Tag: Gary Helfrich

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Show #503 – May 16, 2020

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Guests: Brad Bingham; Michelle Baruchman

Spring has finally arrived here in NE Ohio – with a lot of rain, warmer temps, and everything turning green! I LOVE this time of year.

This week, we’re going to visit with titanium frame builder Brad Bingham. He’s another one of those who was apparently born with the bicycle gene, building his first frame at the age of 18.

Born and raised on the west coast, Brad Bingham decided to head to UBI for formal training and began in earnest to work in titanium with Gary Helfrich. He was soon scooped up by Moots.The rest, as they say, is history

Brad eventually bought Eriksen Cycles in Steamboat Springs and now builds under his own brand, Bingham Built. .

Then, after a break, we’ll head to Seattle to chat with Michelle Baruchman, the Seattle Times Traffic Lab Engagement Editor. What is that you ask? So did I! But, her article titled “Seattle will close 20 miles of residential streets to most vehicular traffic” caught my attention, and so I contacted her about that and what else Seattle is facing as the city starts to open up again.

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Show #432 – December 22, 2018

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As Florida prepares to pass a bill that will not only ban texting and driving, but also forbids even touching the screen or holding the phone, two more cyclists were hit and killed by motorists.

One step forward and two steps back!

Matt Austin is the evening news anchor at WKMG – Channel 6 in Orlando, Florida and he is a BIG proponent of any and all distracted driving regulations that will crack down on the dangerous habit.

Matt has a chilling story to tell and explains why he and his television station have gotten solidly behind the upcoming legislation. Will it pass? He’s my first guest on the show this week.

Then we revisit Drew Guldalian, owner of Engin Cycles and the Wissahickon retail store in Philadelphia.

Last week, when we spoke with Jim Kersten from CABDA, I got a sense of hope and inspiration for a resurgence of the IBD. This week, Drew has quite a different tale to tell.

We also talk about what direction he’s heading and about the bike he, along with Rody Walter from Groovy Cycleworks, built up for the iconic titanium master Gary Helfrich.

Lastly, we finally get to have our chat with tandem couple Tracy and Peter Flucke.

As a stoker myself, I always find other tandem adventurers stories really interesting; and this one is definitely that – and more.

Riding together for well over 20 years, they’ve already made 3 long-distance trips. Their 2014 book, Coast to Coast on a Tandem, details that first cross country trip in a he says-she says day-by-day entry from their on the road diaries

We chat about all kinds of things including what they’ve learned from those tandem trips, about riding long distances, and about each other

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Show #423 – October 20, 2018

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Guests: Gary Helfrich (from 2011); Jeff Speck (from 2013)

You know, I really wanted to produce a brand new episode this week but, the Universe had other plans and instead presented me with a nasty cold and wicked cough.

So rather than foist them upon you (and unsuspecting guests!) I decided to bring back a couple of my favorite interviews from past shows.

One of those is with Gary Helfrich – at the time (2011) he was part of the Sonoma County bicycle scene. And when we spoke, he talked about all the things he’d done including being the head roadie for Aerosmith and building some crazy thing for Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, burying a whole titanium frame in the walls of a house in Somerville, Mass., and being the creator of one of the finest frame jigs in the world – the Arctos. The conversation was lively, fun, interesting and worth listening to a second (or third) time.

 

Then, it’s a re-do with Jeff Speck (2013). Jeff is a city planner and urban designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for more walkable cities. His book, Walkable City, eas published in 2013 and is still one of the most important on the topic.

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Show #250 – June 13, 2015

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Guests: Michael Aisner; Gary Helfrich

These interviews were record in 2011.  They are well worth hearing again or, if you began listening to the show after 2011, they are two of my favorites!  Either way…. here we go!

Back in September 2010, it never occurred to me that I would be on the air for almost 5 years!!! Yet, here we are celebrating our 250th show! And, in a mini-celebration, I would like to revisit two of my favorite interviews.

For those of you who discovered The Outspoken Cyclist AFTER 2011, these two interviews were recorded in March and November, 2011. The first is with an iconic figure in our industry who has been recognized for untold contributions from the Red Zinger/Coors Classic race series to his current project – the U.S. Monument to Cycling in North Boulder Park in Colorado.

Michael Aisner goes WAAAY back to the early days of what we might call the golden age of American cycling when such luminaries as Davis Phinney, Connie Carpenter, Eric Heiden, and Andy Hampsten were laying the groundwork for those who have come up the ranks in our sport.

Michael is a visionary, a Renaissance man in the true sense of the word, and very articulate about what he sees as the reasons we are not seeing another “golden age” of cycling in the U.S.

My second guest is just as legendary – though in a whole different way. Gary Helfrich is often considered the “father of titanium” frames and one of the smartest most talented people in the bike industry.  After a stint with Chris Chance and Fat City Cycles,  Gary went on to become one of the original founders of  Merlin Bicycles.  He is also the force behind one of the most coveted of frame jigs, Arctos.

He hails from the East Coast but skedaddled out of there to make his way west, go back to school, get a degree in environmental studies and urban planning, and jump in up to his eyebrows in bicycle advocacy as the director of Bike Sonoma in California.

Yet, Gary also has tales to tell of 10 years as a roadie for such bands as Aerosmith and Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention.

I hope you enjoy these two “encore” interviews!

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Show #64 – November 12, 2011

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Gary Helfrich, Sonomo County Bicycle Coalition; Lauria Mellot, Reflect Sports

After living on the south shore of a Great Lake for more than a quarter century, I’m used to wild mood swings in the weather by now. But still, a day of accumulating snow sandwiched between two stretches of sunny and 60+ degrees in early November is wacky, even for northeast Ohio. Happily, The Outspoken Cyclist is a constant, calming companion for your brain, no matter what the thermometer reads.

Our first guest is an icon, not only in cycling, but in several other fields, including rock and roll, and transportation planning. Gary Helfrich was one of the forces behind the original incarnation of Merlin, went on the road with Aerosmith, and is now the executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. We got to pick his brain on all those subjects and more in a lengthy interview this week.

Cycling, swimming and other outdoor activities can be hard on the skin and hair. Diane spotted some new products at Interbike from Reflect Sports. Their flagship product, Hoo Ha Ride Glide is a chamois cream that was developed to be friendly to female “saddle contact points” (aka the Hoo Ha). It was also developed to make you smile when you say its name. In any event, our second guest this week is Laurie Mellot, one of the partners in Reflect Sports to tell us about Hoo Ha Ride Glide, and their other products.