Month: February 2012

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Show #79 – February 25, 2012

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Before we dive into this week’s show, let me take a moment on behalf of myself, Diane, and everyone at WJCU, to thank Outspoken Cyclist listeners for their generosity during Radiothon 2012. Thanks to your support, The Outspoken Cyclist doubled our pledge amount compared to 2011, and more importantly, you helped WJCU meet its overall fundraising goal. Chapeaux to everyone who donated to Radiothon!

Now to why you came here in the first place. We start this week’s show right in our own backyard. After years of talk and rumor, Cleveland is finally, actually getting a velodrome. Brett Davis, board chair of Fast Track Cycling, the non-profit that is spearheading this project, stopped into the WJCU studios to bring us up to date on the latest, including an expected June 2012 opening!

From track cycling in Cleveland we move on to the upcoming North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), which opens March 2 in Sacramento, California.

In conjunction with NAHBS, Paul Skilbeck and Julia Beckner are curating and coordinating ArtBike, a bicycle-centric community art exhibition designed to bridge the Sacramento community and the bike show. Paul and Julia were nice enough to join us by phone and give us a preview of what to expect in Sacramento this coming week.

Moving on with more about NAHBS, Don Walker, the founder and Chief Executive Everything of the handmade show (and owner of Don Walker Cycles) joins us from Louisville, Kentucky. Don had just finished loading the trailer for his road trip from Louisville to Sacramento, when we caught up with him. He shared some info about this year’s show, and a detailed, inside look at a very unique bike project Don will be exhibiting at the show.

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Show #78 – February 18, 2012

Radiothon is officially here for The Outspoken Cyclist, although a number of our listeners have already pledged at wjcu.org. Thank you to everyone who has pledged, and if you haven’t, there is still time. The Radiothon donation page will be available until February 25th. We need your dollars to keep local, commercial-free radio on the air and on the Internet. Now, on to our show, which is a shining example of why you’d voluntarily pay for something you’re already getting for free.

Our first guest is Kriss Worthington, council member from Berkeley, California. Kriss sponsored legislation giving bicyclists who’ve been harassed by motorists a means to hold their harassers accountable in court. The ordinance passed unanimously, and just this week it officially became law in Berkeley. Kriss explains the motivation for the new law, and how he sees it helping his constituents.

Next up is Sarai Snyder, Editor-in-Chief of girlbikelove.com. Sarai has “been there, done that, and got the commemorative t-shirt” in the biking biz, including owning a bike shop. As the name suggests, Girl-Bike-Love is about empowering, inspiring and encouraging more women to ride bikes. A tall order, for sure, but Sarai and her team are knowledgeable and passionate about their mission. And guys, you should check out this site, too, for tips on how to get your wife, girlfriend, sister or mother on a bike!

The last half-hour of today’s Outspoken Cyclist is devoted one man’s stunning transformation. About 4 years ago, Bill Cole of Lexington, Kentucky decided he didn’t want to weigh over four hundred pounds anymore. So he started eating better, took up walking and then biking, and now he’s about half the man he used to be (at least in the physical size department). Now Bill is active with the Bluegrass Cycling Club, has ridden a century, and helps put on the Horsey Hundred, held each Memorial Day weekend in central Kentucky.

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Show #77 – February 11, 2012

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From the serious to the playful, and everywhere in between, we’ve got the spectrum covered this week on The Outspoken Cyclist. But before we jump into the cycling, just a reminder that the week of February 12 – 19 is Radiothon 2012 at WJCU. Radiothon is the one week every year where we ask you to support WJCU with a donation. WJCU is locally-grown, commercial-free, listener-supported radio that brings you programs not found anywhere else, like The Outspoken Cyclist. So please be a mensch and show some love for WJCU this week.

Now, on to what you came here for…

Our first guest is Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette, representing Ohio’s 14th District. Congressman LaTourette disproves the notion that walking and biking infrastructure is a partisan issue, and will be bringing amendments to the transportation bill aimed at restoring the modest amount of funding set aside for bike/ped projects. Diane caught up with Mr. LaTourette earlier this week, and he has some interesting things to say.

After a short summary of the week’s cycling news, Diane welcomes the playful and irreverent Paul Sadoff of Rock Lobster Cycles, located in Santa Cruz, California. Paul builds custom, high-end frames out of steel, and even (gasp!) aluminum. Rock Lobster also sponsors a cyclocross team that performed very well in the recent CX Nationals in Vernona, Wisconsin.

Grab your earbuds, hit the trainer and prepare to have a one-hour workout fly by with company from The Outspoken Cyclist.

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Show #76 – February 4, 2012

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To paraphrase an old joke, “So this cycling legend walks into a podcast…” Actually, that’s not a joke, it happened today on The Outspoken Cyclist. Our first guest for the first show of February is cycling legend Frankie Andreu. Frankie competed in nine TdFs, during his 12-year racing career, and has been a cycling commentator for Versus. He continues to cover racing for Bicycling magazine, and speaks to businesses about Success through Teamwork. We’re quite excited to get to chat with Frankie Andreu one-on-one today.

Following some news from the world of cycling and transportation, we welcome the Editor-in-Chief of Streetsblog.org, Ben Fried. Streetsblog covers the state of transportation in several major U.S. cities, highlighting opportunities and challenges for bike, pedestrian, bus and rail modes. Ben’s visit to The Outspoken Cyclist is timely in light of the U.S. House of Representatives’ move this week to strip all funding for bike/ped infrastructure from the Transportation Bill. Surprisingly, Ben says money isn’t always the most difficult aspect of an infrastructure project. Listen in to hear his take on this and other subjects.