Tag: Chuck Marohn

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Show #680 – December 17, 2025

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Guests: Chuck Marohn; Esther Walker

I’m really pleased to welcome two great guests to the show today.

The first is not new to TOC, and in fact has been someone I’ve not only spoken with in the past but have also referred to many times on episodes where he doesn’t even appear.

I love catching up with Strong Towns’ founder Chuck Marohn because I always experience an enlightening and encouraging conversation.  Today is no different.

I can remember my first conversation with Chuck Marohn back in 2013.  In those days, Chuck was beginning to show the way cities and towns could become financially viable, putting people first and debunking decades of municipal planning that wasn’t working then and certainly wouldn’t work today.

Fast forward and Strong Towns is beyond strong!  It’s a force to be reckoned with that has expanded worldwide with literally hundreds of local conversation groups that have taken up the reigns in their communities to improve everything from parking and housing to streets and highways.

In this episode we cover a myriad of topics from the Ride for Life Rally that was held in D.C. to Chuck’s thoughts about how we might be getting our advocacy for cycling and walking wrong by looking to the Federal government for help as well as his thoughts about how we can all be part of a Bike Walk Revolution.

Once you hear it, you can’t un-hear it. It makes so much sense. And it just might spur you to action.

For more information and some great tools to help you launch successful advocacy in your community or to enhance the work that is already being done, log on to strongtowns.org.

In the second half of the show, I speak with Esther Walker, the executive director of Outride.

Founded in 2012 by Specialized’s former CEO Mike Sinyard, who suffers from ADHD and found that riding a bike helped him to focus and learn, Outride started by investigating how bike riding could become an important part of a comprehensive therapy program for kids with ADHD.

When Mike realized that riding a bike helped with focus and energy, offering him a much wanted and needed break from the sufferings of ADHD, he decided to put his philanthropic leanings to work to pass on what he was discovering.

Today the organization offers hard data from extensive research as well their Riding for Focus program for middle school kids all over the country and in Canada.   From a yearly research summit to community grants, the organization is laser focused on getting kids on bikes and keeping them there.

Check out their research on their YouTube channel.  And if you are so inclined, start a community impact program in your town or learn how your local middle school can participate.

Consider making a donation to Outride to help continue their research as well as fund the community grant program.

You can extended commentary on my Substack.  Please consider becoming a subscriber and perhaps helping to support the work with a small monthly donation.

As we approach the end of 2025, I want to thank you for listening to the show.  I appreciate your ongoing interest and loyalty and hope to bring you more note-worthy and wide-ranging episodes in the coming year.

Transcript_December 17

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Show #568 – August 14, 2021

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Guests: Eldon Nelson; Chuck Marohn

If you’re like me, the thought of racing a mountain bike for 100 miles, starting at 10,000 feet and climbing 12,500 feet in a day is utterly terrifying! And yet, my first guest has done it 23 times – finishing it 22… and is about to go again – today actually – August 14th.

Elden Nelson is, by all rights, the Leadville 100 Guru – he even has a great podcast dedicated to the event.

But last year, COVID put the kibosh on the race and a series of small snafus have resulted in too many participants for this year. Yet still… the race will go on and I wanted to catch up with Elden to get the low-down on this year’s event.

PS… it’s NOT about the belt buckle – oh wait, maybe it is!

 

 

Then, we FINALLY get to speak with Strong Towns‘ Chuck Marohn about his upcoming book, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer.

Whenever I have a conversation with  Chuck Marohn, I have the best of intentions to follow the train of thought I had planned out …. Instead, I get a fascinating conversation that just flows from one topic to the next and, frankly I’m happy with that!

Chuck’s perspectives on planning and what will keep towns and cities solvent – even prosperous – have come up against an establishment that is both defensive and unyielding to new ways of thinking about roads, bridges, and how we live today. That establishment still relies on 50+ year ideas and technology in a world where new options abound.

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Show #528 – November 14, 2020

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Guests: Dennis Markatos-Soriano; Chuck Marohn; Lou Mazzante

As many of you know, I am an advisory board member to the East Coast Greenway and when something exciting happens with the organization, I like to share it with you.

One of the BEST things about the Greenway is its commitment to the environment, knowing that infrastructure that expands walking, biking, and other outdoor activities is good for all of us.

On Monday, November 17th (yep THIS coming Monday!) the first in the Impact Series – this conversation about climate – with take place between my guest, ECG’s executive director Dennis Markatos-Soriano, and Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, who is also an ECG advisory board member. You can listen to the conversation for free at greenway.org

Then, it’s another great conversation with Strong Towns‘ founder Chuck Marohn. 

Today we discuss a specific traffic situation that led to a young boy’s untimely death as well as exploring the self-defeating decisions that are made by cities and towns when they try to turn a road and a wealth-creating area into what Chuck has coined as a
“stroad.’  And, because this conversation happened in advance of the presidential election, I posed a question to Chuck about infrastructure in a post-election world.

Lastly, my 2nd in a 3-part series with Bicycling Magazine Test Director Lou Mazzante focuses on “high tech” gift items this week.   With the necessity to stay in and stay away from others, we discuss the entertaining as well as training assistance of the Wahoo Kickr indoor trainer, the fun of the new Go-Pro camera, the Whoop strap app, and a 3D printed saddle from Fizik.

(photo courtesy of Trevor Raab)

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Show #505 – May 30, 2020

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Guests: Zak Pashak; Chuck Marohn

I believe that life in the time of Covid 19 has changed us all – in a lot of ways and perhaps for the better.

First, I invited Zak Pashak, the president of Detroit Bikes, back to the show.

If you’ve been looking for a bike – especially for recreation or commuting – you may find that the cupboards are bare at many bike shops around the country.

The shops are empty because the suppliers’ warehouses are also empty – for the first time in many years, by the way. And, in fact, some people are seeing what is being called a “mini bike boom.”

In our conversation, you’ll hear what has transpired since the beginning of the pandemic as Zak takes the long and short view of the industry and what he thinks will be the outcome as we open up and live our new normal.

Then, I am always happy to be able share the conversation I had earlier this week with Strong Towns’ director, Chuck Marohn. His vision of what cities need to be livable, desirable, and successful is always uplifting and informative; and now, his ideas and philosophy are more essential than ever.

I always come away from a conversation with Chuck feeling there is hope for a better and more sustainable future.

And, we get to learn about his new book FIRST!!! A scoop… I love it.

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Show #479 – November 23, 2019

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Guests: Chuck Marohn; Bret Weinstein

 

Chuck Marohn, Mr. Strong Towns, is with me once again to talk about his newest book, A Bottom Up Revolution To Rebuild American Prosperity.

In the past, Chuck and I have discussed some of the projects in which he has been involved to help cities change the way they think about planning with an eye toward sustainability, fiscal prudence, and a way to make our lives more enjoyable.

Now, Chuck looks at complexity and adaptive systems with an eye towards incremental improvements that begin to expand organically instead of big bold plans that lead to a sprawling infrastructure that discourages small business and bankrupts our cities.

We’re at a point in our history where we need to hear the truth and take action.

My second guest is someone I learned about in a podcast about two years ago in a dazzling conversation with Sam Harris.

At the time, Bret Weinstein had been “ousted” as a valued and popular professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington for his objection to a change the college made in their decades old tradition of a “Day of Absence”. What ensued from a letter he wrote turned into chaos.

If you hadn’t heard or read about it, you can find out about what happened on line; but, I reached out to Bret because I had a philosophical issue on which I had been pondering since April when I last had Inga Thompson on the show; and, I believed Bret would have a well reasoned and deep understanding of the issue.

Fraught with deep visceral and often beyond contentious upset – the question is whether transgender athletes should compete with cisgender athletes – especially at the elite level.

It all came to a head for me when Rachael McKinnon crushed the field at the UCI World Track Championships and subsequently tried to also crush any dissent that she should be treated the same way in sport as she is in life.

But, the nagging question that I couldn’t shake was, is it fair?

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Show # 407 – June 30, 2018

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Guests: Chuck Marohn; Loretta Henderson

This week we have a returning guest – one who was requested by listeners by the way. Chuck Marohn is Mr. Strong Towns and things have come a long way baby since I first spoke with him in back in 2013, he was in the throes of just fleshing out his Strong Towns objectives, much to the chagrin of other civil engineers who still believed that expanding our automobile infrastructure was still the right thing to do. As we fast forward the 5 years since we spoke then, there are “pockets” – his words – of folks who now see that perhaps investing back into our cities and towns in a local way – providing walking and biking options along with public transit, might just take us into the next decades more successfully.

After a break, I’m joined by Loretta Henderson. I was trying to get this conversation going about a year ago when, off she went, traipsing 5,000 meter climbs by foot because, her touring bike became really heavy to carry up those paths.

Loretta, who is also the found of Women on Wheels, an organization dedicated to women who cycle solo, has been there and done that on every continent and her story is both exhilarating and hilarious. She laughs and smiles – yes you can actually feel her smiles through the airwaves – and keeps accomplishing unbelievable tasks.

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Show #338 – March 11, 2017

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Guests: Zak Pashak; Chuck Marohn

First off, I’m introducing a new feature and want your help!!! In what I’m hoping will be an interesting and somewhat novel idea, I’m requesting that you – the listeners – be my newscasters.

Here’s how it will work. Send me a message on our Outspoken Cyclist’s FaceBook page or send me an email (outspokencyclist@gmail.com) and tell me you would like to recount a news story. In turn, I will send you a link to a story that I would like you to report on in the upcoming episode; or, you can let me know you have a story you’d like to report about on the show. Then, I will call you (or we can use Skype), will record you reporting on the story, and we can take a few moments to discuss it.

You don’t need any radio or podcast experience – you just have to be willing to offer up some thoughts about the story after you tell it and to want to have some fun! So, don’t think about this too deeply – just send me a note and we’ll put it together.

Now, we’re ready for this week’s show. My first guest is Zak Pashak. Zak is the president of Detroit Bikes and has quite the interesting story to tell – from his days as a music promoter to his run for office to his journey to his adopted city of Detroit. His extensive background belies his young age – he’s under 40 – and his thoughtful way of looking at the bike business, including his sponsorship of Robert Gagno, the reigning pinball champion, may just elevate the bike business to some new heights.

Then, we check in with Mr. Strong Towns – Chuck Marohn. I really like our conversations because he has such a positive perspective on what cities, government, and citizens can do to make their towns strong and vibrant. Today, we talk about the Allendale neighborhood of Shreveport, Louisiana as they grapple with the proposal for a $700million dollar federal highway project that will plow through their residential neighborhood. I’ll let Chuck tell you the rest.

So, let me introduce you to Zak Pashak from Detroit Bikes.

Enjoy!

 

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Show #238 – March 21, 2015

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Guests: Iconic frame builder Dario Pegoretti; “Strong Towns'” Chuck Marohn

Happy spring everyone!

This week, after almost a year of pleading, I was honored to be able to speak with one of the most iconic and charming frame builders in the business today.

Dario Pegoretti has been building frames in Italy for over 40 years. His work is artistic, classic, striking. His frames have been ridden and raced by such luminaries as Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, Stephen Roche, Claudio Chiappucci, and Mario Cipollini.  Robin Williams owned several.

Dario and I talk about how and why he became a frame builder, how a low point in his life inspired what has become his artistic imprint on his work, and how he met, dined, and received encouragement and support from Robin Williams.

After news that runs the gamut of technology and racing to sugar-free sodas and fasting for better performance, we head on over to Minnesota to talk with professional civil engineer and “Strong Towns” advocate Chuck Marohn.

We talk about why current thinking about our roads and road design can lead to injury and even darth almost led to the loss of Chuck’s license and how we need to rethink the costs of transportation choices going forward.