Monthly Archives: October 2012

E101 – Bill Lascher: Amtrak Stories



Bill Lascher is a journalist preparing a book on Melville Jacoby, the first Time magazine reporter killed on duty, and producer of the fabulous Thinkingest Podcast which examines our over-examining tendencies.  Today he joins us to share some of his stories of travel by train on the United States’ passenger rail service Amtrak.

After we concluded the show, there was so much to discuss that we kept on talking while the tape kept running.  More conversation with Bill Lascher here!

Portland Afoot just published some more kind words about our crossover episode a few weeks back!  Thanks as always to Michael, Lily and their crew for the fantastic work they do around low-car mobility and culture.

Also, The Sprocket Podcast concludes its Indiegogo fundraising campaign to underwrite the next season of the show during a year with thin budgets!  We have offered many personalized rewards to our backers, most recently Bryan (AKA Orange), Steve, Russ & Laura, and Jeremy!  Thanks to all of our donors for their generous support!  See the details here!

Headlines
No Tech Magazine via Logan: Bicycle Trailer with Solar Panel Charges Electric Bicycle
Peak Moment TV via Logan: Can Pedals Power the World?
BikePortland: Portland area resident rides every single road in the entire region

Mailbag
Steve laments the lack of an RSS button on the website.  We fix it!
Another Steve supports our fundraising effort and buys us new headphones!
Jeremy looks forward to his transit ride with the hosts when he visits Portland.
Bryan (AKA Orange) simply says: “Best. Podcast. Ever.”
Carl visits New England and likes the bikey things he sees there.

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)


E100 – Brock & Brandon’s Transit Adventure



Brock & Brandon celebrate 100 episodes of the Sprocket Podcast by traversing the city for hours using every mode of transport they can get into, including TriMet, the Portland Streetcar, the Portland Aerial Tram, and of course Car2Go.  Here’s a “lite” version of the 5 hours of audio we taped during the adventure.

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)


E099 – Chris Sanderson: Builder By Bike (with Joshua DeParrie)



Chris Sanderson is the proprietor of Builder By Bike, a full service construction business operated out of a bicycle trailer.  We discuss this gargantuan feat with him and bring former guest Joshua DeParrie of Plumbing By Bike in to comment on the details of heavy duty work on two (or more) human-powered wheels.

Joshua DeParrie’s sexy bike commercial can be seen here.

Also, The Sprocket Podcast continues its Indiegogo fundraising campaign to underwrite the next season of the show during a year with thin budgets.  We will be offering many personalized rewards to our backers!  Thanks to our donor Bill this week, and we look forward to an exciting year ahead.  See the details here!

Headlines
BikePortland: Spinlister makes peer-to-peer bike sharing a reality in many cities
BikePortland: builder Tom LaBonty introduces the Hydrofiets to Portland
Bicycle Touring Pro: Darren Alff gets more than he bargained for on Romanian roads

Mailbag
Aaron “The Professor” LaVanchy from Fort Collins gives the Sprocket some love with a strategic sticker placement: on the Bixby Bridge in Big Sur.  We’ll be talking to him again later this fall!

And Jeremy from Critical Transit calls in about civility on the roads.

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)


E098 – Tammy Strobel & Logan Smith: Rural Happiness



Tammy Strobel, author of You Can Buy Happiness (And It’s Cheap) and editor of the blog RowdyKittens.com, and Logan Smith join us to speak about the book’s release, downsizing and simplicity, and living without a motor vehicle in rural northern California.

Also, The Sprocket Podcast continues its Indiegogo fundraising campaign to underwrite the next season of the show during a year with thin budgets.  We will be offering many personalized rewards to our backers!  Thanks to this week’s donors: Alison (fly on the wall), Bill (no perk, just $50 generous!).  See the details here!

Mailbag
Dan in MN says: “I will miss Mr. Roads [sic] four letter wording. :)”

From Deanna:
“I am planning a Fixie World Tour-Riding a fixed geared bicycle over 30,000 miles, 6 continents, and taking under 2 years to create a documentary and photo book. Check out my kickstarter page!
also the blog: http://fixieworldtour.blogspot.com/p/past-ventures.html”

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)


E097 – Kiel Johnson: Go By Bike



An interview with BTA Alice Award winner, Bike Train superstar and bike shopentrepreneur Kiel Johnson!

Also, The Sprocket Podcast continues its Indiegogo fundraising campaign to underwrite the next season of the show during a year with thin budgets.  We will be offering many personalized rewards to our backers!  Thanks to this week’s donors: Anonymous, Alexis.  See the details here!

Headlines
Steven Can Plan: American road signs use altogether too much text
Slate.com: Why You Hate Cyclists
BikePortland: How one downtown intersection is working – for everyone!

Mailbag
Michael Andersen submits info from Chris Smith on last week’s topics:
• NW (north of burnside) still does not have meters/permits other than event-day permit system for soccer games. No paid parking yet (although it’s on the Mayor’s bucket list)
Open Plans is doing a mobile app (kickstarter funded) for a trip planner. That would probably be the place to get an option put in for whether or not to include the 4 minute buffer [that TriMet automatically assumes when you’re using its trip planner]
• I tried to make a big push for telecommuting part of the portland plan, but didn’t get a lot of enthusiasm. The key policy piece however is probably the City’s broadband plan which actually got done a few months before the Portland Plan. The other piece would be a “lead by example” effort by the City and other governments.
Transit Surfer 🙂 (but you can also bookmark pages on the mobile version of Transit Tracker)”

Also, we mention the Bill O’Reilly freakout video of legend and lore.

Fine Print
email us: thesprocketpodcast@gmail.com
twitter: @SprocketPodcast
phone in or SMS: 503-847-9774
web: http://thesprocketpodcast.com
music: Ryan J. Lane (intro & outro) & Hurtbird (headlines)