From basements & offices to a 1967 Airstream trailer, and to the virtual online rooms in which they currently record, The Sprocket Podcast has brought well-rounded discussions on important topics to the fray, while never taking themselves too seriously. Put another way, they serve up snark and heart in equal portions, with a core of sincerity.
Aaron Flores (cohost)
Once a newbie to PDX, Aaron has made a place for himself and “will probably die here… What? I’m just saying I’m not going to move away.” His formative years were spent in the rural lowlands of south-east Michigan where he did things like can vegetables, pick apples, climb trees, and eat fried baloney. He’s lived many different places and enjoyed learning various skills since then. He has many stories about the colorful places and people in his long life. You can find him riding in PDX to nowhere in particular, his favorite destination.
Guthrie Straw (cohost)
Guthrie is an alternative transit advocate living in Portland, Oregon. When not working tirelessly on the Sprocket Podcast, he enjoys pursuing his goal of exploring every single marked bicycle path in the Portland Metro area (and he will get there one day!!!). He can often be seen at Pedalpalooza events, or meandering off to the coast and nearby mountain ranges on his bike. Having been in the saddle since a young age, he understands the need to nurture the ambitions of future cyclists, and that there really is no “right” way to bike, as long as your fulfilled in what you’re doing. Guthrie runs and maintains PedalDream.com, a website devoted to inspiring people to leave the car at home, and enjoy travel in the saddle. In the future, Guthrie hopes to cycle from the tip of Alaska to Patagonia, but until then he is doing his best to help people discover the joy and freedom of letting a bike into their lives.
Armando Luna (cohost)
Armando is a midwest transplant to the PNW since 1996 when he fell in love with the bikey city of Portland. Since then he has been an avid bicycle commuter and involved in many bicycle activities. He’s led such Pedalpalooza rides as the Twin Peaks Ride, the Bike Shop Ride and the *Half Century Ride. He’s also volunteered with such advocacy organizations as BikeLoud, The Street Trust, Bike Index and the Northwest Trail Alliance. You can keep up with his silliness on Instagram, @dudeluna.
Joan Petit (cohost)
Joan grew up in the northeast and then spent many impressionable years in North Carolina, for college and grad school, and a stint working in outdoor recreation as a raft guide and whitewater kayak instructor. She wrangled a job in Cairo, Egypt for a few years before moving to Portland in 2009. She likes hanging out with her kids, dog, cats, houseplants, books, and bikes. Someday she’ll do a proper bike tour. Someday.
Brock Dittus (founder, producer, occasional cohost)
He’s been a Pacific Northwest resident for his entire life, with the last decade spent in Portland, Oregon. He enjoys bicycling, camping, and exploring in the outdoors, and when it’s raining he prefers coffee, books, and talk radio. He’s had a passion for long-distance bicycle touring since his first outing with his wife in 2008, and is always interested in innovative solutions to car-free living while at home in the city. Music is a constant companion in his life, and it’s always nice to have vinyl records, an iPod, or a guitar on hand to fuel that fire; he’s also bassist and vocalist for Portland americana band Lumberjack. He’s been glad to be your host on The Sprocket since 2010. Drop a line, won’t you? thesprocketpodcast [at] gmail [dot] com
Brandon Rhodes (cohost emeritus)
He’s an eighth-generation Oregonian and lifelong bicyclist. Over the years, he’s dabbled in the usual Portlander hobbies: gardening, bicycle commuting, homebrewing, and relentless bookworming. His professional training is in environmental studies, politics, and theology, although he’s rarely figured out how to pay the bills with any of those. He helmed the bicycle-based produce delivery service Rolling Oasis Grocers, and wrote his doctoral dissertation on how faith communities can relocalize to the neighborhood and human scale. More at BDRhodes.com.