May 11, 2017
Planning for a June tour... someplace... I stumbled upon a brand
new tour option: the Eastern Express Route is an alternative
eastern spur for the Trans Am route, starting in DC. It includes
the C&O, the GAP and Katy trails and we chat with the person
who did the heavy lifting (and cue sheet creation!) for this
amazing new option.
Hey it's the direct download link for The Pedalshift Project 079: The
Eastern Express - a new Trans Am bike touring alternative route
(mp3)
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Followup
Hey, the
C&O Guide
has *lots* more in it now!
- Segmented into about 10 mile chunks
- Adding descriptions over the rest of the spring
- Embedded maps
- Embedded campsite video reviews
- More to come!
The Journal
- West coast touring options for June?
- Vancouver Island
- Multimodal Oregon/Washington tour
- Brompton or no?
- Eastern
Express as another option? C&O->GAP-> and beyond.
Hooks up with the Katy eventually. Hmmm...
Reached out to the originator to get him on the show!
The Interview: The Eastern Express Route with Frank Mortiz
Frank Moritz, is a veteran Adventure Cycling tour leader,
instructor and board member, and completed the initial research to
create an "eastern express route" addition to the legendary
TransAmerica bike route. This new route provides a welcome option
for TransAm cyclists to bypass the severe mountain climbs and nasty
dogs that confront cyclists in southwestern Virginia, eastern
Kentucky, and southern Missouri on the eastern half of the existing
route. It also replaces three major high-altitude climbs in
Colorado with one gradual and scenic climb to the Continental
Divide. Amazingly, almost 600 of the 2,100+ miles of this route are
on dedicated bike/pedestrian paths, towpaths, or rail-trails.
Questions
- Your background in bike touring, including your work with
ACA
- Your thoughts on the Trans Am route as it currently is routed
in the east
- It's one thing to develop an alternate route, but quite another
to do ALL of the great work with cue sheets etc. for the Eastern
Express... what motivated this?
- What is the plan for the route - it feels like this is a
"public beta" and you'll be doing some refinements after comments
this year.
- What can Pedalshift listeners do to help with this
process?
- Any other recommendations that might be different from "the
usual" routes out there in the US?
Connections
Where are you listening?
I hope you are well! I listened to a podcast where you
where curious about from which countries your listeners are from.
Well, I'm from Sweden (Stockholm) and I really enjoy listening to
you. Keep up the good work! - Paula in Stockholm
Data!
Perhaps not too surprising... most of you are in the United
States. All 50 states listen (even Wyoming - someone has to be
last, but you're beautiful and windy Cowboy State listeners!) and
the top states are:
- Oregon (wonder why?)
- California
- New York (Empire State!)
- Illinois (biggest surprise?)
- Texas (everything's bigger)
International
- UK (about 25% the US DLs)
- Canada (about 7% - c'mon Canada!)
- Australia (4%)
- Sweden (1.4%)
- Ireland (my people! 1.3%)
- New Zealand
- Germany
- China
- Netherlands
- Japan
Also hear from members of the US military who listened while
stationed in Afghanistan and elsewhere... hey, if this dopey little
show about riding bikes helped pass the time while you were
serving, trust me when I say it is literally the least I can
do.
Thank you all for listening! If you're listening from exotic
spot (well and exotic spot for me) drop a line or leave a note in
the comments! Bonus points for calling the Pedalshift
voicemail!!
Pedalshift Society
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Mr. T
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And all anonymous and past contributors for helping make this
show happen!
Music
You've been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for 79 fine
episodes. I got news for ya. New. Sunfields. Album. This
August.