The Pedalshift Project: Bicycle Travel Adventures

The C&O has been a recurring spine of the show for years, from early episodes with zeroes in front of the numbers through bigger runs like DC to Cincinnati, and C&O But Slow. The show is now pointing toward Seattle, rightsizing bikes, and the new basecamp but I have one more ride on the C&O and one more ride on a special bike that I've pedaled all over the country.

The weather is getting better, and I have bikes on hand... it's time to explore more of Seattle by bike! On this edition we start kind of big - crossing Lake Washington via the floating bridge by bike. Plus bonus Lunar New Year festivals! Lake Washington Crossing Mercer Island to Pioneer Square Floating bridge and testing light rail Bonus lunar new year soundscapes!

Hey we have some production delays on the latest episode, so look for that within the next few days... but to ensure your earballs get a regular Thursday listen, here's a special best of that goes ALL the way back to the leading 0 era!

A fun night adjacent to the Happiest Place on Earth, but work to do on the final day of the adventure. A scouted ride to Orange County airport seemed easy, then challenging, then maybe easy again. But there's been a peculiar lack of drama on this podcast that tends to have unnecessary drama in the trips. I wonder… could we find some? Statistics Miles biked 27 Zippers broken 2 Yards of tape used by SNA TSA to seal the bike bag 3 Futile attempts to repair the zipper in Seattle 1 Flats 0

Welcome back from Winter Break! I was busy while we revisited some classic adventures, and went off and had a brand new one. On this edition, we preview Minimal California, a pared down adventure with a purpose, a destination, and... would you believe things that went awry? I should have shownotes but I'm still on winter break mode... it's a good episode and you should listen to it!

With my proper trail bike in the shop but a real need to get out for an overnight, I turned to a C&O newbie… my trusty 12″ wheeled, very orange Brompton as my chariot to an urban(ish) stealth camping overnight. Would the trail chew up the Brompton? Would my orange gear prove too, well, orange for stealth camping? If you can't get your adventure by the liter these days, may as well do it in sips… Originally podcast July 16, 2020.

In the first of a two-parter during winter break, it's Pedalshift Tour Journals: Vol. 9: Olympic Peninsula! Join me and my trusty Brompton for 4 days of transit-aided bicycle touring from Washington, DC to Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula and wrapping things up in Astoria, Oregon. This week features the machinations of getting from DC to a tent in the shadows of the Olympic Mountains (if there were, y'know… sun) and the first very soggy day of riding. Originally podcast March 22, 2018.

One more episode before we take a little winter break (with some great best of's!) we do our annual setting of goals. This year we mix in one non-cycling goal on top of the others. Hey if I hit all of these it's going to be a great year! Adventure Goals for 2026 Continued fitness upgrades Oh Canada! New bike(s) Ultralight gear and ultralight tours A Brompton adventure Seattle S24Os Big toe dip: backpacking… Hoh Rainforest? A transit-assisted adventure A food and beverage-centric adventure A ferry-centric adventure

We've often talked about how slow travel by bicycle helps you see your adventure with far more detail than by car. But can we slow it down even more and reinforce that lesson? On this episode, exploring the parallels of exploring a city by foot and how that proves the point! All Who Wander... Exploring Seattle without a car Using walking as a way to scope neighborhoods Slow travel lessons from bike touring, applied to everyday life What you notice on foot that you miss by bike or car Sound, sight lines, and the feel of a place Low-friction wandering and following curiosity Inefficiency as a feature, not a bug Walking as a gateway to reflection and perspective Seeing contrasts in how people live Choosing small adventures in ordinary days Seattle waterfront moments and future adventure reminders Brompton update: travel, repairs, and getting back on two wheels Live Show January 16 5pm PT Details at pedalshift.net/live!

You know you've got a bike tour coming up this year, so you want to make sure you're ready for it. What are some things to do to make that easier in the bike touring offseason? On this episode, some insight into my plans this offseason plus tips from ACA, REI and other experts! ALSO... Pedalshift SEATTLE Live will be Friday January 16 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. Check out the details in your email, YouTube and pedalshift.net/live.

A walk along Elliot Bay to discuss the short trip to Honolulu and more on the transition to Seattle and all the bikey adventures to come. Honolulu and Seattle A walk along Elliot Bay Honolulu thoughts More Seattle impressions N+1 thoughts on bikes

It used to be that a bike adventure meant taking paid time off or quitting your job. Now that remote work is a reality for many of us, there's a new option. But is bike travel while working remotely right for you? Originally podcast July 28, 2022.

Bicycle touring numbers feel like they're down—fewer loaded panniers on the road, Adventure Cycling Association facing major financial headwinds, and a lot of long-time tourers quietly aging out. But is touring actually in decline, or is it just shifting into something that looks different—like bikepacking, gravel, and shorter, more flexible trips? In this episode I dig into Adventure Cycling's recent membership and financial update, talk through generational and economic trends, and explore whether we're seeing the end of an era… or just the end of one version of it. Is Bicycle Touring in Decline? What the ACA Letter Tells Us Recent email to ACA membership on a vote regarding selling their building in Missoula Membership down from almost 40,000 in 2023 to about 18,000 today. Donations down. Demand for guided tours has softened. Sales of maps/routes have dropped with free digital tools and GPS routes everywhere. Their diagnosis Members aging out of cycling. Some people don't feel enough value in a paid membership. Travel patterns are changing; inflation and costs are up; maybe fewer people committing to long guided tours. The building sale piece: ACA can sell their big, underutilized Missoula headquarters for ~$2.55M, then lease back just the space they need. The goal is to buy a "runway" of a few years to rebuild membership and modernize programs (digital experience, routes, tours, events). This is serious—membership halving in a couple of years is not a blip. But this is one institution. It's a single data point, not the whole story. Is ACA's Crisis Proof That Touring Is Dying? Possible "touring is in trouble" interpretation: If the biggest U.S. touring org is shrinking, maybe demand really is falling. Fewer people willing to pay for routes, maps, and guided tours could indicate less interest in traditional loaded touring. Alternative explanations: Value perception problem: If you can download GPX routes for free, people might not feel like they need a membership. Younger riders may not connect with a membership model or a print magazine in the same way. Business model problem vs. touring problem: Guided tours and paper maps are specific products. Those can decline even if DIY touring thrives. If a streaming-era kid doesn't buy DVDs, it doesn't mean movies are dead—just that the business model changed. Same question here: is ACA Blockbuster, or are movies in trouble? The Aging Out Effect The ACA explicitly mentions aging out of cycling. Talk through generational dynamics: A lot of classic touring energy came from the boomers and older Gen X. Long, multi-week tours require time, health, and often retirement or very flexible work. People aging out doesn't necessarily mean the activity is dying, but: If younger generations aren't replacing those numbers, you get a visible decline. Touring can look intimidating: expensive gear, big time commitments, safety fears. Possible barriers for younger riders: Student debt, unstable housing, fewer long chunks of vacation, higher baseline anxiety around traffic and climate disasters (heat, smoke, extreme weather). The Rise of Bikepacking and Off-Road Travel Ttouring may just be changing costume: More folks are drawn to bikepacking and gravel: lighter gear, off-road routes, "adventure" branding. Social media and brands push a certain aesthetic: frame bags, dirt roads, epic photography. Contrast vibes: Classic touring: fenders, racks, panniers, highways, small towns, campgrounds. Bikepacking: singletrack/doubletrack, BLM land, forest roads, more "expedition-y", often shorter but punchier trips. If someone is out for five days with bags on their bike, sleeping outside and moving every day… and we're calling that bikepacking instead of touring… did touring really decline, or did it just get relabeled? Is bikepacking now the umbrella term for bike adventuring? Is It Just a (pardon the pun) Cycle? Historical perspective: There was a big touring boom in the 1970s and again mini-waves around the early 2000s . We thought the 2020 COVID bike boom would impact things, but did it? Outdoor sports often rise and fall with the economy, culture, and media stories. Economic cycle: High inflation, higher travel costs, and general uncertainty can make long trips harder. At the same time, travel has become more fragmented: people take 3-day trips instead of 3-week odysseys. Cultural cycle: Right now, gravel and ultra-events (Unbound, etc.) get the headlines. Touring is slow and unsexy by comparison. Slow unsexy things tend to look "dead" for a while… until the next backlash against all the hype and burnout. We might be in the hangover phase after the COVID bike boom and a big cultural swing toward short, 'epic' experiences. Other Factors That Make Touring Feel Smaller Safety and traffic fears: distracted driving, speed, road rage, social media amplifying every horror story. Climate and weather extremes: heat domes, wildfire smoke, storms—touring has always danced with weather, but now the dice feel loaded. Information overload: paradoxically, infinite online info can make people freeze and not choose any tour. Shift to micro-touring: overnighters, weekend campouts, credit-card touring instead of epic cross-country runs. That looks less visible on the ACA radar but might be the real growth area. What ACA's Plan Signals About the Future Positive outlook: Selling an underused building to buy time to modernize could be a good sign. It's a choice to adapt instead of slowly bleed out. They're explicitly planning to invest in: More routes and route updates Digital and website improvements Stronger advocacy tools Expanded tours and member events The big question: Can an organization built around old touring models reinvent itself for a world of bikepacking, GPS, and dispersed, remote communities? Will they pivot toward being the hub for all forms of bike travel, not just pannier touring? Final Take: Is Touring Actually in Decline? Yes, in the classic sense. Fewer people paying for memberships, maps, and guided pannier tours. The touring demographic that built ACA is shrinking and aging. No, if you widen the definition. Bikepacking, mixed-surface, overnighters, and "ride-to-your-Airbnb" trips are essentially touring by another name. People are still traveling by bicycle; they're just doing it with different gear and routes. Mostly, it's in a messy transition. Legacy institutions and business models are under intense pressure. New formats (digital communities, route-sharing platforms, YouTube, social media) are where a lot of the energy lives now. The story isn't "touring is dying"—it's "touring is migrating." Go on any kind of bike trip—overnight, credit-card, dirt, paved, doesn't matter. Support whichever orgs, creators, or communities actually help them get out the door (ACA, local groups, creators, etc.). If you're an ACA member, vote on the building sale by November 24. Whatever side you land on it seems like this will likely define things for ACA for the next several years. •Bike touring has always been a niche. The question isn't whether the niche survives—it's what form it takes for the next generation. And we all get to shape that.