The Pedalshift Project: Bicycle Travel Adventures

The final day of the Oregon Coast Trail adventure begins at Barview Jetty with one major decision: take the short road walk toward Garibaldi or head back onto the beach for one last stretch of hiking. The beach wins, giving James and I a fitting final chapter to our first successful backpacking trip in years—and plenty of time to start thinking about what comes next. maybe James won't cause us to miss a bus next time? Pedalshift Live - September 11, 5pm PT! Topics TBA, but it's a summer closeout and certainly a preview of some stuff coming in the fall. ALSO we're doing a super fun giveaway exclusively for people that make it to the live show itself… there's some incentive for ya! ALSO ALSO, some special previews of all sorts of things. Am I being cagey? YES. Show up anyways! Chat room is fun, live shows are fun… but if you can't make it, it's the pod for the following week. pedalshift.net/live! Email reminders coming too. Maybe some previews of my previews? Who knows? Sign up here. "My Tent is not Viable" Check out this absolutely hysterical special design awarded to Brock and I to memorialize our night 1 mishap... See more of Simone's designs here. The Pedalshift Project 450: Oregon Coast Trail - Part 3 Waking up at Barview Jetty after a slightly better night's sleep—and some bonus fireworks from Garibaldi Days. Breaking camp with damp tents, questionable battery-charging logistics and a decision to make about the day's route. Road walk toward Garibaldi or return to Rockaway Beach? Naturally, the beach wins. A few physical reminders of the previous day's nearly 11 miles, including the lingering consequences of bad sand. Meeting a touring cyclist at camp with an impressive résumé that includes the C&O, GAP and Empire State Trail. Another reminder that there were considerably more bicycle tourists on the Oregon Coast than expected. Tim and James make it official: they're backpackers again. Why backpacking may be easier to share with more people than bike touring—and why it may become a regular part of future Pedalshift adventures. Heading north along the beach toward Rockaway for the final hiking segment of the trip. Yesterday's brutal headwind finally becomes today's much gentler tailwind. A little filtered sunshine and substantially easier conditions make Day 3 feel like a victory lap. An IT band issue provides one last reminder that walking on soft sand changes your gait in some interesting ways. Looking back on three days that provided a surprisingly complete shakedown: climbing, beach walking, rain, wind, good sand, bad sand, camping and multimodal transit. Arriving in Rockaway Beach and wrapping up the hiking portion of the adventure. Food, another encounter with the cyclist from camp and the beginning of the journey home. Back into multimodal mode: bus to Tillamook, bus to Portland, retrieve the car and eventually drive back to Seattle. Plenty of waiting around reminds everyone that transit-based adventures occasionally involve the advanced outdoor skill of sitting somewhere for a while. Final verdict from James: "Great trip." Three days later, the experiment feels like a pretty staggering success. Backpacking appears destined to become part of the Pedalshift adventure mix—including the possibility of combining hiking and cycling on future trips. Next up: the takeaways episode, including gear lessons, what worked, what didn't and why this backpacking thing might stick. Statistics Route choices 2 Sand types still 2 Wind normal! Bicycle tourists encountered MORE! Transportation segments after Rockaway 3 Buses James is permitted to cause me to miss 0

The Oregon Coast Trail backpacking adventure officially begins! Mysterious James and I head for the Oregon Coast expecting a roughly 10-mile first day over Neahkahnie Mountain. Naturally, the adventure starts with us watching our connecting bus leave without us. Is the entire trip scuttled before we even begin? "My Tent is not Viable" Check out this absolutely hysterical special design awarded to Brock and I to memorialize our night 1 mishap... See more of Simone's designs here. The Pedalshift Project 448: Oregon Coast Trail - Part 1 Portland to Tillamook goes exactly according to plan. This will not last. A confusing route-number change leads to Tim and James missing their northbound connection while essentially standing next to it. With Uber, Lyft and other escape routes unavailable, it's time for Plan B. A few bonus hours in Tillamook include an unexpectedly excellent visit to the Tillamook County Public Library. The revised plan: take the later bus to Manzanita, establish a base there and turn the day's planned hike into an out-and-back toward Neahkahnie Mountain. First impressions of experiencing familiar Oregon Coast territory on foot instead of from a bicycle. The backpacking finally begins with a walk along the beach at Manzanita. Important navigational discovery: if the Pacific Ocean is on your left, you're probably walking north. Firm beach sand: surprisingly excellent walking. Soft beach sand: considerably less excellent. Heading inland and uphill on the Headwaters Trail toward Neahkahnie Mountain. About 3.5 miles of continuous climbing provides the first real test of the new packs and gear. Early verdict: the pack weights feel completely manageable for the planned 7–10 mile days. Tim and James discover that humid-weather backpacking may not be part of their future long-distance hiking careers. The shortened route still delivers nearly everything they wanted from the original day: climbing, forest trails, beach walking and plenty of mileage. Back in Manzanita for the most important part of any successful hiking itinerary: pizza and beer. A surprising amount of actual bike content, with multiple loaded touring cyclists spotted along the coast. The final walk to Nehalem Bay State Park is longer than expected, pushing the day's total close to nine miles. First impressions of the Nehalem Bay hiker-biker campsite, including lockers, charging and bike repair facilities. The new tent gets its first setup and the backpacking gear earns high marks. Day one verdict: despite immediately borking the original plan, the Oregon Coast Trail experiment is a success. Next up: more beach walking, changing weather and Day 2 on the Oregon Coast Trail. Statistics Miles hiked 9 Missed buses: 1 Loaded bicycle tourists spotted: 7 Plans successfully improvised: 1 Days of rain on the Oregon coast we did not expect 1 Flats N/A

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. The Pedalshift Project 447: Oregon Coast Trail Preview A first for Pedalshift: backpacking instead of bikepacking. Joined by returning guest James for a three-day Oregon Coast Trail adventure. Transit-powered trip: Portland → Tillamook → north coast by bus before hiking south. Revisiting familiar Pacific Coast territory from an entirely different perspective. Can walking reveal things even bike travel misses? Route highlights include: Neahkahnie Mountain Manzanita Nehalem Bay State Park Beach hiking along the Oregon Coast Trail Planning roughly 10-mile hiking days with hiker-biker and county campground overnights. Weather forecast calls for classic Oregon Coast uncertainty, with rain possible after a dry first day. New ultralight gear gets its first real test: Hyperlite 40L backpack Big Agnes Copper Spur Bikepacking tent Carbon fiber trekking poles Thoughts on balancing premium gear with the long-held Pedalshift philosophy that the best gear is the gear that gets you outside. Pack weight comes in around 18 pounds, with room for future refinement. Trail food strategy includes hot coffee, plenty of snack bars… and James carrying enough bananas for what appears to be a small primate sanctuary. Why this trip fits the evolving vision of Pedalshift: adventures adjacent to bicycling that still embrace human-powered exploration.

Having said adieu to the C&O, let's revisit the spring 2023 ride of the C&O towpath for the next few months? Back then we had stellar conditions for riding. But with the Paw Paw tunnel closed, the trail posed a hefty challenge for someone with a fully loaded bike to push. But the Park Service said there's a shuttle, right? Originally podcast May 18, 2023.

Continuing more discovery of the Seattle area by bike and transit… this time it's a completely new to me place in Bainbridge Island! The real feature of course is the ferry, since we all know I love me a ferry. Some aquatic guest stars followed by Brompton riding in the town by the ferry terminal was a nice introduction, all shared here on the pod!

The bike is in Seattle safe and sound, but the adventure getting it here? We have things to talk about! On this episode the takeaways from Minimal California! Takeaways I really really like going with less Panniers have their place Riding in the rain can be fun, but not if it weren't planning for it Try the random cantina every time Bike bags are great but they have an expiration date

Look, we all know there's some inherent risk in bikepacking, bike touring and even bike commuting. Between bad infrastructure and inattentive drivers, we assume some degree of risk every time we're in the saddle. But as with anything, there are things we can do to make our bicycle adventures safer than by doing nothing. On this episode, some thoughts on all the things you can do to have a safer ride! Originally podcast October 19, 2023.