Show #633 – July 10, 2023

Guests: Matt deNeef; Craig Della Penna

This episode of TOC offers up two very different topics.

Image Courtesy of Dale Menegazzo

First up is Matt de Neef.  He is the managing editor of Escape Collective, the online presence of independent cycling journalism.

I caught up with Matt just before Stage 1 of the Tour to chat about his article, In Pursuit of the UCI Overlord, published June 22nd on the Escape site.

In his story, Matt details the shady goings-on of one Aaron Brown who, in 2012, disappeared with more than $70,000 of “other peoples’ money.”  That money was intended for a defense fund for Irish journalist Paul Kimmage.

Going way back to 2012, Irish journalist Paul Kimmage was sued for defamation by the UCI and two of its principals.  In his book, Rough Ride, Paul claimed that the UCI had buried the results of a doping test from Lance Armstrong.  The UCI took umbrage to that claim and slapped Paul with the suit.

Matt dove down the rabbit hole to find out what happened to the money and to Aaron Brown.  What he found will boggle your mind.

Here in the States, people don’t take kindly to picking on journalists and along with editor and writer Lesli Cohen and Andy Shen, a defense fund was set up to help with Kimmage’s legal fees.

What happened next is one of those tales of intrigue and duplicity that keep you riveted to the page.

Also, click on the links If you want some background on Lesli Cohen and Paul Kimmage from back in 2012.

If you want to know anything about rail trails, Craig Della Penna is da’ man!  Our conversation today is about the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail System and what it is going to take to complete a 104 mile long trail that runs west from Boston to Northampton and intersects with 18 other rail trails.

Craig is the President of the Board of Directors at Norwottuck Network, as well as the Owner of Sugar Maple Trailside Inn in Florence, MA. He doesn’t just talk the talk!

After writing his first book on the history of old RR lines and their conversion to bike trails, Craig was hired by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy as their New England Field Representative focusing on the policy end of building rail trails as well as public outreach.  He worked for them for seven years and left in 2004 to become a Realtor, specializing in the sale of houses near the trails. 

Having given well over 1,200 lectures in 21 states and Canadian provinces, Craig is one of the country’s most sought after motivational speakers on the economic development, tourism, and community development aspect of rail-trails, and their leveraging small amounts of public dollars to redevelop forgotten or derelict lands into treasured places.

He and his wife Kathleen, operate an award-winning bed & breakfast in a restored, Civil War era house where the restoration was so extreme, it was featured on HGTV. The house sits 8 feet from one of the earliest muni-built rail trails in New England. And within 150 miles of his house sits the densest network of former steam RR corridor in the US.

As he stated in our conversation, you can contact Craig directly by email or log on to the nowottuck network.

 

 

Show #625 – March 18, 2023

Guests: Joe Lindsey; Dennis Markatos-Soriano

On our last podcast, Caley Fretz, editor-in-chief of the new Escape Collective cycling website, was talking about the then imminent launch of the project and how some of the best journalists would be going in-depth to bring the cycling stories and information subscribers wanted.

Well, Escape DID go live this week and met its initial goal(s) so that they could indeed sign some of the best journalists, photographers, editors, and developers in the business.

This episode of the show features one of these great journalists.

When we spoke, Joe Lindsey, who has been on the show in the past and who does some amazing reporting as you will hear in a moment, alluded to what was coming next for him and, sho’ ‘nuf – he’s the new Senior Editor at Escape Collective and I think it’s a match made in cycling heaven.

Today’s conversation with Joe is the result of some extensive research and reporting.

I don’t know what you think or believe about autonomous vehicles –  AKA self-driving cars –  or some of the functions that might no longer need a human to make decisions – but, I think you will find my conversation with investigative journalist Joe Lindsey fascinating!

In his March 1st article for Bicycling Magazine titled “Self-Driving Cars Won’t Save Us Any Time Soon”, Joe Lindsey goes into great detail to explain why that is so.

In our conversation, he breaks down the range of autonomous vehicle categories, what is – or perhaps more appropriately what is NOT happening with legislation, and why humans are still better than AI in a lot of ways.

After our break, I check in with Dennis Markatos-Soriano, the executive director of the East Coast Greenway.  As many of you know, I am a member of the Greenway’s advisory board and I’m always pleased to be able to relay what’s happening with funding, projects, and great stories from the Greenway’s paths and  trails.

With more than 1,000 completed miles of the 3,000 planned miles of the Maine to Florida ECG, it’s time to check in with executive director Dennis Markatos-Soriano to wrap up 2022 and dive into what’s happening in 2023 – and it’s a lot!

With a new initiative, Greenways For All, Dennis gives up some insight into the difference between – yes we want to make consequential changes for safer and better walking a biking – and what might be holding us back from seeing it happen.

Check out greenwaysforall.org and greenway.org for all the information about the East Coast Greenway and how you can get involved.

Next time on TOC, I speak with Paul Tolme from the Cascade Cycling Club in Seattle.  With over 10,000 members, this state-wide club isn’t fooling around when it comes to offering programs, rides, and legislative opportunities for better biking in Washington State.

We also check in with our NYC ear-to-the-ground biking and sustainability guru John Surico.

 

 

Show #624 – Escape Collective

Guest: Caley Fretz – Editor in Chief

You may remember in my last episode that I spoke about how so many publications – both print and online – have either ceased to exist, have become shadows of their former selves, or have laid or and/or fired their very best reporters, editors, photographers, and more. 

So, out of the ashes rises the phoenix as they say and that phoenix is called the Escape Collective.

Along with Caley Fretz, who was the editor in chief of Velo News, a slew of these top-notch journalists have come together to offer up a product just for you – not for advertisers, not for clicks or page views – just for you.

This is airing on March 11th, and the full site should launch in the next 7-10 days.

Escape Collective isn’t free – which is exactly the point – since we all know you get what you pay for!

I know there have been other ideas to bring a more cohesive product to the marketplace, but given the stellar players – Caley, James Huang, and others whose names you will recognize from their past work – and the commitment they are making, I think it’s going to be a huge success.

I hope you agree.  Go to escapecollective.cc and take a look around.  Remember, if you work in a bike shop, you can join for $10 a year.  That’s less than a 6-pack of Great Lakes’ Dortmunder.  (For those who live, work, drink in NE Ohio… and beyond