Tag: Inclusive Transportation

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Show #640 – November 22, 2023

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Guests: Veronica Davis; Eric McBride

My guests this show couldn’t be more different in terms of their focus – one is a civil engineer, ardent urban planner, and transportation specialist, the other is an accomplished Master’s bike racer, winning several medals in this year’s PanAm Games.

But, variety is the spice of life as they say… so hopefully you’ll get something from each of them – whether it be inspiration to do more about your local bicycling/walking infrastructure or decide to enter an event you had been thinking about but have yet to sign on the dotted line.

Veronica Davis is a professional civil engineer an transportation specialist.  She is currently the Director of Transportation & Drainage Operations, a service line within Houston Public Works. Transportation & Drainage operations is responsible for maintaining and improving the infrastructure that spans Houston’s 671 square miles.

As you’ll learn, Veronica comes to the transportation/planning sector from a family immersed in the business where both her mother and father were involved.

Her new book, Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, was recently published by Island Press and it’s what drew me to her for our conversation.

In her new book, Veronica offers some astute observations on the inequalities and destructive practices present in transportation planning:  how our cities became divided, and why we need to move on from what we’ve always known and redefine urban transportation.

We dive into a variety of topics including how immigration, always a hot topic for politicians, might actually solve some of the issues we see in the job market and how, when we finally have funding for much needed infrastructure projects, there are not enough workers to complete them.

Bruce Springsteen sings about being born to run… well, apparently U.S. Master’s Champion Eric McBride was born to ride!

Eric is the CEO of Palm Beach Health Network Physician Group during the day and an avid elite road and track racer when he dons his kit and cleats.

Eric has been racing bikes since college and now, as a master’s rider in the 45-49 year age group, captured two golds and a silver at the Master’s PanAm Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic this past spring.

Racking up 2 golds and a silver at the 2023 PanAm games on the track, Eric takes every opportunity to race his bicycles – plural – in track, road, and crit disciplines.

His accomplishments this year being what they are, he’s already looking forward to 2024 to see what he and his new squad Kingdom Racing will do.

November 22 Transcript

 

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Show #637 – September 26, 2023

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Guest: Johnny Coast

This episode was supposed to air a week earlier to coincide with an event my guest was having at his Brooklyn, NY workshop.  Due to COVID and nasty weather, it was postponed to this coming Sunday, October 1st. 

Also, I want to preface this episode with an important announcement from Shimano.  Last Thursday, September 21st, Shimano issued a massive recall of over 760,000 cranks. 

Instead of reading you all the information about how to tell if your Ultegra or Dura Ace crank has been recalled, here are pdfs of  Consumer Notice_Shimano Crankset Recall, Final_FAQ_Consumer_and the USA_CAN_Poster_Shimano_Recall that shops are being asked to display.  Everything you need to know is there.  Please take heed as Shimano is really doing a great job with this recall including reimbursing dealers and even helping out if you have a power crank.  Shimano has asked that dealers post the information until February 1, 2024.

NOW – let’s talk about my guest because I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too. 

You know how I love speaking with custom frame builders about their work and their lives.

Today though, I’m speaking with custom builder Johnny Coast from Coast Cycles in Brooklyn, NY about his experience supporting “Team Coast” at this year’s PBP – Paris Brest Paris.

The event only comes around every four years and two of Johnny’s clients trained for two years to make the journey to France and compete in the grueling 90-hour event.

At one point, the riders approached Johnny, who built their randonneuring bikes, about forming “Team Coast” and asked if Johnny wanted to come along as support. His answer was yes and his experience was almost as exciting and ratifying as his riders’.

I think he’ll go back and do it again in four more years. That’s not all we talk about though, so let’s get to it. 

And, oh, by the way, we mention “Shermer’s Neck” in our conversation and if you don’t know what it is, it’s a condition where the neck muscles fail from fatigue and can no longer support the head. It is not gradual either; after feeling the first symptoms, the neck will usually stop functioning within two hours.  It happens a lot to RAAM riders and others who do super long-distance events that keep you on the bike for extended hours.

You can find Johnny at coastcycles.nyc and on Instagram @coastcyclesnyc.

Next time on TOC my guests are ground-breaking engineer Georgena Terry, whose women-specific bikes paved the way for more women on bikes and more companies to follow in her footsteps; and Veronica Davis, whose work in transportation started when she was just a little girl.  In her own words she said “At the age of 22, I wrote a life strategic plan. The career objective was, “To be a World Renown Expert in Transportation.” And so she is… and her new book, Inclusive Transportation her manifesto for repairing divided communities.

Transcript_September 26_TOC