We had an Allagash trip planed for last spring (2020), and it obviously didn’t happen. I did get a camping trip in in the fall of 2020 - everyone agreed to get tested before the trip. We did a short easy trip this spring. Looking forward to something more ambitious when work settles down.
Travel restrictions early in the pandemic were definitely a problem. RI is a small state, so unless I wanted to paddle the same rivers all the time, I had to cross state lines. Never had any problem, but always felt a little guilty about it.
RI has 400-miles of some of the prettiest coastline around. If I could have found a SOT sea kayak at that time I would have bought it. The moment has passed now 
Becoming a full time virtual employee has been one of the biggest changes in my life. At first I liked it, but now I am finding it a little too confining. Its nice to get out of the house, and for the past 19-months most of my time out of the house has been paddling. Kind of looking forward to going back the the office - at least sometime.
This illustrates why geographic details make a big difference.
If I lived in southern New England or NY I would not think twice about seeing RI cars around, and vice versa. Here in the corner of CO, NM cars are numerous, routinely, followed by those from AZ and UT—in any year.
But in 2020, we noted cars from 47 other states, which is far more than normal. In addition, there was an astounding number from NY, FL, and other very far-away states. Every time a state became a new COVID hot spot, we saw more cars from that state. Over and over this happened. IL, WI, MN, WA, IA, GA, the Dakotas, and of course, TX—none of them border states from this part of CO.
The numbers are slightly lower this year, but we’re still seeing a LOT of FL and TX. CA always gets around anyway, so that’s pretty much as usual, plus this part of CO isn’t that far from SoCal.
It wouldn’t be so bad if they at least wore masks indoors and didn’t travel in herds (seems to be a TX thing).
I’m hoping for a colder, snowy winter and long, cool, gray spring and summer!!!
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I couldn’t agree more with you Pikabike. I’m not too far north of you, and this past summer was easily the most crowded with tourists that I, or any other local, can remember. Our trails have been hammered, and our public lands became a free-for-all for high impact camping and associated littering. Don’t even bother trying to get a seat in a restaurant without a lengthy wait. It’s been a tough year for locals. I work part-time in a bike shop, and when our corporate policy mandated masks for both employees and customers, most of the negative responses were from out-of-towners.
Pretty much everyone is hoping the fall (post hunting season) will see things quiet down a bit.
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My local creek is an urban waterway. Beautiful, but the only flat water with easy access for the masses in this city. I keep hoping people will tire of it, but no such luck so far.
Paddling was a way to get in the water when some favorite swimming spots were closed. It was also a way to get close to a school of fish… unfortunately sand bass don’t just jump into the cooler. I learned the basics and love it, though.
I am vaccinated myself but won’t push it on anyone else. I’ve had my own covid scares.
The thing I’ve noticed is how difficult it is to get into the ER. Coming from me as a health care worker, we’re burned out, moving on to other jobs, and we sometimes catch the very diseases we’re trying to treat.
YOU are your own first responder and your own doctor out there on the water. Be careful, follow your training, and have fun. Please do not come see me in the hospital. It’s packed and besides, you belong on the water anyway. 
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Thanks for all you do. My daughter is nurse - she was in a nursing home last year during the first wave, and is now at a hospital. It’s a difficult and challenging job, so thanks to you and all the health care workers out there.
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Once we got sick of up and back trips we started looking for trips that we could do with bike shuttles. The way rivers twist and turn around here it is pretty easy to come up with trips that are 8-10 miles on the water, but only 4-5 miles on the bike. (I’m in it for the paddling, not the biking)
Anyway, the summer of 2020 I decided I needed a new bike. I went to the local bike store and it was jam packed with people and bikes. When I finally talked to someone he told me all that they had in stock were expensive ($4,000+) racing bikes. All the other bikes in the store were in for service/tune-ups, and it would be a 6-8 month wait for my bike serviced - crazy!
My old bike worked fine even though it only had 5 speeds that worked - I did a lot of bike shuttles - drysuit and all…
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Love the photo of the bike shuttle! And yeah, even as of a couple of months ago bikes were affected similarly to kayaks because of all the people who decided to discover the great outdoors. Between manufacturing backups of one material or another and the backlog of buyers, nothing was coming into local bike shops that was not already sold.
To shadow460 -
There are not enough thanks in the world to fully reward you and your fellow health care workers. I have maintained my usual doctor appts etc thru all of this, including a couple of annual visits which occur in offices inside a major hospital. Our area in upstate NY was never as scary as many other places, but we had our moments. Our local hospitals were taking some overflows from NYC and like most delayed elective procedures. My neighbor had to wait an extra few months for her new hip.
I still remember the moment of walking into my primary hospital in early December last year. I have been a patient in this hospital and/or been going in for specialty appointments for a measly 40 years.
I got 10 feet inside the doors and was stopped cold. In 4 decades I have never felt such a sense of exhaustion and stress, from everyone who was wearing a staff name tag. I really do not know how - but am terribly grateful for - people have continued doing their job in the face of 18 months of persistent and constant dispute in the public arena and from individual patients.
Thank you many times.
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The only change to my paddling was some trips had to be cancelled due to difficulty in travel because of the patchwork of lockdowns and mandates. Local paddling still happened like normal.
We took one staycation last autumn, which was two nights in Ouray. Not that far away.
The service workers in that town were obviously burned out on the nonstop herds of loud, obnoxious, mostly-motorhead tourists that had descended on them all through spring and summer. There were a couple of signs posted with things like “Keep the mask over your nose, too!!!” and “Yes, you MUST wear the mask.”
The owner of the motel where we stayed lamented, “Usually things quiet down by now, but there’s been no break from the crowding.” She also was shocked at how many tourists were “just driving around the US with no plans, no end date.”
At least those people brought revenue in, not just disease and damage. They were offset by the vast numbers who illegally camped for free or trespassed, had illegal campfires, left trash and human and dog waste galore on the ground, and generally were negative for the places they went.
I’m sure you saw similar environmental carnage in your area, and I feel your pain dealing with entitled consumerists.
And I am sick of thinly-veiled hints at moochdocking so the askers don’t have to plan ahead or pay a mere $15 to $20 to legally camp in a real campground.
The shortage hit all things bike, right down to basic expendibles such as tires and tubes.
Last year I tried to buy some new latex or butylized latex mtb tubes. Not available in the US. So I ordered the next best thing, ultrathin butyls. CO Cyclist said they were on back order, probably ready to ship in about 2 weeks.
It was at least 6 weeks. They did have road tubes on hand; only the mtb tubes were in short supply.
When my husband used his last mtb tube, I gave him two Torelli mtb tubes I’d had around for years. (He uses butyls and they are not my first choice.) The valves failed on one of them this year, which I remember they had done on one of mine also. Before trying to use the other one I’d given him, he inflated it and that valve failed also. That tube, washed of talc, is going to serve paddlesport use as a protective layer between the aluminum Veebar tube and the aluminum TracRac crossbar.
The good news is that a new local bike store had mtb tubes in stock. But I wonder how many others do.
That’s something of a concern to me. I’ve got a couple of Schwinn’s in the garage. I had the Paramount out last year but the S-40 has been parked for a while due to issues with the lights.
Hopefully the tubes are still good.
You should be fine getting tubes for that. Pika’s latex mtb tubes are a fairly specialized item. Fat bike tubes (3.0"+) are still pretty scarce, but pretty much all other standard tubes are readily available. It’s really just been the last month or so that a lot of items are getting back in stock. You might not get your first choice in a tire, but most sizes are available (again, with the exception of fat bike stuff). It’s been an interesting past year in the bike business, but it feels like it is starting to regain a touch of normalcy.
I could not find enough toilet paper to make my paper-mache’ canoe. Very disappointing 
I run tubeless on my bikes, and have had no problem with finding sealant. Although, depending on your bike you might have trouble finding tubeless compatible rims at this point.
Darn, shoulda let me know. I have a leftover habit of stocking way ahead on paper products, could have floated half my neighborhood for TP. 
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It’s been like that in shooting sports, too. Last year it was tough finding crossbolts and parts to build them. Ammunition components are still non existent in stores and very expensive online. Fishing supplies were crazy scarce last year, too.
I’m glad to have enough to hunt and fish with, though, and supplies to repair the kayak I crashed last year. 'Bout to take it out again for the first time. If it holds up, then I can invite a friend to use my fishing kayak, I’ll use my old one, and several of us can go paddling. If not, I’ll be swimming like I did on Richland Chambers.
One of my other big hobbies is classic gaming. It’s booming right now. I guess people are looking for things to do at home are cleaning out the attic and selling a few things.
What year Paramount?
My ex had a vintage Paramount tandem with the curved stoker seat tube. He got it repainted with Imron, upgraded pretty much everything, and we had lots of great rides with it. He was an early adopter of Phil Wood hubs, BB, pedals; the wheels were 48 spoke with 12-gauge DT spokes; the bike sported both front and rear disc (those might have been Phil also) AND cantilever brakes. He also made a custom roof rack for it that placed the bike on its side instead of standing up or needing wheel removal.
Oh, yeah—that’s how I learned about latex tubes. He replaced the butyls with pure latex ones (flesh-colored back then), and it really DID make a noticeable difference in ride quality as well as being lighter. Was like the diff between high-quality racing tubulars and clinchers. I had been skeptical about feeling any improvement, since the bike was not a lightweight itself, but, wow, it was for real. They just felt really lively.
When I later got my ultimate MTB, which I still have 28 yrs later, I only put latex tubes in the tires, butylized latex when latex got impossible to obtain.
Post a pic of your bikes if you care to!