The Pedalshift Project: Bicycle Touring Lifestyle

Guthrie Straw from The Sprocket Podcast joins the show to help out on the third installment of the beginner series. Steve is riding with a group on his upcoming charity ride - what are the things to think about in terms of group dynamics on bicycle tour? We cover camping, riding together, differing skill levels, eating, emergency safety nets and more. Beginner Series: Group Dynamics on Bike Tour   Guthrie Straw is an alternative t... Read more

This month's best-of features a fun interview with Peter Rice, the author of Spandex Optional Bicycle Touring. We cover how to bicycle tour without breaking the bank, eating, different types of people who tackle bike touring, "The System" (you'll have to read or listen for that) and much more. Originally podcast June 11, 2015.

Most bike tours don't start and end with you riding from home - most of us need a car, bus, plane, train, or ferry to help with some of the travel. On this episode, tips on how to handle the transitions in multimodal bike touring, plus a preview of May's DC to Cincinnati bike tour! The Journal: Multimodal Bike Touring Preparing for Multimodal You're going to be biking, packing up, then perhaps biking again Transforming from bik... Read more

Stealth camping lets bike tourists keep costs down and ride more miles per day... but is it right for you? On this episode, we cover stealth camping upsides, downsides, tips, philosophies, risks, and some thoughts on the number one question... what to do if you get caught! Housekeeping Great  American Rail Trail reveal On May 8, 2019, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and our partners across the country are celebrating the Great American... Read more

In the summer of 2014, I took 6 weeks to ride the Pacific coast from Victoria, BC to the US-Mexico border. I recorded a 2-5 minute audio entry every day for the Tour Journals podcast to share the more detailed aspects of the ride, but always intended to edit and condense it into a more manageable length to share here. I recorded almost every entry while rolling, usually in the morning. Listeners of The Pedalshift Project will defin... Read more

Recorded live on March 31, 2019 with a big spring bicycle tour reveal (my longest bike tour in years!) plus listener questions   on e-bikes, the Great American Rail-Trail, the C&O, water on tour, bicycle advocacy and more! Housekeeping Mark the calendars... Portland... Pedalpalooza... Friday June 14. We're doing the first ever PodcastpaloozaRide along with The Sprocket Podcast, The Joyride Podcast and more. Details coming later thi... Read more

Recorded live at the Chicago Area Bicycle Dealers Association (CABDA) show in February, follow along as I chat with several sales folks from brands you know and a few you may not about bikepacking and bike touring. It's bike show touring gear talk! Go Watch The Great Ride Stream it over at WQED.org through 3/31. It's worth the hour if you're into touring. And you are. You listen to a bike touring podcast for crying out loud...   G... Read more

The Bicycle Touring Beginners Series continues with a focus on training and route planning for bicycle touring! Plus a review of WQED's The Great Ride, a new documentary on bicycle touring the C&O Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage. Review of The Great Ride Stream it over at WQED.org through 3/31. It's worth the hour if you're into touring. And you are. You listen to a bike touring podcast for crying out loud...   Nice overview ... Read more

The Ohio to Erie Trail spans 326 miles diagonally across Ohio, linking up Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland and everything in between. On this episode, we chat about the trail and the experience biking across Ohio! Housekeeping Check out the Cross-Florida by Brompton video over on YouTube! It's 3 days of riding across central Florida jammed into a nice tight 15 minutes. It's a great companion to the podcast because you get to see ... Read more

Set your wayback machine to the 1890s as we chat with filmmaker Gillian Willman and learn about the amazing Annie "Londonderry" Kopchovsky, a pioneer in bike touring as the first woman to circle the world solo by bicycle. Next time you’re struggling in granny gear up a big climb think about what it would feel like on a 42-pound fixie… just one of the challenges Annie faced on her amazing adventures. Originally podcast February 2015... Read more

The podcast version of the most recent Pedalshift Live, featuring the Cross-Florida bike tour wrap up... takeaways, highlights, and answers to your questions about using Google Maps for bike tour planning, what it's like touring on a Brompton and more. Listen to the whole Cross-Florida bike tour series: part 1 in PSP 153   part 2 in PSP 154 part 3 in PSP 155  Pedalshift Live: Cross-Florida Bike Tour Takeaways Tampa, FL to Cocoa ... Read more

Day 3 was the longest ride of the trilogy... over 60 miles that captured so much of Florida's landscape... from congested suburban Orlando to a lengthy shoulderless 60mph strip of asphalt through a rural stretch of grazing land to the Atlantic coast that beckoned in Cocoa Beach. I was running out of Florida, but still had some work to do. Reminder to check out part 1 in PSP 153 and  part2 in PSP 154 and then again Friday 2/22 at 9p... Read more

Day 2 of the Cross-Florida bike tour began in Lakeland, Florida with a serene morning palling around with exotic birds. With 51 miles of riding ahead of me, I got an early start knowing there was a small stretch of questionable riding towards the end in Kissimmee. The Journal: Cross-Florida Bike Tour, Part 2 Lakeland, FL to Kissimmee, FL Check out the full route at Ride with GPS Statistics Miles biked: 51 Orange groves: 2 Alpaca e... Read more

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. This tour was no different! Pedalshift Tour Journals... Read more

The Great American Rail-Trail, a bold project recently launched by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, is a proposed network of nearly 4000 miles of off-road trails linking Washington, DC to the outskirts of Seattle, WA. On this episode, we chat with Kevin Mills of RTC to get the scoop on this exciting project and what to expect in the years to come. Housekeeping XFL Tour: I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa o... Read more

As the US shivers through the polar vortex, let's talk about prep for next week's cross Florida bike tour! Details on the route, the gear, the flying, the meetup in Orlando and much more. Warm up to the first Pedalshift tour of 2019! Housekeeping XFL Tour: I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa on the gulf coast to Cocoa Beach on the east. Preview episode drops in two weeks! Podcast sponsor slots are ava... Read more

A new year and a new beginners series! On the 150th edition of the Pedalshift Project, we kick off the Bicycle Touring Beginners Series by meeting this year's cyclist and road map some of the topics we'll cover as we check in over the next several months. Plus, updates on meetups and the Pedalshift Project is number one... where? Housekeeping XFL Tour: I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa on the gulf coa... Read more

The Great Allegheny Passage 2019... What's in store for the trail? Allegheny Trail Alliance's Doug Riegner returns to the pod with the full scoop on the GAP! Housekeeping XFL Tour: I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa on the gulf coast to Cocoa Beach on the east. Preview episode drops in two weeks! Podcast sponsor slots are available starting in the new year... check out pedalshift.net/sponsor for more... Read more

We kick off the year with a question people ask me before every trip - are you riding your bike to the airport? On this episode... tips on how to do it! Plus - a major tour announcement, a gaggle of Pedalshift winter meetups and the next live show announcement! Tour Announcement I need a winter tour! February! Florida! I'll be rolling my own route across central Florida from Tampa on the gulf coast to Cocoa Beach on the east. The l... Read more