Category Archives: Touring

E035 – Raw Vegan Fixie Tour

July 19, 2011Bicycling, Communication, Downsizing, Kitchen, Touring, Travel, Vegansprocketpodcast

Adrian “The Vegan Cow” Stingaciu & Deanna Adams talk to us about their incredible Raw Vegan Fixie Tour!

We discuss: Ride the Divide, Surly’s Pugsley, snow riding, listener Carl in “Animalheim,”We Are Augustines, Super Vegan Cow & animal totem race identity, post-college experiences and the Ride Across America, 29 day trip to Costa Rica on a vegan diet, on the tail of Ride the Divide, travel in pairs for security and photography, no cargo, only raw foods to step up the challenge, no food drops, raw foods & nuts along the way, tapping into body fat, “dude, you look really bad,” sleeping in ditches and bus stops, relentless mosquitoes in the desert, “gassing myself out,” scary encounters while stealth camping,federales, confessions of traveling with a raw vegan, drinking Monster, “the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” breakdowns and pear cores, drug cartel worries, one set of clothes and no laundry, epilepsy, trouble with Montezuma’s revenge, American stomachs can’t handle bacteria, getting home after huge rainstorms, bicycles on slick surfaces and deep shoulders, deadlines, 700cm vs. 26in. wheels and tires, toll roads in Mexico, listen to theMexican Radio, Tyson Chicken plant and factory farming problems, Pacific NW nuclear plants, Deanna’s favorite beer

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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E034 – Darren Alff: Bicycle Touring Pro

July 12, 2011Bicycling, Communication, Technology, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Darren of Bicycle Touring Pro talks world travel, bicycle touring, and impromptu marathons.

Headlines
BikePortland: Creative fellow offers cookies to cyclists at controversial intersection
BikePortland: Peace activist releases book and rides handcycle 1,100 miles
Green Garbage Project: pros and cons of various lawn mowing options BikePortland:Portland resident runs rock shows by bike

We discuss: Portland beards, slow internet connections, coming home early, began cycle touring at 17, 11 years of big & wild adventures, working while traveling & self employment,Park City, Utah, what you can find on BicycleTouringPro.com, cold weather touring in Europe, stopping at every skate park along the way to skateboard and being told “you’re doing it wrong,” Darren’s sojourn in Peru, cheap bikes for rent, the trike adventure/challenge, Brandon’s visit to Peru, vegetarian options (no guinea pig), dignitarian, flexitarian, and freegan, stealth camping & hospitality is better in Peru, living and working while traveling, Europe can be done on a budget, supplementing your income by renting out your home, let the vacations come to you, running a marathon with absolutely no training, VersaEmerge powers Darren’s exercise, his other websites:DarrenAlff.com, motorcycletouringpro.com, silvermountainmarketing.com

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E033 – Friedel Grant: TravellingTwo.com

July 5, 2011Bicycling, Cargo, Kitchen, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

Friedel from TravellingTwo.com connects with us from Holland to tell us about circling the globe using bicycles, cargo ships, and other means on a two year whirlwind adventure.

CORRECTION: Dustin, who just finished his bike tour across the country, has this website:www.work2ride.com

We discuss: Living in Holland, its two capitals, terminology, cultural differences between Holland & the U.S., multi-modal respect, bike sharing programs, hailing from Nova Scotia, 8000km of bicycle infrastructure on a country the size of a postage stamp, “cycling by numbers,” not much wild land but there are pole camping sites, the TravellingTwo website, getting out of town is the hardest part, Laura of PathLessPedaled & ankle injury, winter bicycle touring, their ‘round-the-world journey, finding a unique method for global adventure, not cyclists at the outset, going by cargo ship to New Zealand, ship crews and pirate stories, lots of down time, ping pong with the captain, making pizza with a camp stove & other creative solutions, Ray from biketouringtips.com, staying connected while on the road, a loaded touring bike starts conversations, the Heinz Stücke interview, plans for future tours

Headlines courtesy of Logan Smith
The Atlantic via EcoVelo: Top bike commuting cities seem to be happier & more successful
APBP.org: Womens’ cycling survey results indicate bike lanes are helpful
Taking The Lane: Elly Blue ponders guilt & being car-free
Wall Street Journal: NYC cycling reality eclipses big-city antibike mania
TBD.com: cycling to work in DC might make you happier, too
OnEarth.org: AASHTO & ACA roll out plans for a potential interstate US bikeway system

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E032 – Brewery Tour By Bicycle

June 29, 2011Beer, Bicycling, Brewing, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

L-R: Jeff, Joe, Ian, Jason, and Brock

Brandon hosts a conversation with Brock and his friends Joe, Jeff & Ian about their recent brewery tour by bicycle along the Pacific Northwest I-5 corridor.

The World Naked Bike Ride in Portland OR, “I was in the pool!”, Jonathan Maus wearing nothing but a camera bag, furiously doing nothing, the New Old Lompoc, Bridgeport Brewery’s Hop Czar, two-stroke engines in our neighborhood, Brock introduces the beer, Barleywine and Brandon’s brewing of the 21-15, too much fun with beer pouring, Brandon’s wedding gift pint glasses, the breweries:

Bellingham WA’s Boundary Bay Brewing,
Mount Vernon WA’s Porter House,
Mount Vernon WA’s North Sound Brewing and Cherry Wheat beer,
Mukilteo WA’s Diamond Knot Brewing,
The slightly corporate RAM brewery,
Seattle WA’s Big Time Brewing,
Seattle WA’s Elysian Fields,
Seattle WA’s Georgetown Brewing,
Tacoma WA’s Harmon Brewing,
Olympia WA’s Fish Brewing,
Centralia WA’s Dick’s Brewing and taking a three hour break, Portland OR’s Hopworks Bikebar,
Portland OR’s The New Old Lompoc,

Brock’s wife Adele joins us in Kalama, loafing at Jeff’s house and eating food, beatboxing the good life, Ian joins the conversation, “the motherbuckets,” Chuckanut Drive, Oskar Blues’ Old Chub, fire building at Washington state’s Lewis & Clark State Park, Big Time’sAve Rat malt liquor, the Georgetown Brewing experience, brewhand Harlow was awesome, carrying Lucille, Olympia’s Woodland Trail, bow-chicka-wow-wow, Jeff’s motivational phrase, Brandon’s motivational phrase, riding on the freeway, Nada Surf’sBlankest Year, first time cycle touring wisdom, Jeff bakes 40 gluten-free granola bars, Joe breaks his belt and then decides to lose weight

Drinks
all enjoy a Hopworks Urban Brewery 64oz glass bottle of IPA divided evenly beween them, with great relish and to hilariously deleterious effect.

Music
“Making Sense” from Joe’s 2009 EP The End.

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E025 – PathLessPedaled: Big Adventure, Small Wheels

May 9, 2011Bicycling, Downsizing, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

We are joined once again by Russ & Laura from PathLessPedaled.com to hear about their upcoming journey and its distinctive (and cute) hallmark: the Brompton folding bicycle!

We Discuss: double rainbows, thesprocketpodcast.com!, Ainsworth State Park, fanfares,Cycle Wild, Spirit of ‘77 indoor bike parking, new Hopworks Bike Bar, Portland’s streets not exploding with bikes, midwest valor, raingear can be cheap and easy to get, bikes & transit (LA does it best!), Brock is a human transit wiki, PedalNation fashion show, it’s episode 25!, Brompton folding bicycles and their mechanics, crazy hills on the Tillamook test run, trifold, TSA scanners and flying with your bicycle, full size bicycles are tough to put onto a train sometimes, California is awesome, Brompton cargo system, tote wheels, paring down the cargo, dongles, extension cable trumps solar panel, less is more, storing bikes under the tent flap, guys with big trucks, inspiring presentations, old school derailleurs, what’s coming next, the cause finds you, fundraising for the journey

Headlines
BikePortland: Local businesses in Portland offer bike locks for loan to forgetful cyclists;
I Love The Bus: Secret Message left on seat to encourage its unspecified recipient;
BikePortland: What’s the safest storage for your bike? In a Spalding Building bank vault, of course!
Oregonian: Metro Discusses bicycle sharing program with Bigfish

Drinks
Russ chose the Dick’s Brewing’s Cream Stout, Laura drank Stone Brewing’s Smoked Porter, Brandon ironically swigged Miller High Life and Brock enjoyed Black Butte Porteronce again.

Music
“Lonely Heart” from Portland band Mnemonic Sounds off of their 2010 album Muscle Memories, suggested by listener Evelyn! Find them at http://mnemonicsounds.com

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E020 – Joe Kurmaskie: The Metal Cowboy

April 4, 2011Bicycling, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Joe Kurmaskie, Portland’s own “Metal Cowboy” joins us to discuss his writing career, philosophies, and many experiences on two wheels.

We discuss: CycleWild trip and missed connections, “not a man – nay, a god!”, homebrews, lemon juice cure, new Hurtbird news sounder, USA Today via BikePortland:buses losing seating because Americans are getting bigger, C-TRAN’s generous bike policy, CleverCycles via BikePortland: car sharing in Oregon & its barely hidden bikey agenda, belt loops, Boston Globe via BikePortland: city of Cambridge gives its citizens bike repair stands with tools and air pumps, BikePortland: Newport bicycle shop owner developing an iPhone app for touring the Oregon coast, no bike shops in Lincoln City, many hats, Sunshine Boys vs. Hardy Boys vs. Schwinn Twins, Scholastic books, Arkel panniers, “poo in a bag!” (NOT Arkel panniers – kids say the darndest things), Cadence Press books, You Might Be a Cyclist If…, escaping to Canada, experiences on the road cannot be contrived, places he’s been, some cartoons are lame, “the bad does not negate the good,” riding with a family, footnotes & “the love story I’d never write,” dot com bust & what to do with the rest of your life, no book about Africa, difference between touring alone & touring with family, the Far Side, grasshopper frogger & concerned minivan mom, perspective, fear and Chariot trailers, “Mad Max meets KinderCare,” yellow jersey, mileage is less important than great experiences, kids take a different pace, the perfect body, relax and connect, twitter’s inanity, Mia Birk & Joyride, livable/scalable communities, 10th Anniversary edition of The Metal Cowboy, Queen & iPhone app

Drinks
Brandon enjoys a Dustin Bagby amber homebrew (possibly to be 10 gallons of wedding drink), Joe drinks tea due to fighting a cold, and Brock thusly must decide between Pabst Blue Ribbon & Deschutes Brewery Cascade Pale Ale.

Music
“I Like My Bike” from Portland, OR band Hurtbird on their 2010 release Nature Vs City.

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E013 – Mark Parrish: Epic Bicycle Tour

February 14, 2011Bicycling, Brewing, Touring, Travelsprocketpodcast

Mark Parrish is our friendly neighbor, mathematician and home-brewer, and in addition to that, he also has taken many bicycle tours across long distances. On this episode he shares stories of his cross country journey from Alaska to California, and then to Ohio and finally to Florida (impressive!). His friend Paula who made the trip with him joins us by phone.

we apologize for the abberant audio in this week’s episode – slicing plastic off of ill-fitting cables is a start, but we’re working on a better solution to have in place soon. 😀

We discuss: Brandon gets a week off, Brock takes the Worst Day of the Year Ride,way up in the west hills, bucking the system by homebrewing, Darren Alff of bicycletouringpro.com rides a taxi trike more than 250 miles through Peru, Oregon headphone bill pulled from the legislature, Bike Trailer Blog tells you how to overhaul your cheap trailer’s bearings, Sunset magazine names Portland OR “best city to ditch your car” in, when was that tour?, 1 1/2 years, the plan changed, L.A., “Fuck it, let’s just cross the country,” body rebellion, kindness of strangers, not too good at planning, “can we buy some butter? (we needed some fat),” a much needed bath, “we almost died” (Mark told this story after we wrapped the program), terrain preferences, Kansas winds, tornado hotel, raining sheets (not sheep), “where did we go from Oklahoma?”, Bikecentennial & an atlas, Whitehorse will confuse you, “it tastes kind of like seal,” “fishy butter,” Florida was the end, Kentucky & Tennessee are lumpy, 100 mile days through the Smokies, your body remembers it, going home to Alaska, 600 mile circuit solo loop (300 miles unpaved!),

Drinks
Mark provides his Vagabond Gingered Ale, a dark ale with strong hints of ginger and about 7-8% ABV.

Music
“Don’t Hear Me Wrong” by Centrevol, a Long Beach CA based band, from their 2010 EP Momentum.

Stories from BikePortland.org featured with permission from editor Jonathan Maus.

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E008 – Path Less Pedaled

January 10, 2011Bicycling, Technology, Touring, Transit, Travelsprocketpodcast

This week in a super-sized edition of The Sprocket we present our exciting interview with Russ Roca & Laura Crawford of The Path Less Pedaled (pathlesspedaled.com); see also The Epicurean Cyclist (Russ’ bicycle blog), Russ Roca Photography, andTangerine Treehouse (Laura’s metalcraft site). We disuss: moustache headbadges,hopworks beer, getting into full-time bicycle touring, taking it slow (no rush), working along the way, simplicity & technology, gear, cold winter in the southwest, middle of nowhere, passing the time, eating a ton, hospitality is awesome, public transit to Yosemite, bikes on trains, british cyclists in the past on youtube (cyclists’ special), getting rid of stuff, “they will still be making plates,” Surly Long Haul Trucker, flat pedals article & not clipping in, social connections home & abroad, tough times & bugs, dying by missle fire in new mexico, great campgrounds, iphone travel apps, extension cords, texas was a big surprise, advice: just do it!

Drinks
we all enjoyed Hopworks Urban Brewery’s Organic Survival “Seven-Grain” Stout & theOrganic Hopworks IPA.

Music
“The Realists” by The Carrier Pigeons from their 2009 EP Unfinished Business.

Stories from BikePortland.org featured with permission from editor Jonathan Maus.

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The Sprocket Podcast

simplifying the good life

Category Archives: Touring

E035 – Raw Vegan Fixie Tour

E034 – Darren Alff: Bicycle Touring Pro

E033 – Friedel Grant: TravellingTwo.com

E032 – Brewery Tour By Bicycle

E025 – PathLessPedaled: Big Adventure, Small Wheels

E020 – Joe Kurmaskie: The Metal Cowboy

E013 – Mark Parrish: Epic Bicycle Tour

E008 – Path Less Pedaled