Just remember, don't ever use single ropes as doubles.

Wait, are you planning on REGULARLY bailing on long sport routes? So regularly that you would carry the extra rope with you every time you would do a longer route?

If it comes down to it, you should be able to get off most any sport route with a single rope. It just may require leaving more than a single bail biner.

Or, have your second trail the rope and if you need to bail, use the lead line to haul up your second rope. This is tough on a traversing pitch since you have to pull the lead line through all of the draws and drop it back to your second.

Either way, you shouldn't need to lead with a second single rope ...

Double ropes aren't actually that bad as doubles,

Fair enough. but I think you meant single ropes aren't as bad as doubles.

Or, have your second trail a second rope and if you need to bail, use the lead line to haul up your second rope. This is tough on a traversing pitch since you have to pull the lead line through all of the draws and drop it back to your second.

And if on a multipitch route that overhangs or one where the line puts the leader over a spot the second cannot reach (eg: the route starts from the left end of a ledge and traverses left at some point), difficult to impossible to get the rope back to the now stranded second. The leader is possibly stranded as well.

So true, but with a little creativity, there are always ways to make it work. Belay your second to the bolt below your bail point where they can get the second rope to the leader. Or, tape the trailing rope end to end and pull it through the draws. Or, fix the lead line and descend a single rope back to the belay re-clipping draws then re-jug the fixed line trailing the second back to the bail anchor. I'm sure there are other ways.

Sport route? It's a messed up sport route if you have to use a second rope to get down. Rapping to intermediate anchors I can understand. But a sport route that requires two ropes? It seems like an oxymoron.

But maybe I'm just climbing in the wrong places.

In El Potrero Chico, world capital of big wall sport climbs, many trail an extra rope so they can rap two pitches at a time and be down sooner (especially if they simul-rap) for a cold cerveza and a shot of tequila.

There's something I'm not getting on this whole thread.

It sounds like you're talking about bailing on a sport route, when you're more than half a rope length up. The OP also mentioned he had two ropes. Seems simple to me:

Tie the end of the lead rope to the second rope with a triple fishermans knot. Lower the climber until the knot reaches the belay device. Pass the knot - I can think of a few ways. Now, continue to lower them, and pull the rope.

I don't know where this talk of "seconds" came in, I saw no mention of multi pitch.

Unless the leader is bailing at the first bolt, that won't work as the knot would have to pass through all of the quick draws clipped on the lead.

I don't know where this talk of "seconds" came in, I saw no mention of multi pitch.

No explicit mention of multi-pitch, just "long sport routes", and certainly a multi-pitch sport route would qualify as long.

I think there's a pretty big difference, as multi-pitch implies a belay station that is not on the ground. When I hear "long sport route" I think of some 17 clip rope lengthed monster.

I think there's a pretty big difference, as multi-pitch implies a belay station that is not on the ground. When I hear "long sport route" I think of some 17 clip rope lengthed monster.

I've climbed quite a few routes that are intended to be climbed as a single pitch, but have a rappel station midway so that a single rope can be used to get down. I'm pretty sure that noone ever belays from the midway stations.

I love these types of routes. And I love that the guys who put the bolts in were thoughtful enough to add one more bolt so that the rest of us don't need to carry a second rope.