Category Archives: Touring

E084 – Darren Sinn: Cycle Tourer

July 2, 2012Bicycling, Camping, Downsizing, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Listener Darren Sinn connected with me a few months ago as he was beginning his tour through Europe by bicycle. We spoke about: traveling New Zealand, meeting people, staying over in London, the tour plan, Willy Weir and the bicycle as a passport to adventure, bankrolling a year-long tour, diversions while traveling like photography and beer, the iPhone bucket amplifier, the Surly Long Haul Trucker and its facility for BMX parks, touring gear, problem stories, and Darren’s immutable law of bicycle touring.

Read about the tour on http://cycletourer.blogspot.com; also catch up with his sources for planning The Path Less Pedaled, TravelingTwo, andBicycle Touring Pro.

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.

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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E082a – Brock & Brandon Wrap Up for Summer

June 15, 2012Bicycling, Camping, Communication, Gardening, Technology, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Brock & Brandon go through the emails to make sure everyone gets included before a summer hiatus of pre-recorded interviews. We look forward to resuming our “live” talk show format after returning to the studio in September. Hope everyone has many grand adventures in the meantime!

Don’t forget to gird your loins for the first Portland Zombie Ride, a Pedalpalooza event beginning at Velo Cult on Sunday, June 17 2012 at 10:30am! The zombie apocalypse will not be motorized… Also, the TRANSPORTland Disaster Relief Trials will be happening at the same location that day! We’ll talk about that on Monday night with the crew that organized the event!

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.

Stuff we mentioned in this episode:
• David Byrne writes about NYC bicycling
• Willamette Week’s Aaron Mesh rides TriMet for 3 days straight!
• Rance and Darren comment on the “Cycles of Life” graphic
• BikePortland exposes a bicycle touring con man
• Rigel asks if Brandon has floated Johnson Creek yet
• Tom & Ben Allen head into the lost coast of northern California
• Local bicycling mattress businessman leads cargo bikes in Starlight parade
• Rob Sadowsky shares his favorite allergy meds and a link to the SF bike music fest
• PLP hosts the George Romero flat challenge
• BikePortland: Propel fuel stations love bikes
• Brandon shares the Atlantic Cities’ “Evolution of Bike Lanes”
• BikePortland covers the notorious Hwy 26/Sylvan intersection
• Bees swarm a bicycle basket
• JohnnyK comments on the Federal Transportation Bill
• Damian from NZ writes in
• Gus shares a DIY frame cargo contraption
• Tim shares a story of angry freds in France
• Logan shares Bicycle Quarterly’s performance review of tires
• Dan from MN shares his hunting experiences

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E081 – Path Less Pedaled: New Zealand, Portland, Zombies

June 11, 2012Bicycling, Camping, Communication, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Whenever the folks from the Path Less Pedaled drop in for a show taping, we know we’re going to have a good time. Fortunately for the listener, we managed to stay just barely on this side of coherent while stifling our uproarious laughter. We have a great discussion about Russ & Laura’s trip to New Zealand, bicycle and touring advocacy, and their plans from here as high-profile bicycling Portlanders.

Don’t forget to gird your loins for the first Portland Zombie Ride, a Pedalpalooza event beginning at Velo Cult on Sunday, June 17 2012 at 10:30am! The zombie apocalypse will not be motorized…

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.

and finally, the shirt of which much was made:

and Brandon Rhodes as a zombie:

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E077 – Ellee Thalheimer: Cycling Sojourner

May 14, 2012Bicycling, Brewing, Communication, Technology, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Ellee Thalheimer is the author of Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Bicycle Tours In Oregon, just released! As you may suspect, this is right up our alley, so we chat with her about the wonders of bicycle touring and her love for the simple machines that get us around both for leisure and with purpose.

Brock makes a Car2Go meme and they respond.

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
The Atlantic Cities: bike as paintbrush, city as canvas
Tom’s Bike Trip: riding in the rain; tough task on tour, but surmountable!
Mashable: Google’s self-driving car gets the green light for testing in Nevada
BikePortland: Portlander triumphs at gruelling Trans Iowa endurance race

Mailbag
Dan in MN: his dad is a welder/fabricator and wants to make a railbike someday. we want video.

Candice in PDX: “i think runners like to run on asphalt as opposed to sidewalks because asphalt isn’t as hard and dense as concrete (or is it cement?) so it’s easier on your joints.”

Patrick in Davis CA: “love this:”

And from an anonymous listener:

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E060 – Matt Picio: Cast Iron Cyclist

January 17, 2012Bicycling, Downsizing, Touring, Transitsprocketpodcast

We’re pleased to have Matt Picio, founder of Cycle Wild and also known as the Cast Iron Cyclist, joining us to discuss people camping out by bike and his fantastic cross-country bicycle tour.

Headlines
from Logan: Pedal-powered Shanty Boat is a mobile place to live
from Jeremy in AL: handcrafted wooden bikes made from felled city trees
Taking The Lane: the Conservative case for bicycling might surprise you
PathLessPedaled: Russ gets beaten by an angry motorist in NZ, but he’s OK
Oregonian: Boring Station under construction for a paved end to the Springwater Corridor

Mailbag
Ethan from Pedal Power: “I hope all is well. This might be a bit too “fred” for you folks but if you care to promote our Pedal Power jersey sale we’d appreciate it. The artwork is done by Kathleen King, a great artist whose done some other work for me. All proceeds will be used to help save the earth.”

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E057 – Pedal Powered Family

December 25, 2011Bicycling, Downsizing, Family, Technology, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

A Happy Christmas to all, and to all another great archived interview. The Pedal Powered Family consisting of Reuben, Heidi, Eden, and Harper have been on the road now for some time, giving their children a unique opportunity to discover the world while taking hold of a personal dream themselves.

With them we discuss British Columbia, warmshowers.org, the route (and their progress on a map here), website and blog, Voodoo Doughnuts, their bikes & setup (including a genius DIY sun/rain cover), their Portland visit, interruptions, employment – being self employed and leveraging an extended leave of absence, email, facebook & twitter, traveling with kids and listening to their schedules, less time working hard & going fast, routine is good, heading south into Mexico & South America, then to the east coast, other modes of transport: rental car & train, simple living: finance & reducing expenses, minimalizing

Brock & Brandon discuss their own holiday traditions, what counts as a Northwestern state, TriMet free rides on New Year’s Eve before the interview. Also Brandon suggests sharing Brock’s Xmas Mixtape.

Mailbag
JohnnyK sends his comment to E54, as does Logan.

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E053 – Alex Rauch: Tour to Chicago

November 29, 2011Bicycling, Health, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

This week we share with you a phone interview done with Alex Rauch, a former Oregonian now living in Chicago who Brock met as he was beginning his tour across the western states. He details the joys of lesser known national parks, the great expanse of emptiness that exists in Idaho, connections with strangers along the way, and a (somewhat graphic) description of an unpleasant physical setback solved, in part, by attendance at a Wal-Mart health clinic.

Brock & Brandon share stories from their Thanksgiving weekend events and commiserate about patchy beards.

Mailbag
Donation received from John in NZ – thanks!

Listener Tony compliments the dialogue montage from the 50th show

Blayne from BC suggests we interview someone from Icebreaker, the merino wool company from NZ that has its US headquarters here in Portland OR!

Adri comments: “Love it. This was fun as hell to listen to. Dr. Jeff is great. He should be on the podcast again.”

JohnnyK comments: “Since not many leave comments I thought I would. Hmmm I noticed that you guys get much clearer to understand the more you drink. Anyway great fun and good learning.“

and an iTunes store review from Amos Hunter.

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E041 – Team Sincerity

September 5, 2011Bicycling, Touring, Train Travel, Travelsprocketpodcast

This week we speak with Team Sincerity, the group of people who climbed several mountains with bikes and kids to get to Crater Lake, and all in the name of good fun. Aaron Flores & Adele Dittus join us in studio, and Adam & Jodie Rust phone from Seattle. We discuss: beer, soda, and pigeonholing, the origin of Team Sincerity, Warmshowers.org hosts Roger & May, road magic and generosity at Hobo Camp/Club Hobo, sickness and the hill climb from hell, Xanterra’s poor customer service, and many other things.

UPDATE 9/29/11: Photos from the trip, which should have been shared some time back!.

Adele falls over in her chair, and Brandon is absent to connect with neighbors.

Drinks
Brock & Adele drink the fantastically bad Game Day Ice from 7-Eleven, and Aaron drinks a Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer.

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E037 – No Show This Week

August 1, 2011Bicycling, Brewing, Gardening, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Well, that’s not entirely true… Brock & Brandon sit down to share about 10 minutes’ worth of conversation to say thanks to a few people and get used to being behind microphones again. Also, Brandon saw the Google Maps Car on our last cycle trip!

Listener Jameson, formerly of Ft. Collins and living in Korea, writes in. He also shared a nice Ft. Collins brewery bicycle tour he’s partial to! We recommend Catfish & Mandala by Andrew X. Pham because he mentions bicycle touring through Vietnam.

Listener Susan W. of Plano TX makes a generous donation. Thanks!

Logan & Tammy’s tiny house is under construction!

Brock met Alex Rauch who is blogging his way across America and made it all the way to Wall Drug by now.

Listener Kevin, an animation writer, bike commuter, and Prius owner also made a generous donation that paid for our year’s hosting bill – thanks! He also knows Russ & Laura from PathLessPedaled.com. Froinlaven!

We met up with listeners Gus, Joe, and Jonas while on the road. Brock also drinks his friend Mark’s homebrew, “Da Brown,” and finds it to be pleasant! See you all next week for another full show…

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E036 – Aaron LaVanchy: The Professor’s Tour

July 26, 2011Bicycling, Brewing, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

We speak to Aaron “The Professor” LaVanchy about his recent midwest tour, living in Fort Collins, and the New Belgium Brewing Company.

We discuss: handkerchieves and allergies, badass bicycle & backpacking journey, Char Burger & sad vacations, response to fred adversity with absurdity, Brandon has been “ankling,” Logan Smith is a good man, Aaron LaVanchy and how he got to Fort Collins, Lewis & Clark route in 500 mile segments, Omaha to St. Louis, the Wabash Trace Trail, bigfans of Lewis & Clark, calling the sheriff to camp at a boat launch, motorcyclist disappointment, the home of the piggy bank, Ed runs the town, chased by dogs, hit by a phone book at 70mph, the Katy Trail, Shenandoah IA home of the Everly Brothers, fighting a headwind in the rain on unpaved surface, the Rivendell Hunqapillar, mountain biking in Carharts & flannel, tornado alley, Marshall MO and Bud’s cafe, a ride to the edge of town with a local character, postcards to the donut shop, smoking and cooking, camping by a waterslide, weekending in Fort Collins with the THC ride, self-supported adventuring, bike culture at New Belgium Brewing, custom NB bike by Felt Bikes, better than the IKEA bikes, NB pays for its employees’ race entry fees, six week sabbatical after two years’ employment, bike share for lunch

Drink
Brock & Brandon share the New Belgium Brewing Super Cru, ABV 10%, courtesy of Aaron, who drank the Funkwerks Saison

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