Category Archives: Business

E115 – Sky Boyer: Velo Cult

February 4, 2013Beer, Bicycling, Building, Business, Communication, Mountain Biking, Technology, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

photo by beervanabuzz.com

Sky Boyer is the genius behind Portland’s unique bicycle shop and tavern, Velo Cult, a common space that is open late for business and amenable to events and impromptu gatherings. He welcomed us into the seemingly unending space in their Hollywood district location to chat about his philosophy on bicycles and business. We discuss: weddings, the “man-cave” beginnings of the shop, moving to Portland and becoming a cultural epicenter, touring (particularly off-road), his experience in racing, the dearth of mountain bike access in Portland, the region’s unique climate, San Diego’s negative aspects, the danger and excitement of the velodrome, the future of Velo Cult, and the artistic side of a talented employee.

A little more audio of our conversation with Sky can be heard here.

Brock & Aaron also discuss drunk texts, itunes, Steph & Ed’s move by bike, andGigantic Brewing.

Headlines
fastcodesign.com via Brandon: The Growler Bike is designed around beer transport

Mail
JohnnyK comments on stickers and notes that a cargo bucket is a good place to display them. Does the bucket rattle, and is it stable? (great directions here)
and lastly, on Piscataquis Village: Reminds him of St. Petersburg FL’s pre-colonial section and would be a “utopia”, and asks: Wouldn’t connected buildings increase the fire hazard?

Tracy Gayton responds that buildings would need to be built meeting a certain level of fire resistance. Additionally he adds that a donor was inspired to pledge to the project. As a postscript, he corrects Aaron on Maine counties.

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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E113 – Tracy Gayton: Piscataquis Village

January 22, 2013Bicycling, Brewing, Building, Business, Cargo, Communication, Downsizing, History, Housing, Kitchen, Technology, Transit, Travel, Urban Design, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Piscataquis Village will be a European-styled, carless development in the US state of Maine, and the vision of Tracy Gayton who joins us for this show. Tracy envisions a city with six key elements: small plazas, really narrow streets, attached buildings, arcaded sidewalks, interior courtyards and streets free from car traffic. After it caught our attention, he was kind enough to supply us with a full rundown on how it might look. [piscataquisvillage.org] We also discuss comparisons to the Bicycle City idea, appealing to misanthropes, and how people might get to and from the village, as well as governmental red tape, bad weather, and Tracy’s own downsized life after retirement.

Mentioned resources:
Tracy’s TEDx talk
The Carfree Design Manual & carfree.com
The Small Streets blog, smallstreets.com

Brock & Aaron discuss ice on the roads, ice in Brock’s beard, the months-long soaking of socks, Aaron’s ditching of his cell phone, and Brock & Brandon’s utilization of the supertrailer.

Smartwool socks hold up to a six month soak, though the wool falls out

Brock grows an ice beard over a morning commute

Mail
JohnnyK asks us where to put a sticker on a bicycle, and says that in Jacksonville a fellow cyclist is like “finding water in a desert.” This makes the cycling traffic problems of Portland somewhat niche.

Darren says “thanks” for the song Brock wrote about his cycling journey, and adds:
“I have been meaning to update my blog, write a closing post and list the highs and lows of the journey, but more importantly, sharing what I learnt whilst in the road. I think the song has just inspired me to do so.”
If you’d like a copy of the song, you can find it here.

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E112 – Mike & Sonja Brough: bIKE pUNK

January 14, 2013Bicycling, Business, Communication, Family, Housingsprocketpodcast

Bike Punk is a screen printing company in Portland, Oregon specializing in bicycle-themed stickers and clothing using eco-friendly materials. Sonja & Mike join us to describe their business and their experiences in the city’s bicycle culture. Check outbikepunk.com for a sampling of their wares.

Headlines
The Atlantic Cities: San Francisco promotes the use of private spaces for public rest
Urban Adventure League: Shawn Granton rides unpaved roads in the dirty SE
BikePortland.org: Man arrested after pepper spraying riders on Sauvie Island
BikePortland.org: “bike rage” experienced during commute on Hawthorne Bridge

Mail
This week’s mail brought the triumphant return of JohnnyK, frequent commenter and loyal listener! He loved Dinner & Bikes, and cautions us that vegans eat vegetables. Also, happy birthday, Mr. K!

Also, our webhost Colin is planning to do some site maintenance that should fix our mobile issues with streaming and iPhone problems.

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E111 – Joe Biel: Microcosm Publishing & more

January 7, 2013Advocacy, Bicycling, Business, Cargo, Communication, Kitchen, Technology, The Law, Travelsprocketpodcast

Joe Biel is a long-time notable Portland, Oregon resident with many distinctions, including the founding of Microcosm Publishing, Cantankerous Titles, his documentary film production, the Dinner & Bikes tours, and experience in the Critical Mass movement in the city. He stopped by the studios today on a Tom’s Cargo Bikes flatbed frontloader bike to discuss these things and much more.

Mail
Keith thanks us for the podcasts and specifically recognizes Darren Sinn and our interview with him as being enjoyable.

Steve in WY: “don’t know if you’ve seen this editorial from one of the worlds most celebrated car nuts, but he gives account of cycling and calls out cyclist for being too unfriendly. I argee with all his points.” Bike Snob also mentioned this article in a recent post, and offers reasons why other cyclists might not wave to you.

Another Steve mentions that our podcast feed is giving his podcatcher trouble. We’re aware, and trying to get things working smoothly.

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E107 – News Roundtable & Catching Up

December 10, 2012Advocacy, Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Building, Business, Communication, Downsizing, Housing, Mountain Biking, Technology, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Brock & Aaron hold down the proverbial fort on their own this week in an episode dedicated to clearing the desk of all the cool stuff they’ve learned about in the last month. We start out with talk about tux mayhem, train etiquette, and Indiegogo perks still to come! We drank Moxie & Bridgeport Ebenezer Ale.

My Bike Won’t Fit Here!
Aaron introduces a new segment this week. Pictures to be posted here when possible – check back. This week’s egregious bike parking: Fred Meyer! This is a photo from the Portland location at SE 82nd Avenue & Foster Road. Thanks to listener David, who works for the corporation, for a timely response to this observation! We’ll see what changes in the future.

Headlines
BikePortland news roundup: Piscataquis Village Project plans to create a carless “micropolis”
BikePortland: a farmer in the Portland region swaps his truck for a cargo bike
BBC News via Brandon: the Uruguayan president is living meager, but happy!
The Oregonian: speeding car crashes into Sunset TC – from above
Rivendell Bicycle Works: MUSA Splats cover ordinary shoes for wet weather
The Atlantic Cities: media hosts an ecology dustup between cars & transit
BikePortland: Tom LaBonty heads to Texas to teach cargo bike building
Lovely Bicycle: When do we need a cargo bike?
Cycle Wild: Petition asks for decent treatment of self-propelled NPS guests
Happy, Simply: former show guest d’Arcy Lunn has a new simple living project
No Tech via Logan: now you can UN-knit your wool with a bicycle
BikePortland: Chris Sanderson not allowed to recycle metal by bike
Fast Co. Design: designer proposes an aerial tram over Austin

Mailbag
David Heddy mentions a couple touring the Great Divide on a tandem

Eric Krimmel wrote us about his new ebook “The Cross Country Adventures of the Blue Highways Cycling Elite,” a true story of three friends who embark on an 4200 mile bicycle trip across the USA, from Anacortes, Washington to Bar Harbor, Maine. It’s available on iTunes, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Dan in MN recommends Nick Mason of the League of American Bicyclists as an interview. Also, Dan just moved into his own tiny house that he built himself!

Kevin from L.A. donates generously and says he can hook us up with Tall Bike Bobby.

Thanks to Stacy from A Simple Six for recommending our show on Twitter.

Dodson gets in touch about interviewing Brek Boughton (blogger and adventurer) from Cycling Into The Dark: http://cyclingintothedark.com

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E100 – Brock & Brandon’s Transit Adventure

October 23, 2012Adventure, Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Building, Business, Car Sharing, Communication, History, Technology, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

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.

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E097 – Kiel Johnson: Go By Bike

October 1, 2012Bicycling, Business, Cargo, Technology, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

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.

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E096 – Portland Afoot Crossover Episode!

September 24, 2012Bicycling, Business, Camping, Car Sharing, Cargo, Communication, Family, History, Housing, Technology, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Michael & Lily from Portland Afoot‘s monthly podcast join us to create a powerful new fusion of transportation goodness!

0:00-42:00 Portand Afoot segment

News
1) No auto parking at many new apartments
2) Portland Afoot’s sponsor this month: Streetcar Mobile Music Fest
Friday, Oct. 5 from 6-10 p.m. on the newly opened eastside (CL) loop. Afterparty at Union/Pine (6th and Pine) has food cart food & more live music.
3) Telecommuting rises in popularity with the younger set

Michael’s Transit Tip of the Month

Lily’s TriMet Tweets

Only On The Bus
Kali did not realize quite how green she appears to the outside world.

And of course, the Oakland Rap video mentioned can be found at http://pdx.be/OaklandRapVideo

42:00-1:04:00 The Sprocket Podcast segment

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, former show guests Darren and Logan. See the details here!

Headlines
• Taking the Lane: the internet explodes about Emily Finch’s radical de-motorization
• Bike Trailer Blog: Man tows 24 foot mast & boom to a 20 foot sailboat 30 miles away. By bike.
• DCist: a salute to the triathlete who rode a Capital Bikeshare bike 26.1 miles

Mailbag
Jack (@TriBikeCommuter) comments on the price of RVs and Brock’s tendency to take over shows he guests on.

Darren says: “My tour is over and cannot wait to hear a humorous song about it. Thanks for entertaining me whilst I was riding across NZ the UK and Europe guys!”

Keith reminisces about meeting Brock in Walla Walla, WA

Joe points out mymobilemedicine.com

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E066 – Martina Fahrner: Clever Cycles

February 27, 2012Bicycling, Business, Cargo, Communication, Family, Technologysprocketpodcast

With Brock in Germany, The Sprocket invites regular guest-host Aaron Flores to cover and man the boards. You could say he’s on his way to becoming their Steve Martin.

This episode’s guest is Martina Fahrner from Clever Cycles. We talk of the gender-divide within in the cycling industry (how it’s getting better and where it still needs to grow), how bicycles can be a utilitarian and not just a recreational instrument for life without a car and life with children, and we congratulate Aaron for staying sober while behind the steering wheel of the podcast.