The Pedalshift Project 102: What not to do on a cold, wet bike tour

Jan 6, 2018

Happy new year! You know, I may not know a lot but I definitely know a thing or two about a cold, wet bike tour... and I have a story to go with it! Let's kick off 2018 with things to look forward to this year plus that story on what not to do on a cold wet bike tour!

The Pedalshift Project 102: What not to do on a cold, wet bike tour

Show notes and more at pedalshift.net/102. Email the show [e-mail] or call the voicemail at [phone]. Check Pedalshift out also on all the socials too.

Happy New Year! As we enter the 5th year of Pedalshift, this episode will be about what to expect this year plus a fun story about winter bike touring from my early days of bike camping.

Pedalshift 2018

Looking to do about 35-40 episodes this year (about what we did in 2017). I think 3 episodes a month is a sweet spot. You all can use a week off from me every month 😉

Tours this year... hoping to do two to three longer tours plus some weekend ones. I mentioned in the end of the year newsletter that I'm looking at tours as far away (for me) as Europe and as close as the tried and true C&O, plus some new ones.

Touring with pups... we adopted a new pug (Gizmo) but I think he might be a little long in the tooth to come on tour. Belle Starr seems to be my touring buddy this year ones the evening temps climb up in the spring

Expanding touring guides... I'm working on getting the online C&O guide completed and hope to add the GAP to that soon. I'm also working on another project I hope to unveil in the next couple of months.

Adding bike touring consulting... Are you looking to plan a tour but don't know where to start? Planning a C&O/GAP, Pacific Coast or Erie Canal ride and want some insight? Starting this month I'm adding bike touring consulting to the Pedalshift options! Spend an hour with me by phone, Skype, or whatever works best for you and we can get much deeper into your needs than I can in the pod. If you're feeling you want more than an hour, there's 4-packs too (because who doesn't dig a four pack?). Go to pedalshift.net/consulting for more and feel free to send me an email at [e-mail] if you've got any questions!

More more more... I'm kind of excited about 2018. Are you? Let's kick it off!

Winter touring story

Hey remember when I told more stories? I kind of trailed off because I felt like I probably told all my good ones in the first four years of the pod. As we're shivering through the first real cold blast of the year here in the States, I'm reminded of a winter bike camping adventure I took with Mysterious James the first December we really got into all of this. It... did not go well. Until it did.

Some tips:

Zero mile days are not for quitters
Cold and wet can be straight up dangerous if you're not careful. Rock some layers, and make sure you're using wools and synthetics in case you do get wet.
Consider hand warmers... the last few days I've been amazed how much of a lift I get from a simple chemical hand warmer in my pocket. I think this could be a huge thing on tour too. May chat these up in gear talk in a future episode.
Cold weather often goes hand in hand with short days - don't overestimate the miles you can do with the sun up
Talked about cold (but dry) touring with Belle back in Pedalshift 062 and wet tent tips in Pedalshift 082 so check those out.
Microwave pizza does taste better under adverse conditions.

Pedalshift Society

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