Since my Brompton California bike tour last month got scuttled by forces beyond my control (and yours too), I thought it would be good to share my takeaways from my 2016 adventure! Originally podcast April 28, 2016.
Best of Pedalshift 048: A Brompton California Bike Tour
With the current global circumstances, I’m doing a different tour than I originally planned – a solo, non-contact, self-supported, socially responsibly distanced tour of the great C&O towpath. This is probably the solo bike tour that makes the most sense, and might be the most important one I’ve ever needed. In this episode, the preparation!
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
A Solo Bike Tour of the C&O Towpath
Going fully self-supported on the C&O Intention is to carry everything I need for 4 full days Round trip to my cabin in WV and back – about 65 miles per day Will have a roof over my head for night 2
Why this? I had previously scheduled vacation for 3 days, but I’m going to knock it to 2 and go into the weekend I will be starting in DC and given a few factors, ending in DC is easier on family dynamics than ending in WV and having Kimberly drive out herself with all the dogs and cat We’ve been doing essentially long weekends at the cabin, but are looking to shift to be in WV more than DC for the near term… and this helps facilitate that
What’s the C&O looking like? Great question. I haven’t been riding it much but it’s been an exceedingly mild winter so trail conditions are likely solid There’s a low-level water crossing at MM52 that by all accounts is just fine Rain hitting the trail before I ride so I expect it to be a little wet, but nowhere near the mud bog it could have been Water is out at the campsites so I’ll need to haul my own and fill at the limited taps along the way I expect the trail to be unusually busy by day users near DC, Great Falls, Brunswick and Hancock but very, very quiet otherwise. Could be wrong, but I’m guessing I’ll be the only camper out there.
What gear? Tuned up the Safari and it’s good to go. It needs some work after, which I’m looking forward to getting at my LBS. I’ll be riding heavy for three reasons
I’m bringing my big stove because of the emphasis on cooking and cleaning (huge green propane cylinder – the “green dragon” I’ve called it)
Lots of food and water to avoid needing to go to the limited options (Point of Rocks and Brunswick are the only truly easy access points in this section of the trail after leaving the DC area
Layers and wet weather gear – looks like I will definitely have rain and the temp swings from early morning to late afternoon mean wool layers and full rain gear
Two panniers Probably two dry bags (why not!) Considered dragging the trailer for this one, but the low water crossing makes that a hassle. Maybe next time. No Belle Starr for this one… looks like conditions are a little too adverse for her narrow comfort range!
Pack List
tent sleeping bag pad pump spare tube multitool and tool bag spork Cook kit and Green Dragon stove Camp soap and cleaning towel Coffee kit (aeropress or drip? Not sure) Bandannas x3 Camp towel Wool layers Puffer vest Rain jacket and hood Rain pants LS shirt Rain gloves underwear x2 socks x2 (smart wool and waterproof) toiletry bag (incl. ibuprofin, caffeine and electrolyte pills) hats (cold hat plus ball cap) helmet batteries and cables (new wireless charging battery) Headphones (wired and Airpods) iPhone water bottles x3 water bladder adult beverages Ottolock wallet Sleep clothes Flip Flops
Food Knorr sidekicks Block of cheese Pop tarts Trail mix Tortillas PB
What are the rules on this one? Barring emergencies or mechanicals I can’t overcome, I’m not going into towns or shops – I think one could in these social distancing times but reducing to zero is best across the board. If I run into folks on the trail I’ll interact as usual, just from a distance. Especially in camp. Night 2 will be at the cabin, particularly if the ride ends up being wet.
While it’s no Missing Link tour of Southern CA, this is a trip I’ve always wanted to do… a round trip to my cabin using no fossil fuels, and just my two legs and a bike.
SprocketShift Happy Hour
Hey, let’s have a drink together! The next SprocketShift Happy Hour is TBA. More information on how to join here and watch the last two we’ve done.
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 The Kessel Run and The Missing Link bike tours! 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.
Tim, Brock, Aaron and Guthrie host the 2nd SprocketShift Happy Hour from WV, Salem and Portland, OR! Plus we bring in some fellow happy hourers (not a word) to chat about planning for biking. Originally broadcast March 20, 2020. Originally broadcast March 20, 2020.
Orange Pedal Award Winner Maggie Lonergan joins us again to tell us Maggie Lonergan joins us again to tell us her tale of bicycle touring Norway (plus a little Finland… it has trees) last summer. Sure we mention that pesky virus, but it’s mostly touring talk, including some of the type II variety!
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
Housekeeping
Yeah, I won’t be going to CA as planned, and The Missing Link tour is postponed (but will happen eventually). Pedalshift 199 will include the process that brought me to this decision and reveal my plans for that time. I think there’s a responsible bike touring alternative, and if it’s happening I’ll reveal it on that episode.
SprocketShift Happy Hour
Hey, let’s have a drink together! The next SprocketShift Happy Hour is FRIDAY 3/20 at 8pm.ET/5pm PT.
Maggie Lonergan lives in San Francisco, still holding onto her New England ways. She’s spent the last decade learning to balance big adventures with explorations in daily life. She spends her work weeks exploring the bay area in the water and by bike, occasionally taking a long hike up a mountain that is too daunting to ride up.
She named her website after her yoga teaching business “Hiccuping Yogi” as a nod to her chronic hiccups. She treats it as a frequent reminder that sometimes things happen that we can’t control. Although she doesn’t teach much these days she’s kept the name because her adventure background started with thousands of hours on the mat and it’s a good reminder to that everything comes back to the breath.
How’s everything in San Francisco? Is the lockdown impacting your ability to do things outside?
Turning to Norway! Last time we talked you had done your bike rafting adventure… what got you interested in Norway?
What was your strategy for getting your gear to Norway?
What was your planned route and were you able to stick with it?
My friend MJ (coincidentally lives in SF too!) cycled Norway and ran into a ton of soul-sucking rain. What was your experience? Do you have favorite rain gear you recommend?
Way up north in the summer means nearly 24 hours of daylight – how did that impact your trip?
2020 trips to Norway may be up in the air, but at some point we’ll be able to move around a little better globally… what would be your #1 tip to someone looking to tackle a similar ride?
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 The Kessel Run and The Missing Link bike tours! 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.
Our first joint live happy hour online. Hey, did you hear there’s a global pandemic? Join the hosts and producers of The Sprocket Podcast and The Pedalshift Project as we have a drink, talk about life, and today’s topic: is it cool to go out on a bike and still be practicing good social distancing and #flattenthecurve? Originally broadcast March 15, 2020.
Ever wonder what’s it’s like to strap your kid to an Xtracycle and bring them along for one of the more scenic tours in the San Francisco Bay Area? On this episiode, veteran podcaster and tech reporter Cyrus Farivar shares his experience bringing his daughter on a tour from the East Bay to Half Moon Bay on his trusty ride. Xtracycle touring—it’s a thing!
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
Housekeeping
Hey, sadly the event-cancelling-virus struck the National Bike Summit and I won’t be presenting. To be clear, this was absolutely the responsible choice. Hope to present next year!
Fellow Star Wars nerds! I have the Disney audio but need some time to distill it. Look for that later this month.
The Missing Link bike tour
Hey, tour-cancelling-virus-willing, I’ll be flying to southern California with my Brompton to ride the one piece of the California coast I missed in my 2014 tour! Possible meetup opportunity in San Diego – it would be a Friday night 3/27 probably in the Gaslamp area. If you’re interested check out the details at pedalshift.net/sandiego and give me a heads up so I can be in touch. Not a late night because this guy has a stupid early train!
The Interview: Cyrus Farivar on Xtracycle Touring with Kids
Cyrus [“suh-ROOS”] is an investigative tech reporter at NBC News in San Francisco.
In addition to being a radio producer and author, Cyrus was most recently a senior tech policy reporter at Ars Technica. He was also previously the sci-tech editor and host of “Spectrum” at Deutsche Welle English, Germany’s international broadcaster, from 2010-2012.
Cyrus is the author of multiple books, including Habeas Data (2018) and The Internet of Elsewhere (2011). Praised by The New Yorker, among others, Habeas Data takes a look at legal cases that have had an outsized impact on surveillance law in America. His first book focuses on the history and effects of the Internet on different countries around the world.
In 2019, Cyrus and Olivia Solon won the Technology Reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter for their coverage of Silicon Valley, including reporting on privacy, facial recognition, and more.
Cyrus has also reported for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, The Economist, Wired, The New York Times, Slate, and many others.
He received his B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
He lives in Oakland, California.
Twitter: @cfarivar
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 The Kessel Run and The Missing Link bike tours! 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.
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 touring with Kimberly Wilson, founder and past owner of Tranquil Space yoga studios in Washington, DC. Originally podcast March 16, 2017.
Best of Pedalshift 073: Yoga for Bike Touring with Kimberly Wilson
Our first live show of 2020 wraps up the Kessel Run tour with my ten takeaways. From there I announce the big spring tour—The Missing Link! Plus more on episode 200 and a west coast meetup in March. Originally broadcast February 21, 2020.
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
Live Video Replay
Housekeeping
Hey, I’m presenting at the National Bike Summit’s Active Transportation Leadership Retreat March 14th. National Bike Summit is the biggest collection of bike advocates and it happens in DC. This will be the first time I’m lawyering it up in the bike advocacy space, so it’s going to be fun.
Fellow Star Wars nerds! I have the Disney audio but need some time to distill it. Look for that in March.
The Kessel Run: A Central Florida Bike Tour Takeaways
Reminder to check out part 1 in PSP 194 and part 2 in PSP 195. 1 – Central Florida doesn’t expect a bike tour, but I’ve found it to be better cycling than its reputation
2- Urban riding is great training for bicycle touring amongst motorized vehicles
3 – Disneyworld and Airports: not super bike friendly unless they are
4 – Ride With GPS is a fantastic tool for riding in “new to me” places, but spending some time with Google Streetview can demystify spots that look gnarly on a map
5 – I don’t think I’ll ever stick to one style of touring and Florida proves me why
6 – Four seasons FTW
7 – Ultralight does not mean ultrastupid – I got lucky with the way the rain went considering I forgot my rain pants. Double check and use a pack list, don’t just assume everything is in your bags like I did!
8 – Off-road opportunity in Florida appears to be abundant
9 – Bromptons are great, and require less maintenance but I got very lucky on the seat post (broken clamp before, itty bitty screw after)
10 – Yes, you can absolutely ride with a lightsaber on your rear rack.
Unveiling The Missing Link bike tour
I’ll be flying to southern California with my Brompton to ride the one piece of the California coast I missed in my 2014 tour and connect two dots between Anaheim and Oceanside that I bypassed by train. It’s a short link in an otherwise uninterrupted chain. It’s the missing link.
2014 ride was dominated by camping but towards the end there is a long stretch of southern CA with limited camping. Combine a dwindling budget with a reticence to deal with a question mark of Camp Pendleton access, I decided to bike inland for a cheaper hotel stay, add some miles through Los Angeles, and take the train past Camp Pendleton to get to the next campground.
Camp Pendleton access has been an issue since 9/11 and in 2014 the system was practically a day-to-day assessment I didn’t want to deal with.
Now, the system in place is arguably worse, but the way around the base is clearer – Interstate 5 is legally available for the 6 or so miles. Permits are available at the south gate, but I’ve decided to just go with the flow and ride 30 minutes rather than get a ride down to get the permit and go back north again. Arguably a minor challenge—the cycling should be easy, but the zooming cars are a concern— but with wide shoulders I feel comfortable with the choice.
On my train ride down in 2014 the views from the Surfliner made me regret the decision to be on a train. Now I get a chance to ride the coast along a truly iconic stretch of beaches in Orange County and south.
Will be riding the Brompton and forgoing camping again (there aren’t great options in this stretch).
Will tackle this in two days of about 50ish miles each. First stretch includes a lot of trail time along the Santa Ana River to the coast to rejoin the Pacific Coast route. Then I’ll be sticking on that for the ride south.
I plan to wrap up in San Diego but the link completes well north of there in Oceanside, which gives me an out via a fast forward if the need arises. Whether I wrap up in SD or Oceanside, I have a train to take me back up to Burbank to fly back, because LAX is apparently a disaster these days
I never considered my 2014 ride to be incomplete—ride your ride I always say. But I do look forward to completing the missing link.
Possible meetup opportunity in San Diego – it would be a Friday night 3/27 probably in the Gaslamp area. If you’re interested check out the details at pedalshift.net/sandiego and give me a heads up so I can be in touch. Not a late night because this guy has a stupid early train!
Episode 200
You may have noticed the numbers of the show are getting tantalizingly close to 200.
Episode 200 will be Part 1 of The Missing Link.
Considering the earliest episodes of the show were preparation and execution of my 2014 ride, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 200 episodes of the pod than this tour.
Look for it in early April.
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 The Kessel Run and The Missing Link bike tours! 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Roxy Arning Nathan Pulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Scott Culbertson Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey Dominic Carol
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.
Day 2 of the trip began with sunshine and exotic birds as I rolled through strawberry country and transitioned from wide open spaces to industrial places to… well I got to Tampa in time to explore some beer! But would I be able to roll right up to Tampa airport or be forced to sheepishly hire a ride for the last 1/4 mile?
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
Reminder to check out part 1 in PSP 194 and then again Friday 2/21 at 9pm ET for Pedalshift Live, the wrap up of the Kessel Run tour AND the announcement of the spring tour AND how that impacts Pedalshift 200. WOW!
The Kessel Run: A Central Florida Bike Tour, Part 2
Day 2 of the trip began with sunshine and exotic birds as I rolled through strawberry country and transitioned from wide open spaces to industrial places to… well I got to Tampa in time to explore some beer! But would I be able to roll right up to Tampa airport or be forced to sheepishly hire a ride for the last 1/4 mile?
Statistics, Day 2
Miles biked: 33.6 miles
Unidentifiable bird species: lots
Rain: no!
Lightsabers fastened to rear racks: still 1
Sweet paved trail miles: 0
Flats: zero
Bars visited: 2
Beers imbibed: 1 pint, 1 flight
2021 Florida Trips planned: 1
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 spring’s DC to Cincinnatti 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Roxy Arning Nathan Pulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Paul Culbertson Scott Culbertson Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.
Central Florida has a thousand personalities. Sure, we all know the theme parks, and the big cities of Tampa and Orlando, but there are also huge swaths of barely developed pastures, orange groves, irrigation canals and lakes to catch a cyclists’ eye while pedaling the miles away. A lot of people come to Florida to escape the chill of winter and return with stories and surprises. Me? I went to go fly the Millennium Falcon, but that’s another story. After that? I rode across Florida. This is the story.
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
Reminder to come back next Thursday for check out part 2 in PSP 195 and then again Friday 2/21 at 9pm ET for Pedalshift Live, the wrap up of the Kessel Run tour AND the announcement of the spring tour AND how that impacts Pedalshift 200. WOW!
The Kessel Run: A Central Florida Bike Tour, Part 1
The beginning of the trip began with getting myself and my Brompton to Florida… always an adventure. Then an interregnum at Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge for a nerd out day. My childhood dream of flying the Millennium Falcon sated, it was time to roll. Day 1 of the tour began with a mini-fast forward from Disney property to the beginning of Dean Still road in the exurbs of Orlando, Florida. With rain in the air and 40+ miles of riding ahead of me, I gathered my gear and hit record.
Statistics, Day 1
Miles biked: 43.8
Orange groves: 1
Rain: yes
Lightsabers fastened to rear racks: 1
Sweet paved trail miles: 12.1
Flats: zero
Delivery pizzas consumed: 1
Beers available: 0!
Episodes of Clone Wars watched: 13!
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 spring’s DC to Cincinnatti 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.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Stuart Buchan Mr. T Roxy Arning Nathan Pulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Paul Culbertson Scott Culbertson Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Kevan Olhausen Robert Lackey
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields’ latest album may be their best yet. Go get it.