Bike Talk - A radio show dedicated to the idea that for public and planetary health we need to prioritize public transportation by bikes

Nick and Taylor ride Joe Borfo’s Tandem in Griffith Park

Latest Episode

Bikes for kids in LA and Florida, Black Girls Do Bike, and ebikes over 60

February 7, 2025

Taylor almost gets killed, and Stacey does get hit (1:14).

Taylor fixes up bikes for fire victims in Los Angeles with Jim Shanman and Walk n Rollers (5:10).

News, powered by Ted Rogers’ Bikinginla.com (9:41):
Waymo reports AVs are safer than human drivers.
Bike theft increased 15% last year
The League of American Bicyclists is out with their latest list of the country’s most Bicycle Friendly Communities
A new report says California is the most car dependent state
A new study shows bicycling has a $1.4 billion impact on the state of Iowa alone
The San Antonio, TX. City Council just approved a big new bike plan

NPR reports A Florida hospital gave bikes to kids because buses don’t serve students within 2 miles of school. Taylor, Nick, Lindsay and Stacey discuss whether that’s a good idea (15:22).

Kelly Morphy, executive Director of the Florida Bicycle Association (17:51).

Los Angeles Black Girls Do Bike member Enjoleah Daye (23:05).

John Gibalisco: Pedadling Past 60; riding ebikes flattens hills (36:39).

Fair weather riders Jake and Toni confess they bike less in winter (51:59).

Editor of Streetsblog NYC Gersh Kuntzman’s Bike Thought (57:12).

bikeaid, bikefriendly, bikesmeanbusiness, biketoschool, deliveristas, ebikesover60, fairweatherriders, trafficviolence
Bike Talk 2504 – Conservative values support biking. NYCongestion pricing. Bike lanes = car infrastructure.

January 31, 2025

Bike Lawyer James Pocrass on what it’s like to bike in Los Angeles with the fires still burning, wearing masks, and avoiding scams (0:47).

With fewer cars and fewer injuries, the congestion pricing zone in NYC is like Sunday all week, according to StreetsblogNYC Editor Gersh Kuntzman (6:39).

News: bike crashes are reduced at intersections with Stop-as-yield laws, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finds (14:27).

Listener Rick Bosacker writes & asks for a Bike Talk on how “cycling aligns quite well with many conservative values and strategies.” Cohosts Nick, Lindsay, Taylor and Stacey discuss (16:35).

Understanding car infrastructure with Hayden Clarkin, the “Transit Guy” (23:28).

Detroit’s Slow Roll is a fun, respectful way to learn about the city and enjoy community. Reo Ramsey talks with Slow Roll leader and manager of Trek Detroit, Jason Hall (45:03).

Caron Whitaker, Deputy Executive Director of League of American Bicyclists, shares a Bike Thought (53:35).

carinfrastructure, congestionpricing, culturewar, federalfunding
Bike Touring, Motornormativity, and Treating the Public Health Crisis of Oversized SUVs #2503

January 24, 2025

Cohosts Taylor, Nick, Lindsay and Stacey ponder possible effects of the new administration on bikes, cars, and infrastructure (0:57).

Listener Email: Reese Bastion writes about motonormativity, the acceptance of public hazards from cars where similar hazards like smoking wouldn’t be tolerated. This sparks a discussion about how the framework that led to smoking in public being banned could apply to oversized SUVs (4:52).

Listener bike tours:

Rick Bosacker, M.D., of New Zealand calls from a cruise ship toward the end of a family bike tour of the world’s great and not-so-great bike cities (18:41).

Brett McGraw, from Minneapolis, tours car-centric Los Angeles by bikeshare and transit (27:43).

The “Listening Tour” of Andrew Mohama, who biked home to Chicago from San Francisco, listening to people’s loneliness along the way (38:03).

Bike Thought by Kendra Ramsey, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coalition (54:37).

biketours, carbloat, coalitions, motonormativity
An LA Story-The Fires, Dorothy, The Bike Oven, and Hollywood #2502

January 17, 2025

Altadena Town Councilmember, Bike Educator/activist, cyclocross champion and race organizer Dorothy Wong lost her house in the Eaton fire, along with all her bikes. Gofund her here. She reflects with Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish-also a bike activist (1:39).

The Bike Oven of Highland Park, long a community hub for DIY bike repair, has become an emergency aid distribution center. Volunteer Joe Borfo talks to us about their operation (40:57).

News: Entitled driver rages against kids on bikes. Then, the kids rage on his Mercedes (46:50).

Is the image of bike riding versus driving changing in movies? The topic was recently discussed on the Nobody Drives in LA podcast (50:20).

aid, bikecommunity, co-ops, eatonfire, hollywoodbike, lafires
Costa Rica, Congestion Pricing NYC, and Biking with Disability #2501

January 10, 2025

In honor of the New Year, Nick shares his mission statement for Bike Talk, and compares his acting career with Taylor’s (0:35).

Taylor interviews a Costa Rican mountain biker on his recent trip to Costa Rica (4:15)…

and shares his mission statement for Bike Talk (8:30).

News: On Day 1 of Congestion Pricing in NYC, Transportation Alternatives Communications Director Alexa Sledge shares her observations (9:38).

A new California law defines “e-bike” (17:26).

Studies: Listener “Big E” emails Bike Talk about his bike, or “errand machine,” and links to a study showing 52% of trips in the US are less than 3 miles (18:20).

Another study shows that relying on a car for more than 50% of the time out of the house results in a decrease in life satisfaction (20:01).

A United Kingdom charity, Wheels for Wellbeing, helps people who are disabled get on and enjoy riding bikes of all shapes and sizes. With Dr. Kay Inckle, Campaigns and Policy Manager (22:08).

Blind Tandem Bicycling With Frank Nemiroff and Sonya Chapnick (40:05).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:37).

cars, congestion, CostaRicaMTB, disability, ebike, lifesatisfaction, mobility, studies
Bike Grid Nation repost

January 3, 2025

Midnight Rida/Bike Oven volunteer Joe Borfo lends Bike Talk his tandem for a new logo(0:26).

News: Bill 212 passes, allowing Ontario Premier Doug Ford to proceed with removing Toronto’s popular bike lanes despite data that shows they’re successful. Congestion pricing starts in NYC (4:57).

A Winnipeg rider, Patty Wiens, responds to Taylor’s LA-centric comments about winter riding “on a trainer in the basement” back east (6:39).

Why Are American Drivers so Deadly? NY Times writer Matthew Shaer unpacks his article with Taylor (9:58).

How we move forward to create sustainable cities with networks of protected bike lanes, or bike grids. With Gil Peñalosa, founder of 8-80 Cities (29:40).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (56:11).

8to80, bikeablecities, bikelash, deadlydrivers, decongestion, tandem, winterbike
Bike Love (repost)

December 27, 2024

National Bike News: car related crime, new federal Transportation Alternatives funding, and the EXPLORE act passage.

Studies: E-bikes and scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EVs in the world,
and vehicles with higher, more vertical front ends pose greater risk to pedestrians (6:23)

What to do in a bike crash, with LA Personal Injury Attorney Jim Pocrass (9:32).

Livable Communities: bikes, transit, and housing. Liveable Communities Initiative founder Lindsay Sturman and Taylor Nichols (15:48).

“Hating Bike Lanes is not a Winning Strategy,” writes Massachusetts Streetsblogger Christian MilNeil of fall elections in Massachusetts (41:23).

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:45).

Originally posted December 5, 2023

bikelaw, bikepolitics, liveablecities, streetscience
Ebike Police State in NYC; The Road Widening Fallacy; Kids on Bikes Protest in Amsterdam

December 20, 2024

An email from avid listener Rick Bosacker, who gets the joke about “avid cyclists.” He’s on a 13 month world tour with his family, who are differently avid.

Taylor gets route help from Canadian cyclists Dan and Lynette Markham in bike-unfriendly Laguna Beach, California (2:12)

Bike Friendly States’ ranking highlights by the League of American Bicyclists’ Policy Director Ken Macleod (5:19)

Intro 606 bill would require the licensing of ebikes in NYC, and make every person on a bike a target- especially those who are already targeted. “There Are No Accidents” author Jessie Singer unspools a thread (8:58)

Even the Netherlands could do better for children’s active transportation, which is why kids had to protest for park space in Amsterdam, say Dr. Meredith Glaser and Michela Grasso of the Urban Cycling Institute (23:38)

Widening roads doesn’t decrease gridlock. Why don’t engineers know this? Steffen Berr, the Haarlem traffic engineer behind Build the Lanes, and Sully Israel, a traffic planner in Los Angeles, build their case (37:05)

Stacey’s Bike Thought (55:26)

bikefriendly, bottlenecks, ebikelicense, family, kidspace
Bike Fights, Loser Lanes, Organizing Advocates and “Avid Cyclists”

December 13, 2024

The Ebike Getaway of Luigi Mangioni (1:28)

An overview of the Washington Area Bicycle Coalition, WABA, by Elizabeth Kiker, Executive Director (5:29)

The Evanston, IL Bike Lane Debate as told by Streetsblog Chicago Editor John Greenfield (7:46)

People who bike were betrayed by the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure’s watering down of a protected bike lane, say Denver Bike Lobbyists Alejandra Castañeda and Rob Toftness (14:10)

The video game Loser Lane is impossibly dangerous, because it simulates the city of Toronto without bike lanes. Marie Leblanc Flanagan, the game designer, thanks anti-bike Ontario Premier Doug Ford for each virtual death (27:25)

The work of the Massachusetts Bike Coalition, MassBike, as told by Galen Mook, Executive Director, to Charlie Leightheiser (41:30)

bikefight, ebikeassassin, loserlane, massbike, waba
Fat Bikes in Winter, Spoke ‘n Art, Engineers for Bike Lanes, the Dutch, RAGBRAI, and Revolutionizing Mobility

December 6, 2024

Taylor talks with Hugh Fuller and Joe Borfo at Bike Oven’s iconic Highland Park “Spoke ’n Art Ride.” 0:20

Why fat bikes are “the quiver killer,” a pitch from Physical Education teacher and mountain bike club coach Salem Derby. 4:03

News: “Loser Lane,” a fatalistic web based game about riding without a protected lane in Toronto. With Bill 212, Toronto Premier Doug Ford seeks immunity for injuries and fatalities resulting from removing Toronto bike lanes. The Ontario Society of Professional Engineers completely opposes the bill. 8:43

Los Angeles bike advocate and personal injury attorney Jim Pocrass compares Toronto’s would-be municipal immunities with LA’s. 12:36

More news: Denver, Colorado waters down planned protected bike lanes after Denver DOT holds private, post-public comment meetings with individuals and businesses opposed to them. 18:15

Shoutout to Ted Rogers’ annual fund drive at BikinginLA.com; Thanks for the news, Ted!

Taylor talks with the host of a recent “Revolutionizing Mobility” conference in Culver City, Lindsay Sturman. Also, co-author of Curbing Traffic and Building the Cycling City/Dutch Cycling Embassy International Relations Manager Chris Bruntlett. 20:53

Annabelle Bitterman on riding RAGBRAI with her father and coming in 3rd overall in the East Texas Showdown. 39:40

artride, brt, Dutch, engineers, fatbikes, immunity, mobility, ragbrai