Tag: Strong Towns

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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 #461 – July 13, 2019

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Guests: Steve Frothingham; Rob Sulaski

First up is a conversation about the safety of three helmets from three different manufacturers.

I’m not sure how much I faith I put in Consumer Reports, but I do know that a lot of people look to the organization for assurance that they are making a good choice about a purchase.

So, when an article titled, “Who should you trust? Helmet makers dispute Consumer Reports findings” I get curious.
Three helmets were called out for alleged safety problems and issued “do not buy” warnings.

Steve Frothingham, editor in chief of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News as well as BicycleRetailer.com wrote that article and offers us a deeper look into how these helmets failed CR’s testing, what the makers of these helmets had to say, and what we might want to do if we have one.

We have some news this week, including a sighting of what one journalist is calling the coolest bike at the Tour de France, and then we speak with Rob Sulaski who is working for two companies this summer – Strong Towns, which we know really well from conversations with its founder Chuck Marohn – and Urban3 a geo-analytics company – we’ll tell you what that means when we speak with him.

Rob details the two articles that attracted my attention, one titled “The Lake Effect” which is NOT about snow storms off of Lake Erie; and the other about Palm Bay, a town in Florida that has miles of roads, lots of infrastructure, and almost no residents.

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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.