It is fitting that February is Black History Month as my first guest is author David Goodrich and his newest book, which will be released on Tuesday, February 7th, is titled, “On Freedom Road – Bicycle Explorations and Reckonings On the Underground Railroad.”

David Goodrich is a retired climate scientist, and in the first two books we reviewed with him, we learned about how people felt about climate change as he rode across the country and about the tar sands and their impact on the communities is as oil companies try to extract the “dirty oil” as it is known.

Now, in what might be almost prophetic, David has refocused his attentions on slavery in his new book, On Freedom Road, with an exploration of the Underground Railroad.

From “revisiting highway 61” (Bob Dylan fans will relate!) or the blues highway, all the way up into Canada, David gives us an intimate journey on the route.

In the second half of the show, I speak with Patrick Conlon, advisor and board member to BikeJC – Jersey City.

I have to admit I don’t know much about New Jersey but was really pleased to learn about cycling there from Bike JC’s board member, Patrick Conlon.

Just across the river from Manhattan, Jersey City is a very different kind of cycling community – and Bike JC has had a big hand in helping to expand protected bicycle lanes, institute a Vision Zero policy that actually works, and offer up a community event that everyone can enjoy.

Bike JC began about 13 years ago and, with an all-volunteer organization and advisory board, has grown organically.  But the clout they’ve managed to muster has produced some great results and is a model many other mid-size cities might want to emulate.