Sturdy touring bikes need to be able to handle weight… on this best of episode we delve into some of the ways to make your touring bike even sturdier, and provide tips on how to lighten the load a bit too. Plus, a self-described crazy Russian shows how to open a can without a can opener! Originally podcast December 10, 2015
Best of Pedalshift 037: Sturdy touring bikes + opening cans without tools
On this episode, we’ll look at ways nonprofit employees can become super sleuths – detectives for their organization. Let’s say your organization has been asked to co-host an event with several new organizations with whom you’re unfamiliar. Or perhaps, your organization is drawing some unwanted opposition from an organization that is spreading misinformation about your mission and its work. On this episode, we’ll look at a variety of free, online tools you can use to learn about nonprofits, their leaders, and their funders as well as uncover bots spreading misinformation.
Attorneys for this episode
Victor Rivera Leslie Barnes Quyen Tu
Shownotes
· What you can glean from public records
· Where to look for news stories
· What to find on nonprofit and opposition websites
· Researching funders
· Uncovering messengers of misinformation – Astroturfing
Despite living on the east coast, we spend a whole heck of a lot of attention on bicycle adventures on the west coast, right? Well, it’s time we changed that! On this episode, we chat with Regina Yan about the East Coast Greenway, her epic trip and how she and the East Coast Greenway Alliance is making this route a contender for all of our future cycling adventures!
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109
Bicycle Adventuring on the East Coast Greenway
Hey, want to watch an actual video of us talking? Check it out!
Regina Yan is a UX designer and artist based in Washington DC. She grew up in Kansas and was a very “indoorsy” child, but fell in love with the outdoors after going to school in New Hampshire. When the pandemic hit, she got into cycling and immediately fell loved the way biking expanded her world. So much so, in the fall of 2021, kind of on a whim decided to try biking the East Coast Greenway from ME to Key West, FL completing the 3,000 miles trip in an intensely compact 29 days, experiencing all the ups and downs of a bike touring lifestyle.
What made you to choose the ECG for your trip over another route?
You described it as response to a “quarter life crisis” – did the ride help that or prompt more introspection on where you’re at in life?
Your film did a great job of sharing the lows as much as the highs… sometimes when I look back on lows of my tours, I look back on them more as the “type 2 fun” we all talk about in the bike travel community. How do you assess your lows now – any one stand out?
With such an aggressive schedule, the mechanicals you had were extra disruptive but you still persevered! Did you have any takeaways from them for future tours?
One small part of your film that stuck with me was learning how to eat on tour, watching you pull what looked like frosted shredded wheat from a baggy… was that one of the solutions for you? What did you learn as you rode about all of this?
What bike did you ride and outside of the mechanicals did you like how it performed? Considering any changes to gearing or anything like that?
Do you have another long distance trip in mind?
You’re now a board trustee for the ECG Alliance, which lets me put on my nonprofit lawyer hat for once on this pod… what’s your experience been like serving in that role and what’s the organization aiming at in the short and long term to support the Greenway?
As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Chad Reno Spartan Dale Carolyn Ferguson Peggy Littlefield Lauren Allansmith Eric Burns Thomas Pearl Darrin McKibben Richard Stewart Dave Fletcher Jack Smith Luke Parkinson Ryan Patterson Cyrus Farivar John Gardiner Sam Scruggs
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new track available NOW, and a new album dropping very soon AND Jason’s first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109
California 2023 Takeaways
Chapter 1’s Takeaway – Be prepared for the unexpected
Weather prep
Transit expectations
Chapter 2’s Takeaway – SoCal trails and transit fast forwards
Chapter 3’s Takeaway – Pushing through challenges versus taking dumb risks
Chapter 4’s Takeaway – Gate checking the Brompton… is it better than the overhead?
As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Chad Reno Spartan Dale Carolyn Ferguson Peggy Littlefield Lauren Allansmith Eric Burns Thomas Pearl Darrin McKibben Richard Stewart Dave Fletcher Jack Smith Luke Parkinson Ryan Patterson Cyrus Farivar John Gardiner Sam Scruggs
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new track available NOW, and a new album dropping very soon AND Jason’s first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
It rarely comes as a surprise to advocates that individuals and groups oppose their positions and fight against the policy outcomes they champion. However, in recent years the tactics have sometimes become more sinister, including manipulation of stances, slanted edits of secret recordings, and even illegal or unethical acts like hacking and doxxing. Being an advocate these days sometimes means you have to prepare for politically motivated attacks, and on this episode we talk about some of the things to think about before it happens.
Attorneys for this Episode
Natalie Ossenfort
Tim Mooney
Shownotes
Elected Officials Misusing their Authority
In some states we are seeing official investigations of organizations based on a thin or weak record, often from questionable complaints
Best practices
Attacks by Non-governmental Actors
Organizations, individuals, online efforts by one or both
Identify vulnerabilities.
Best practices
“Weird question” point person
Prepare volunteers and staff
Keep it short – “We follow all federal and state laws”
Understand the laws
Smart social media
Other attacks
Hacking and Doxxing
Best practice: IT trainings, strong passwords, VPNs, and other protections
Chapter 4 of the 2023 California Adventure wraps up the trip in a unique way… an overnight in San Jose as a way of getting from San Diego back to Los Angeles and test how well gate checking works for the Brompton. Did the bike get banged around by baggage handlers?
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109
California 2023: Chapter 4 – The Mileage Run
Statistics
Modalities used 2 (bike, plane)
CO2 offset 1.2 metric tons
Airports biked to and from 2 (SAN, SJC)
Miles biked in this chapter 5 or 6?
Brompton survival rate 100%
Flats 0
As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Chad Reno Spartan Dale Carolyn Ferguson Peggy Littlefield Lauren Allansmith Eric Burns Thomas Pearl Darrin McKibben Richard Stewart Dave Fletcher Jack Smith Luke Parkinson Ryan Patterson Cyrus Farivar John Gardiner Sam Scruggs
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new track available NOW, and a new album dropping very soon AND Jason’s first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
The final part of the best of covering Pedalshift Tour Journals Vol. 4 – the mostly transit and smattering of very important folding bike tour from DC to Boston. In this episode the takeaways from this fundamentally very weird but also influential tour! Originally podcast September 3, 2015
Best of Pedalshift 029: DC to Boston Transit-Aided Tour – Takeaways
Not much in the way of shownotes this week… but here’s some pics!
We are excited to be joined on this episode by a former colleague and guest from NGOsource, Shyaam Subramanian. NGOsource is helping to streamline the international grantmaking process and ease both restrictions and reporting requirements for international grant awards by making equivalency determinations. NGOs (or international nonprofits) that receive grants through this process are better able to build collective power and address issues faced in their communities.
Not only are we excited about this topic, but we’re excited to have Shyaam back on this show. You all might remember him from earlier pod episodes… recorded back when Shayaam was Senior Counsel for AFJ’s Bolder Advocacy program.
Shyaam and his colleagues work with US donors and NGOs to determine if an international nonprofit is organized and operated like a U.S. public charity. This process is called an equivalency determination or ED. NGOs that receive an ED can receive general support from U.S. private foundations and donor-advised funds, and potentially use the funds for more types of advocacy activities, including lobbying or legislative campaigns.
Chapter 3 of the 2023 California Adventure was a new approach to an old triumph… revisiting the end of the 2014 Pacific Coast tour at the Mexican border. But would the remnants of the storm that gave me windy conditions and overflowing rivers throughout southern CA stand in the way of this chapter’s goal?
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109
California 2023: Chapter 3 – Border Run Loop
Statistics
Transportation modes 2 (bike, ferry)
Miles ferried 5ish?
Miles biked 33.7
Number of brutally shanked golf shots observed followed by an internal sarcastic yell of “good ball!” 1
Fish tacos 2
Flooded roads crossed 2
Flooded roads not crossed 1
Borders seen 1
Flats 0
For pics, including the mug… click through to Ride With GPS below…
As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Chad Reno Spartan Dale Carolyn Ferguson Peggy Littlefield Lauren Allansmith Eric Burns Thomas Pearl Darrin McKibben Richard Stewart Dave Fletcher Jack Smith Luke Parkinson Ryan Patterson Cyrus Farivar John Gardiner Sam Scruggs
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new track available NOW, and a new album dropping very soon AND Jason’s first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
Chapter 2 of the 2023 California Adventure may best be characterized by the fast forwards… one by bus and one by train. But in between we get some fantastic riding and adventure. Would the missing link finally be closed?
Have some bike touring or overnight stories to share? Send your pics, audio or a quick tweet – all welcome. Email the show at pedalshift@pedalshift.net or call the lightly-used Pedalshift voicemail line at (202) 930-1109
California 2023 Chapter 2 – The Missing Link
Statistics
Modes of travel 3 (bus, bike, commuter rail) Vietnamese egg coffees 1 Properly monikered PCHs 1 Camp Pendleton gates crossed 2 Miles biked 16.8 and 21.7 Bus fast forward miles 27.1 Rail fast forward miles 38.1 Flats 0
For pics, including the mug… click through to Ride With GPS below…
As always we like to close out the show with a special shoutout to the Pedalshift Society! Because of support from listeners like you, Pedalshift is a weekly bicycle touring podcast with a global community, expanding into live shows and covering new tours like this summer’s upcoming bike tour! If you like what you hear, you can support the show for 5 bucks, 2 bucks or even a buck a month. And there’s one-shot and annual options if you’re not into the small monthly thing. Check it all out at pedalshift.net/society.
Kimberly Wilson Caleb Jenkinson Cameron Lien Andrew MacGregor Michael Hart Keith Nagel Brock Dittus Thomas Skadow Marco Lo Terrance Manson Harry Telgadas Chris Barron Mark Van Raam Brad Hipwell Mr. T Nathan Poulton Stephen Dickerson Vince LoGreco Cody Floerchinger Tom Benenati Greg Braithwaite Sandy Pizzio Jeff Muster Seth Pollack Joseph Quinn Drue Porter Byron Paterson Joachim Raber Ray Jackson Jeff Frey Kenny Mikey Lisa Hart John Denkler Steve Hankel Miguel Quinones Alejandro Avilés-Reyes Keith Spangler Greg Towner Dan Gebhart, RIP Jody Dzuranin Lucas Barwick Michael Baker Brian Bechtol Reinhart Bigl Greg Middlemis Connie Moore William Gothmann Brian Benton Joan Churchill Mike Bender Rick Weinberg Billy Crafton Gary Matushak Greg L’Etoile-Lopes James Sloan Jonathan Dillard John Funk Tom Bilcze Ronald Piroli Dave Roll Brian Hafner Misha LeBlanc Ari Messinger David Gratke Todd Groesbeck Wally Estrella Sue Reinert John Leko Stephen Granata Phillip Mueller Robert Lackey Dominic Carol Jacqi McCulloch John Hickman Carl Presseault David Neves Patty Louise Terry Fitzgerald Peter Steinmetz Timothy Fitzpatrick Michael Liszewski Hank O’Donnell David Zanoni David Weil Matthew Sponseller Chad Reno Spartan Dale Carolyn Ferguson Peggy Littlefield Lauren Allansmith Eric Burns Thomas Pearl Darrin McKibben Richard Stewart Dave Fletcher Jack Smith Luke Parkinson Ryan Patterson Cyrus Farivar John Gardiner Sam Scruggs
Music
You’ve been hearing about Jason Kent and his music for many fine episodes. Jason has a new track available NOW, and a new album dropping very soon AND Jason’s first solo album is now streaming on Spotify, including America, the Pedalshift theme. Go listen!
