Show #153 – July 27, 2013

GUESTS: JANE GEISSE, GINNY SULLIVAN, CLIFF COLE

 

If you read the news at all, it’s easy to see that there’s no shortage of seemingly intractable problems in the world today. Read the news too much, and you might think there are no solutions to these problems. Ride a bike, and the world starts to look a little better, and its problems a little smaller. Listen to The Outspoken Cyclist, and discover how your fellow cyclists are taking on the world.

First up is Jane Geisse, a 60-year-old road and cyclocross racer from right here in NE Ohio. Jane has been racing for only 6 years, but has racked up an amazing set of palmares. She’s competing in the 2013 Senior Games, held in Cleveland this past week, and then it’s on to Nationals in Oregon. Proof that there is no expiration date on a motivated person!

After the news, Diane turns her attention to trains, specifically the ability to take your bike on an Amtrak train without taking it apart and boxing it up. Ginny Sullivan of Adventure Cycling and Cliff Cole of Amtrak both weigh in on the current state of efforts to make it easier to travel by train and bicycle. It turns out, slow but steady progress is being made.

And here’s a bonus tip I simply must share: Road ID has released a free smartphone app that will text up to five friends to let them know you’re headed out for a ride or run. It provides your friends with a live GPS tracking map to show your route and current location. There’s even an option that will alert them if you haven’t moved in five minutes (“dead in a ditch” as my wife likes to half-joke). Road ID calls these tracks “eCrumbs” (like a trail of bread crumbs, get it?). Besides the safety aspect, I can see this being very useful for cyclists trying to meet “on the road”. Check it out.

Show #152 – July 20, 2013

GUESTS: TRAVIS TYGART, SEANA HOGAN, CASSIE SCHUMACHER

 

Here in the U.S., we need to take a mental photograph of this week and its beastly hot weather, so we can pull it out in six or eight months when we’re bitching and moaning about freezing temperatures and snow-covered roads. In the meantime, chill out with a new episode of The Outspoken Cyclist.

The name Travis Tygart is one that gained a lot of notoriety during 2012’s L’Affaire Armstrong. As CEO of USADA, Tygart led the investigation that produced the now-famous reasoned decision, outing many pro cyclists as having cheated in sport. Find out more as Diane talks with Tygart about why USADA exists, and how it goes about policing cycling and other sports.

Earlier this summer, we were glued to Tractalis following the Race Across America, including Cassie Schumacher, a woman from our own backyard, who in 2013 became the first female solo RAAM finisher from Ohio. This week we are honored to have both Cassie and six-time RAAM winner Seana Hogan on the show to share their thoughts and experiences on ultra-distance cycling.

Show #151 (really?) – July 13, 2013

GUESTS: GREG BORZO, SCOTT BRICKER, LINDSEY VOREIS

 

With the TdF, RAGBRAI, XOBA, et al, the July Effect is getting into full swing about now. Objects in your favorite tour may be closer than they appear. But it’s not all about the road, or even all about the wheel, as this week’s Outspoken Cyclist illustrates.

We do start on the road, the road across Iowa to be exact. Every summer since 1973, tens of thousands of cyclists have participated in the rolling Mardi Gras known as RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Our first guest, Greg Borzo has written a new book entitled RAGBRAI: America’s Favorite Bicycle Ride. Warning: if this ride isn’t on your bucket list already, it will be after reading Greg’s book.

You may wonder what a walking advocate is doing on a show about cycling, but really biking and walking are fraternal twins in the transportation family, and a city that’s walkable is also bikeable almost by default. Hence, we’re pleased to welcome Scott Bricker, the Executive Director of America Walks. Scott’s organization is active all over the country, and with a wide variety of partners to promote walking as the “no tech” solution to better health and transportation.

News? Ain’t nobody got time for that, at least not with guests like we have this week. So in the second half of the show we hit the dirt for an in-depth conversation with Lindsey Voreis. Lindsey is a mountain bike racer and mountain bike skills instructor who also participates in just about every outdoor sport there is. In 2001, she appeared on Survivor: Africa. These days she’s most passionate about teaching mountain biking to women through her series of camps around the world.

Show #150 – July 6, 2013

GUESTS: GRAEME FIFE, SCOTT HEMBREE, CHUCK HARMON, RACHEL APPEL, AND THE KIDS FROM THE BRONX LAB SCHOOL

 

The U.S. is in the midst of Independence Day weekend, where we shoot off fireworks, char animal flesh, and consume alcohol to celebrate giving ole King George the boot a couple hundred years ago. Don’t forget to squeeze a bike ride in there somewhere, because nothing says “Liberty!” like self-propulsion.

This being July, there’s a little bicycle race going on in France right now. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Our first guest is author Graeme Fife, arguably one of the persons best-versed in Tour de France history. His book, Tour De France: The History, the Legend, the Riders was originally released in 1999, and has been subsequently updated to include post-’99 editions of the Le Grande Boucle. Graeme joins Diane in the first half of today’s show to talk about the Tour and his approach to writing about it.

After a break and the news, Diane welcomes Scott Hembree, a track cycling champion in his own right, and father of BMX phenom Cyrus Hembree, who at 5-1/2 became the Arizona state champ, and the #2 natinoally-ranked rider in his age group. For Scott, Cyrus’ success as a racer is secondary to his overall development and his enjoyment of cycling.

And to wrap up the hour, we have our annual check-in with Chuck Harmon, Rachel Apple, and the students of the Bronx Lab School in New York City. Each summer, Chuck and Rachel lead a group of teenagers on a week-long, 300-mile bike tour in Ohio, visiting sites along the Underground Railroad. Listen as these “city kids” talk about exploring a rural environment, and testing their limits, both physically and mentally.