My first guest is no stranger to TOC.  A couple of times a year, at least, I ask journalist and NYU professor, John Surico to join me and catch us up on what is happening in NYC. 

The reason I look to him and to NY is that he’s got his ear to the ground on everything from climate and sustainability to walking, biking, and advocacy plus a lot more. I like the way he thinks and especially what he talks about on his substack pages, Streetbeat.

In our conversation, I ask him what his students might be thinking about the field of journalism as the editorial and reporting landscapes continue to shift and morph – with fewer print papers and magazines, more controversial news outlets, so much misinformation, and the need for focus on relevant problems – like climate, cities, sustainability, and more.

John just completed a year working with the Central Park Conservancy to help explore how to keep the iconic park healthy and relevant while studying the park to see what climate change is doing to the trees, grass, and general environment.  He talks about two of the programs he worked on and how they might impact the park going forward.

His insights and observations always give me food for thought as I look at the issues facing NYC and how we mirror them across the country.

In the second half of the show, I welcome Paul Tolme, the communications manager and spokesperson for the Cascade Bicycle Club in Seattle, Washington.

Several years ago, I spoke with a young PhD candidate out in Seattle about the work he was doing along with the Cascade Bicycle Club to have an inequitable helmet law repealed in the city.  The initiative worked, the law was repealed, and helmet use didn’t decline – win X 3.

Today, I speak with Paul about the organization itself – its amazing number of club members – 10,000 – and the statewide programs and events it offers.

In addition to the famous rides the club offers – the 44 year old iconic STP Ride (Seattle to Portland) and the RSVP – Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party,) as well as all the programs and tours offered, I don’t think any single fact was more impressive than a 10,000 member club roster.  Even though the club is a statewide organization, 10,000 members is mighty impressive.

With that kind of support, it is no wonder that Cascade is able to influence local and state legislators and planners to improve cycling and walking in Washington, develop great educational programs, like the one that is being implemented in schools, and organize one of the most iconic and enduring events in the country – The famous STP – Seattle to Portland ride – that will be held July 15th and 16th this year.

On our last podcast, Caley Fretz, editor-in-chief of the new Escape Collective cycling website, was talking about the then imminent launch of the project and how some of the best journalists would be going in-depth to bring the cycling stories and information subscribers wanted.

Well, Escape DID go live this week and met its initial goal(s) so that they could indeed sign some of the best journalists, photographers, editors, and developers in the business.

A big congratulations to Escape Collective – live long and … well you get the idea.

Meanwhile, this episode of the show features one of these great journalists.

When we spoke, Joe Lindsey, who has been on the show in the past and who does some amazing reporting as you will hear in a moment, alluded to what was coming next for him and, sho’ ‘nuf – he’s the new Senior Editor at Escape Collective and I think it’s a match made in cycling heaven. 

Today’s conversation with Joe is the result of some extensive research and reporting.

I don’t know what you think or believe about autonomous vehicles –  AKA self-driving cars –  or some of the functions that might no longer need a human to make decisions – but, I think you will find my conversation with investigative journalist Joe Lindsey fascinating! 

After our break, we speak with the East Coast Greenway’s Dennis Markatos-Soriano.

With more than 1,000 completed miles of the 3,000 planned miles of the Maine to Florida ECG, it’s time to check in with executive director Dennis Markatos-Soriano to wrap up 2022 and dive into what’s happening in 2023 – and it’s a lot!

With a new initiative, Greenways For All, Dennis gives up some insight into the difference between – yes we want to make consequential changes for safer and better walking a biking – and what might be holding us back from seeing it happen.

You may remember in my last episode that I spoke about how so many publications – both print and online – have either ceased to exist, have become shadows of their formers selves, or have laid or and/or fired their very best reporters, editors, photographers, and more.

So, out of the ashes rises the phoenix as they say and that phoenix is called the Escape Collective.

Along with Caley Fretz, who was the editor in chief of Velo News, a slew of these top-notch journalists have come together to offer up a product just for you – not for advertisers, not for clicks or page views – just for you.

This is airing on March 11th, and the full site should launch in the next 7-10 days.

Escape Collective isn’t free – which is exactly the point – since we all know you get what you pay for!

I know there have been other ideas to bring a more cohesive product to the marketplace, but given the stellar players – Caley, James Huang, and others whose names you will recognize from their past work – and the commitment they are making, I think it’s going to be a huge success.

I hope you agree.  Go to excapecollective.cc and take a look around.  Remember, if you work in a bike shop, you can join for $10 a year.  That’s less than a 6-pack of Great Lakes’ Dortmunder.  (For those who live, work, drink in NE Ohio… and beyond)

I’ll have a new episode of the show up next week.  And, in the meantime, I hope you stay safe, stay well and remember, there is always time for a ride.  Bye Bye

Since this is women’s history month, I had the honor of being interviewed by Traci Berry, the coordinator of Northwoods Trails in Arkansas for the Natural State Bikes Podcast.  We chatted for over an hour, and I really appreciated her thoughtful inquiry.

You can hear that episode as well as others highlighting some of the bike world’s most interesting female voices on Spotify – there is a link on our website or you can find it on Spotify at Natural State Bikes – women of biking.

This episode of our podcast features Carolyne Whelan, the editor in chief of Adventure Cyclist Magazine. Carolyne is a poet, a journalist, a cyclist, and has a super interesting background that led her to the position she occupies today.

And, Adventure Cyclist Magazine, unlike many other cycling publications, is not only still standing, but  is OUTstanding as it launches a new look for 2023.

After a break, we’ll meet two young people whose passion for safe roads for young people shows up in some very meaningful ways.  Daniela Gomez, who lives and works in Bogota, Columbia, and Dilshod Kholmatov, who is in Tajikistan, both represent the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety, a program that was launched by YOURS – Youth For Road Safety – a global organization that acts to make the world’s road safe for youth.

Seems that the problems of road safety are no different in Colombia, Tajikistan, or the U.S.   Too many young people are being injured or killed on the roads and there is an international initiative that is fervently working on the problems.

From the “claimingourspace.org” website that invites young people to get involved to the YOURS academy, which is offering free modules to get you started on the path to road safety advocacy, Daniela Gomez and Dilshod Kholmatov are two of the spokespeople who are making a difference in their respective countries.

In separate but very impactful ways, both Daniela and Dilshod bring their amazing backgrounds to the table to effect meaningful change in their countries. 

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.

My first guest is David Stanley and he is a friend Charles Pelkey, arguably one of the nicest guys to ever grace the pages of cycling journalism – along with a lot of other fine attributes.

Every once in a while, a really good guy gets a really bad deal… and in an effort to ease some of that burden, we’re going to see what we can do to help today.

If you ever participated in the Live Update Guy episodes – a mix of running commentary, a Monty-Python like atmosphere, and even some poetry – you will remember the witty and sometimes crazy, dialog between cycling journalists Patrick O’Grady and Charles Pelkey.  They were joined, on line, by others who added their commentary to the mix.

If you don’t know about Charles, he was a Democratic State Legislator in Wyoming – okay, the ONLY Democratic State Legislator in the state, an attorney, a stellar and well-respected cycling commentator and journalist, a breast cancer survivor, a father, husband, and just about the nicest guy you would ever want to meet.

Unbeknownst to me, he has been suffering from a series of vascular issues that have required several major surgeries and hours and hours of anesthesia and when I received a message from Patrick this week, I knew I needed to delve into the situation.

My second guest is a professor of history at UVA – in the engineering department.  And how those two come together is the topic of our conversation today as it relates to sustainability, mobility, and cycling.

Last week, I saw a Twitter post about the history of the automobile as it relates to pedestrians and how the “car culture” became as pervasive as it has, leading to so many deaths of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users – like cyclists.

The poster referenced a book by Dr. Peter Norton, an Assistant Professor of Engineering at UVA.  The book is titled Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City (MIT Press) and Peter teaches history of technology, social dimensions of engineering, research, and professional ethics.

In our conversation, we cover a lot of the history of how the automobile became so dominant that the streets are no longer safe for our children.

I think you’ll find that the intersection of history and engineering explains a lot about how we are finding ourselves in a culture where the car is king and we are less than mere peons.  And, please excuse a couple of places where Peter’s audio wasn’t perfect.

Happy New Year to you and I hope you had a great holiday season.

For our first show of 2023, I had the great good fortune to speak with one of cycling’s elite racers about his life, his family, his history in the sport, and his thoughts about the bicycle industry.

Wayne Stetina – in fact, the entire Stetina family – have had a stellar career in not only racing, but also incredibly valued input into what we ride and race today.

Wayne’s phenomenal memory of people, events, and topics will dazzle those who have an interest and curiosity into cycling – me included (and I thought I knew some stuff!)

For 37 years, Wayne was VP of North American Operations for Shimano. 

From coining the phrase “never miss a shift” way back when Shimano introduced its first indexed shifting package to his comment that his favorite bike was always his most recent bike, Wayne has seen the evolution of bicycles up close and personal.

I hope you enjoy this extended conversation.

I hope you have had a great holiday – Christmas, Hanukkah, Qwanza, Festivus – and even just staying in and enjoying some down time.  Certainly here in NE Ohio we had little choice with below zero temperatures, wicked winds, and blowing snow. 

That however did not prevent me from putting together a short podcast for this week.

Despite the weather, sometimes it’s really nice to be living in one of those States that is doing something so right for cycling; and Ohio is one of them. 

My first guest today is Jenn Hamelman.  She’s the program director for the USBRS – United State Bicycle Route System.  We’ve spoken with Jenn in the past and I wanted to wrap up 2022’s USBRS progress.

Turns out that Ohio has done some really cool things to make traveling through the State both safer and easier to follow.

And, the USBR system in just a few miles from crossing the 19,000 mile threshold.

Patrick Greenwood’s passion for Viet Nam and the events that happened in 1975 and beyond inspired his new book Sunrise in Saigon.

Patrick has taken his lifelong interest in the fall of Saigon and what happened in 1975 and incorporated it into a historical fictional story he wrote from what he knew growing up in the 70’s and what he experienced as he rode his bicycle through Viet Nam and on to Cambodia in 2012.

Growing up in the Virginia area in the 70’s, Patrick saw and lived through all the turmoil as soldiers came back, protests were staged, and Watergate and so many other political issues arose.

Patrick joined the military and met many of the soldiers who had advanced from corporal to higher up and heard their stories about the war – only he heard stories that weren’t published in the Washington Post or the NY Times.

Young Jack Kendall is the protagonist of the book, and he pondered many questions about what had happened.  As he grew older, he knew that he had to take this journey and that it would have consequences.

What Jack discovers, and what many people at any stage of their lives will come to regret, is not making the journey will come to haunt them.

The story follows Jack Kendall, who is struggling with a failing marriage and poor health, as he embarks on a journey to meet a beautiful Vietnamese woman as well as find out what happened to the Lost U.S. Embassy and the Catholic nuns who helped with “Operation Babylift.”

Over the past twelve plus years, we’ve spoken with many frame builders and today, we have t he privilege of speaking with an American builder who has been living and working in Italy for several decades.

Darren Crisp didn’t start out as a frame builder – in fact, he has a degree in architecture, decided he wasn’t such a great architect, and began building very exclusive stores for an Italian company.

But, there’s so much more to the story and I’ll let him tell it.

I caught up with Darren in between his usual shop-time and home-time, which are separate and the same.

My thanks to Darren Crisp for the great conversation today.

Clearly Darren is someone who thinks deeply about his work, is easily able to articulates his ideas, and has a broad set of interests. 

You can find out more at crisptitanium.com and follow him on social media.

Thank you for tuning in to TOC.  I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Darren.

This episode is dropping on the night before Hannukah, so for all who celebrate, eat a latke for me and enjoy the holiday. 

Next episode, we speak with Patrick Greenwood about his new novel, “Sunrise in Saigon.”  It’s a self-discovery story about Jack Kendall as he bicycles through Viet Nam.  In addition to the story, all the proceeds of the sales of the book go to a helmet program for the children of Viet Nam.  Win-win!

We’re rounding third and heading home – both to the holidays and to the New Year.

2022 has been – um – interesting to say the least.  We’ll take a look back at it after the New Year..

Today, we’re going to wrap-up our gift ideas for cyclists with Dan Cavallari.  Dan thought about it and, as you’ll hear, has come up with a short list of things NOT to give a cyclist!  I had to agree with him as these are items that cyclists tend to want to get for themselves or already have far too many in their stash.

Before we chat with Dan though, I want to introduce you to Madeline Bonsma-Fisher. Or more rightly, DR Madeline Bonsma-Fisher as the day before our conversation, she had her convocation to complete her PhD in physics.  It’s apparently similar to what we do here in the States to defend a thesis.

Her work is in data analytics in the field of bacteria and virus interaction. I found it fascinating and would have focused on that, but as you may be wondering, what might THAT have to do with cycling.  Well…

It seems that as a bicycle commuter for 10+ years and a member of Bike Ottawa, her data-oriented mind began musing about traffic and the stress of biking and walking and the inequities that occur when planning comes up against the reality of who lives where and the politics that often lead to inequities. She got hooked and pivoted to working on a project that has been funded by the University of Toronto Data Science Institute.

On the next episode of the show, you’ll meet titanium frame builder Darren Crisp.  He’s from Texas but has lived and worked in Italy for several decades.  His story is different from many of the builders we’ve spoken with over the years, and I think you’ll enjoy it.