshift 100!

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 091: Your Summer Bicycle Tours 2017 (mp3)

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Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

Hey I’m riding the Pacific Coast again!

I’m planning on an October tour from Newport, OR to San Francisco, revisiting a section of the 2014 full coast ride and one I just adore. Looking forward to sharing more details with you in a future pod!

The march to Pedalshift 100

I have something special lined up for episode 100. We’ll have friends of the show Brock and Aaron as special guests and we’ll chat all about the usual nonsense. But but but… there’s more. We’re looking to do a joint meet up slash holiday spectacular live and in person the first weekend in December in Portland, Oregon. Details to come…

The Journal: Your Summer Bicycle Tours 2017

Greg in Santa Cruz on credit card touring the Oregon Coast

Go read Greg’s Crazy Guy journal… it’s not super detailed, but that’s kind of its charm. He took Amtrak up from San Jose to Portland and saw some of the bikey podcast sites… SE Div and 12th… VeloCult… you know, the highlights. He also tackled the Portland to Tillamook ride which even most PDXers eschew in favor of taking the MAX out halfway. Good on ya Greg!

He rode a chunk of the coast I did last summer, so check out Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol 7: Oregon Coast for some audio on that ride to supplement your reading. I noticed Greg gave Pedalshift a shout out for naming “The Book” but I’m not sure I can really take credit for that, other than saying it 73 bajillion times on a pod.

Paul Staten on trail angels in Oregon

A couple months back, work took me to Portland for a science conference. I was itching to rent a bicycle and go for a longer ride up the Columbia River Gorge, but my conference ended in the evening one day, and I flew out the afternoon of the next, so I didn’t have a good, single block of time. But I just so happened to have a sleeping pad and blanket with me, and I’d recently started reading some of Tom Allen’s stuff, and decided to just ride up the canyon in the evening, and try really hard to make it back in time for my flight. (Worst case, I would have to eat a couple hundred bucks. And I decided I’d rather do that than always wonder what the adventure would have been like.)

I rented an old bike from the folks at Everybody’s Bike Rentals and Tours. It was about $50 overnight. The frame wasn’t long enough, the bike lights were cheap, and the saddle was terrible (and I was wearing basketball shorts), but the bike was sound. I didn’t know where I was going to sleep, but I took a train to the 99th street mall, and started biking east along the river from there. You sound like you’re pretty familiar with Portland and its surroundings, so you probably know all I saw on my way up past Multinomah falls. Beautiful, right? But it was already getting on towards dark by the time I got to the mouth of the Gorge (Troutdale, right?), so I was a little nervous; I kept looking for places I could tuck in and hide for the night.

I passed by a pair of cyclists who were shopping and waved hello, wondering if I should have stopped to chat. But, of course, I was nervous about stopping somewhere, and didn’t feel like pestering them about it. Later, while checking out some falls, they passed me. I noticed that they were slower than I was (they were packed for a few days), so I decided to try to catch up, ride close to their brighter lights, and ask where to camp. We chatted for a while, and they showed me up the canyon a good ways further than I would have dared to go in the dark on my own, right to a state park with one of Oregon’s amazing hiker-biker stops. Portland is great for cyclists; I didn’t realize that Oregon as a whole is incredible. I rolled out my mat, kept warm enough to sleep with my blanket, and made my mattress and the grass my bed.

I would expect a couple of women cyclists to be wary of a man catching up and being all friendly on the road, but they were totally cool. I had to leave camp early in the morning to catch my flight, and I didn’t wake them, but I wish I could thank Oregon riders Sally and Delta for being my “trail angels” and helping my out on my first S24O.

Oh and Paul has a question for the hive mind… anyone have a good S24O recommendation for Boulder? I assume there are tons, and CGOAB would be a good resource, but I know I have a bunch of Coloradans and Colorado-adjacent types out there. Shoot a note and we’ll pass it along!

Aizlynn Johnston and Pedalshift Society Member Caleb Jenkinson’s summer bicycle tours of England and Scotland

I thought you might like to know our method of getting out. It is not too dissimilar to your own. We live in North Yorkshire just outside of Leeds so we ride to York (25 miles), catch the train up to Edinburgh, change trains to Aberdeen, get the North Link Ferry to the Shetlands, spend 6 days in the Shetlands, get the ferry to the Orkneys, 3 days on Orkneys, ferry back to the mainland, train from Thurso down to Inverness, then Edinburgh, then York, then ride home. When you book train tickets you have to book spaces for your bikes (roll on service) and even then you have to get there early in case someone is there ahead of you. You can usually get on if you have booked the spot but some runs are first come first serve so it depends how pushy you are.

Rob calls in from South Korea!

Hey, Tim. My name is Rob. I’m calling out of South Korea. Currently. I’m doing the Korea cross country cycling road tore it consist of about 4 different major Rivers ranging from about I don’t know. 400 kilometers is 600 kilometers an h. I just wanted to thank you for putting on such a great show really enjoyed listening to it, and I just wanted to give you a shout out from way over here pretty hot. It’s about 35 degrees Celsius is about 80% humidity and it’s about 9 a.m.. 10 a.m.. So I was going to get hotter hope you have a good summer of rides and keep up the good work on the podcast. Thank you. Bye.

Mark Lendzion calls in about touring ICELAND!

Hey, Tim. This is Mark. Said in my review that I would call the number so I’m calling now. I’m leaving a voicemail about my trip to Iceland so I it’s sorry with three of us still in Iceland and actually service for of it’s all going nicely not stop by to do a month long tour of there, and then one of them dropped out like 2 months before scheduled departure no big deal and then. We the three of us with Iceland and we sent a few days together and the two other people decide that point not to want to cycle as much as well. I guess they were playing and it’s likely this much as I was playing on site where they wanted to do more. Bus transit and stuff like that, so everyone comma went their separate ways I said so anyways I ended up pretty much taurine Iceland my cell for the for the whole month except for the 3 days, but it was amazing. I mean it was a blast. I had a sap like it. So I was able to there’s no roads. Are you know route that was off limits? So it was it was really awesome in that aspect be able to go everywhere and have everything on what I need 18 it was more of a like a fight packing set up which I really I’m happy. I had that rather than the traditional can hear stuff because of the the wind the wind was insane it was the most windows ever been in my life and It that that’s the one thing. I will always remember about Iceland is it’s wendy and the weather is great. Never gets dark camping is expensive food is expensive everything expensive, so unless you’re independently wealthy I would not. Truly recommend it for anybody, but I would at the same time because it forces you really tighten up your blood jason figure out different ways to make it all work do more wild camping and not you so many resources. It’s taken off the deep fat a little bit, but just Iii awesome. Definitely got more to lose on my mind. I don’t know if my wife will let me do all or my job, but hopefully. The let me do at least a couple weeks in the future alone now the group because that diana. I just did not really work out that well this time. Did you would be the feature? It would be you know I got a little homesick when I was out there. So would be nice to do it with a with a group.

And there are still more to share!

So call in… write in… I really would love to share more of your stories from summer bicycle tours on top of the ones I have. More connections are rolling in and I have some super cool ones to share in a future pod! Thanks!

Pedalshift Society

Help support the show and join the Pedalshift Society with monthly or one-shot contributions!
Ethan Georgi
Kimberly Wilson
Caleb Jenkinson
Cameron Lien
Andrew MacGregor
Michael Hart
Josiah Matthews
Keith Nagel
Brock Dittus
Thomas Skadow
Seth Krieger
Marco Lo
Terrance Manson
Noah Schroer
Harry Telgadas
John Sikorski
Richard Killian
Chris Barron
Scott Taylor
Brian Hren
Mark Van Raam
Brad Hipwell
Paul Mulvey
Stuart Buchan
Todd Stutz
Mr. T
Roxy Arning
Nathan Poulton
Harry Hugel
Ferguson Meek
Stephen Dickerson
Vince LoGreco
Ruth DeVorsey
Michelle Miller
Matthew Lewis
Michael Baker
Billy Crafton
Paul Culbertson
Scott Culbertson
Matt Perry
Danielle Jepson
Cody Floerchinger

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.

Check Jason and Sunfields on tour too:

09/02 Groningen, NL – Vera
09/08 London, UK – Biddle Bros
09/16 Montreal, QC – O Patro Vys (Pop Montreal)
10/20 Sherbrooke, QC – La Petite Boit Noire

August 17, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 090: A Southern Tier Bicycle Tour

Friend of the show and Pedalshift Society member Mark van Raam checked one off the bucket list this year… a cross country ride on the southern tier bicycle tour route across the US. From deserts, to mountains, to encounters in the deep south, this was a trip of a lifetime! On this episode of the pod, we chat with Mark and get his thoughts on the adventure, what it was like being in an organized tour, and what might be next.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 090: A Southern Tier Bicycle Tour (mp3)

Subscribe to The Pedalshift Project:
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Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

Hey I’m riding the Pacific Coast again!

The Journal: A Southern Tier bicycle tour with Mark van Raam

What was the drive behind biking across country? Did you choose the southern tier for a specific reason?
You rode with a unique sounding tour leader… how did you get acquainted with Bubba?
Your buddy Robb came along too. How important was it to have someone you knew ride with you from the start?
You’re a fellow Novara Safari rider (let’s pour one out for this discontinued beauty!). How did it perform and would you recommend it for an organized tour where you ride less loaded than self-supported or would you have rather ridden a lighter bike?
With nearly three weeks in one state… did Texas ever feel like it was going to end? I hear it’s big.
You met some interesting people on the trip… astronauts, friends of Ray Charles… who was the one that stood out to you and why?
What was the most challenging time on tour?
We love each and every state in this fine country. But you had to have had a favorite one and one that wasn’t your favorite on this route… tell us each one and why.
How long did it take to readjust to coming home afterwards?
You’ve mentioned this is a one and done thing. What smaller routes are catching your eye for next tour?
Marks’s tour was organized by Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers

Connections

Velo Cetera in Oz

Hi from Australia! Thanks heaps for your podcast, it’s my listening staple on my commute to and from work each week. Thought I’d share a video of my 9yo daughter’s first overnight bicycle trip here in Australia. She’s also a big fan of The Pedalshift Project – we listened to 7 hours worth of episodes last weekend on our road trip to and from the start point of our ride! 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️👍

More connections are rolling in and I have some super cool ones to share in a future pod!

Pedalshift Society

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.

August 10, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 089: Water treatment and management on bike tour

No matter what style of riding you practice on tour, you need to drink your water. On this episode of the pod, water treatment and management for bicycle touring. We revisit tips on treatment along with ideas on how to handle your hydration needs.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 089: Water treatment and management on bike tour (mp3)

Subscribe to The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android

Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

Gear Talk: Water treatment and management on bike tour

Revisiting PSP 023
Sawyer mini filtration system – these have gotten really good and are really cheap. Alternatives: Lifestraw and Katadyn
Easy and light – iodine tabs (plus Vitamin C to remove flavor)
Better version: Oasis Tabs (H/T Brian Hren)
Even higher tech – UV pens (Steripen, for one.)
Low tech – carry your water from trusted sources
Emergency bottle – don’t use unless it is one.
DO NOT refill or use containers that held untrusted water without filtering.

Pedalshift Society

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.

July 27, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 088: Hot weather bicycle touring tips

On this episode, after a weekend overnight in triple digit heat, we cover some hot weather bicycle touring tips. Plus, followup, a tour to follow and more!

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 088: Hot weather bicycle touring tips (mp3)

Subscribe to The Pedalshift Project:
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Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

The Journal: hot weather bicycle touring tips + more

How’d that #heatindex ride go?

Heat index when I left was 104F!
Rode really strong out there. Not tempted to stop at MM16 campsite when in past heat index rides, I usually caved.
Collapsable cooler full of good stuff – never did this before, but will absolutely do it again for hot rides. More weight, but to have cold drinks and food when I arrived, it was so worth it.
Rain cooling me down but made things wet – how I handled it.
Camping and hammocking
Let’s be cool with each other when we share campsites?

Hot weather bicycle touring tips

Time your riding (early AM or even night riding where appropriate)
Hydration + electrolytes (my NP suggested Hammer Nutrition, but these by Lyte Fuel are similar, although with a slightly different balance.)
Sun protection (hat, sunscreen, arm sleeves)
Frequent breaks (AC and shade preferred)
Core cooling (drinks and snacks that are cold)

Followup

Summer Tour to follow…

snoringyogi on Instagram… he’s a buddy from DC who’s touring Scandinavia right now on a fat tired Surly. Looks like a great ride and I hope to get him on the show later this summer or fall to talk all about it. By the way, this is his first really big tour, so for all of you who are new to this, know you don’t have to be some pro-level tourer to do big things!

Flying with your bike

Alaska Airlines appears to be the best US carrier with its new $25 policy for sporting equipment – we covered that last week. There was an open question about Virgin America’s policy since they’re about to merge with Alaska… answer:

Virgin America for the moment has a $50 fee (previously amongst the lowest and still a good deal) but will presumably drop to $25 once the merger with Alaska happens.

Emergency items

From FOTS and PSS member Ethan Georgi:

EMS (& I imagine REI etc) have pre-packaged First Aid Kits with everything you need. This way you don’t have to figure out what to put in it & assemble all the stuff yourself: done for you. They come in various sizes depending on the number of people in your party. I’ve been carrying mine for years.

ICE card: RoadID (dot com) has a ton of great options. Most importantly they are easy to find by First Responders. Expecting anyone to dig through your panniers while you’re bleeding out sounds like an unnecessary hassle.

Another thing I’d add as a “varsity” level comms device beyond the SPOT is the Garmin inReach… added bonus of having the emergency call is the ability to send text messages via the satellite network that’s a little more robust than the minimal messages for the SPOT.

Connections

You were *busy* people!

Check out Matt’s blog at 4ranges.wordpress.com. A lot about finding time to bike when you can, especially in cool places he travels to for work!

Pedalshift Society

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.

July 20, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 087: Emergency items for your next bike tour

I hope you never need (most) of them, but it’s always a good idea to consider these emergency items for your next bike tour… plus some good news from a US airline that might impact your bike touring and previewing my #heatindex overnight coming up!

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 087: Emergency items for your next bike tour (mp3)

Subscribe to The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android

Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

The Journal

#heatindex ride!

Hoping to get an overnight on the C&O… aaaaand it might be 100 degrees. So there’s that.

Gear Talk: Emergency items for your next bike tour

credit card battery (like this one)
extra bottle of water
mylar blanket
first aid kit
cell phone (or something that uses satellites like a SPOT or a Garmin inReach)
ICE card (card – bracelet examples)
weather radio (some even come with hand cranks and USB chargers)

Connections

Another 5 star… who absolutely gets it.

Alaska Airlines now flies bikes for $25 each way! Hat tip to Pedalshift Society member Mr. T for sending that along.

Pedalshift Society

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.

July 13, 2017

The Pedalshift Project 086: The best bike touring saddles for you

The best bike touring saddles for you might not be what you expect. On this week’s pod, we tackle the tricky subject of what to choose for your seat.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 086: The best bike touring saddles for you (mp3)

Subscribe to The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android

Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.

Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol.8: Western Penn

Available now at Pedalshift Plus!

Gear Talk: The best bike touring saddles for you

Do I need an expensive saddle? No.
Should I get that Brooks saddle everyone talks about? Maybe.
Ho you sit matters… upright? down? in between? You’ll sit on different parts of the saddle, so the saddle shape matters.
Gel saddles will probably give you saddle sores because your sit bones will slough all over. Believe it or not, firmer is better
Speaking of chafing… my solution for saddle sores has nothing to do with the saddle.
Saddle libraries like Gladys Bikes in PDX are great resources, but your LBS is always a good bet.
Saddles are *very* personal choices.
I like my Brooks, but I don’t find it to be a game changer. Stock saddles may be ok for you… if they’re adjusted right so your sit bones are on them right based on riding position.
Resource: Cycling About on saddles

Pedalshift Society

And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!

Music

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. SEPTEMBER 15th. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch.