Category Archives: Family

E134 – The Blounts Move to Portland

June 17, 2013Bicycling, Car Sharing, Communication, Downsizing, Family, Housing, Kitchen, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Joshua & Melissa Blount are recent transplants to Portland (and Cascadia) who are simplifying their daily rhythms of life and giving low-car life a fair shake. We talk about their transition and their experiences with the new paradigm. Joshua also podcasts atinternetpodcasts.com with three culture-related shows and documents their Portland move at joshplusmelissa.com with a video blog.

Melissa wanted to inform our listeners of an opportunity to support a local non-profit through a bicycle tour this summer. In July ten riders will pedal from Portland to Crater Lake and back to raise funds for The Cupcake Girls as part of the Sweet Ride Tour. Riders are attempting raise $10,000 to cover their costs and fund operations for The Cupcake Girls for six months. The Cupcake Girls bring resources, empowerment, and delicious cupcakes to men and women in the local adult entertainment industry. All donations are tax deductible.

Brock & Aaron also discuss moving by bike and a myriad of pedalpalooza rides, with shouts out to listeners we met on the rides: Max, Vince, Sarah, and Josh!

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Logan references Business Insider’s article on a novice bicyclist’s experience with Citi Bike share system in NYC; he also recommends Darn Tough Socks out of Vermont and the Find Friends app for meeting up with friends out in the field.

Derek tells us about SwapServe, “a place where people can sign up to volunteer with local non-profits and get free stuff from local businesses as a thank you.” He also offers to do a handstand.

Conservative listener Alisa writes in as requested to detail her take on our coverage of those from differing political backgrounds. (for those interested, her full letter is here)

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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E133 – Joe Doebele: Joe Bike

June 10, 2013Bicycling, Building, Business, Cargo, Communication, Family, Racingsprocketpodcast

Joe Doebele is the owner of Joe Bike, a city bicycle shop in SE Portland’s Hawthorne disctrict. We talk about his experiences with cargo bikes, bike apparel and his new clothing store, the challenges of business, and a little bit on cyclocross racing.

Brock & Aaron also discuss Aaron’s trip to Hawaii, snakes on a plane, The World Domination Summit & breaking a float chain record, Aaron’s trip to Battle Ground Lake and the unfortunate driver that wedged a car into the I-205 bike path, Brock’s new apartment, and the price of Pabst in New York. (thanks to Welcome To That Whole Thing for the Pabst story)

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Dion is doing a charity fundraiser ride for the make a wish charity that grants wishes to children with life threatening illnesses.

Rance picked up a 50 gallon recycled food container made into a rain barrel. Onlookers were amazed that he could haul it with a trailer by bike!

Rory from Kalamazoo asks about touring setups, and we opine at length.

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E123 – Deanna Adams: Setbacks & Adventures

March 30, 2013Bicycling, Camping, Communication, Downsizing, Family, Touring, Travel, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Deanna Adams is a cycle touring adventurer who we spoke to earlier in our show’s history about her minimalist vegan fixie tour through Mexico. After some additional adventures in Europe, she encountered some health challenges and had to postpone plans for a worldwide tour in the works while dealing with those; we speak about her struggle to enjoy life at home and the lessons learned while waiting it out.

We reference This American Life’s “Self-Improvement Kick” episode which contains the story of Daryl Watson, who aspired to be the next “peace pilgrim.”

Deanna also mentions learning to fuse plastic to create new inexpensive gear out of discarded grocery bags.

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E122 – Alison Wiley: Diamond-Cut Life

March 24, 2013Advocacy, Bicycling, Car Sharing, Communication, Downsizing, Family, Housing, Kitchen, Simpler Living, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Alison Wiley writes about simpler living in its many forms through her website, diamondcutlife.org, tackling the many challenging yet rewarding aspects of “chiseling our focus down to what really matters.” We chat with her about her philosophy of life, work for the state in transportation, food and energy approaches, and her new book,Revelle: A Novel.

If you’re in Portland, drop by Rain OR Shine Cafe on SE 60th & Division on Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 for a reading from Alison’s novel!

Brock & Aaron also discuss Hillstomp’s concert last weekend & his crowd management experience, as well as Brock’s trip to Bend.

Headlines
Urban Adventure League: Ultra-Moderate Touring!

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We get some iTunes reviews, Nick shares a song inspired by Hing Kong’s MTR underground transport system, and Jack tweets us regarding a recently observed irony.

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E121 – Transit Is Relative

March 18, 2013Advocacy, Bicycling, Car Sharing, Communication, Family, Technology, Transit, Travel, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Michael Andersen is the force behind the Portland Afoot, the city’s quintessential magazine on commuting and low-car life. Doctor Jeff is a psychologist who once had a commute by transit of four hours a day and still propagates a highly entertaining twitter feed. Together, we attempt to better understand how we deal with our automobile-dependent relatives and friends when we come for a visit, but not before we discuss hangovers, bike mishaps, and movies. Then we assure ourselves of the security of Michael’s bicycle and describe our drinks, which leads to a shared commiseration on the disappearance of the classic drive-in restaurant. Shit gets real when we turn to economic theory and find out who is or isn’t a Marxist, but we have a good laugh about how old we are while diving straight into the future of driverless vehicles (like in Vancouver, BC). Then, finally: family relationships.

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E117 – Women & The Cycling Industry

February 18, 2013Advocacy, Bicycling, Building, Business, Communication, Family, Technology, Travel, Walkingsprocketpodcast

Elly Blue & Martina Fahrner are two people we have been wanting to get together for a conversation about the cycling industry and its dealings with a large part of the human race: the feminine part! Martina, from Clever Cycles, and Elly, from Taking The Lane Media, give us their takes on gender dynamics, product design and availability for women, and basic livability issues, as well as many other things.

Also, Brock & Aaron chat about some automobile-based trips over their weekends and bicycle improvements.

Headlines
Adventure Cycling Association: launched an online touring database for past trips!
Portland Afoot: Cathy Hastie compares Zipcar & car2go as alternatives to ownership
Urban Adventure League: Portland’s midnight mystery ride turns 10!
Someone made a map of all the ending locations. Add your info if you want!

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Paul, Tyler and Dave chime in on twitter about Black Hawk, CO. Paul says he wouldn’t ride there, Tyler wonders if anywhere is safe for people what with the mobile phones, and Dave says that safety isn’t an American priority yet.

Glenn the pirate writes in from Port Townsend, WA about a Mario Savio quote from episode 14 and his love for human-powered crabbing!

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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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E098 – Tammy Strobel & Logan Smith: Rural Happiness

October 8, 2012Bicycling, Car Sharing, Communication, Downsizing, Family, Housing, Technology, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Walkingsprocketpodcast

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”

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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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E083 – Stacy Bisker: A Simple Six

June 25, 2012Bicycling, Camping, Communication, Downsizing, Family, Housingsprocketpodcast

Stacy Bisker is the author of the family bicycling website and blog A Simple Six and took some time to tell us the story of her family’s transition to bicycles as a primary mode of transportation.

We discussed: getting into cycling as a family and finding the right bike, living in the most unhealthy city in America, “societal mirroring” and blazing the way for others, advice for those trying to follow their lead, Liz Canning’s cargo bike documentary, ruminations on the east and west coasts, bicycles as a connecting force to bring disparate people together, bike camping with a family, TRANSPORTland on bike camping, and Team Sincerity’s Crater Lake tour.

Tour de Clack is coming, led by our friend and former guest Matt Picio! Tour de Clack is an inaugural bike ride in rural Clackamas County on July 7 2012. It’s free, and to draw attention to water quality projects done by the ride’s sponsor, the Clackamas River Basin Council (CRBC).

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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