Show #284 – February 6, 2016

Guests: VeloVoices; Carlos Perea; Matt McNees

It’s Radiothon week! Won’t you consider making a pledge to help support The Outspoken Cyclist AND WCJU? We ask only once a year and the money is used strictly for the radio station – everything from new equipment to upkeep and programming. It’s the only time we EVER ask for your help and we hope that it is worth your time and a few bucks to help us keep great college station programming on the air.

That said, we have another hour of interesting, fun, and thought-provoking cycling topics this week.

First up we welcome the “voices” behind VeloVoices.com. The wildly popular fan-based site provides up-to-the-minute information through social media, their web site, and twice-monthly podcasts on pro cycling. From coverage of the Tour down Under to the Tour de France, VeloVoices looks at cycling from your perspective. Kathy Hall AKA KittyFondue and Chris Carlson AKA Kiss_my_Panache, the voice of the podcasts, talk with me this evening to tell us more.

Then, we talk with Carlos Perea. From a hand-me-down bike as a kid, Carlos has come full circle to giving back to cycling in conjunction with his company, Yahoo – sending $55,000 in grant money to World Bicycle Relief in 2015 to help with their African Buffalo Bike program. His story is inspiring and heartfelt.

After a break, we head for North Carolina where we talk with professor Matt McNees about his new book, Sport Philosophy Now: The Culture of Sports After The Lance Armstrong Scandal.

Matt’s interest in how sport is perceived in the U.S. and why we have such a reverence for coaches, pro athletes, and the teams that we come to support began at an early age and culminates in the questions he asks and tries to answer in this new study.

Chapters such as: Childhood in Sport, Is Sport Fiction More Real than Sport Fact, and Did Anyone Win” will make you think deeply about whether we are going down the right road as a new era is ushered in with the appointment of Derek Bouchard-Hall at the head of USA Cycling.

So, remember to whip put that wallet, log on to www.wjcu.org, and pledge your support as you listen to your favorite cycling show!