Tag: The Hurt Artist

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Show #463 – July 27, 2019

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Guests: Shane Niemeyer; Alex Meade

Five years ago, we spoke with Shane Niemeyer. Shane’s story, which up until five years ago was documented in his book The Hurt Artist, told of a young man who went from a troubled youth to jail. While in jail, he tried to hang himself and, when the rope broke and he fell, breaking both of his feet and fracturing some vertebrae, something else happened to him mentally and emotionally.

Now, Shane is married, has two kids, has completed dozens and dozens of both 1/2 and full Ironman competitions, and is launching his new project, The Helm – a fitness app with a very different approach.

We head for Cape Cod for a conversation with frame builder Alex Meade.

Discovering early that he didn’t want to make a living in either music or physics, Alex decided instead on a mechanical engineering degree. Then, he headed from NE Ohio out to California to Stanford for a masters in product design. He spent time with IBM and its subsidiary Lexmark and eventually found his way back east where, for the past 20 years, he’s established himself as a craftsman of fine bicycles, makes frame building tools, and teaches frame building. He still plays music in a local orchestra and apparently loves maple syrup!

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Show #195 – May 25, 2014

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Flying solo this week! And, I’ve got a jam-packed show for you.

We start out with our friend Charles Pelkey – The Live Update Guy (AKA “LUG”) – as he’s blogging and covering the Giro D’Italia. In what was a clear upset, Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), snatched the lead from Cadel Evans in last Thursday’s only time trial of the 3-week event. Charles thinks there is still a lot left in the last week of the Giro with all the mountain stages still to come.

We’ll speak with Kate Powlison from People for Bikes, who gives us some information about “United for Bikes”. a special month-long initiative from PFB and World Bicycle Relief for National Bike Month. In addition to raising funds for both organizations, a generous anonymous donor has pledged another $10,000 in matching funds over the next few days!

We’ll hustle on down to my hometown, Cincinnati to speak with Ohio Bicycle Federation board member and “the Ohio Bike Lawyer” Steve Magas.  Steve will fill us in on an upcoming State House Bill 145 – AKA “The 3 foot bill” – which is running into opposition but perhaps not for the reasons you might originally think.

After a short break, I’ll speak with endurance athlete and former junkie (yep, you heard that right!) Shane Niemeyer. He unfurls his no-holds-barred, raw, and unfiltered story in his just released book “The Hurt Artist – My Journey from Suicidal Junkie to Ironman” (by St. Martin’s Press). This is one of the best books I’ve read this year AND it is quite the page turner.