Alison Wiley blogs at Diamond Cut Life on simpler living for better quality of life; we can’t get enough of her common sense advice on matters like cold winter house heating, living like a salmon for an epic life, and using transit to break away on your vacation, and her recent discovery of ethical clothing company 541 Threads inspired her to get back in touch for another show. Plus: we swear less when we talk to her!
Bryan Blanc is a podcast listener who is studying transportation at Portland State University and collaborating on the ORcycle mobile phone app that aims to collect data for the purpose of improving our local infrastructure (BikePortland article here). We also talk about his experiences in Connecticut & Oregon on both sides of the transportation choice he made when he sold his car!
Jeff Everett (the Jeff Everett) is a relatively new Portland resident, but he’s been coordinating bike fun for years. We talk about his early life in the southern US states, the bicycling scene in St. Louis, Missouri, and his move to Spokane, Washington where he established the long-running FBC, a series of rides at night leading from bar to bar, and through some shenanigans. Jeff also fearlessly disassembled our sound board before the show to fix an issue, like a champ.
Check out the great short form documentary about Spokane’s FBC, Keep It Simple, on Vimeo.
We ended up capturing some conversation after our interview with Rachael Pecore-Valdez that seemed interesting enough to share; we talked about Rachael’s old trusty Huffy, and a little about the Columbia River & its scenic areas.
Rachael Pecore-Valdez is a storyteller and educator from the Wolf OR-7 Expedition, a venture of several curious adventurers to follow the path of a radio collared wolf through eastern Oregon and into northern California, where it became the first documented free-roaming wolf there in about 90 years. She tells us about some details of the project and its subject, the team’s use of cyclocross bikes during its travels, and learning about different kinds of people on all sides of the wolf conservation issue by meeting them in person. Thanks to Jonathan at BikePortland for turning us on to this story last spring!
Rachael also wants to thank Methow Cycle & Sport in Winthrop, WA for their assistance in making their Kona bikes a reality for the expedition!
We had such a good time with Daniel Harkins & Nathan Jones that we asked them to stay and hang out while we taped updates on our personal lives! Also featured: Anna, Aaron, & Brock.
Daniel Harkins, as the muscle of Team Sincerity, is a certifiable badass due to his many feats of strength. He is the only person we’ve met who once commuted 65 miles in the snow by bike, has completed many adventurous bicycle tours with a bit of stealth camping, and is also a member of the National Guard. He tells us what it takes to be awesome no matter where you are.
We’re also joined by another certifiable badass who’s no stranger to feats of strength himself: Nathan Jones of Portland bicycle shop Ride Yr Bike and the TransAm Bike Race.
A great resource for people on bikes in Oregon is Ride Oregon Ride.
Jim in NY assures us he likes public transit as much as we do, but loves not waiting for stalled trains in the subway tunnel when he can be riding his folding bike. Brock adds a link to smarter fare math in NYC.
Hey there folks! So we promised you an episode, then we tried to record it and the forces of nature knocked out the power to our studio and sucked our first attempt into the abyss. Fortunately, I have all of this interview audio from my visit to the TriMet Type 5 rail car preview lying around, and I’d been meaning to get it out to you anyways. So accept this rough sketch of a show as a token of our appreciation for you, the listener! We’ll be back next week with the elements on our side. Until then, cheers! – Brock
Note: a portion of this week’s recording was lost to technical problems; the break in recording is signified by a static sound effect, and we reference the lost conversation occasionally from then on. Our apologies, and we’ve ordered some new equipment to mitigate these sorts of problems in the future. Thanks for your patience & understanding!
Also: Brock dressed as a tiger for Halloween and appreciates sewing; Aaron does a little more rain cape testing.
FILE – In this image provided by the Willamette Week newspaper, and taken Oct. 2, 2010 in Portland, Ore, U.S. Rep. David Wu is seen in a tiger costume. The Oregon congressman says that he accepted prescription drugs from a campaign contributor last October, around the time when members of his staff complained of his erratic behavior. On Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011, Wu said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that it was “unprofessional and inappropriate” for him to send pictures of himself wearing a tiger costume to staff members. Wu said the photos were taken while he was “joshing around” with his children in October just before Halloween. (AP Photo/Willamette Week) MANDATORY CREDIT
Mark S. has the Portland rain jacket from Showers Pass, loves it, and tells Aaron to splurge. He also shares his experience with an (almost) vegan bacon cheeseburger made by a young Orthodox Jewish lady.
Dan in MN shares some bicycle camping photos. (and, pertinent to last week’s musing, Shawn Granton does know about him, as evidenced by a tumblr trail.)
Jeremy from Transit Matters shares his thoughts on the finger, Aaron’s legal patch, and sharrows; also recommends use of mirrors for communication while riding.
Orfos Flares are the next big thing in bicycle lighting, says Pete Clyde. Kickstarter in progress, based out of Seattle and designed for wet climates.
JohnnyK shares Nauticraft out of Michigan, makers of pedal-powered watercraft!
Doug says: “OK, that was weird. There was a 60 sec segment during this podcast where Dan from Minnesota, Shawn Granton, and Garrison Keillor were all mentioned. What’s weird about that? I’ve met all three of them!”
Jim in NY is riding to work! “Ride on rain this morning. Breaking in my new commute to work less #mta more pedaling @SprocketPodcast a #dahon(pictures)”
Timo & Esther are established figures in the Portland transportation scene, Timo as a part of the Portland Bureau of Transportation & Esther with Sunday Parkways events. We chat with them about how bicycling (and breakfast on the bridges) brought them together, a bikey wedding near Silverton, OR, and a honeymoon of epic proportions through southern Europe!
Zoe is our newest monthly supporter (and also a vocal one)! Thanks! JohnnyK has been donating forever and somehow never made it into the credits. Bad, Brock, bad!
Chris in Chico climbs 3000 feet at Lassen Volcanic National Park’s car free day, and Meets His Maker at a Paul Components event.
Dan Christensen shares this photo of a man’s recumbent bike/inflatable raft combo! The website Adventures of Greg is a human powered adventure log!
Dan in MN looks pretty damn awesome in his raingear.
