The Pedalshift Project 005: The Border to Border Tour from San Francisco

On this episode…an episode-long mid-tour report on the border to border tour from foggy San Francisco.

[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/pedalshift/Pedalshift005.mp3″]
hey, it’s the direct download link to The Pedalshift Project 005!

Special shoutout to Kevin form Honolulu for reminding my addled brain to include a direct download link to the last show!

And because this is episode 005 all Bond junkies want to know who Agent 005 was… a quick check on wikipedia shows,
“005 Stuart Thomas was 005 until defective eyesight impaired his marksmanship, and he was made head of Station G (Greece) in Colonel Sun.”

The Journal

Topped the 1000 mile mark at some point recently.
Potential lesson for next time – if you’re a planner (like me) it’s probably a good idea to “force” a zero mile day in there. I did 1000+ miles on consecutive days (ranging from 33 to 78 miles daily). I burnt out pretty good, and luckily I had a good setup in SF to get an extended recovery.

Highlights

Handling the ferries without feeding the fish
Poutine in Victoria
Friday Harbor
Seeing a harbor seal in the Columbia River as I crossed to Oregon
The entire Oregon coast
Handling the rain
Seven Devils
South Crescent City Hills
Re-defeating Leggett Hill
Making up a day and getting a bonus day in SF

Lowlights

Unnecessary assholery from US border agent in Friday Harbor (#protip – better to let your bike fall than shift your position past an imaginary line that delineates you as a threat or not a threat)
Fatigue towards the end (was ready for a break)
Stolen battery in Oregon
Bad ranger experience in Samuel P. Taylor State Park
No wild camping so far, so I don’t have any good stories to share like I promised last episode

Sidebar – be careful out there

If you followed the @pedalshift feed you saw some mentions of rerouting the tour and going to Calgary… I was about to help out a friend who had a pretty bad accident on tour in Alberta that included some injuries. His helmet probably stopped a concussion, but in his words, he was lucky how he landed (despite the injuries he did suffer, they could have been worse). He has someone else who is better equipped to help him on his return than me (you know, actual medical training) so I’ll be pushing south.

Moral of this story: be prepared for your conditions (he had a device to summon help), and be prepared for bad things to happen. This is not a risk-free thing, but we can manage the risk and enjoy ourselves!

Pushing on

Leaving SF Monday and have an itinerary that gets me to the border with comfortable days (split several longer days in to two).
I will deviate from camping where it’s appropriate and I’ll also use transit if it’s helpful or necessary to increase my enjoyment. This is supposed to be fun! 😉

Follow along the route @pedalshift and on the raw podcast feed Tour Diaries: Pedalshift! I’ll be uploading snippets from the road on this tour, possibly compiling some for the main podcast next episode. I’ll be uploading snippets from the road on this tour, possibly compiling some for a special edition of the podcast when the tour is done at the end of August.

Any questions? I got at least a few on Twitter so far, but feel free to reach out at pedalshiftproject@gmail.com too.

The Lab

Caffeine as a bike touring helper – 200-400mg doses (that’s equivalent to 1.5-3 cups of coffee). These are the capsules I’ve tried.
Personal Locator Becons -PLBs – if you are doing remote touring or bike packing, this saved my friend’s ass. Do your research. Get one.
Thinking about the possibility of developing a bike touring app – curious what you think. Probably offline iOS – any thoughts? Shoot them to pedalshiftproject@gmail.com

Pedalpreneur

Rental revenue going up at least another $1000 and possibly more for the trip, but I think my costs for food have been higher than I thought.
Total net revenue after cleaning is 4236, making the 42 days that I now know are the tour average $101/day. Not bad.
Only two hotel nights so far, and one pricey campground. I expect this to go way up.
Likely going to be in more hotels or AirBnbs from L.A. to SD and I plan on renting a car for my final day to make getting to the airport for my early flight easier and saner.

Subscribe + Connect

Hey, The Pedalshift Project is on iTunes (we’ve even been featured in the Outdoors section already!) but if you like you can use your favorite aggregator (like iCatcher on your iPhone for instance), with old timey RSS. Email me at pedalshiftproject@gmail.com – I’d love to bring more voices to the show!

Music

The Pedalshift Project theme is America courtesy of Jason Kent off his debut album. Check out his band Sunfields‘ new release, Habitat, including this track, wherever cool music resides:

July 30, 2014

Border2Border Tour: Oregon

Sometimes images tell the tale better than words… click on each image for a closer look:

July 27, 2014

Five new things I’m glad I brought on this bike tour

I’ve written a version of this post a few times, but I find I’m constantly refining my “must bring” list for bike touring. This tour is no exception.

Flat power strip

I bought this on Amazon, but there are assuredly versions all over the place. It has two 3-prong outlets on each side and it’s been a total savior in situations where I would like to charge multiple devices and batteries, but I can only find one free outlet. Well worth the minimal space!

Caffeine pills

Spoiler alert: caffeine is a mood enhancer and a performance enhancer. Rather than suck down a soda or a Red Bull in the afternoon, I’ve had a couple of these with my normal hydration cycle and it has proven to make a great difference. Light, cheap and easy to carry… big fan for those afternoon hills!

Powdered Gatorade

I mix up two bottles of grape (the only truly great flavor in my opinion) every morning. Doesn’t matter if there isn’t a store or shop within 50 miles selling it, I have it always.

Ear plugs

I love the sounds of screaming children romping throughout campgrounds on summer weekend evenings. Oh wait, I don’t. Also good for morning raven ca-caws.

Verizon iPad

The rumors are true… it has better coverage. Ironically, I’m posting this using Sprint, which usually has the worst… but that’s because my Verizon doohickey has been the workhorse and is getting a charge right now!

Returning favorites

Wool sweater
Bandanas
Hat – good transition from helmet hair when going into the “real world”
Extra bungees
Dr. Bronners Soap – I use this for cleaning me, dishes and clothes. Totally indispensable. I prefer the peppermint.

Hey, don’t forget to check in @pedalshift and listen to the (so far) daily Pedalshift Tour Journals (subscribe to the podcast version here)!

July 26, 2014

Border2Border Tour: Tour Journals x10

It’s hard to believe, but this tour crossed the 500 mile mark today, day ten of my travels from Victoria, BC to the California-Mexico border. Each morning I record a short tour journal… Follow along at soundcloud.com/pedalshift or keep an eye open on the @pedalshift Twitter feed. The Pedalshift Project will get a shiny episode of its own in a week or so once I cross the Golden Gate into San Francisco for a few down days. I the interim, check out the Pedalshift Tour Journals!

July 19, 2014

Border2Border Tour: BC to the Olympic Peninsula

Quick reminder: the best way to follow the tour is to follow @pedalshift on Twitter. That will be the hub of all the thoughts, pics, tour journal podcasts, etc. Daily or near daily Tour Journal podcasts are on Soundcloud, or you can subscribe to the feed here.

Some quick thoughts from the last few days:

The BC and Washington State ferry systems are phenomenal. Timely, well-priced, and punctual.
Dramamine stops me from feeding the fish, but the “non-drowsy” formula is bull.
The Washington State campgrounds are as rumored. I’ll be in Oregon soon. That’s all I have to say about that.
The headwinds around Hood Canal today we’re BRUTAL. Worst I’ve ever biked in – I didn’t have an anemometer on me, but based on experience I’d say it was easily 30 mph with 40 mph gusts. Crazy. Still did a metric century (insert pat on back here).

I still have yet to meet anyone who is out for more than a weekend trip, which is surprising. I would have expected to meet some through bikers by this point, but I figure it’ll happen.
Saw a bald eagle in the wild, which is still a thrill.

Love my bike with no name. I miss the Goblin in some ways, but this bike is a beast up hills with the new gearing. I can spin up even the steepest of grades, which is how it should be.

I even got work done tonight on my computer at a campground, therefore fully justifying bringing it.

That’s it… more to come tomorrow!

July 17, 2014

Kicking off the border to border bike tour

The Heat Stroke Avoidance Alternative Border to Border Bike Tour has begun! I may just refer to it as the Border to Border or B2B tour from now on, largely because I can’t remember the larger name and because it’s so far from warm on the coast that the memories of forecasts in the 107-109 degree range are all but a memory. Take a listen to episode 004 of Pedalshift Project for more on that.

I began my journey with a visit to my cousin in Seattle, which was a nice treat considering my original plans did not take me north of Portland. Since he was planning on rowing the next morning, I got up with him at 5:19am. I felt every bit of that early hour through the day… trust me. A 40 minute ride later and I was boarding the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, BC.

First, I took a dramamine. I. Am. Not. Fit. For. Seafaring. I’m a landlubber. Whatever. But thanks to this wonderful concoction that I used to have to take crushed in applesauce before long car trips (#protip: not recommended) I got through the rough seas to Canada.

I saw a sign that made me happy:

And then I was full and happy. Bless you Canada for poutine.

I spent a leisurely couple of hours winding my way north on a series of regional trails through suburbs and agricultural areas. A stop for blackberries was a welcome layover from the unusual heat and steady sun exposure. After about 20 miles (translation: “aboot 33 kilo-meeters” – I love you Canada. Don’t ever change.) I was at the picturesque McDonald Park, part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. Camping was a little pricey at CDN$13.75 (no showers, primitive toilets, but water, so yay for that) but the tree cover was spectacular, reminding me Burlington Campground in the redwoods of CA.

One other thing to note… the smells. I love that hint of salt water as you get near the coast, but around here you also get the cedar-ish smells of the conifers mixed in. It’s a nice balance and one I don’t get very often.

Mt. Baker over the water from Sidney, BC

Here’s today’s Tour Diary – a reminder I’ll be doing more of these audio snippets and tweets than posts. The tour diaries will be tweeted but you can also subscribe to them as a podcast or check them out on Soundcloud.

July 12, 2014

The Pedalshift Project 004: Aaron Flores + Crossover with The Sprocket Podcast

On this episode… a pre-ride report from the biking land of sunshine and bunnies, Portland, Oregon… a crossover show with The Sprocket Podcast 192 featuring a sit-down with co-host Aaron Flores.

[sc_embed_player_template1 fileurl=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/pedalshift/Pedalshift004.mp3″]
Hey this here is a direct download link for episode 004!

The Journal

News from Amtrak on unboxed transport of bikes.

Lewis+Clark/Teddy Roosevelt tour update – transforming into the Heat Stroke Avoidance Alternative Border to Border Tour!

Deconstructing bikes, reconstructing them, etc.
How to pack your panniers for your next tour – America ByCycle and Traveling Two.

Special thanks to Bike Gallery in downtown Portland for their help in making a simple fix – memo to bike shippers… bag up those top tube spacers!

Would love to hear from you! pedalshiftproject@gmail.com

The Lab

Sanyo dynohub for juicing my ride
2012 ideas – generating green energy by bike via uncommonsilly.com
2013 implementation

Tips and tricks for keeping your devices powered up

Doubling up: DEET vs. Premethrin for mosquito control

Using a dry bag as a beer cooler – @brockmon

Have cool ideas to share with the show? pedalshiftproject@gmail.com

Pedalpreneur

Rental revenue adjusted for cleaning costs – not a carrying cost, so I want to factor it it:
$2534/ 38 days
=$66.68/day … getting into the “cheap hotel every day” range but I plan on camping everywhere except SF and L.A.

The Interview

Described by his friends as “35 and going nowhere,” Aaron is a relative newcomer to Cascadia with only 3 years in Portland under his belt. His formative years were spent in the rural lowlands of south-east Michigan where he did things like can vegetables, pick apples, climb trees, and eat fried baloney. He’s lived many different places and enjoyed learning various skills since then. He has many stories about the colorful places and people in his long life and shares these experiences on The Sprocket Podcast. You can’t follow Aaron on Twitter, but you can follow his red Surly Disc Trucker, which is not at all part of a cult: @RdHareAmngHrses.

Subscribe + Connect

Music

The Pedalshift Project theme is America courtesy of Jason Kent off his debut album. Check out his band Sunfields‘ new release, Habitat, including this track, wherever cool music resides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur1RVOMqnJY

June 26, 2014

Report: Amtrak to allow unboxed bikes “by the end of the year”

File this under “cautious optimism.”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Amtrak will be installing new baggage cars with what may allow roll-on service for unboxed bikes on all of its long haul routes “by the end of the year.”

The bike touring community has long been prodding America’s long distance train transportation provider to consider making such a service available, particularly at stations that serve active touring routes. Amtrak has had roll-on service available on a limited number of lines, but now it appears the country is figuratively opening up for multimodal bike touring adventures.

A few questions remain to be answered:

Will this policy hit all at once, or will some routes get the service before others?
Will this be true roll-on service or just boxless baggage service? Will it vary route to route?
If this is roll-on service, will it only be available at “baggage stops” or will all stations allow passengers to arrive and depart with bikes?
How much will the bike service cost a passenger? Will it differ based on distance traveled or be a flat fee?
Will this policy impact the new folding bike rules?
How will transfers work?

Amtrak has periodically announced big things for bikes on their trains, but this may be the first time it has announced a timeline with all routes getting a boxless option. From a bike touring perspective the notion that we can now roll up to the stations without having to disassemble and box our bikes is beyond welcome. I believe this will be a huge economic win for Amtrak and the towns with stations near bike touring routes.

Update – A careful read of the Amtrak blog post about its new baggage cars reveals something in what it doesn’t say.

Also, the new cars will be equipped with built-in luggage racks that will be able to secure unboxed bicycles (hooray!).

Hooray indeed! But, notice it doesn’t mention roll-on service? It’s possible this new baggage set-up will allow roll-on service (they are certainly testing it in some locations) but it’s also possible bikes will continue to be treated as checked baggage, without a boxing requirement. More to come!

(The post has been updated to reflect this important distinction.)

June 24, 2014

The Pedalshift Project 003: Tour updates, alcohol stove experiments and the opportunity costs of staying home

Hey, we have such great stuff that this episode came out early! We have an overflowing Journal with great tour updates, insanely successful experiments in The Lab, an update on Pedalpreneur Challenge with my summer tour, plus connections with listeners.

Hey, download episode 003 (mp3)

The Journal

Featured tour from listener Mysterious James: Idaho Hot Springs

courtesy Adventure Cycling Association

Follow last week’s guest Brock Dittus @brockmon on Twitter for a beautiful insight into his amazing NW tour.

Brock going downhill… in a good way.

Summer Lewis+Clark/Teddy Roosevelt tour update

3 things I take, 3 things I leave behind

The Lab

Ultralight stove experiments – what I’ve settled on (hybrid Esbit/alcohol with windscreen)
Lab recommends: dried cheese tortellini made freezer bag style

The Lab recommends dried cheese tortellini on your next tour.

Pedalpreneur

Tracking the revenues and expenses of my summer tour

Connections

Justin Martin on Twitter – thanks for checking in!
Roger on the blog – will I be as CRAZY as Brock and Aaron on Sprocket?
Reach out on Twitter @pedalshift, or pedalshiftproject@gmail.com

Music

The Pedalshift Project theme is America courtesy of Jason Kent off his debut album. Check out his band Sunfields‘ new release, Habitat, including this track, wherever cool music resides:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur1RVOMqnJY

June 19, 2014

What to pack on bike tour (and what not to pack)

A few weeks removed from the start of my big tour of the year, I’m beginning the ritual all bike tourists engage in: refining the packing list. Over the years I’ve learned what to pack on bike tour… there are a few things you absolutely want to bring, and a bunch of things that just take up space.

What to pack on bike tour: 3 things I take every time

(cc) Peter Marquardt on Flickr

Bandanas

I know, cotton – the dreaded fabric most experienced riders sneer at! Ordinarily, I agree, but when it comes to the versatile bandana, I make an exception. Whether a sweat rag, a pot holder, a dish towel, or a water filter, the humble bandana is the multitool that keeps giving back. Sure it’s cotton, but the bandana packs light, stays out of your way, and has so many uses you’ll want to bring a few.

(cc) quinnanya on Flickr

Earplugs

This is a newer one for me because I never found a style that worked well. Now, I have a pair or two secreted in all of my bags just to be safe. How many campsites have you overnighted at that included 2am parties the locals forgot to invite you to or hourly freight trains? How about the less-than-quiet rain and wind rattling your tent in the middle of the night? Yeah, earplugs can mean the difference between a decent night’s sleep and a long groggy day in the saddle.

Large capacity rechargeable battery

A lot of people ride without technology. I don’t happen to be one of those types of riders. On this ride, I plan to bring several devices that will need to be replenished without benefit of a wall socket (they tend not to have those in the sides of mountains). As battery technology has improved, I’m finding 12,000 mAh batteries are dropping in price to the $50 range. How much juice is that? Depending on your device, a lot… I can recharge my iPhone 5 from single digits to 100% 5 times or more in one charge. That’s over a week of riding or more, depending on my use. Zero mile days let me recharge everything, and I don’t usually have to think about losing power at all.

Three things I leave behind on every bike tour

Sometimes the best way to answer, “what to pack on bike tour” is to list what you probably shouldn’t bring.

(cc) vikapproved on Flickr

Camp shoes

I finally let go of the extra pair of shoes a few years ago. I try to wear “normal” clothes when I tour so I can hop off my bike and fit in somewhat in towns along the way. I used to haul a pair of sneakers specifically for walking around town until I found I tended to walk around in the same biking sandals most of the time anyways. I swapped those sneakers out for a pair of inexpensive flip flops and haven’t looked back.

Spare tire

I’ll change my mind on this one someday, but only on a long trip with poor access to replacements. Despite my experience with sidewall blowouts, I still don’t think carrying a spare tire is worth the weight or space on most tours. You can boot most issues and get yourself to a place where you can get a spare, plus if you invest in higher end tires, you can reduce the likelihood of needing a new one.

(cc) ginnerobot on Flickr

Physical books

Ok, ok hear me out… we already established I lean more towards technology, right? I tend to bring along audiobooks, podcasts and ebooks in my device. I used to bring along a physical book for reading at camp but found I rarely opened it. Usually it was stuffed deeply inside a pannier, and my phone was right next to me, so I reached for it every time. Maybe I should have brought a book I really wanted to read more than anything in my phone, but when all is said and done, I can bring dozens of books electronically in the same device I’m going to bring no matter what. These days, I leave the physical book at home and read it when I get back.

What’s on your list of haves and have nots?