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Handling Bike Route Detours & Closures
- Whites Ferry – closed and both sides of the river are digging in
- Hwy 1 near Big Sur… washed out again… repairs likely not until spring at best…
Me in the trees in 2016 just south of the outage, then the 2021 outage:
- The C&O will sometimes have issues (MM52 washout, Big Slackwater)
- My experience on the OTET near Akron (unannounced detour)
- This is common. What’s the best bet?
1 – Attitude
Routes are not sacrosanct. They are also subject to evolution, so don’t go into any tour with the feeling that it’s ruined if you can’t roll every single inch the way it’s been done in the past.
2- Your ride is the experience, not the map
Folks who through hike major trails deal with stuff like this all the time. Even if the route deviates from past years, one still is hiking the AT. Fires, floods, etc. make the trail a dynamic thing… think of it that way for bicycle touring too
3 – To prep or not
This gets into philosophies… I prep, others ride what the road gives them. Neither is superior… a preparer may know what the options are ahead of any issue, but a ride what the road gives you type may be more mentally prepared for outages. Embrace who you are!
4 – Ask locals
There may be far better options than what you can tell from a map. Ask folks in the area… you may be surprised at the outcome (better route than you planned… an offer for a fast forward around the outage, etc.)
5 – Keep safe
There may be a temptation to YOLO your way through an outage. That might be ok. Or it might be reckless and a real risk to your safety, and then the first responders’ safety to haul your ass out. Be reasonable and remember outages generally mean you are trespassing if you barrel through them.
Thoughts on the specific outages
C&O
- not a lot I can recommend for lodging on the MD side
- look into shuttles to hotels semi-nearby the trail (there might be a lone B&B or Airbnb option nearby?)
- Consider revamping your miles so your lodging straddles the Leesburg night
- Hope public pressure gets the VA farm folks to take the money for the easement
Hwy 1
- CalTrans is on it… more of the road opened recently
- It will be fixed, just a question of when
- Pacific Coast route season seems to be narrower than ever… road closures from mud slides in rainy season and then smoke closures from fire season.
- Be flexible, optimize your options (know your fast forwards, towns with transit options, ability to ship your bike, etc.)
Bottom Line
- Our next tours are going to have a lot of energy behind them since we had so many plans scuttled due to COVID.
- Remember outages happen and they are not ruining your trip, just throwing a curveball and maybe making it more memorable
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
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, RIP
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
Robert Lackey
Dominic Carol
Jacqi McCulloch
John Hickman
Carl Presseault
David Neves
Patty Louise
Terry Fitzgerald
Peter Steinmetz
Timothy Fitzpatrick
Michael Liszewski
Hank O’Donnell
David Zanoni
David Weil
Matthew Sponseller
Scott Angelo
Chad Reno
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Sunfields has a new album in 2021, AND Jason has a new solo album in 2021, AND his first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
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