Show #203 – July 19, 2014

Guests: Betsy Andreu; Ultra Endurance Rider Scott Luikart; Entrepreneur & Cyclist Cathy Rogers

Oh yeah – mid Tour we’ve seen it ALL… epic rides off the front, crashes that caused many of those who might have otherwise been on the podiums to abandon, and an off-the-back 50km ride by Andrew Talansky that had all of France, if not all the world, watching as he needed to cross the finish line to qualify for the next day’s ride as well as show what it’s like to be a true team player. If you aren’t following this year’s Tour de France, I would suggest that it’s one of the best in recent history!

So, here’s what’s happening on the show this week.

My first guest is Betsy Andreu. Since it became FACT that what she and her husband Frankie said long ago about Lance Armstrong’s history with doping, she has experienced both unbearable stress and great joy. Coming out the other side, Betsy is now enjoying life, raising her three kids – well 4 if you include Frankie – and working to bring an anti-doping message to kids. In fact, she is asking that children and parents visit USADA’s TrueSport site and “take the pledge!”

I also speak with the 24-Hour National Challenge Record Holder, Scott Luikart. When Scott’s twin brother Mark was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Scott kicked his commitments into high gear and rides to help raise funds and awareness for Parkinson Research. Scott set the 24-hour record this year by riding 511+ miles in the annual Michigan challenge. But, not resting on his laurels, Scott is training for the 2015 RAAM. Scott tells us how he is able to train for these ultra-endurance events while still working full time and being a father and husband. He’ll share some advice as to how to get into ultra-distance ridings as well as making it to the finish line successfully.

Finally, we’ll speak with Cathy Rogers from AeroTech Designs Cyclewear. Cathy has been a cyclist all her life and, coming from that era when cycling apparel was ONLY for men and often inappropriate in a lot of ways, began making her own clothing. Well, you know how that goes – one thing leads to another and suddenly, she found herself in the apparel business – full time. Speaking with us from a dorm room in Madison, WI as she wends her way back home from an epic cross-country ride, Cathy will tell us all about Aero Tech and her philosophy on good customer relationships.

Show #76 – February 4, 2012

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.