Category Archives: Touring

E221 – Maren Souders: Open Ears, No Car

February 3, 2015Adventure, Advocacy, Bicycling, Car Ownership, Car Sharing, Communication, Downsizing, Simpler Living, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travel, Urban Design, Vegansprocketpodcast

Maren Souders has never, ever owned a car. That’s an achievement even for those who’ve tried! She brings us some inspiring stories and thoughts on low-car life, the value of listening, and trying to eat vegan while taking Amtrak trains across the country. Notably, she’s spent some time on a multi-city listening tour, sitting in public places with a “free empathy” sign! Her webistes:dreamintochange.com & happytolisten.com

click here to find her petition for easier access to vegan meals for Amtrak passengers.

Also: Brock explored the wilds of SW Washington; Aaron rides to Boring.

Join the Team Sincerity Ride on Presidents’ Day!

Headlines

Copenhaganize: Climaphobia and Vacuum-packed Cities

bikeportland.org: Kidical Mass PDX invites biking parents to join family ride planning for 2015

Lovely Bicycle: Finding a Winter Wander-land (and Other Coping Strategies)

Mail

Organic Transit shares a story of a man who rode an ELF trike from Canada to Florida.

We got a letter from Mike in Midland, GA!

My Bike Won’t Fit 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)

Thanks to our sustaining donors for supporting our show costs:
Logan Smith, JohnnyK, Shadowfoot, Kathrina Mellemgaard, Wayne Norman, Doug Robertson, Ethan Georgi, Justin Martin, Eric Iverson, Cameron Lien, Richard Wezensky, Tim Mooney, Orange & Purple, Glenn Kubish, Matt Kelly, Jim Goodin, Eric Weisz, Doug CohenMiller, Todd Parker, Scott McAllister Morgan, Chris Gonzalez, Dan Gebhart, Zoe Campagna, John Blood, Alison Wiley, Andy Brunner

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E220b – Greg Hum: Drumbiker

January 29, 2015Adventure, Bicycling, Cargo, Communication, Fun, Music, Technology, The Law, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travel, Urban Designsprocketpodcast

Greg Hum is a drumbiker. What is that, you ask? Well, take some rhythm and add it to your transportation. That’s where it starts. Brock speaks with him at his apartment in Cambridge, MA about sound and motion, bike fun, and the delicate line along which an event organizer walks when dealing with sensitive authority figures. Watch his videos on YouTube, especially the film “Making a Splash in Miami” that he submitted to last year’s Filmed By Bike, and join in on the fun with Boston Bike Party if you’re near the Boston area!

We mention Portland buckets ‘n slide blues band Hillstomp, who also make use of buckets (and are one of Brock’s favorite bands). Here’s the death metal washing machine, too, and the video where metal music was paired with the sound.

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E219 – Beth Hamon: Leaving On A Jet Plane

January 20, 2015Advocacy, Air Travel, Bicycling, Car Ownership, Car Sharing, Communication, Family, Simpler Living, Touring, Travel, Urban Designsprocketpodcast

Beth Hamon is a cantorial soloist on a circuit to synagogues in various parts of the USA, sharing her talents of music and spiritual direction with the people she has made connections with there. She joins us to give an update on her most recent work, discuss the environmental impact of air travel, and consider ethical living in transport as well as the rest of life.

Some of the resources Beth shared:
NYT: The Biggest Carbon Sin?
Wikipedia: Environmental Impact of Air Travel
Ivan Illich: Energy and Equity (Ideas in Progress)
Slate: Driving vs. Flying

Look for Beth’s music at CDbaby.com!

Also: Brock & Aaron take a trip to Stubb Stewart State Park

Mail

Tim Mooney is dismayed by the possible leverage of fees on the C&O canal. In particular, from $0 to $20 in the time it takes a congressperson to sign a document.

Alvaro is rocking our sticker (the old school one!) and says “give me 3”

Brandon Rhodes sends us a story about a dog that rides the bus to the park by itself.

Chris Gonzalez says “not the cable!”

Logan Smith sends us a fundraiser for “smart grips.”

Gerald got some polyester pants.

Eric Iverson:
“@SouthEastGrind also serves delicious 24 hr food! And I also don’t like Dave Matthews or his band or any combo thereof.”

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E217 – Branden Shelby & Daniel Harkins: Summer Tour 2014

January 6, 2015Adventure, Bicycling, Camping, Mechanics, Mountain Biking, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Branden Shelby & Daniel Harkins come in to tell us about their epic wilderness tour last summer. They took a turn through the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and lived to tell about it, including negotiations after a stealth camping bust, a difficult fix on the side of a road, and midnight attempts for tacos at a fast food drive-thru.

Also: it’s Boston month (interviews), Brock went to Boston, and Aaron went to Missoula.

Headlines
BikePortland: For a slumping cycling city, there are reasons for optimism in 2015

Mail

Richard TX shares Glympse, a great option to link group rides in addition to Bike Fun Finder.

Tammy Strobel: “Every time I listen to The Sprocket Podcast, I want to move back toPortland. I miss our friends, the cycling culture, and the amazing coffee shops.”

Josh G: thinks we’d dig this weather wonkery.

Glenn Kubish helped to rally people in YEG to support suicide prevention.

Logan shares the Seatylock, a bicycle saddle that doubles as a lock.

Doug says our scatalogical emergency reminded him of this TED talk, and thinks bicycling can make people more compassionate. Glenn said that it needed a “soiler alert.” [wah wah] Richard shared his similar experience, and recommends imagining a farther-off destination.

Eric has a picture of a car that was driven into a ditch across a cycletrack in Portland.

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E215 – Ed Hanna: The Leaving Is The Hardest Part

December 16, 2014Adventure, Air Travel, Bicycling, Cargo, Downsizing, Mechanics, Touring, Travel, Urban Designsprocketpodcast

Ed Hanna was having beers at the Landmark Saloon in SE Portland, Oregon, when Brock locked up his bike in front of the place. Ed asked him a few questions about his bike setup, and eventually they decided to share Ed’s European bicycle tour stories on the podcast. Spoilers: it’s tricky getting started!

Also: Hi, Jason in Eugene who got Brock’s free bus tickets. Brock breaks his grandpa’s tandem seat post, may or may not have used Uber, and has a scatalogical emergency. Aaron makes toaster granola.

Headlines

Former interview Laura Moulton from Street Books subject of a documentary film and aNY Times article.

Former guest Christopher Delaney interviewed in long form on Radical Personal Finance.

Trimet transfer times have gone from 2hrs to 2.5 hrs. woot!

Mail

Apparently none of our listeners mind the train horn in the background.

Alison Wiley wants an Aaron-centric social media episode.

Glenn in YEG has a witty suggestion.

Jeremy in PDX has been going car-lite!

Richard tips us off to press in Bicycling magazine on Leah Benson of Gladys Bikes!

Orange & Purple share their Brompton plane stowing technique:

Eric shares a fat tire longtail:

and asks what this is (answer – it’s a speeder!):

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E214 – Brad Davis & Jean Abbot: Moving at the speed of Ecology

December 9, 2014Adventure, Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Car Sharing, Fun, Mechanics, Technology, Touringsprocketpodcast

note: Brock fell ill suddenly and I called on Aaron Delani to fill in. I also panicked and didn’t plug in my ipod to the soundboard. this episode will be interesting from a production standpoint.

Brad Davis and Jean Abbot of EcoSpeed were very good sports with the Aarons’ tomfoolery. EcoSpeed is the leading maker of mid-drive type electric assists for bikes and trikes. Mid-drives give more performance for a given motor and battery weight and, unlike hub motors, don’t create drag when you just want to pedal.

Headlines
from Bikeportland.org:
Holiday Bike Drive turns 300 children into bike riders
Uber’s illegal Portland launch raises question: What if an Uber driver hits you?

Mail

Marcus in the UK wants us to know that people listen in the UK.

Harm in NZ shares Joff Summerfield’s pennyfarthing touring site. We want to interview him sometime!

Rory who is visiting NZ finds a White Ribbon Month bike ride.

Logan in CA sends us a link to the cheapest shifter ever.

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E209 – Daniel Harkins: Feats of Strength (with Nathan Jones)

November 18, 2014Adventure, Bicycling, Camping, Cargo, Downsizing, Fun, Mountain Biking, Technology, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

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.

Also: Nathan Jones had a burger jump BBQ, and Brock had some issues with a U-lock, and Minnesota Public Radio’s Pedal Hub is a fantastic show!

Headlines

CityLab: Does Cycling Culture Have a Drinking Problem?

The Wide Path Camper (From Marcus in Chicago), which reminds us of Brian Campbell & the Bike RV project.

BikePortland:
Portland legislators launch effort to put 82nd Ave under PBOT control

Thoughts on “passing chaos” on new Williams Ave bike lane

Why civil disobedience needs more bikes

Mail

JohnnyK asks “where’s Brock’s tiger tail?”, and reminds us that you can charge USB devices in many ways.

Richard from TX adds his support to the use of bicycling mirrors, especially homemade ones from ReBcycle!

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.

Marcus goes for a tweed ride in the windy city!

Thanks to our sustaining donors for supporting our show costs:
Logan Smith, JohnnyK, Shadowfoot, Kathrina Mellemgaard, Roger Grigsby, Wayne Norman, Doug Robertson, Ethan Georgi, Justin Martin, Eric Iverson, Cameron Lien, Richard Wezensky, Tim Mooney, Orange & Purple, Glenn Kubish, Matt Kelly, Jim Goodin, Eric Weisz, Doug CohenMiller, Todd Parker, Scott McAllister Morgan, Chris Gonzalez, Dan Gebhart, Zoe Campagna

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E206 – Timo & Esther: Sweet Bike Love

October 28, 2014Adventure, Advocacy, Bicycling, Family, Fun, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travel, Urban Designsprocketpodcast

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!

Our musings on bicycle music brought these mentions: Johnnyrandom’s “Bespoken”, Frank Zappa, and the Portland Bike Ensemble.

Also: Brock rides through the hardest rain of the season to check out the new Type 5 MAX light rail cars, meets listener John from Maine; Aaron is off drugs! He also ran into Greg and Sarah from Funemployment Radio, who are having a live show soon. TheTransportastic studio opener was awesome.

Mail

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.

Thanks to our sustaining donors for supporting our show costs:
Logan Smith, JohnnyK, Shadowfoot, Kathrina Mellemgaard, Roger Grigsby, Wayne Norman, Doug Robertson, Ethan Georgi, Justin Martin, Eric Iverson, Cameron Lien,Richard Wezensky, Tim Mooney, Orange & Purple, Glenn Kubish, Matt Kelly, Jim Goodin, Eric Weisz, Doug CohenMiller, Todd Parker, Scott McAllister Morgan, Chris Gonzalez, Dan Gebhart, Zoe Campagna

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E199b – Nathan Jones: TransAm Bike Race

September 1, 2014Adventure, Bicycling, Downsizing, Mountain Biking, Racing, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Nathan Jones is the owner of Ride Yr Bike who conceived of and organized the Trans Am Bike Race, an unsupported ride from coast to coast in which the participants competed simply for the bragging rights! He tells us about the trip.

Also: e200 live show!, retort to close pass contest, explosions on the waterfront

Headlines

BikePortland: Community bike rally against violence in North Portland

Mail

Dan from MN recommends the Surly Disc Trucker.

Drew clarifies the strength of Brock’s bike repair.

Logan recommends the Soma Saga for its kickstand plate.

Phil in AK corrects Aaron on the origins of the band X.

David joins PDX cargo bike gang!

Thanks to our sustaining donors for supporting our show costs:
Logan Smith, Shadowfoot, Kathrina Mellemgaard, Roger Grigsby, Wayne Norman, Doug Robertson, Ethan Georgi, Justin Martin, Eric Iverson, Cameron Lien, Richard Wezensky

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E197 – Going Somewhere: Brian Benson (with Leah Benson)

August 12, 2014Adventure, Bicycling, Kitchen, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Brian Benson, author of Going Somewhere, joins us to talk about his new memoir centered around a formative bicycle journey. He is joined by his twin Leah Benson ofGladys Bikes! (not an actual twin) We also speak about our shame foods (shh).

Also: Brock decries his cynicism on returning to Portland in a full rebuttal of his previous statements, complains about the weather, and Aaron & Dan recap the Midnight Mystery Ride debacle.

Headlines

Alaska Dispatch News: Bike-work-bike routine allows couple to take long cycling treks(thanks Phil!)

TriMet: announcing the plans for eFare implementation in 2017

TriMet: line 15 rider turns 102, gets special birthday bus (thanks Logan!)

Mail

Jim shares the Tigr lock:

http://tigrlock.com

Logan writes “MKS makes a quick release pedal that you may want to check out since you do so much bike boxing and pedal removal. The pedals are called MKS EZY removable pedals. I have them on my brompton and they are great! They could also be a potential theft deterrent while touring (the thief can’t ride away! 😉

Russ Roca devised a great method for carrying large amounts of water by bike while touring. He wrote a review for the tool he used on his Epicurean Cyclist blog: I’ve used this method and it works great!

Roger in Santa Cruz:

“Brock, I was enjoying my coffee this morning and peacefully listening to the podcast with Ellee, then when you gave pedal removal instructions using a blow torch and if that failed pulling out a pistol and blasting the pedal to tarnation ….. Well, a mouthful of coffee erupted and soiled a lot of clothes. Dammit!”

I told him brown is in right now. This marked two spittakes in two weeks!

Tim Mooney:

“As I’m getting prepared to box my bike up I ran into a severely stuck pedal – I had some work done on the drivetrain and they torqued them on super tight. Luckily I have a pedal wrench with more leverage handy, so it wasn’t a problem at home. On the road… quite another matter! I usually go with the tried and true liberal greasing of the threads and put just the slightest tightening force on the pedals… that way I can get the pedals on and off with a .99 cent crescent wrench I bring with.”

Eric Iverson: spotted in Estacada: not chain grease.

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)
Thanks to our sustaining donors for supporting our show costs:

Logan Smith, Shadowfoot, Kathrina Mellemgaard, Roger Grigsby, Wayne Norman, Doug Robertson, Ethan Georgi, Justin Martin, Eric Iverson, Cameron Lien

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More