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Show #200 (wooo-hooo) – June 28, 2014

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Welcome to our 200th Show! It’s been a privilege to bring you everything cycling for all these weeks and I hope we can bring you many more! Here’s a bit of information on this week’s show.

Discovered through the “twittersphere” by Editor-in-Chief of Velo Magazine, my first guest, Dan Wuori shares his particular brand of cycling – both humorous and serious – with us as my first guest this evening.

Out of an “innocent” comment on his twitter feed, Dan was asked to write for the iconic magazine and has since found himself in the enviable position of being the author of “At the Back” – the humorous-editorializing piece that appears each month on the back page of Velo News.

He also covers races and personalities through his work on Tour Chats (currently on hiatus but about to reappear in the not-too-distant future,) with his on-air partner Neil Browne.

Dan also gives us his views on our U.S. National Championship winners Dr. Eric Marcotte and Alison Powers, the Tour de France, and more…

We’ll also talk with Bike Cleveland’s Jacob vanSickle who will share some positive ideas about how we here in Cleveland are working with government and law enforcement to start making cyclists (and pedestrians) safer on the roads.

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Show #199 – June 21, 2014

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Guests: Roanoke Times’ columnist Dan Casey; BR&IN web editor Steve Frothingham

Happy Solstice All! Why don’t you stay up late and listen to the show!?

This week saw reports of an almost unprecedented number of bicycle fatalities from coast to coast and from north to south. The admonition “be careful out there” is taking on a whole new meaning in light of these incidents and I decided to go outside my usual purview to look at the Roanoke, Virginia area – which had a triple whammy of fatal bike crashes back in March – from the perspective of an active cyclist who also happens to write for the “Roanoke Times” on these matters.

Dan Casey is the Metro Columnist for the Roanoke Times in Roanoke, VA and a 20+ year veteran cyclist. Dan puts an up-close and human spin to three fatal bike crashes that occurred in March in Roanoke as well as an update on a rider who is recovering from a recent and scary crash while on a long-distance training ride. We’ll also learn how Roanoke is starting to address the car-bike situation with their annual “Rally for Road Safety” events.

I also welcome Bicycle Retailer and Industry News web editor Steve Frothingham back to the show for a chat about how bicycle-media embargoes work and how the timing of new product introductions are handled by the media as well as a frank discussion about the changing environment for bicycle dealers in an ever more competitive environment.

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Show #198 – June 14, 2014

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Guests: Tour of Utah’s Jenn Andrs; Senior Cycling Tours owner Pat Blackmon; Garmin-Sharp team pro Phil Gaimon

Sometimes you just hit a home run with a great selection of guests, news, and commentary.  I think we’ve done that this week.

Jenn Adnrs, project manager, from the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah fills us in on this “Toughest of the U.S. Stage Races” with all the details of distances (LONG), climbing (RIDICULOUS for mere mortals), and sprints (LOTS OF THEM).  Coming to Fox Sports each day or streaming on line, you can watch the 16 teams compete from August 4-10.

Are you over 50? Do you like things “handled” for you?  Well, Pat Blackmon rode cross country with Woman Tours a few years back and said – WOW – I’m going to start Senior Cycling Tours that caters to active seniors.  And, so she did.  With many of her 2014 tours already sold out, I caught up with Pat – who is 75 by the way – at a softball tournament in Henerdonville, TN to tell me all about her tours and what makes them so irresistible.

After a short break with some current events, we head on out to Burbank, CA to speak with racing pro Phil Gaimon (Garmin-Sharp) about his new book, “Pro Cycling on $10 A Day – From Fat Kid to Euro Pro“.

Phil really was a fat kid and without mincing words, tells what it is like to slog through the amateur ranks and come out as an elite pro racer.  Along the way, he relates some hilarious stories and gives excellent advice.

The conversation proves to be enjoyable and fun , just like his book.  (PS – you can get a signed copy of Phil’s book on his web site!)

 

 

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Show #197 – June 7, 2014

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Guests: NJ Walk & Bike Coalition Executive Director Cyndi Steiner; 6-time National Cyclocross Champion Tim Johnson

Two weeks in a row – Tim has another shout-out for a downed cyclist friend. So – we’re hoping we won’t need to have a third!

After our short commentary on the Maple Highlands Trail, which is right here in NE Ohio, we head on out to Montclair, New Jersey to speak with Cyndi Steiner. Cyndi is the Executive Director of the NJ Walk & Bike Coaltion. From getting the Port Authority of NY to stop before removing all access for bicyclists and pedestrians from the George Washington Bridge to working with World Bicycle Relief in Zambia, seeing first-hand what a bicycle can do for someone who might otherwise remain in abject poverty, Cyndi gets it DONE – with a capital D.

We then head on up to Quebec to speak with 6-time National CycloCross Champion Tim Johnson. Modest, smart, and without a doubt one of the “good guys” in our vast sport of cycling, Tim made the connection between pro cycling and advocacy at the 2010 National Bike Summit and found a new way to promote not just his sponsors and his sport, but the basic connection between the bicycle and those who ride at all levels.

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Show #196 – May 31, 2014

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Guests: Tech Guru and author Richard Hallett; Traithlete David Brumley; Tour de France announcer and television “star” Paul Sherwen

We’re back with another brand new edition of the Outspoken Cyclist and welcome three guests with very diverse stories.

For those who enjoy the nitty-gritty of cycling, U.K. “tech Guru” Richard Hallett will offer up a delightful “deconstruction” of the machine in his new book: “The Bike Deconstructed – A Grand Tour of the Modern Bicycle” Richard talks about history, materials, the 650B wheel, and what he thinks about disc brakes for road bikes – among a lot of other things. Richard is also a frame builder – specializing in steel frames at RichardHalletBikes.com. The book is a coffee-table quality oversize tome with many lovely photographs and a lot of tech-talk in layman’s terms.

Second up is triathlete David Brumley. By all rights, David should be happy to just walk to the end of his driveway and pick up the local paper in the mornings, but a question from his then 3-year old daughter in 2008 made him take a more proactive role in the management of his chronic and incurable disease CVID. We’ll learn what it is, why it often goes un-diagnosed even though the patient is ill much of the time, and how David has become a super Dad for his daughter! Since his “epiphany” about his situation, he’s decided to share his experience and give back to the “Primary Immune Deficiency – PI” community with his Triforbetter.com organization.

After a short break, we’ll scurry back with some news and then head on over to Uganda to speak with one of the most famous cycling voices on the planet. Paul Sherwen is the historian and storyteller at the major races like the Tour de France, The Amgen Tour of California, and many more. What you’ll learn though is more about Paul and his how his background reaches back many decades into our sport. It’s a delightful chat!
Enjoy!

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Show #195 – May 25, 2014

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Flying solo this week! And, I’ve got a jam-packed show for you.

We start out with our friend Charles Pelkey – The Live Update Guy (AKA “LUG”) – as he’s blogging and covering the Giro D’Italia. In what was a clear upset, Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), snatched the lead from Cadel Evans in last Thursday’s only time trial of the 3-week event. Charles thinks there is still a lot left in the last week of the Giro with all the mountain stages still to come.

We’ll speak with Kate Powlison from People for Bikes, who gives us some information about “United for Bikes”. a special month-long initiative from PFB and World Bicycle Relief for National Bike Month. In addition to raising funds for both organizations, a generous anonymous donor has pledged another $10,000 in matching funds over the next few days!

We’ll hustle on down to my hometown, Cincinnati to speak with Ohio Bicycle Federation board member and “the Ohio Bike Lawyer” Steve Magas.  Steve will fill us in on an upcoming State House Bill 145 – AKA “The 3 foot bill” – which is running into opposition but perhaps not for the reasons you might originally think.

After a short break, I’ll speak with endurance athlete and former junkie (yep, you heard that right!) Shane Niemeyer. He unfurls his no-holds-barred, raw, and unfiltered story in his just released book “The Hurt Artist – My Journey from Suicidal Junkie to Ironman” (by St. Martin’s Press). This is one of the best books I’ve read this year AND it is quite the page turner.

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Show #194 – May 17, 2014

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Guests: Photographer Gil Garcetti; Amgen’s Kathryn West; Journalist Warren Cornwall

Things are always better in threes and tonight is no exception.

First up, we’ll speak with award winning photographer Gil Garcetti. Gil started out as an attorney, became the Los Angeles Prosecutor, and was then elected L.A.’s District Attorney; but, a photograph of the iron-workers building the Walt Disney Concert Hall led to a book that led to more books that led to the one we are going to discuss this evening: Paris: Women & Bicycles. Gil’s approach to his subject matter and his subsequent finished projects show a much deeper relationship between Gil,  his subjects, and the social issues that are evoked in his photographs.

Then, we’ll talk with Kathryn West, Director of Advocacy for Amgen.  As the Amgen Tour of California winds down this weekend, a series of events will be taking a place right alongside the racing pros from the Breakaway from Cancer foundation.   Honoring those who have given back to the cancer community at large, Breakaway from Cancer partners with four non-profits to make living with, surviving from, and being a supporter of a person dealing with cancer easier.

Finally, I listened to a great show on NPR West from last weekend titled Athletes Chased by Technology in the Sport of Anti-Doping – the interviewee was Warren Cornwall and I decided right then and there that I wanted to talk with him.  In doing my research I found that he not only had explored this topic but also the scary topic of why a number of seemingly otherwise healthy triathletes never make it out of the water alive.  Warren spent time at Mass-General in Boston with Dr. Aaron Baggish – who is the Associate Director of the  Cardiovascular Performance Program.  We’ll learn what Warren found out about testing and whether you should be worried.

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Show #193 – May 10, 2014

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Guests: Author Terry Kerber; Craig Calfee

In his foreword to the new book “Major Taylor – The Inspiring Story of a Black Cyclist and the Men Who Helped Him Achieve Worldwide Fame” – Greg LeMond wrote: “In order to reach the pinnacle of their chosen sport, all professional athletes have to endure countless setback and unforeseen hardships.”

Major Taylor WAS at the pinnacle of bike racing in his day and his hardships were excruciatingly difficult to imagine; but, brothers and authors Terry and Conrad Kerber captured Taylor’s life, career, and history eloquently in their new book. My interview with Terry barely scratches the surface; hopefully, you’ll want to know a lot more!

When you think carbon fiber and frame building the first name to come to mind is Craig Calfee. Craig joins me to talk about his new bike, The Manta, as well as some innovations in materials as well as his involvement in a new project in the Congo.

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Show #192 – May 3, 2014

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Guests: National Bike Challenge’s Rob Gusky; Cherokee Schill; NICA’s Austin McInerny

Diversity! Well, at least on tonight’s episode of The Outspoken Cyclist.

It’s time again for the National Bike Challenge and Kimberley Clark’s Rob Gusky will once again fill us in on this year’s event. All the 2013 numbers went to ZERO at midnight on May 1st and we’re off and riding to see which individuals, teams, towns, companies, and states will put in the most miles until the final “bell” at midnight on September 30th.

Then, we will head on down to Lexington, Kentucky to speak with Cherokee Schill. Ms. Schill has been in the news, on television, and unfortunately in court recently – charged with “reckless driving” – only she wasn’t “driving” – she was riding her bike. In what might be a precedent setting case, Ms Schill is fighting for her right to ride her bike the 18 miles to and from work to support her two teenage children and to stay healthy. Her pre-trial is in August, but this week the Judge in the case has allowed her to continue to ride to work until she appears in court – much to the chagrin of the County Attorney who wanted her off the roads.

Finally, we’ll check in with Austin McInerny from NICA – The National Interscholastic Cycling Association. Austin is the executive director having started out as a volunteer coach! He loves the organization as well as helping kids get on a bike. The Association is growing by leaps and bounds and Austin will tell us about some of the new programs as well as a special 5-week challenge grant in which Dick’s Sporting Goods is offering a BIG purse if NICA can match the amount.

Diversity – it’s what’s for listening this week!

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Show #191 – April 27, 2014

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Guests: Author & Illustrator Rod Waters, Collyn Ahart

I am so lucky to be able to talk with such interesting and accomplished people each week. And, this week is no exception.

My first guest, Rod Waters, is an award willing illustrator whose new children’s book, “Eric’s Big Day – A Bicycle Race Unlike Any Other” tells the story of a young boy, his friend Emily, and a local bike race. And, Rod also has some amazing bicycle stories of his encounters with the activist Lech Walesa in Poland, a Guiness World Record that Rod holds, and his memorable trip to Kosovo with his wife.

My second guest, Collyn Ahart, has some strong ideas and opinions about women, culture, and the bicycle industry. Collyn’s background is marketing and branding, but her early years spend in the bike shop her family owns, gives her a unique perspective on bicycling and how the industry acts and reacts. Collyn’s new venture, Bowndling, is just her next iteration of unique thinking for women.