It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time for the Pedalshift Holiday Spectacular! Join Shifty the Elf, new friends and Tim for a showcase of the best of Pedalshift in 2017!
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.
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.
Special thanks to obscure British author Charles Dickens for inspiring this year’s show!
Dramatis Personae
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. Is. Out. I’ve heard it. It’s top notch. Go get it.
Let’s talk gear. If you’re like me, you probably carry too much, “just in case.” On this episode, I talk about my recent attempts to whittle the weight down. Plus, strategies for keeping things charged on bike tour!
Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 080: Paring down your gear and keeping things charged 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.
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.
More entries… more info… check out the Pedalshift Guide to Bicycling the C&O!
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
Dereck Waggoner
Harry Hugel
And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for 79 fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. This August.
Planning for a June tour… someplace… I stumbled upon a brand new tour option: the Eastern Express Route is an alternative eastern spur for the Trans Am route, starting in DC. It includes the C&O, the GAP and Katy trails and we chat with the person who did the heavy lifting (and cue sheet creation!) for this amazing new option.
Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 079: The Eastern Express – a new Trans Am bike touring alternative route (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.
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.
Frank Moritz, is a veteran Adventure Cycling tour leader, instructor and board member, and completed the initial research to create an “eastern express route” addition to the legendary TransAmerica bike route. This new route provides a welcome option for TransAm cyclists to bypass the severe mountain climbs and nasty dogs that confront cyclists in southwestern Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southern Missouri on the eastern half of the existing route. It also replaces three major high-altitude climbs in Colorado with one gradual and scenic climb to the Continental Divide. Amazingly, almost 600 of the 2,100+ miles of this route are on dedicated bike/pedestrian paths, towpaths, or rail-trails.
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
Dereck Waggoner
Harry Hugel
And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for 79 fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. This August.
Jeremy Mendelson joins the show to talk about his take on bike touring differently: from a bike touring focused lifestyle to vegan touring to riding little clown bikes and much more.
Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 077: Bike touring differently (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.
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.
Jeremy Mendelson is a transit planner, geographer, traveler, bus driver, advocate and co-founder of TransitMatters in Boston. He’s currently working in Colorado for the winter season and as we’ll talk about in the interview, that’s more of a means to an end in his bike travel oriented life setup. Living a more nomadic life that serves his bike touring is just the tip of the iceberg for how Jeremy tours differently. He’s a longtime vegan, which we chat about, and a fan of touring on the little clown bike itself, the Brompton. Such a great discussion…
If you want to hear more about touring on a Brompton, check out Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol. 5: California Coast. Can a loaded Brompton handle the hills of Big Sur? An hour and 46 minutes of touring stories for 10 bucks… and it helps support the show! Here’s a preview:
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Another 5-star review over on iTunes!
A big thank you to all of the monthly supporters of the show! If you like what you hear, you can help me keep the show listener-supported while expanding the offerings. Five bucks, two bucks or even 1 helps with the costs of hosting the podcast and the website, and you can do it for a bit and cancel anytime. One-shot support is welcome if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it out and join at pedalshift.net/society. And society members please go to pedalshift.net/stickers and let me know where to send some Pedalshift stickers to you! On to the Society!
Ethan Georgi
Kimberly Wilson
Caleb Jenkinson
Cameron Lien
Andrew MacGregor
Michael Hart
Josiah Matthews
Keith Nagel
Brock Dittus
Thomas Skadow
Michael Riscica
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
And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for 77 fine episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. This August.
How do I class up this podcast? Easy… ask my better half to come on the show and chat up how great yoga is for bike touring! On this episode of the pod, we discuss yoga for bike tourists with Kimberly Wilson, founder and owner of Tranquil Space yoga studios in Washington, DC. Plus connections and more!
Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 073: Yoga for bike touring
(mp3)
Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshiftproject@gmail.com or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109.
Kimberly Wilson is the founder of Tranquil Space yoga studios—named among the top 25 in the world by Travel + Leisure, designer of TranquiliT lifestyle line, director of Tranquil Space Foundation, and author of five books {Hip Tranquil Chick, Tranquilista, Tranquilologie,Tranquility du Jour Anthology, 52 Weeks of Tranquility Journal}.
Learn more at kimberlywilson.com and listen to her podcast, Tranquility du Jour wherever cool podcasts are podded.
Pedal Stretch Breathe by Kelli Refer is broader than yoga for bike touring, but it’s the best yoga and bikes zine out there!
A short sun salutation practice by Kimberly herself:
sun salutations direct download (mp3)
Something we didn’t talk about but is super awesome for bike tourists is understanding the six movements of one’s spine. Check out this video Kimberly did on that:
And, finally… a nice yoga practice lead by Kimberly from my WV cabin! (I don’t think I’ve ever shown it on the site before?)
Brock recommends this awesome GoFundMe to support the revamp of Newton Bike Shop’s bike touring hostel The Oasis in the Grass Desert:
https://www.gofundme.com/buildtheoasis
Jeremy of Critical Transit shared a bunch of images and podcasts from his tour of New England… check them out! He’s also a big Brompton tourer, with plans to repeat that ride with his “little clown bike” as I like to call them!
A big thank you to all of the monthly supporters of the show! If you like what you hear, you can help me keep the show listener-supported while expanding the offerings. Five bucks, two bucks or even 1 helps with the costs of hosting the podcast and the website, and you can do it for a bit and cancel anytime. One-shot support is welcome if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it out and join at pedalshift.net/society. And society members please go to pedalshift.net/stickers and let me know where to send some Pedalshift stickers to you! On to the Society!
Ethan Georgi
Matt Buker
Kimberly Wilson
Caleb Jenkinson
Cameron Lien
Andrew MacGregor
Michael Hart
Josiah Matthews
Keith Nagel
Brock Dittus
Thomas Skadow
Michael Riscica
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
Roxanna Arning
And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this show happen!
The Pedalshift Project theme is America courtesy of Jason Kent off his self-titled solo album. Check out his band Sunfields‘ latest release, Habitat, wherever cool music resides. And a little birdy tells me Jason’s recording some new music. More when I know…
It’s the end of the year and that means it’s time for the Pedalshift Holiday Spectacular! Join Shifty the Elf and Tim for a showcase of the best of Pedalshift in 2016!
Reach out to the show via email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to join the newsletter too.
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshiftproject@gmail.com or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109.
The Pedalshift Project theme is America courtesy of Jason Kent off his self-titled solo album. Check out his band Sunfields‘ latest release, Habitat, wherever cool music resides. And a little birdy tells me Jason’s recording some new music. More when I know…
Just say no to the bikey pizza cutter. I mean, delicious, but no. This is a bike touring gift guide for the bike tourist in your life (hint: this might be you). These are (almost all) things I personally use and love.
Tent: Alps Mountaineering Zephyr 2 person ($125)
This tent saved me from a flood. Like, for real.
Sleeping bag: Hyke and Byke 32º down sleeping bag ($99)
A newer addition to my gear… works great and super affordable.
Ultrlight Stove: Etekcity Ultralight foldable stove ($9.99)
Runner up: Trangia Spirit Burner alcohol stove ($14.53)
Love the Etekcity, and the Trangia is a great value.
Lights: Portland Design Works Radbot 1000 ($29)
Runner up: Ascher USB rechargeable LED set ($13.99)
I swear by PDW as my rear light, and I just bought the Ascher set for Kimberly.
Panniers: Ortlieb back roller classic (prices/colors vary)
Ortlieb front roller classic (prices/colors vary)
Look, there are a lot on the market. But Ortlieb stands the test of time for me. Plus: orange.
Dry Bag: Sea to Summit eVent Compression dry bag, large ($42.95)
I think this is one of the most clever items on the list… waterproof but lets air out for easy compression. I use the large size for sleeping kits, but all sizes are great.
Support the Parks: National Park and Federal Land Annual Pass ($80)
I ride the C&O a lot, and while there isn’t an entrance fee, this pass makes me feel like I support the system. Oh, it also lets me in all the others… which is nice.
Water Bottles: Brita Sport Water Filter bottle (2 pack for $16)
Filters built in make this a great way to help less than tasty water sources (it filters out iodine taste too for you backcountry types with iodine pills).
External Battery: Anker Astro E7 ($60)
Runner up: Anker Power Core 20100 ($40)
Anker is my brand for these.. get the biggest battery that makes sense for you.
Rain jacket: Showers Pass Double Century ($159)
Best rain jacket I’ve ever had. Looks nice too!
Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Plus (Price varies by size)
or
Schwalbbe Marathon Supreme (Price varies by size)
Nearly puncture proof, but more importantly, Schwalbe stands by their product with great warranties.
Tune up: contact your LBS (price varies by service)
Your bike will thank you.
Maps: ACA maps for a future tour (price varies)
For you paper types!
Stocking stuffers:
For you big spender types… a touring bike:
Brompton, Pedalshift Style from CelverCycles in PDX (Oregon has no sales tax!) or your LBS… (just no orange)
Runner up: Surly Long Haul Trucker from your LBS
FYI, some of these are affiliate links.
<disclaimer> Ok, ok it’s not technically a Pedalshift Touring Brompton in the sense it’s, well… it’s not official from Brompton’s perspective. Like, at all. Ok… </disclaimer>
However… I’ve had a lot of people ask me the specs on the Brompton I recommend for touring, so I thought I’d finally share them here.
Oh, you don’t speak Bromptonese? Yeah, me neither… in fact, I had to look this up again! M is for the style of handlebars… they lend to a mostly upright riding position, which I know goes against most bike touring dynamics, but on a Brompton, it’s better in my opinion. I did a bunch of research on this and it seems most people who tour on them prefer the M bars.
6 stands for the 6-speed variety. It doesn’t say it here, but get the -12% gearing (hi hills!). We’ll be doing one more thing later too, stay tuned.
R stands for rear rack. You’ll want this for carrying stuff and things.
Horror of horrors, I learned from Anna at Clever Cycles that Brompton is suspending orange as a color for bikes in 2016! A true Pedalshift Touring Brompton would be all orange. Yours may have to not be, barring a custom after market paint job or Brompton changing it’s mind in 2017.
Phew! Orange has been restored in 2019… as Flame Lacquer. It’s straight up gorgeous. Drool-worthy, even.
You may be the size of a small giraffe like our friend MJ, or you may be regular sized like yours truly. Either way, get the telescopic seat post for easier removal of the saddle while traveling.
The softer cush is too soft for handling with weight. Go firm.
But, Tim! Rolling resistance! GRAMS!
Stop. Shake yourself. Say “Schwalbe Marathons.” You’re welcome.
This gives you the option for any number of front bags, including ones you build or hack yourself using the Brompton luggage frame.
I use these rarely, but when I do it’s in airports. Stealth mode is critical to get past some of the people that would stand in your way to overhead carry-on bliss.
This is a Clever Cycles recommended add on, and I have to say it’s pretty brilliant. ATS makes a gizmawahoo[footnote]technical term[/footnote] that effectively doubles your gears by effectively making a hub not unlike a double chainring. It’s an internal hub that is activated with a tap of the heel on the pedal crank. Remember when I said go for the -12% gearing? Well his helps to get you even lower at the bottom gear, getting you gear inches comparable to a standard touring bike. I’m here to say it’s awesome. I know Clever Cycles can do it… maybe your Brompton shop can too?
I almost would leave this one off if you’re torn. I find the rubber “tires” come off a little too easily when the bike is rolled on things like, say, Parisian cobblestone. Perhaps my standards are a little high, non?
I’m on record as a person who can handle stock saddles. If you spend this much on a bike, many would argue putting anything less than the king (or queen) of saddles on it would be a disgrace. I’ll let you be the judge… I happened to get a Brooks for this one.
So… there you have it! The completely officially non-official Pedalshift Touring Brompton.
Interested in how I carry gear? Here’s the latest version from my 2018 GAP overnight and 2019 Florida tour…
Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 065: The Pedalshift Holiday Spectacular 2016