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Show #82 – March 24, 2012

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First up this week is Rich Olken, whose roots in cycling go back to his late father Ben Olken, who was a pioneering bicycle dealer and importer of fine bicycles. To say that Rich has held leadership positions with the National Bicycle Dealers Association, Bikes Belong, and Hosteling International doesn’t really convey how deeply he and his family are woven into the fabric and history of cycling in America. To understand that, you’ll have to listen for yourself.

Featured in the second half of the hour is a guy who’s been ‘actually making his own [stuff]’ since about 1974. Bruce Gordon is the founder, owner, and resident curmudgeon of Bruce Gordon Cycles, where he makes (and sometimes even sells) extremely durable, gorgeous frames, racks, and other components. He’s also the Benevolent Co-Dictator for Life of SOPWAMTOS, whose website contributed to the 90 minutes I vaporized writing this post. Perfect browsing material while you’re listening to Bruce and Rich!

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Show #81 – March 10, 2012

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Diane’s back from NAHBS this week, and fired up with a show that runs the full spectrum.

First up is Tim Blumenthal, President of People for Bikes. Tim is here talk about the recent bombshell announcement that the three major bicycling organizations in the U.S.: The Alliance for Biking and Walking, The League of American Bicyclists, and People for Bikes intend to unite to form a single, consolidated entity to promote and encourage cycling. There is still a lot for the leaders of the three groups to discuss and decide, but it appears that cyclists will have a unified umbrella after more than 30 years of wishing and hoping. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this, especially after the Bike Summit toward the end of March.

Argyle Armada
After a refreshing dip in the pool of cycling news, and a much needed rest stop, Diane welcomes Mark Johnson, the author of a new book about Team Garmin-Cervelo. Mark was lucky enough to be invited to embed with the team during the 2011 racing season, and talented enough to write and photograph a book about it. The book is titled The Argyle Armada!

 

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Show #80 – March 3, 2012

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Holy smokes! Even though Diane is on the other side of the country at NAHBS, she still managed to leave us with a blockbuster show.

First up is an interview with cycling renaissance man, Thomas Bowden, from Richmond, Virginia. Tom is a bike commuter from Richmond VA, a corporate lawyer with an MBA, and a board member of Bike Virginia. He also contributes to Commute By Bike. You can hear all about his activities in those arenas, plus the big event he’s been working to bring to Richmond, Virginia in 2015.

And in the second half of the show, an interview with a true cycling legend, Graeme Obree. Yes, that Graeme Obree, The Flying Scotsman himself. Twice-decorated as the Hour Record holder, Graeme is still designing, building and riding bikes, and right now, he’s “tuning up his engine” for a run at the HPV land speed record in Nevada this fall.

Does it get any better than this? I think not, at least until next time…

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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.

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Show #75 – January 28, 2012

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Here at the end of January, we’re not quite at the Red Kite of winter yet, but we’re close enough to at least confirm its existence. On today’s Outspoken Cyclist, we find out how a couple of other media types are covering the cycling world, and covering the world using a bike.

First up is Patrick Brady, editor and publisher of Red Kite Prayer, recently named the #1 bicycling blog by Outside magazine. Patrick is a veteran cyclist and cycling journalist who has been involved with such notable publications as Bicycle Guide and Asphalt. His ‘mind, body & machine’ approach to cycling news, along with additions of Charles Pelkey and John Wilcockson, and others have vaulted RKP to the top of the heap. Another reason Patrick deserves to be on top: his desire to be successful enough to pay his staff and contributors fairly.

After a roundup of cycling news from Diane (including two new product recalls) we dial up Boaz Frankel in Portland, Oregon. Boaz is only 29 years old, but a look at his Wikipedia page attests to his drive and creativity. His latest project is The Pedal Powered Talk Show, which is a shot-on-location video podcast where the entire production rig is transported by cargo bike. Will we someday see Matt Lauer and Al Roker pedaling a bakfiets down Broadway in Manhattan, looking for their next Today Show interview? Possibly not, but Boaz is already proving it’s possible.

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Show #74 – January 21, 2012

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Seems like we just recovered from our Solar New Year’s hangover, and it’s already time to celebrate the Lunar New Year. What will the Year of the Water Dragon bring for you? Lots of great (and safe) cycling adventures, we hope.

To start the year off right, we’re headed up to Burlington, Vermont to have a chat with Glenn Eames, who owns and operates the Old Spokes Home, a combination bicycle shop and bicycle museum. Glenn sells and wrenches on both modern and vintage machines, but his passion is for classic bikes, and a large number of his customers are local university students.

You may have read about the recent civil court case between Specialized and Volagi. Volagi was started by two former Specialized employees, and as sometimes happens, former employer sued former employees over who did what when, and with what secret knowledge. If you’re confused, don’t be alarmed, our buddy Steve Frothingham from Bicycle Retailer and Industry News joins us in the second half of the show to explain the whole thing in plain English.

And to wrap up on a very happy note, Mark Griffith of the Moab Skinny Tire Festival drops in to talk about his event coming up March 10 – 13 in Moab, Utah. The Skinny Tire Festival is not only a showcase of the best, low traffic riding in Moab for us non-MTBers, it’s also a fundraiser for Cancer Survivorship Programs.

This time of year, we like to think of The Outspoken Cyclist as a “winter survivorship program” for cooped-up cyclists. À votre santé!

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Show #73 – January 14, 2012

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Occasionally, all the factors come together to produce something that exceeds our wildest expectations. One of those occasions is today, and the factors are Diane, and our two guests. And the irony is, that while one of our guests does ride a bike, neither of them are what you’d think of when we say the word “cyclist”.

First we are happy to welcome Stephen Auerbach, the producer and director of the film Bicycle Dreams, which chronicles the solo competitors in the 2005 Race Across America (RAAM). Stephen talks about why he wanted to make a feature-length film about RAAM, the innovative way the film was shot, and how it’s taken on a life of its own with thousands of local screenings, including one on January 26th at the Big Dog Theater in Conventry.

In the second half of the hour, we head over to Boston, Massachusetts, and Dr. Anne Lusk, of the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Lusk has been researching the relationship between public health and transportation for over thirty years. She also worked on some of the first bicycle infrastructure in the U. S., and is a strong advocate for European-style cycle tracks as a solution for both health and transportation. Far from being a dry academic, Dr. Lusk is a bundle of both facts and energy, who walks to work instead of riding because she “knows too much science.”

So interesting, and packed with information, you might have to listen twice!