Category Archives: Travel

E070 – Blayne Prowse: The Cynical Cyclist

Bicycling, Communication, Transit, Travel

Blayne Prowse is a show listener who is up to some great things north of the border in Cumberland, BC on Vancouver Island.  We discuss his bicycle tour in the Yukon and his domestic simplicity and adventure pursuits.  His blog, The Cynical Cyclist, details some of these things and makes for some great reading!

We also respond to a pointed email sent in by Steve on the many differences between those from the “Carbon Spandex Jungle” (term attributed to Allen Lim) and those from the hipster enclaves of the urban forests.  Brock referenced this article about how You Can Wear Anything On a Bike by Dave Feucht from Portlandize.com and a chapter from Joe Kurmaskie’s book Momentum Is Your Friend.

Brock & his lady are headed out this week for an exciting bicycle adventure through the icy lands of Eastern Oregon, arriving in the city Bend by way of the Central Oregon Breeze passenger coach.  If you’d like to read the letter Brock wrote campaigning for guaranteed bicycle reservations, you can find it here. The good news is that if you specifically ask for a guaranteed bicycle reservation when booking your tickets over the phone, they should now work with you to make this possible!

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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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E068 – Vincent Caldoni

Communication, History, Housing, Transit, Travel

Vincent Caldoni, a professional actor, history buff, and fantastic storyteller joins us this week to discuss being in Portland as a generational resident, the Pig War, changes, Astoria talk, politics of sustainable economy, and other things as well!

Also: Humanity on Wheels: An Evening of Mass Transit Tales! March 20 at 7:30pm, The Jack London Bar, 529 SW 4th Ave PDX

Headlines
Path Less Pedaled: Russ & Laura post the complete Kiwi Chronicles, their touring video series!
Portland Afoot: there are at least 3 Good Things about TriMet’s proposed cuts
Oregonian: Amtrak is quietly serving Oregon City commuters on their trip into Portland

Mailbag
Listener Dan from Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota writes in; he’s now listened to EVERY episode and shaves his scant beard with an old fashioned razor.  He says of the cold in his state: “It does get cold, people say ‘you do not have bad rides but bad gear.’ In other words dress warm and you are fine.”

Patrick in Davis CA: “Hi guys, attending [The North American Handmade Bike Show] today in Sacto. The PDX contingent is very large. My personal favorites are the Metrofiets crew, Renovo wood bikes (beautiful). Seriously considering a Metrofiets bike over a car purchase, especially with the gas prices what they currently are. Wish Bike Friday was here to counterbalance the Bromptons. Have a good show.”

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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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E063 – Amos’ Touring Stories

Bicycling, Business, Travel

Amos Hunter rejoins us at the Sprocket Podcast for a discussion of some of his bicycle touring mishaps, and he also brings a game of “Guess the Bicycle” with him!

We also discuss:
Greg Hum visits, Best Bands Ever 2012, BU Bridge bike lanes & the Liveable Streets Alliance in Boston, MA

and an extra bit of audio with Amos describing his new shaving method.

Headlines
BikePortland: the City of Beaverton plans a downtown redesign more friendly to bikes and pedestrians
BikePortland: bicycle fashion show seeks models for event
Taking the Lane: many photos demonstrate how NOT to lock your bike
PathLessPedaled: Damian Day outruns his disabilities by cycling up to 10,000km a year
RowdyKittens: after giving it a solid try, Tammy Strobel decides to get an iPhone

Mailbag
Carl from CA: “I was checking out this site: alpacka rafts. Totally funky and functional @ the same time. In one section they mention a couple of crazy dudes that ‘bikerafted’ the Alaskan Lost Coast: http://lostcoastbike.blogspot.com/ it looked real gnarly!”

Logan in PDX: “The story of stuff now has a podcast!”

Rance via Facbook: “LOVE THE KIDDICAL MASS idea. We had a Critcal mass a few years ago and I really didn’t like the negative vibe. I ride everyday and don’t want to piss off drivers. I thought we were going to ride as a group to show that there were a lot of us on bike, but many used it as a chance to yell at cars and ride like an idiot. Keep up the great work!”

Katie Proctor shares a link to the video of a Mom bicycling with 6 kids aboard!

JohnnyK submits an article from the distant past and a modern solution from instructables.com for carrying children in bicycle sidecars.

 

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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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E057 – Pedal Powered Family

Bicycling, Downsizing, Family, Technology, Touring, Train Travel, Transit, Travel

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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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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E055 – Alex Roth: The Pepper Peddler

Alternate Fuels, Bicycling, Brewing, Cargo, Coffee, Communication, Kitchen, Technology, Travel

This week we’re privileged to interview Alex Roth, founder of a Davis, CA based business that roasts and distributes coffee around a bicycle-based infrastructure.  Learn more at thepepperpeddler.com We discuss: misconceptions about The Pepper Peddler, roasting peppers, inspired by Burlingame Pizza, Davis mayor names the unofficial coffee of the city, Trek in the Park, he’s like a drug dealer, Four Loko drives regulation, HUB’s 7-Grain Coffee Infused Stout, the roasting setup with cycle mechanism and propane heat, business flux, roasting as a team and the Post-Roast Toast, delivery and pre-sales, coffee politics and economics, the “milkman” model of delivery, the kids that deliver the coffee and the fleet of bikes, rain pay (!), coffee origins and fair trade/organics, regional taste, describing flavors shouldn’t cause insecurity, a rough sketch of coffee economy, local food sources, seasonal orders, the special dark roast, the roaster’s blend, Fox 40 news spot, and lastly Alex’s bands The Mad Cow String Band and the West Nile Ramblers.

Mailbag
from David Heddy: “Very important discovery today…Brandon has talked about this several times.”

from Logan: “Whoah! Big news! Alan and Michael are closing up shop at EcoVelo! ‘Times they are achangin‘’ to quote Bob Dylan.” (we also mention this atrocious song from Dylan’s xmas project)

from Radimar: Portland is near the top of the list of Cities With Strangest People. True.

From StreetBooks: a book drive happening December 15th in Portland

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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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E053 – Alex Rauch: Tour to Chicago

Bicycling, Health, Touring, Travel

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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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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E052 – From The Tiny House!

Bicycling, Communication, Downsizing, Housing, Kitchen, Technology, Transit, Travel

We recorded our first episode away from home today at the RowdyKittens tiny house!  Logan and Tammy were nice enough to invite us in after we passively floated the idea via podcast, and so we set up a plethora of wires and instruments in their roomy miniature dwelling.  We were also joined by their friends Heather (of Mile73.com) & Dave (of TriMet Diaries and DaveKnows.org) who contributed to the conversations on tiny house life and low/cheap cell phone life (Heather’s in-depth examination of iPhone thrift is here).  All told, a lovely time was had by all!

Technical Note: the laptop we took over for recording was missing our usual recording software and I ended up downloading a freeware option on the spur of the moment to capture our show.  Since I’m not as familiar with the secondary option, I ended up mixing some of the test audio with the actual show audio; it turned out to be a little too confusing to listen to, but if you REALLY want to wade your ears through that cacophony because you love the show that much, get in touch and I’ll see what I can do.  Apologies, and thanks for listening!  – Brock

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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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E050 – Drinking Show!

Bicycling, Transit, Travel, Walking

My goodness. A year of podcasts! we take some time for looking back, and also for looking forward. And, of course, we drink our liquor!

Listener Patrick suggests incorporating a drinking game. We do our best to oblige.

Headlines
GOOD magazine: protest big Wall Street corporations with their own junk mail!
TriMet Diaries: Dr. Jeff writes a field guide to Public Transit Operators
Dr. Jeff: a holiday transit fare drive for folks who can’t afford it
PathLessPedaled: how losing a car saved Russ Roca’s life
BikePortland: UPS is hiring 49 bicycle package delivery workers for the Christmas season
BikePortland: study shows that manufacturing trumps transport for greenhouse gas emission
Oregonian: two teachers inspire Gresham middle school students with bike club

Good Stuff
BBC produces a segment on the Portland Zoobomb

Mailbag
Carl shares a link to a bicycle-driven food and wine series in NYC at pedaling.tv/;
as well as Liz Canning who collaboratively documents her passion for the cargo bike movement!

Darren from “Downunder” donates (thanks!) and says “Just sent a little coin your way gents in preparation for the mega 50th episode. Thanks for the laughs over the past 12 months, I’ve enjoyed every episode. Have a beer or two on me….” Also says: “(No more pisstakes on the Aussie accent Brandon… Okay, just one 😉 )”

Susan from Plano TX shares a few links with us: the North Portland Tool Library, and the announcement of Logan & Tammy’s Tiny House!

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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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E045 – Lillian Karabaic

Bicycling, Cargo, Communication, Downsizing, Housing, Transit, Travel, Walking

We engage in a lively discussion of bicycles and transit in everyday life with Lillian Karabaic, producer of the Portland Afoot Podcast and, as her card states, “bicycle advocate, photographer, and transportation wonk.”

We discuss: Brandon’s back!, Orcas Island, bike trailer crash, tallbikes and chunk 666, the Portland Afoot podcast, cycle wild, the carfree cities conference in Guadalajara (referenced in her latest podcast), world naked bike ride, and other things.

Headlines
Taking The Lane: Elly Blue briefly describes a rural bike community in California
BikePortland: new senic bikeways approved by Oregon State Parks
Bicycling Magazine via Ethan: is a cargo bike the coolest bike ever made? probably so.
BikePortland: Rejuiced Bikes makes incredible special function bicycles out of scrap
BikePortland: Best e-bike ever? The IDEO/Rock Lobster Oregon Manifest entry

Mailbag
donation from Blayne in BC: “You should be able to buy a 24 of PBR for that I imagine.” 

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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E041 – Team Sincerity

Bicycling, Touring, Train Travel, Travel

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.

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)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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