Show #242 – April 18, 2015

Guests: Anna Schwinn; Matt Bruning and Julie Walcoff from ODOT; Sea Otter Classic with Paul Skilbeck

Flowers blooming, sun shining, and birds singing – it is spring here in NE Ohio; always welcomed and appreciated!

This week we have a trio of guests for you beginning with one of the zaniest and wittiest women in the bike world today. When we last talked with Anna Schwinn, her fledgling all-women’s cycling team “Koochella Racing” had just been formed and Anna was designing bikes.

Today, her team has grown, their focus has expanded, and Anna is now able to direct her attention on her team’s efforts as she pursues her freelance work for Bike Rumor. We talk about track racing and the NSC Velodrome in Minnesota. And, Anna has some great insight into women’s cycling at the grass roots level that I hadn’t heard before and I think you’ll find it enlightening.

Then it’s off to Columbus, Ohio with Matt Bruning, Press Secretary for the State of Ohio Department of Transportation and Julie Walcoff, the Ohio bike/ped and Safe Routes To School coordinator. Ohio’s Governor Kasich signed a $3 billion (that’s with a “B”) transportation bill on April 1st, and I wanted to learn how some of that money might go to funding bike/ped projects as well as expanding education efforts.  Matt and Julie are full of great information for us.

Finally, the 25th annual Sea Otter Classic kicked off this weekend and our press inside man-on-the-ground Paul Skilbeck talks with us about the events, a bit of background, and how this silver anniversary will be celebrated. You can also follow the Sea Otter this year with their new mobile app on both Apple and Android platforms.

Big show – lots going on – so, hit the play button and let’s roll.

Show #174 – December 21, 2013

GUESTS: Richard Schwinn and Anna Schwinn

If you were living in the United States at any point in the 20th century, the name Schwinn needs no further explanation, and likely evokes some fond memories of a time when the bikes everyone wanted were made in Chicago, Illinois. Whether it was a Varsity, Continental, or Sting-Ray, Schwinn was the coveted brand. Although Schwinn-branded bikes are still being produced, our guests today are two members of the Schwinn family who are making their mark in a different way on cycling in the 21st century.

First up is Richard Schwinn, great-grandson of Ignaz Schwinn, who founded the eponymous bicycle company. Richard is a frequent flyer on The Outspoken Cyclist, and we always look forward to his insights and opinions (of which there is no shortage). Richard of course, is the proprietor of Waterford and Gunnar, and has recently been busy making frames for a new bicycle company called Shinola (which bought the name from the now-defunct shoe polish company). Richard holds forth on this and many other topics, including the dubious benefit of disc brakes on road bikes.

After a break and the news, we continue our “Schwinn-derful” show by welcoming Anna Schwinn (Richard’s daughter) who is making a name for herself as a bike designer. She started her career with Zipp Speed Weaponry, and is now the Head Engineer at All City Cycles, a QBP brand. Anna is also involved in promoting women’s racing in her new home of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Some of us have the “bicycle gene” and then others really have it.