Show #666 – April 7, 2025

Guest: Alison Tetrick

She really wanted to wear skirts and get her nails done, but Alison Tetrick, while remaining ever the fashionable girl, is a feisty competitor – in all sorts of ways.

Starting out as a tennis player in high school, she played in college on a full ride where she studied biochemistry.  She worked in drug discovery research for Amgen, and then….with all her energy and competitive urges, was egged on to bike racing by her grandfather Paul Tetrick, who found his passion for bike racing in his 60’s and raced well into his 80’s.  (scroll down to see Paul & Ali’s info)

Alison’s trajectory toward success on the bike was almost instantaneous as you will hear in our conversation. But it wasn’t all unicorns and roses.

As strong and capable as Alison is, she tells us about some of the things that will take a person down – physically, mentally, and emotionally – and learning to deal with them – asking for help, realizing you can’t always do everything on your own, will shape you in new and perhaps much better ways.

Our conversation runs the gamut from her early successes on the bike to the work she is doing now to get more young girls into the sport. And her honesty, humility, and frankness are refreshing!

You can follow Alison and her journey @amtetrick on social media. Check out her bandanas  to help and support more girls and women on bikes.

Here is the link to Gloria Liu’s article, Cycling’s Silent Epidemic.

And if you find yourself at either Unbound or Sea Otter, look her up!  She’ll be there.

I’d like to let you know that there is now expanded content for most episodes on my brand new Substack page.

Next time on the show, I’ll be speaking with Sarah Barnes, another podcaster and  journalist who specializes in micromobility – especially autonomous vehicles – and urban geography.  We’ll explain that too. 

Ex-pro racer Levi Leipheimer will also be joining me to talk about his Gran Fondo as well as his ideas about how to reboot road riding here in the U.S.  I’m ALL ears on that one!

Transcript_April 7

 

 

 

 

Show #375 – November 18, 2017

Guests: Jim Sonnhalter; Gloria Liu; Nick Legan

This week, we keep it local for the first of my three guests.

NE Ohio urban planner Jim Sonnhalter joins me to talk about a project in his home suburb of Euclid, Ohio that will add a new trail to the Lake Front.

Jim works for Cuyahoga County Planning and has helped to establish and begin implementing a master plan for biking and walking in the Cleveland area.

We’ll talk about the Euclid project as well as the scope of the Cuyahoga Greenways projects.

Then, it’s my annual pre-holiday gift chat with Bicycling features editor Gloria Liu. This year, we talk about a new “convertible jacket” from Pearl Izumi, a handlebar bag from North St. Bags in Portland, Oregon, some new light weight entries in the children’s bike market, and of course what’s hot in tech.

Gravel Cycling by Nick Legan
Gravel Cycling by Nick Legan

Finally, Nick Legan, author of the new Gravel Cycling: The Complete Guide to Gravel Racing and Adventure Bikepacking, joins me to talk about his book, his 7 years as a pro-tour mechanic, how gravel racing became his sport of choice, and more.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy the show.

Show #325 – December 10, 2016

Guests: Roland Della Santa; Gloria Liu

Tonight, we meet veteran frame builder and a man of great taste (especially in music and food!) Roland Della Santa.

Roland has stuck with his beliefs and ideas about frame building for over 40 years and still produces his classic Della Santa frames in the “Italian” tradition – steel, lugged, and FAST racing machines.

We discuss frames, forks, wheels, Roland’s relationship with Greg LeMond, and even our favorite musicians – Frank Zappa and Joe Bonamassa!

As for food – what would you expect? Italian in the Tuscany tradition!

Roland pulls NO punches about what he believes, how he builds frames, and what he thinks about today’s offerings in the bike biz.

In the second half of the show, it’s buckling down to “get ‘er done” with just two weeks until the gift giving holidays of Christmas and Hannukah.

So, I checked in with Gloria Liu, senior tech editor at Bicycling Magazine (as well as a consummate adventurer!) Gloria has some great gift ideas for you!

From small stocking stuffers to that one big “gift under the tree”, we will bring you some fresh ideas.

So, out to Reno the outspoken cyclist goes to talk with the outspoken frame builder Roland Della Santa.