Category Archives: Advocacy

E102 – Steph Routh: Willamette Pedestrian Coalition (now Oregon Walks)

November 5, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Building, Communication, History, The Law, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

This week Brock sat down with Steph Routh from the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition (now known as Oregon Walks) and the KBOO Bike Show (as well as many other projects & organizations) to discuss walking, bicycling, and relating to the “old guard” in our town about simpler transportation.

Aaron tells stories and gives tips on his experience with walking as a primary mode of transport.

Headline
BikePortland: pedal-powered phone charging for NYC’s public after disaster

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)

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E093 – Brock on KRFC Fort Collins

September 4, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Brewing, Camping, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

This week we feature the content from Fort Collins, Colorado’s KRFC program “Bikes & Beer” on which Brock was a guest while traveling through town on his summer tour. Host Zach Yendra (proprietor of Yendra Built, a custom fabrication business) invited Brock and several other bicycle tourists to join him in the studio to talk about bicycle travel. Also featured was Molly North, Fort Collins’ city bicycle program coordinator.

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E087 – d’Arcy Lunn: Global Poverty Project

July 23, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Camping, Communication, Kitchen, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

d’Arcy Lunn of the Global Poverty Project and the Live Below the Line challenge attempted a bicycle tour through the Pacific Northwest while living on the astounding figure of $1.50 USD per day. At the end of this trip he dropped into our studio to chat about his experience and his ongoing work to bring awareness around poverty issues worldwide.

His presentation hosted by Google on May 10, 2012 can be viewed here.

Bike Safe Portland wallet-sized accident reports are available now in Portland bicycle shops near you! Thanks to Josh Zisson from Bike Safe Boston and the Bike Safe Nation project.

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E078 – Elly Blue: Taking The Lane

May 21, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Communication, Travelsprocketpodcast

Elly Blue is the author of the blog Taking The Lane and several ‘zines, a bicycling culture advocate and a connector drawing the threads of simpler transportation together across the country on her Dinner & Bikes tour. She joins us today to chat about being out on the road with Dinner & Bikes, zines on bicycling, perspective on the Portland bicycle & transportation scene, gender and bikes, and more.

Brock’s 30th birthday party is coming up at Cartlandia: Best Bands Ever 2012, a free music festival!

Bike Safe Portland wallet-sized accident reports are available now in Portland bicycle shops near you! Thanks to Josh Zisson from Bike Safe Boston and the Bike Safe Nation project.

The Sprocket Podcast is now available on Stitcher smart radio! If you use the service, you can add us to your programming roster.

Headlines
UrbanVelo & The Telegraph: Graeme Obree plans to break 100mph on a homemade bike Sightline.org: 26 innovative ways to store your bike
BikePortland: after a fatal crash downtown, hundreds gather to honor Kathryn Rickson.
BikePortland: animation shows growth of Portland’s bike infrastructure over time TRANSPORTland: map of the Disaster Relief Trials route released!

Mailbag
Eric Schambion and Amaya Williams from WorldBiking.info: “Pedaling to your podcasts makes the miles fly by! Thanks for all the cycling information and inspiration.”

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E075 – Michael Andersen: Low-Car Life & Politics

April 30, 2012Advocacy, Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Communication, Doin' It, Downsizing, Gardening, Housing, Kitchen, Technology, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

We welcome our favorite relentlessly upbeat transit journalist Michael Andersen, chief dictator of the fine publication Portland Afoot, back to the show for more talk about Portland’s transit environment and economy and the joys of low-car life.

Brandon is freaked out by billionaire asteroid miners.

Bike Safe Portland wallet-sized accident reports are available now in Portland bicycle shops near you! Thanks to Josh Zisson from Bike Safe Boston and the Bike Safe Nation project.

The Sprocket Podcast is now available on Stitcher smart radio! If you use the service, you can add us to your programming roster.

Michael brings a lightning round quiz for simple life perspectives on nouns, but after a discussion on local transit politics.

Headlines
BikePortland: “Dutchtubs” are about to revolutionize Portland OR’s leisure scene
BikePortland: jogger asks about legality and courtesy of jogging in streets
Grid Chicago: Bees are coming! On bikes!
Taking the Lane: Elly Blue hosts a contest to discover the nation’s worst bicycling streets
BikePortland: circling Mt. Hood on a mountain bike just got easier
PSU Vanguard: Bus, MAX, streetcar, or taxi?

Mailbag
Jim says: “Check out this link to an upcoming indie film to be released regarding Tom Allen’s big tour and the decisions he had to make….:http://janapar.com/ Looking forward to your upcoming path less pedaled interview… and also appreciated your interview w Rebecca Lerner.”

Dan in MN on the foraging episode: “looking for free food was a must in my family when I was growing up. We caught fish, ate mushrooms, harvested wild rice, did maple sirup camp, picked hazelnuts, and ate ferns. We also made our own medicines. Nice to know that other people do this.”

JohnnyK in FL: “if you don’t want flats from glass just get Tire Liners; however you will never get a Fred to use these because God forbid they add weight to their bikes.” Also: “Ok just got back from the Dinner with Elly Blue and friends. I really enjoyed it and it was very much a learning experience. So now I cannot wait for your interview with her.”

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E064 – David Watson, Pete Stidman: Boston Advocacy

February 13, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Communication, Uncategorizedsprocketpodcast

In today’s episode we share two interviews with two Boston, MA based bicycling advocate organization leaders: David Watson of MassBike, a comprehensive statewide entity, and Pete Stidman of the Boston Cyclists Union, which focuses on the city itself. Josh Zisson of Bike Safe Bostonmade the connection with MassBike and Rob Sadowsky of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in Portland, OR suggested the BCU; many thanks to both for more quality interviews! We’ll have one more Boston interview next week while Brock is in Europe, while Brandon and Aaron Flores will host an interview with Martina from Clever Cycles the week after.

We also mentioned the quick sale of all positions in this year’s Cycle Oregon week ride – perhaps some of you will have the opportunity to join in for next year’s event!

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E062 – Katie Proctor: Kidical Mass

January 30, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Communication, Familysprocketpodcast

Katie Proctor of the Portland Kidical Mass tells us about bicycling with children and how to begin changing transportation culture by having fun with how we get around. It includes hot chocolate…

Also: swrve jeans, waterfalls and moss, crosscountry skiing,the Rick Emerson Show ends, and shit cyclists say

Headlines
RT from Michael Andersen: “The chained TriMet buses look like children excessively bundled up by well meaning yet overzealous parents”exm.nr/zRCcsz
Cycle Wild: new schedule for Portland area bicycle camping in 2012 is posted! go camping.
Listener Blayne in BC builds his own bookshelf instead of buying one – here’s how
BikePortland: City of Sherwood bans bicycles around “public places,” then amends law amidst outcry
BikePortland: SoupCycle reaches milestone 50,000th delivery

Mailbag
Patrick in Davis CA: “As I was watching the Heat vs Bulls play today on tv, the commentators mentioned that due to the Miami marathon Lebron biked to work and that he sponsors a biking charity. They showed his bike, embossed with his nickname “King James”, kinda cool. I remember back in the era of “Neon Deon” that Deon Sanders would bike to games when he played for the Reds. Wonder how many other athletes bike to work? Have a good show, Pav.”

Carl in CA: “I have been following this couple for a while. They are Raw Vegan evangelist Freelee Love ( Raw Fit Bitch) and Harley Johnstone (Durian Rider ). They live in Australia where they follow their passion of Raw Vegan eating, cycling and running. They are very adamant about their passions and have been loading the inter webs with informative and funny videos for a while now.” Also: “Q. Do young people really go to Portland to retire?”

Donations: JohnnyK in FL, Blayne from BC. thanks folks!

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E059 – Josh Zisson: Bike Safe Boston

January 9, 2012Advocacy, Bicycling, Communication, Gardening, The Lawsprocketpodcast

This week, in lieu of Dr. Jeff’s scheduled appearance, we present an interview Brock taped with bike lawyer Josh Zisson from Boston, MA during his December travels. Josh has been working on bicycle law awareness and connecting bicyclists with resources for legal problems and clear presentation of state bicycle laws across the country. He was also recently featured in an article from Fast Company. And don’t worry, Dr. Jeff will be back in February once Brandon is done celebrating his birthday!

We discuss: bike lawyers, bicycling improvements in Boston, bike czar Nicole Freedman, perceptions and visibility, TravellingTwo & the dutch perspective, LA’s bicycle harassment law, confrontations, taking the lane, Whale’s Tale Pale Ale from Nantucket, Josh’s Bicycle Accident Reportcards, the Idaho Stop Law, Josh writes about “Putting Your Foot Down,” hopes for the future of bicycling in Boston, the Hubway bike share program, low income neighborhoods and transportation options, Brock’s take on Boston and its liquor laws, Portland: a paradise for bicyclists?, the armored car incident, parking meters and bike politics, Boston Bikes, Fred Armisen’s fear of bicyclilng, rail crossings that might be more bike-friendly, thePrince Spaghetti Factory, the shocking state of state laws, a catalyst for advocacy, bike boxes, knowledge leads to possibilities, Tim Jaques and the mispronunciation of his name, reflective Bike Safe Boston T-Shirts to benefit advocate groups, and the possibility of a burgeoning bicycle law network to protect you from unconscionable (or “scumbag”) lawyers.

Headlines
via SoupCycle: Educate yourself about which foods to definitely buy organic and which aren’t as bad.
via Ethan from PedalPower: bicycle composting tumbler helps you aerate your food scraps for the garden
via Michael Andersen: experimenting with packless travel!
via Carl in CA: many youngsters are finding driving to be less appealling

Mailbag
JohnnyK says “I really love coffee. I probably drink more coffee than you guys drink alcohol.”

Chris in Arcata says: “I’m in Arcata, CA. Thank you for a podacst full of great fun, and info. Your podcast, and portland in general provide me constant inspiration to advocate bike issues in Arcata. I ride a sidewinder trike cycle which gets lots of attention in town. I also am a kinetic grand champion racer. Most well known as the “peace peddler”, and more recently the “sprocket brothers-private eyes” solving a case on the course. With a awesome portland based pit crew ! I have other bikes as well. My bicycle base is for fun, excersice, utilitarian uses. So a good variety of uses. Recently have seen two cargo bikes in town. Spoke to the woman on one yesterday, and she always has her child in the cargo box. It looks adorable, and practical. She said she got the cargo bike used in portland. I recently got the little package ear flap cap. So rest assured portland has it’s presence on the beautiful northern CA coast.” Thanks for the donation Chris!

Patrick in Davis CA says: “received the cool Sprocket Podcast stickers. I put one on my pepper peddler coffee box and one on work point of sale computer. Hope you get more UC Davis listeners in the coming new year. Really enjoyed the interview and learned new things about my coffee.” Also, thanks for the Donation!

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Stickers are now available!

December 16, 2011Advocacy, Bicycling, Businesssprocketpodcast

Just in time – perhaps a tad late for Christmas, but for personal holiday of the heart, we’ve received our first run of bike-sized stickers from Bike Punk and want to make them available to you if you want one. Here’s what the stickers look like (they are about 4 inches in width):

Here’s the deal: we’d like to send these to anyone who wants them for a minimal donation. The stickers cost about 50 cents to make, these days a stamp is about 50 cents, and PayPal’s fees are about 30 cents plus a small cut of the donation amount. So if you can send us a donation of $1.50 we can send you one sticker; add another 50 cents for each additional sticker you would like sent to you. Remember to specify which color scheme (black background or white background) and amounts you wish for, and above all, include your address so we know where to send your sticker!

Portland residents can message us and arrange cash for the stickers at just 50 cents each, and Brock or Brandon might be able to deliver them personally! Or say hello if you see us in public and ask if we have some on us.

Bike Punk prints on USA-made vinyl with eco-conscious ink using renewable energy and a really neat printer! They also have a delightful assortment of their own sticker designs, among other things.

Thanks, and happy holidays!

Brock + Brandon

E044 – Laura Moulton: Street Books

September 27, 2011Advocacy, Bicycling, Cargo, Communication, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

This week we speak with Laura Moulton, most recently recognized for her work in launching the Street Books project, a mobile library on a cargo trike that lends books to people living outside in downtown Portland, Oregon. Aaron Flores from Team Sincerity fills in as co-host in Brandon’s absence.

We discuss: inspiration, urban shelter, park blocks & Skidmore Fountain, MercyCorps, when and where, Haley Tricycles, forming culture around the library, library cards for patrons, language and blurring the lines between people, a false dichotomy between deep thought and homelessness,Second Glance Books, Sue Zalokar assists, connections with Street Roots, other projects, married to Benjamin Parzybok who authored “Couch”, working on her own novel. Brock & Aaron also discuss handcarts, blues legend Billy Bob Thornton, long bicycle rides, and the last Hillstomp show ever.

Headlines
EcoVelo via Logan: apparently bicycling is good for both your body and your anger issues
Oregonian: Joseph Rose edits his helmet cam footage to demonstrate Oregon bike lane law
BikePortland: a Hood River, OR company designs a “rainfish” device to keep bicyclists dry Bicycling Magazine: is a cargo bike the coolest bike ever made? probably so.
Portlandize: Dave Feucht writes about a vacation to the beach by bus and proves it can be fun BePortland: mobile music festival happens on the Portland Streetcar

Mailbag
Adele calls in to share her bus story (audio) Gus shares an interesting blog post about a homebrew club in CA, disagrees w/ point #5:

your friends may not actually tell you what they really think about your beer.

Blayne in BC successfully completed the Yukon tour, and may start a food podcast.

Also liked the crater lake tour stories and can’t imagine bicycling like that with the flu.
iTunes reviews – Carl and “Freedivers_33”