Pedalshift

Welcome to a different kind of Pedalshift adventure. For the first time, we’re leaving the bikes behind and heading out on foot for a three-day section hike of the Oregon Coast Trail. Along with returning friend of the show and legendary 5-timer Mysterious James, I’m testing new ultralight gear, revisiting familiar terrain at walking speed, and exploring whether slowing down even more changes the way we experience a place we’ve ridden through so many times. It’s a little experimental, a little ambitious, and very much in the spirit of adventure.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 447: Oregon Coast Trail Preview.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 447: Oregon Coast Trail Preview appeared first on Pedalshift.

Every once in a while I finish a trip and, after I get home and everything dries out, I realize there were a handful of lessons that weren’t obvious while I was riding. So this week, rather than another recap of the Oregon Coast, here are a few takeaways from the trip.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 446: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast Takeaways.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

Congrats to Cyrus Farivar for winning the coolest designed piece ever by Simone, our clever and talented designer friend. Stay tuned for some upcoming giveaways and the launch of our new merch this fall!

Takeaway #1: Constraints can make for a better tour

Bottom line: Sometimes constraints don’t ruin a tour—they become the reason it’s interesting.

Takeaway #2: I think my touring philosophy is changing

Bottom line: I’m increasingly interested in using the bike to get me to experiences, not simply accumulate distance.

Takeaway #3: “Ride your own ride” can happen on the same trip

Bottom line: There isn’t one correct version of a successful bike tour.

Takeaway #4: Transit isn’t cheating

Bottom line: Bikes and transit complement each other remarkably well.

Takeaway #5: Gear failures change everything

Bottom line: Reliability beats optimization.

Takeaway #6: Where did all the bike tourists go?

Possible explanations:

Bottom line: I’m seeing enough of a pattern that I don’t think it’s a coincidence anymore.

Takeaway #7: I’m excited about touring again

Bottom line: That’s usually a sign you’re headed in the right direction.

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 446: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast Takeaways appeared first on Pedalshift.

What happens when two people on the same bike tour decide to have two completely different adventures? On this edition of The Pedalshift Project, day two of the Sprocketshift Oregon Coast adventure with Brock Dittus starts with a split decision in Tillamook. Brock points his bike north for a long, wet ride toward Cannon Beach. I slow things way down for cheese, side quests, a little local riding, and maybe a bit of a rethink about what I actually want out of bicycle travel these days. Two riders. Two very different days. One extremely cheap bus ride. Will the bike and bus gods allow us to reunite for fish, chips, oysters, and beer in Astoria?

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 445: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast – Part 2.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

The Pedalshift spinner giveaway! How to enter… make sure you’re subscribed to the Pedalshift email list over at pedalshift.net. I’ll send an email out to the list on Thursday July 16th for the release of part 2. Reply or forward it back at me at [email protected] by 11:59pm PT Sunday July 19th and BAM! You’re in the running. The email will have the directions too. Overly complex? Maybe. But you get the coolest designed piece ever by Simone, our clever and talented designer friend.

Brock leaves Tillamook with an ambitious goal: ride north toward Astoria and see how far he can get.

His day includes:

Meanwhile, I embrace something closer to a bicycle-assisted vacation day in Tillamook:

Same bike tour. Very different days.

Rethinking How I Bicycle Tour

My slower day in Tillamook raises a bigger question about how I want to approach bicycle travel going forward.

For years, my touring style has often focused on moving from Point A to Point B. The places along the route are part of the experience, but mileage and reaching the destination can easily become the priority.

That means I’ve ridden through places like Tillamook many times without actually spending much time experiencing them.

This day was different.

Instead of riding through Tillamook yet again, I stayed. I visited places I’d skipped on previous Oregon Coast bike tours. I explored. I followed a side quest. I rode when I wanted to ride and stopped when I wanted to stop.

And it may represent a bit of a shift in how I think about bicycle touring.

The length of a bicycle trip doesn’t always have to be measured by the number of miles ridden. Sometimes the bike is the thing that gets us to the experience.

Brock’s 40 Miles of Type Two Fun

While I’m contemplating a new philosophy of slower bicycle travel over cheese samples, Brock is having a very different day.

Rain. Hills. Wet clothes. More rain.

Despite the conditions, he makes excellent time north from Tillamook, riding through Rockaway Beach and over the challenging terrain toward Cannon Beach.

He ultimately reaches Cannon Beach after roughly 40 miles of riding and decides that he doesn’t need to ride all the way to Astoria to prove anything.

The original goal may have been a much longer day, but sometimes knowing when you’ve already had the adventure is part of the adventure.

Also: prolonged rain, soaked clothing, and friction are apparently a combination worth avoiding.

This is useful bicycle touring information.

Reunited in Cannon Beach

Thanks to a combination of bicycles, buses, location sharing, and an Oregon Coast transit schedule that somehow works out, our two routes converge in Cannon Beach.

From there, we take the final bus together to Astoria.

The total cost of taking public transportation from Tillamook to Astoria?

Two dollars.

For bicycle tourists interested in combining cycling with transit on the Oregon Coast, the regional bus network can create some remarkably inexpensive options for shortening or modifying a route.

Astoria: Fish, Chips, Oysters, and Bicycle Touring

We end the day in Astoria with beer, seafood, oyster shooters, and a comparison of our radically different adventures.

That leads us back to a question that has come up repeatedly on The Pedalshift Project:

Where are all the bicycle tourists?

Even during prime touring season on the Oregon Coast—one of the best-known bicycle touring routes in the United States—we encounter remarkably few loaded touring cyclists.

Is traditional road-based bicycle touring declining?

Are more cyclists choosing gravel and off-road bikepacking routes?

Are hikers increasingly becoming the primary users of Oregon’s hiker-biker campsites?

And if bicycle touring numbers continue to decline, what could that mean for the future of the infrastructure that makes routes like the Oregon Coast possible?

Our data set is hardly scientific, but after several years of seeing the same pattern, it’s becoming harder to dismiss.

Sometimes the Constraints Make the Bike Tour

This weekend also offers another reminder about bicycle travel: sometimes the trip you wouldn’t have chosen is the trip that produces the best stories.

If we’d had several weekends available, we probably would have avoided this one because of the weather.

Instead, this was the weekend we had.

Rain. Bus schedules. Route changes. A split adventure. Unexpected stops.

Brock compares it to Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies: introducing limitations and constraints that force you to approach something differently.

In our case, the constraints became the bike tour.

Also in This Episode

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 445: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast – Part 2 appeared first on Pedalshift.

It’s magical episode 444 of The Pedalshift Project, and we’re marking the occasion with a proper Oregon Coast adventure! In part one of two, longtime friend of the show Brock Dittus joins on a hobgoblin of a ride. On this episode: northbound coastal riding, alternate routes off 101, questionable mileage math, damp gear, coffee stops, headwinds, the Five-Timers Club, and the operating phrase of the whole trip: “My tent is not viable.”

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 444: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast – Part 1.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

Start: Salem, Oregon

Transit: 60X bus to Lincoln City / Chinook Winds Casino

Camp: Devil’s Lake State Recreation Area hiker-biker site

Ride direction: Northbound / NOBO

Day ride: Lincoln City to Tillamook

Key stops: Neskowin, Pacific City, Tillamook

End of episode: Tillamook, Oregon

Next destination: Astoria, Oregon

The Pedalshift spinner giveaway! How to enter… make sure you’re subscribed to the Pedalshift email list over at pedalshift.net. I’ll send an email out to the list on Thursday July 16th for the release of part 2. Reply or forward it back at me at [email protected] by 11:59pm PT Sunday July 19th and BAM! You’re in the running. The email will have the directions too. Overly complex? Maybe. But you get the coolest designed piece ever by our clever and talented designer friend.

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 444: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast – Part 1 appeared first on Pedalshift.

We are SO back. On this edition, the preview episode for the first Oregon Coast trip that doesn’t require me to fly thousands of miles. Added bonus: Brock frieking Dittus is going to be returning to the podcasting airwaves for this one as we ride a portion of the Oregon coast. As usual… there are question marks for any ride I ride, so we’ll cover them here.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 443: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast Preview.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

No shownotes for this one!

Hey let me know what you think about merch

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 443: Sprocketshift Oregon Coast Preview appeared first on Pedalshift.

Another micro Seattle adventure before summer really kicks off (more on that next episode)… this week, we go on another ferry-fueled adventure to nearby Vashon Island to explore the cycling, the town and… pinball? Yes. Pinball.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 442: Vashon Island.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

No shownotes for this one!

Hey let me know what you think about merch

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 442: Vashon Island appeared first on Pedalshift.

A little more space to explore Seattle before we kick off the first true summer cycling adventure – this week I head out the front door of my place on the Safari (finally!) to put it through the paces around Lake Union and the UW campus!

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 441: UW and Lake Union.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

No shownotes for this one!

Hey let me know what you think about merch

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 441: UW and Lake Union appeared first on Pedalshift.

Seattle is starting to feel less like a move and more like home base. With the long stretch of travel beginning to slow down, this week’s episode looks ahead to what summer adventure might look like from the Pacific Northwest. That includes rediscovering hiking and backpacking, exploring Seattle neighborhoods, and starting to sketch out bike camping possibilities in Oregon and Washington.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 440: Summer Adventure Planning.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

Settling into Seattle as a long-term basecamp

Shifting from constant travel into local exploration

Planning summer adventures in the Pacific Northwest

Returning to hiking and backpacking

Relearning where all the backpacking gear ended up

Exploring Seattle neighborhoods by bike and on foot

Early thoughts on Oregon and Washington bike camping routes

A future trip with friends of the show

What changes when bicycle touring starts from a new corner of the country

Hey let me know what you think about merch

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 440: Summer Adventure Planning appeared first on Pedalshift.

On this edition, we go to the Windy City, and it was windy , and we ride around a little bit and walk around a little bit and do a little bit of discovery. A cool neighborhood, Wicker Park, and just discovery of things that are cool in the midst of my May adventures.

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 439: Exploring Chicago.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

No shownotes for this one!

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 439: Exploring Chicago appeared first on Pedalshift.

On this edition, we hop off the bike for a bit to chat about some non-cycling adventures I’m in the middle of this month! As you all know I’m a huge music fan, and as my big move and other transitions have pretty much crossed the finish line, I circled this month as a way to celebrate with some music and travel. Will a bike make an appearance? Maybe, but the journey is the fun part so let’s show our IDs at the door and get our hands stamped for a very different adventure!

Hey it’s the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 438: Not Just Bikes – May Music Adventures.

Subscribe/Follow The Pedalshift Project:
RSS – iTunes – Overcast – Android – Google Podcasts – Stitcher – TuneIn – IHeartRadio – Spotify

Reach out to the show via email, 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 [email protected] or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109

Sugar NYC

(Seattle work conference)

Snail Mail Seattle

Ivy WPB 

WDW work/play

Ivy Chicago

(Seattle work conference)

Ivy NYC

Chapterhouse Seattle

DLR play (new Star Wars overlay)

Ivy LA

Home to Seattle and a summer of… I don’t know yet. Open plans. Biking. Hiking. Camping. Exploring. More music.

As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.

You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new solo album available NOW. Go listen to JUKEBOX BOY wherever cool music is available! 

The post The Pedalshift Project 438: Not Just Bikes – May Music Adventures appeared first on Pedalshift.