Tag: Chris Carmichael

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Show #539 – January 30, 2021

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Guests: Chris Zigmont;  Chris Carmichael, James Sonnhalter, Michael Dever, and Mary Cierebiej;

Hello and welcome to TOC.  I’m your host Diane Jenks and this is our show for January 30, 2021.  WOW – January seems to have flown by and I’m eagerly looking forward to February with an eye toward spring!

Before we get to our show this week, I’d like to make a correction from my blog entry for Bike Bentonville from  last week.   I stated that Dirty Kanza had been changed to the Big Sugar ride – nope – incorrect! In fact, Big Sugar is a NEW ride – sold out by the way – and Dirty Kanza’s new name is Unbound!  Both are Lifetime Events!  Many apologies for my faux pas.

Moving right along; I think our show this week is very interesting!

A couple of weeks ago, Shimano announced that it would take over neutral support for the peloton at the 2021 Tour de France.

Many of you know that neutral support has been the pervue of Mavic with their yellow support vehicles loaded with bikes, wheels, and other equipment.

Today, we learn a lot more about neutral support from someone who was not only part of it, but knows the history.

Chris Zigmont  has been in the bicycle world since the 1980’s starting out by stealing his older brother’s bike, subsequently wrecking it, and finding out that the bicycle would be a lifelong passion.  From working at a local bike shop in NH to a stint at Specialized at the beginning of his career, Chris has been all over the world – involved at the deepest levels of the sport.

He’ll take us from then to now… his most current project – The Alternate Route!

We’ll have our 4th and final installment of our training tips with coach Chris Carmichael.  Today, we discuss weekly mileage – whether you should take one LONG ride a week or several shorts rides.

 

And finally, we speak with a trio of folks from North East Ohio who are working to bring 30 miles of new paths and trails to the Cleveland Lakefront with the Cuyahoga Lakefront County Access Plan.

Armand Budish, the Cuyahoga County Executive, had this to say to jump start the plans for the new Lakefront Planning Effort:

“To make a huge leap forward for our region, to separate ourselves from our competitors, we must build on our best asset. And that is our lake.”

My guests, Mike Dever, Mary Cierebiej, and Jim Sonnhalter, couldn’t agree  more:   The Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath – which is over 100 miles long – has been a 40+ year project that will finally see its final connector piece drop into place later this year.  This new plan will get underway a lot sooner!

 

 

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Show #538 – January 23, 2021

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Guests: Kalene Griffith &Aimee Ross; Chris Carmichael; Joe Lindsey

 

We start out this week’s episode in Bentonville, Arkansas. Yes, it’s the home of Wal-Mart and the Walton family. And, it’s recently been billed as the mountain bike capital of the world.

With events such as Big Sugar, which is a new event from Life Time  and which sold out almost immediately upon opening registration, and hundreds of miles of great trails that expand into other parts of the state from Bentonville, I wanted to know more about the City and what else it had to offer.

From a new airport that’s almost like a living museum to a downtown that acts like a trailhead to spread out onto the many paved and unpaved trails, Bentonville is a ride-365-days-a-year place. CEO and Director of Visit Bentonville, Kalene Griffith and the Aimee Ross, director of Bike Bentonville are over-the-moon excited about bicycling and what the city has to offer visitors.

We’ll have part three of our four part series with head coach and founder of CTS training systems, Chris Carmichael. And, this week’s tips are about something near and dear to all of us – FOOD.

I learned the hard way that certain foods and I don’t get along when I’m riding; and, I guess we all have to figure some of that our for ourselves. But, it’s nice to have some guidance and Chris Carmichael is ready to give us some tips.

Our last guest for this week is journalist Joe Lindsey. Joe writes about outdoor sports, health and fitness, and science and technology, for consumer publications and commercial clients.

2020 was such a strange and in many ways, a disappointing year for so many of us. But, we also know that bicycling was a bright spot and the question is whether all of those who turned to the bicycle – whether for recreation, transportation, and even indoor riding when in lock-down as many countries even forbade outdoor activity, will stay with it giving bicycling an expanded population going forward.

In his January 21, 2021 article for Outside Online titled “The Pandemic Bike Boom Is Here To Stay,” Joe gives us facts and figures about why that might be true.

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Show #537 – January 16, 2021

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Guests: AJ Roan; Chris Carmichael; Scott Bricker

My first guest lives in Wasilla, Alaska. And, if you think back a few years, that should sound familiar. (I’ll leave it at that for now.)

I always think of Alaska as being exotic and so far away. I know many of you have been there, but I haven’t. So, almost like being there, we’re going to talk with AJ Roan.

AJ writes for North of 60 Mining News and you might wonder what we’d have to talk about since his work is in mining – which is another whole topic we don’t get into a lot in our conversation. His article, titled 1000 Miles Ride From Dawson to Nome, is what grabbed my interest.

What we DO talk about is a gentleman named Edward Jesson who lived in Alaska at the time of the Great Gold Rush.

In 1899 Edward Jesson was a successful businessman. It was during the time of the insanity of the Gold Rush and thousands of people were heading to Nome, Alaska to stake a claim. It was also the beginning of the new-fangled safety bicycle – similar to what we know today.

Edward decided to sell all his belongings, buy a bicycle – something he didn’t even know how to ride at the time – and ride from Dawson City in the Canadian NW to Nome – 1,000+ miles.

We’ll speak with Chris Carmichael of CTS Training Systems out in Colorado Springs in the second of our 4-part series about training. Today we talk about cadence, how and why it’s an important indicator of your performance, and how to determine what is optimal for you.

Then, we head on over to Pittsburgh. Yes, Browns fans, you can gloat about football, but when it comes to a great advocacy organization, I think Pittsburgh is probably at the top of the list.

It’s been over 7 years since we spoke with Scott Bricker the executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, and I thought it was high time to see what the organization is up to these days.

Along with some great events, the organization does a remarkable job with combining advocacy, community building, and education addressing just about every aspect of urban cycling.

 

 

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Show #469 – September 7, 2019

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It’s Our 9th Anniversary Today!

Guests: Chris Carmichael; Gary Mikitin; Tim O’Mara

It is a very special day for me – the 9th anniversary of the Outspoken Cyclist show. Today’s episode is #469 and I am so proud and grateful to have been able to do this work for so long.

In the past week or so, as I’ve shared this anniversary with some folks, I am told that I am a “veteran” of the medium – podcasting – and, in retrospect, I guess that is true.

What is so interesting to me though? It’s how every week there are so many new stories and new people to fill the hour of time. Sometimes, it even feels like work! Yet, for the most part, there isn’t anything I think I would enjoy more than to continue to bring this show to you each week.

So, thank you – for listening, for your comments, and especially for your loyalty and encouragement.

So, let’s talk about show #469 – this week’s episode.

As promised, Chris Carmichael, who is the founder and head coach at CTS – Carmichael Training Systems, is with me to talk about regaining your confidence after a crash. While much of the conversation pertains to riding with others in a group, there are some noteworthy tips for all of us about skills and handling – whether riding alone or racing in a peloton.

Then, we have our man-on-the-ground Gary Mikitin with us to talk about an announcement made just Thursday by the Department of the Interior about eBikes in the National Parks. You will recognize Gary’s voice as that of the person who opens and closes the show each week.

[Photo of Asst. Secy., of the Interior Rob Wallace by Gary Mikitin]

The Dept of the Interior chose our CVNP as the venue to make the announcement and Gary was there.

Finally, we head south to Atlanta to speak with Tim O’Mara. Tim and his wife Becky bought a fixer-upper on the west side of Atlanta a few years back. But, as fate would have it, a young neighborhood girl knocked on their door soon after they moved in asking for some help. And, the story takes off from there.

Today, Tim and Becky run Bearings Bike Shop – a non-profit organization that gives kids the life skills they will need to be successful – at whatever they choose.

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Show #343 – April 15, 2017

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Guests: Kath Sonnhalter; Curt Goodrich; Chris Carmichael

This week, I speak with Kath Sonnhalter, the force behind a new event here in NE Ohio – BikeBike! It takes place next Sunday, April 23rd at the iconic Beachland Ballroom and it’s all about commuting and self-supported touring.

You can find out more about it at their web site; Kath fills us in on the basics. I’ll be there moderating a series of panels and hope to see you there too!

Then, it’s off to Minneapolis to chat with frame builder Curt Goodrich. He builds his bikes in steel while lending a hand at HED Cycling part time to build one of Cervelo’s carbon frames. He still believes that steel is the ride that, once you experienced it, you will never forget and will probably come back to again and again.

He started out filing and sanding, he ended up as one of the première builders in our handmade bicycle world.

Curt is a one-man-shop, building and painting all his bikes in-house.

Then, I talk with Carmichael Training Systems‘ coach Chris Carmichael about his newest book, The Time-Crunched Bicyclist – Race Winning Fitness in 6 Hours A Week.

We chat about his background (he is an Olympian, a Hall of Fame inductee, was US Olympic Committee Coach of the Year, and more…), then on to his explanation of training high and training low.

I do ask him to speculate on the Giro and the Tour – he has some great insight into that too.

His favorite food? You’ll be surprised.