Category Archives: The Podcast

Episode 3: Ditch Your Car, Climb a Mountain

Posted on January 13, 2016 by josh| Leave a comment

Matt Alford has been a rock climber and mountaineer for most of his life. For the better part of three decades now, he’s been exploring the mountains near his home in Seattle and far beyond. Doing so has required logging countless hours and miles in a car. When that fact started weighing on Matt’s mind 10 years ago, he decided the solution was to start putting together Front Door Adventures: climbing and skiing trips accessed completely by bike and mass transit.

Correction: In the opening of the episode I say that “Personal car use contributes relatively little to greenhouse gas emissions compared to industrial agriculture, airplanes, dirty energy and others.” This is an understatement of personal car, truck, and SUV use’s impact. According to the EPA, transportation contributed 27 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in 2013. Of that 27 percent, passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, and minivans account for over half of the emissions generated. 

Music:
“Go Cart,” “Dub Feral ,” “Universal”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Posted in Adventure, Bike Touring, The Podcast

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The Bicycle Story Needs Your Support!

Posted on December 7, 2015 by josh| Leave a comment

For just over five years now, The Bicycle Story has brought you interviews with cycling’s most interesting advocates, adventurers, racers, industry insiders, and oddballs from all corners of the bike world. And though The Bicycle Story is now producing podcasts instead of written interviews, the heart of the project remains people. They’ve always been the driving force and centerpiece of this site and they always will be. Likewise, The Bicycle Story’s content has always been free to read and that’s not about to change.

But, The Bicycle Story’s evolution to podcasting needs your support. Audio has the potential to open the door to new and exciting stories and reach even more people, but podcasting takes a tremendous amount of work. Each episode requires research, reporting, editing, production, and promotion and it simply isn’t feasible without the support of listeners like you!

That’s where Patreon comes in. Patreon is built on the idea that lots of people giving a little bit can do amazing things. Though similar to Kickstarter, Patreon supporters pledge a recurring monthly payment. It can be as little as a dollar and as much as you want! In exchange, you can get access to great rewards such as a members-only, behind-the-scenes newsletter and story round-up, and swag. If you are connected with a company interested in direct sponsorship of episodes, give me a shout at info@thebicyclestory.com.

Make your pledge today.

Thanks so much for your support!

Josh

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Posted in Everything Else, The Podcast

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Episode 2: How To Deal With Belgian Demons

Posted on December 4, 2015 by josh| Leave a comment

After just one year of racing in the American professional cyclocross scene, Elle Anderson got the chance to join a European team and race full time in Belgium. It’s the stuff dreams are made of for young American bike racers. But reality turned out to be more nightmare than dream. A series of compounding events left Elle deeply depressed and struggling on and off the bike.

Music:
“Dirt Rhodes,” “Long Note Two,” “Static Motion”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Posted in Cyclocross, History, Racing, The Podcast

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Announcing The Bicycle Story Podcast! Episode 1: Bike Skills Save Lives

Posted on October 28, 2015 by josh| 4 Comments

Today marks a big shift for The Bicycle Story and I’m all kinds of excited about it. But for those of you who just want the goods, let me first tell you about episode one of the brand new podcast!

Bikes changed Khalil Brewers’ life. The 19 year old went through Bike Works’ Job Skills Program, which helped put him on a path towards success and away from gang life. In this episode, we learn about Brewers’ dark past in St. Louis, his experience with Bike Works and its jobs program lead Ben Schultz, and the future he’s heading towards. (Songs: Soporific & Odyssey Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

So with that said. The Bicycle Story’s 5th anniversary (!) looms just a few days away. Through the years I’ve had the chance to interview a ton of amazing people from all corners of the bicycling world and share their stories as Q&As. But now it’s time for a fresh approach. As it’s always been, bikes and the many fascinating people and stories associated with them are the through line. The difference is now I’ll be telling those stories in a short, narrative podcast (think 99 Percent Invisible or an act of This American Life). Audio opens up a world of potential and I’m thrilled to see where it takes me and the site.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for supporting the site for half a decade. I hope you’ll stick around for this great new chapter of The Bicycle Story.

Cheers,
Josh

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Posted in Advocacy, Mechanics, The Podcast

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