My guest today is Professor Alex Karner from the U. of Texas in Austin. 

I learned about Alex and his work in an article by Magdalena de Valle written  for Bloomberg News on February 26th.  She stated: “Alex Karner got an email from the Transportation Research Board ordering him to stop work on his research project studying equitable access to goods and services.” 

My ears perked up and I took a dive into the rabbit hole, contacting the Professor to find out more. Alex will be with me in a moment.

My second guest today is Maria Elena Price; she and her sister are co-owners of Experience Plus Bicycle Tours.

Many years ago, Maria Elena’s Dad, Rick Price the founder of Experience Plus, visited my store in downtown Cleveland along with several of tour company owners for a weekend Touring Open House.

Each tour director gave a short presentation about the company s/he represented and what I remember most about Experience Plus was the emphasis on the language and culture of the tours they offered. 

When this new generation took up the reigns, that emphasis didn’t change, and today’s tours are as interesting, varied, and immersive as they were then. 

Maria Elena and I delve into the background of the company and what it offers today.

My guests today are NYC’s Professor John Surico and the bike fitter’s bike fitter, Paul Swift.

John is one of my favorite repeat guests as those of you who are regular listeners know.

And go figure, this conversation was recorded exactly one day before the President put the kabosh on congestion pricing in NYC.

John and I had spoken last May about the project and how it was on again and off again and how he was looking forward to what it might do for NYC. The cameras went online in January and the immediate effects were pretty amazing.

Early in January, the long-awaited program to help ease traffic in NYC went into effect.  The cameras went on and lo and behold – traffic eased, Broadway saw a 20% increase in ticket sales, and crashes were down a whopping 30% – and that was in just two winter months.

But along with many other programs, the president decided he didn’t like congestion pricing and in the stroke of his marker, had the cameras turned off.  The legal wrangling that is going on is yet to be decided, but the day I spoke with John, things were looking pretty rosy.

My second guest is Paul Swift – the bike fitter’s fitter and developer of many cycling related products that facilitate a better experience on the bike – whether on the ground or in the gym. 

Paul Swift has been developing his fitting techniques for decades. He also sees things IN those fits that have led to a plethora of products from the wedges fitters might use under your cycling cleats to his line of saddles.

Paul’s philosophy stems from observation, as well it should in my opinion.  He recognizes that sizing is not fitting, and that it takes many years and thousands of fits to see what you are actually looking at and before making the changes necessary to accomplish a comfortable and efficient position with great results.

The conversation is casual and enjoyable…

It is a tough day for the Outspoken Cyclist Podcast as well as the many shows and most of the staff of WJCU – the radio station at John Carroll University that hosts my show. 

Back in 2010, when TOC first went on the air – and we were a radio broadcast as well as a podcast for many years – my co-host, engineer, and mentor was a gentleman named Greg Priddy. 

He spent endless hours editing our show for podcast and taught me ins and outs of the studio sound board, how to edit, mix, and upload my shows, and would fill in for me when I had that occasional cold or lost my voice.

For those of you who have been listening to the show from the beginning, you will remember Greg.  He could be funny, but he was more likely to be the Abbott to my Costello, offering a serious note on many topics.

So, it is with a deep sadness that I report Greg lost his long battle with cancer this week.  Back in August of 2017, Greg asked if he could offer his thoughts about the disease and especially what he believed you might do to make sure you stay healthy.  I’ve added a link to that episode on our website if you’d like to hear it – or maybe replay it if you heard it back them as a reminder of what you can do for you and your family to ensure you detect any problems in a timely way.

Our best deepest condolences go out to Greg’s wife Jean, and we hope that Greg’s last days were peaceful.  There is a short tribute, with photos, on the WJCU website.

Keeping Greg in our thoughts, we have two great guests on the show today to talk about two timely topics – tariffs and the fires in California.

First up, I’ve invited Steve Frothingham, the editor-in-chief of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, to weigh in on not only the tariffs but the bicycle industry in general, as it struggles with everything from inventory issues to where our bikes are being manufactured and sold.

In the second half of the show, we meet another Steve – yep it’s Steve squared today. 

Only this Steve is a retailer whose store in Altadena, California for almost 40 years.  And, yep you guessed it, the contents burned to the ground.  (You’ll see before and after photos on the outspokencyclist website.)

But, rising out of the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix, Steve immediately started sourcing bikes from anywhere and everywhere in an effort to replace the hundreds that were lost in the fire for his neighbors and customers.  It’s a helluva story.

The holidays are literally around the corner and today, I wanted to offer up one of my favorite year-end opportunities for giving.

Leah Missbach Day is one of the founders of WBR, and World Bicycle Relief is about to turn 20.

In the years since its inception, it has grown from aiding 20,351 people in Sri Lanka after the 2004 Tsunami to 850,000 bicycles on the ground in 7 African countries and in Colombia, South America.

These bicycles have helped girls to go to school, health workers to deliver life saving aid, and farmers to get their goods to market. 

The Buffalo bike provides a sturdy, reliable machine that offers not only transportation but safety to the thousands of people who ride them.

In the second half of the show, I’m joined by Bill McGann.

Bill started out as a bicycle retailer in a 750 square foot shop in California back in 1974 with a $3,000 bank loan and a lot of chutzpah.

In his new book, Why Your Bike Is Made in Asia: My career in bicycles as I watched two continents squander an industry, takes us from early bicycle history through the 10-speed craze and on into the industry’s move to Asia as a result of some wrong-thinking on the part of American and European manufacturers.

It’s an interesting look at the bike industry from a very different perspective.

Hello and welcome to TOC.  I’m your host Diane Jenks.  Thanks for tuning in today.

Yes, it’s been a minute – well, maybe a bit longer – since the last episode, but I’m back and today’s show is the first in our year-end series highlighting gift-giving opportunities.

That’s not all though.  My first guests are husband and wife Deb and Tom Gardner.  They live in Indianapolis and have such a great story to tell.

Both are now retired and the accomplishments they have under their belts are mind blowing.  Before they became heavily involved with long-distance cycling, they decided to run a marathon in every state.  Done.

Then it was on to some pretty spectacular bicycling, and we’ll learn more about that in a moment, including their big 2025 plans.

Then, we catch up with the president and CEO of People for Bikes, Jenn Dice.  People tell me I’m “so enthusiastic!”  But, next to Jenn, I feel pretty laid back!

And, her enthusiasm for the work she does is contagious!   Running PFB, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary – thank you very much –  is a big deal and from the city ratings program to eBike battery recycling, Jenn can recite chapter and verse on all the many spokes in the PFB hub.

Brendan Quirk is the CEO of USA Cycling.  Brendan fell in love with bike racing as a teenager and throughout his young adulthood and beyond, has immersed himself in everything from owning his own shop and developing a thriving online business to his present position – imbuing USA Cycling organization with his passion for the sport.

Brendan’s determination for success for the organization, beginning with member ship and working on the Foundation Board, led to his role as CEO.  His commitment to spreading the word about cycling, from local grass roots organizations to our Olympic goals for Los Angeles in 2028, is clear. It’s about supporting local clubs and events and raising money to make certain the sport stays alive and vibrant in the U.S.

With the fall riding season in full swing, we’re bringing you our last great riding trail review for 2024.  And, I’ve saved a review of the Southern New England area, especially Connecticut, for last.

The East Coast Greenway has come a long way in a few short years and, especially in 2024, the effects of the infrastructure act have pushed quite a few projects along helping to add many segments in the quest complete the 3,000+ mile project.

Our guide to this beautiful area of the Greenway is Bruce Donald and to say he is well-versed in all-things-trail-related in the area is a gross understatement.

In addition to all his advocacy work, acquiring more than $189 million dollars in funding for Greenway projects, Bruce is a lifelong cyclist and alpine skier.

This episode of our show was intended to highlight another great riding trail along with a conversation with renowned traffic engineer and planner Professor Wes Marshall at the University of Colorado in Denver.

My conversation with Wes happened the day after the news of the deaths of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were announced and when we logged in to talk, we had both been reading the same news summary. 

The horror and disbelief of the tragedy really struck me hard and because so much of the topics Wes and I were to talk about were directly connected to the issues we have with traffic and safety, I decided to let this episode stand alone.

Professor Marshall’s new book, Killed By A Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System, offers ideas, data, options, and a broad observation of what we are getting wrong about the way we not only DO transportation and safety, but how we think about it in the first place.

I think you will enjoy our conversation and, in the least instance, get some valuable insight into what traffic engineers are and need to be.