Tag Archives: bike works

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

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

Davey Oil: The Radical Activist Pushing Family Bikes in the Mainstream

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Davey Oil in front of his family cargo bike shop in Seattle. Photo by Josh Cohen.

If you ride bikes in Seattle, you likely know a bit about Davey Oil. As co-owner of the family cargo bike shop G&O Family Cyclery he’s played a critical role in Seattle’s family biking boom. As a longtime bike activist, he’s worked for and been involved in Bike Works, Cascade Bike Club, the Bikery, critical mass and more. Having straddled the fence between the radical activist side of the bike movement and the insider-politics advocacy side, he has a valuable perspective on the growth of cycling-as-transportation in the city. I sat down with him at a coffee shop next to the Family Cyclery for a wide ranging conversation about his roots in activism, the rise and fall (and re-rise and re-fall) of Seattle critical mass, the mainstreaming of bike politics locally and nationally, the advocacy world’s struggles with diversity, the family biking boom, and much more.

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Kent Peterson: Issaquah’s Favorite Car-Free, Ultra Long-Distance Racing, Techie-Turned Mechanic

Photo via carsstink.org

Kent Peterson gave up a comfortable tech career to pursue bike advocacy and shop work; he and his family have lived car-free for over two decades; he’s written his popular blog for over five years focusing on D.I.Y. mechanics, advocacy, and adventure; he’s an accomplished long-distance cyclist and tourist; and he once held the single speed record for the 2,000+ mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Race. In short, he’s an interesting guy. I spoke with Kent about the state of advocacy, what it is to live car-free in America, attempting to recapture his Tour Divide record, and beating Ira Ryan in an underground race from San Francisco to Portland.

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