Show #482 – December 14, 2019

Guests: Dan Burden; Caron Whitaker; Tori Fahey

It may not seem as if anything is getting done in Washington besides the impeachment hearings, but in fact, there are Representatives who are doing the work they were elected to do – introduce and pass bills that, hopefully will make our lives better.

HR5231 is one of those bills and this evening, LAB’s Caron Whitaker tells us what it is, why it’s important, and what we can do to push it along in the process. Carol will be with me a bit later in the show.

We’ll take a trip across the pond to chat with Tori Fahey about her company Apidura – Tori left the corporate world, found long distance cycling – I mean LONG distances – and, out of her experiences, she started her company Apidura.

She and her team design ultra light bikepacking equipment and offer up an interactive web site that also helps you find the adventures you want to take.

But first up tonight, we talk with one of the original founders of Adventure Cycling. Dan Burden is 75 now and should be retired, right? Um – no… he has reinvented himself and works with Dan Buettner at Blue Zones as the Director of Innovation and Inspiration. (Which he will translate for us in a minute)

What’s a Blue Zone you ask? A Blue Zone is a non-scientific term given to geographic regions that are home to some of the world’s oldest people – like centenarians – you know, people who live past 100. But, I’ll let him tell you the rest.

Show #481 – December 7, 2019

Guests: Leah Missbach Day; Dieter Drake; Christine Acosta with Leah Shahum

As we count down to the holiday giving days – Chanukah beginning on the 22nd, Christmas, December 25th, and Kwanza December 26th, I thought it would be a great time to chat with WBR’s co-founder, Leah Missbach Day.

World Bicycle Relief, founded in 2005 after the devastating tsunami in Sri Lanka, is one of the most successful charitable organizations in our bicycle world. Its vision – to supply bicycles to help students, health care workers, and small business owners travel to and from their respective destinations – has resulted in , 487,000 bikes delivered and 2.5 positively impacted.

The original Buffalo Bike is about to undergo a new iteration though as WBR ramps up to bring its vision to South America.

After we talk with Leah, we’ll heading out to Des Moines, Iowa to the meet the new ride director for RAGBRAI, Dieter Drake. Dieter has a long history of successful events in his back pocket and is looking forward to taking the reins of the iconic event as it prepares to launch year #48.

And, finally, Pedal Power Promoters’s Christine Acosta caught up with Vision Zero’s Leah Shahum (yes, we have two Leah’s on the show this week!) at the Vision Zero Cities Conference in October. Christine talks with Leah about what Vision Zero is doing, how certain cities are adapting Vision Zero principles with great success, and, the grim facts of what happens when we don’t address the issues of traffic, equity, and public health.

Show #480 – November 30, 2019

Guests: Rachael Maney; Eben Weiss aka Bike Snob NYC

 

When long distance triathlete Rachael Maney was hit by a car, she found her Bike Law teammate a valued asset in not only helping her with her case; but, also as a trusted friend who helped get her back out on the bike.

Now, Rachael is the National Director for the 26-state network of Bike Law attorneys. She wears a lot of hats in her multiple roles that cover the gamut from advocacy and outreach to public relations and marketing.

We also head to the Big Apple where I catch up with one of the most recognized “voices” in the bicycle world – BikeSnobNYC’s Eben Weiss.

As one of the earliest bloggers on the subject of cycling, Eben’s rapier wit is now heard on the air waves with his weekly call-in show on WBAI 99.5FM in NYC.

He still blogs daily as well as writes regular columns for the NYC Alt-Trans advocacy organization as well as OutsideOnLine

Show #479 – November 23, 2019

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?

Show #478 – November 16, 2019

Guests: Will McGough; Jen Dial Santoro

This week, the cycling world lost Raymond Poulidor. M. Poulidor was a true champion whom, although never riding into Paris wearing the yellow jersey, stood on the podium at the Tour de France in second place three times and third place five times!

He rode his entire career for the Mercier team, chasing his two big rivals – Jaques Anqutiel and Eddy Merckxx – fierce competitors for sure. He did win the 1964 Vuelta a Espana!
Raymond Poulidor, who was 83 when we passed away this week, was revered by the French people. RIP sir!

My first guest is a travel writer who decided to take on an Ironman triathlon – for literary sake. Will McGough‘s new book, “Swim, Bike, Bonk: Confessions of a Reluctant Triathlete”, is an account of his foray into what it takes to do such a thing – digging into the psyche of those who are beyond passionate to the point of obsession with pursuit of the achievement that is the “mother of all endurance events.”

 

 

This week begins the first of our holiday gift segments. My guest, Jen Dial Santoro, is a Cleveland native (well, she’d say Lakewood – which is a ring suburb on the west side of Cleveland) now living in Utah. She worked in a bike shop for 10 years, successfully raced mountain and cyclocross, and currently skiis, rides her e-assist “bucket bike” with her two kids, and writes for a variety of publications. What’s really cool is that everything she’s going to talk about today lives in her house with her. She’ll be with me in the second half of the show.

(tags: Voile Ski straps; Kustom Kaps; Kitsbo Bad Ombre Socks; Toko Winter Riding Glove; Campagnolo Cork Screw; Madsen Bucket Bike)

 

Show #477 – November 2, 2019

Guests: Selene Yeager; Sam Wood; Secretary Leslie Richards

Our first show for November and it’s a three-fer!

I begin with Bicycling’s Fit-Chick, Selene Yeager. about her new book, GRAVEL! It has everything you need to know about the bikes, the terrain, racing, riding, nutrition, and finding that “light at the end of the tunnel.”

Then, it’s off to Australia for a chat with founder and owner of Bike Odyssey Tours, Sam Wood. He started out in archaeology and combining that with his love of history and bicycle touring, offers longer distance tours including his Hannibal, Othello, Lion Heart, and the new 2010 Allies: Normandy to the Rhine to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WW II. Fascinating conversation!

Lastly, I have an in-depth conversation with the Secretary of Transportation for the State of Pennsylvania, Leslie Richards. She’s an urban planner, the first woman to serve at Transportation Secreetary in the State, and has a new master plan for bicycling and pedestrian safety on the drawing board – about to be launched.

 

Show #476 – October 26, 2019

FRENCH FENDER DAY – PART II

(Photo courtesy of Brian Jenks, Artispin)

Part II of our coverage of French Fender Day!

Four great new conversations to add to last week’s list!

This week, in order of appearance, we have:

Marc Elliott
Mark Finch
Johnny Coast
Sam Dickenson

Then, it’s a conversation with *Brian about his thoughts on French Fender Day before we head on over to Philadelphia to speak with Philly Bike Expo owner and director Bina Bilenky about this year’s show – its 10th Anniversary

*You can also read all about Brian’s review of French Fender Day on his blog.

Show #475 – October 19, 2019

FRENCH FENDER DAY!

(Photos Courtesy of VeloOrange)

Guest List For This Episode In Order Of Appearance

Amy Gawthrop
Bill Humphries
Bob Young
David Bogoain
Joe Kopera
Emily O’Brien
Jamie Swan
Shukri Sindhi
Peter Waite

Peter Weigel

As you may remember, Brian and I were off to Peter Weigel’s French Fender Day last week;  and today, I’ll bring you the first of what will be two shows with short, interesting conversations with people who stopped by the microphone during the event.

As you listen, you will hear some chattering of all the folks in the background. I decided to not strip that sound out of the recordings and, in fact, did almost no editing at all.

In these short exchanges that range from between 4 and 8 minutes , you’ll not only hear people you’ve listened to in the past like builders Johnny Coast and Jamie Swan, you’ll also hear from people who have an abiding interest in the craft of the classic French Fender Bike yet who don’t build bikes professionally – people such as Emily O’Brien from Dill Pickle Cycling Gear who is a professional musician and runs Randonneuring events on the east coast. Or, Bob Young who brought an exquisite 1/6th scale boat he built by hand.

One of the things I found both interesting and very gratifying was the age range of those who attended the event. There is not only a whole new group of younger builders; there is also a whole new generation of younger riders who seem to truly appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of these exquisite machines.

We’ll take short breaks intermittently during the show, but there are no formal pre-intros – each person who came up to the mic will be identified at the beginning of his or her commentary. If you go to the blog, outspokencyclist.com, the guests will be listed in the order in which they appear on the program.

At the end of the interviews, Peter Weigel himself will wrap-up the weekend with his thoughts about how it went with a note about how it all started back in 2010.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Show #474 – October 12, 2019

Guests: Marc Peruzzi; Maria Caffrey; Salvador Rueda

It’s been a rather outrageous week here in the U.S. – and, while I like to keep things on an even keel, I’ve had to acknowledge that the “outrageousness” appears to cross all lines.

One of the themes of this strange and unsettling time is lawlessness – it seems to be showing up in the sheer number of deaths of both cyclists and pedestrians where drivers are beyond careless and distracted.

This week, we hear from Marc Peruzzi, a freelance journalist who covers many aspects Cyclists Are Migrating To Dirt, sparked a very lively conversation on our Facebook Page as comment after comment agreed with him that the roads have become scary and paths, gravel, and dirt may be the only things savings the sport.

Another discouraging theme of the times is the concerted effort to discredit science and suppress facts. It never occurred to me that I would be saying climate scientist and whistleblower in the same sentence; but, when I read about Dr. Maria Caffrey, who worked at the National Park Service for 8 years, had her work censored, and finally filed a whistleblower case this past summer, it became too compelling a story not to follow.

Recently, Maria published an article for the Union of Concerned Scientists’ blog, titled Cultivating Censorship at the National Park Service: New Acting Director Issues Controversial Memo”. Since we just learned that the NPS is allowing eBikes in all the parks, I wanted to know if there was any connection.

Lastly, I am able to offer a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Our friend in Florida, Christine Acosta, spent some time with Salvador Rueda, the urban ecology director in Barcelona, Spain. Christine and her family traveled to Spain a few months ago and Christine was able to corral Senor Rueda for a chat. She had originally learned about him and his work at the Vision Zero conference in NY a couple of years ago.

Mr. Rueda has some far-reaching and forward-thinking ideas about how to make our cities more livable, from calming traffic to adding trees. The conversation is filled with ideas we can adopt.

Show #473 – October 5, 2019

Guests: Ed Benjamin; Tucker Schwinn

Before we get to this week’s show, I wanted to let you know that we will be recording at French Fender Day in Lyme, Connecticut with Peter Weigel and crew next Saturday. We will be attempting to stream some of it live on Facebook – if I can figure it out – and then bring you the interviews in the upcoming weeks.

Watch our social media – Facebook and Twitter – as well as our blog outspokencyclist.com for live feed times if you are interested in seeing it firsthand.

So, let’s get to this week’s show.

Finding ways to ride longer – not only into the season, but into the seasons of your life, might fall under the first topic up for discussion today.

Many years ago, Ed Benjamin hopped on the eBike bandwagon and has never looked back. At the time, there weren’t many people in his corner.

But look at him today… Ed is the Senior Managing Director of eCycleElectric Consultants, a consulting group focused on electric bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, and components for these since 1996 as well as the Chairman of Light Electric Vehicle Association, a trade group for the industry.

Today, Ed joins me to talk about the nuts and bolts of the eBike business – how big it is, who is buying and riding the bikes, and where the future of these vehicles is going.

Then, Tucker Schwinn, yes you know the name, joins me to talk about a sport you may not know even existed, let alone thrives.

As far back as 1942, Bicycle Polo was a thing. Whether today’s bike polo scene is a revival or a brand new chapter in the sport, Tucker, who has been competing since 2004, tells us all about it – how it works, who is participating, and how you can join in on the fun if you want.