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

Bikeable Nation

September 8, 2023

Fix it: Brake maintenance advice from fixie rider, activist, and Los Angeles Metro Bikeshare mechanic Anne Marie Drolet.

5:36 https://on.soundcloud.com/nS5hG
Consult: Jeff Speck, author of “Suburban Nation” and “Walkable Cities,” on making cities walkable and bikeable. With Taylor Nichols.

40:20 https://on.soundcloud.com/45DaG
Legislate: Getting the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to mandate Bicyclist Emergency Braking in deadly autonomous vehicles. With Ken McLeod, Policy Director of League of American Bicyclists, interviewed by Taylor Nichols.

bikeable, Jeffspeck, liveable, walkable
Health v Convenience

September 2, 2023

4:51 on.soundcloud.com/XNjqH
Healthy Pastime: The personal and planetary health benefits of biking with scientist and Resources Chair for League of Women Voters in Los Angeles Dr. Grace Peng and Isabella Chu, Associate Director of the Data Core at Stanford’s Center for Population Health Sciences. By Lindsay Sturman and Taylor Nichols.

32:41 on.soundcloud.com/eQiMF
Business Bikelash: attachment to parking undermines livability and endangers a safe, healthy road design planned in Northampton, Massachusetts. With Tony Jordan, President of the Parking Reform Network, and Elena Huisman, co-Founder of Main Street for Everyone.

49:41 on.soundcloud.com/CTsJq
Yes: Joanna Gubman connects land use, transportation, and environmentalism with bikes as Executive Director for Urban Environmentalists, a board member of the SF Bicycle Coalition, and Environmental Director at YIMBY Action. By Seamus Garrity.

cost, environment, health, parking
Freedom in Motion

August 23, 2023

3:53 on.soundcloud.com/wZMqa
Here, Then, and When: How car companies sold us car-centric roads, and how autonomous cars and EVs will not solve that problem. With Peter Norton, author of “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City,” and “Autonorama: The Illusory Promise of High-Tech Driving.” By Lindsay Sturman.

32:57 on.soundcloud.com/BkV3v
Show Me the Way: On bike tourism and the Western New England Greenway, with Dan McGuinness and Tom O’ Brien. By Lily Hoffman-Strickler.

45:02 on.soundcloud.com/2P4aJ
Static Motion: “Bike scribble” artist Kathleen King Page has her bike sculptures, murals, and canvasses featured across the country. With Lily Hoffman-Strickler.

bikeart, bikehistory, biketourism
No to Naysayers Podcast

August 18, 2023

Here for the Ratio: Anne Marie Drolet, a bikeshare mechanic in Los Angeles, breaks down gear ratios with Nick.

Good Work: Kristen Sykes, a Holyoke, Massachusetts Bike Ped Committee and MassBike Board member, on what’s being done to make Holyoke friendlier to bikes. With Holyoke student Lily Hoffman Strickler.

Picture if You Will: The Mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts has big ideas for biking in the already bike friendly town. Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra With Director of Planning & Sustainability Carolyn Misch, Pedal People co-founder Ruthy Woodring, and Nick Richert.

Talk to Me: Pablo Lebidensky writes about mobility in Buenos Aires, and talks with Nick about it.

Spokes ‘N Stuff: Bike mechanic Manny Alvarado on the basics of maintenance. Also: Burning Man vet Ves gets his bike tuned. With Taylor Nichols.

bikeped, carlight, roaddiet
Push Back on Bikelash

August 12, 2023

Magnus White’s not-accidental car killing, No More Ghost Rides and Trash Panda Cycling’s LA bike calendar with Raphael Hernandez and cohosts. linktr.ee/trashpandacycling

13:07 on.soundcloud.com/Umnsp
Fight Back: Talking Back To Bikelash with CalBike’s Kevin Claxton. www.calbike.org/talking-back-to-bikelash/

35:44 on.soundcloud.com/Srv9m
RAGBRAI: The Great Iowa Fall Ride with “Shift” documentarians/Des Moines Register journalists Courtney Crowder and Kelsey Kremer, and RAGBRAIder Shem Bitterman, with Taylor. ragbrai.com/documentary/

bikelash, ragbrai, trashpandacycling
Politics and the Bicycle

August 4, 2023

Chutzpah: the supermajority on Vancouver’s City Council, ABC (“A Better City”), ripped out iconic Stanley Park’s protected bike lane to make room for drivers to enjoy nature through windshields. Lucy Maloney, Vancouver safe streets activist, says that ABC has its sights on other bike lanes. But there’s always hope. Then, cohosts Seamus, Taylor, and Nick discuss whether political ideology correlates to attitudes towards active transportation.

17:28 https://on.soundcloud.com/V9DvY
Front Lines: Lawsuits against NYC congestion pricing, higher registration fees for heavier vehicles, and backtracking by Mayor Adams on a safer McGuiness Boulevard, from Transportation Alternatives’ Associate Director of Communications Alexa Sledge.

30:25 https://on.soundcloud.com/Pv92w
Sidelined: The US Department of Transportation created a report that recommended mandating truck sideguards to protect vulnerable road users from getting dragged and crushed. The truck industry was given the report, and pressured the USDOT to change its recommendation. Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets member Alex Epstein says the USDOT has been “captured” by the trucking industry. Alex is joined by Caron Whitaker, Deputy Executive Director of the League of American Cyclists, and Steven Bingham, father of a cyclist caught and crushed under a truck.

53:56 https://on.soundcloud.com/BsDdb
Mattapan on Wheels: Making Mattapan, Massachusetts safe for bikers with Vivien Morris, Chair and Founder of Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition.

congestion, nyc, sideguards, vancouver
Save the Mamils

July 26, 2023

0:00

Trash Talk: A recent listener email objected to Bike Talk’s interview with Bike Mapper Jaimy Fisher because she didn’t use Strava data that included MAMILs (Middle Aged Men in Lycra). Original interview at: on.soundcloud.com/XEC1y. This, according to our listener, constituted “Trash Talking MAMILS.” Cohosts Taylor, Lindsay, Madeleine, Seamus & Nick do some introspecting, and find that we do indeed love MAMILs.

12:08 https://on.soundcloud.com/5JULK

Class Trip: MAMIL Taylor Nichols takes a 3-day tour of Michigan’s TART trail with some old high school friends. https://traversetrails.org/

21:40 https://on.soundcloud.com/hAi5f

EMT Advocate: Tyler Newcomb, bike advocate, EMT, board member of Bike Jersey City and Safe Streets Jersey City, on his journey to bike advocacy. With San Francisco activist Stacey Randecker. https://twitter.com/tylernewcomb_

35:48 https://on.soundcloud.com/6CXZc

Lit: The twilight world of lit up bikes, as told by Lit Riderz Jay Torrisi and April Stom with Reo Ramsey, owner of RK Mobile 313 and Founder of Motown Trailblazers Bicycle Club. https://litriderz.com/

https://twitter.com/313MTBZ

Edited by Taylor Nichols and Kevin Burton.

Closing Song, “Bike,” by Mal Webb.

Interstitial music, “Just Moving,” by Don Ward.

Visit BikeTalk.org to be involved.

EMT, jersey, lights, mamil
Bike Your Way

July 20, 2023

0:33 https://on.soundcloud.com/zpXmy

Lucas Rowton, mountain bike racer and bike mechanic, gives some advice on chains and flats.

10:44 https://on.soundcloud.com/ixYFS

LA Times Art and Design Columnist Carolina Miranda on her article, “Build less housing for cars and more for people,” with Taylor Nichols. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2023-07-07/build-less-housing-for-cars-and-more-for-people-how-cities-of-the-past-can-guide-the-future

26:00 https://on.soundcloud.com/bts1X

State of the art thinking about safety from two Pittsfield, Massachusetts leaders in street design: Public Utilities Commissioner Ricardo Morales and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Senior Transportation Planner Nick Russo. With Western Massachusetts Bike Talk guest correspondent Lily Hoffman Strickler.

Edited by Taylor Nichols, Kevin Burton and Mitchel Bove.

Closing Song, “Bike,” by Mal Webb.

Interstitial music, “Just Moving,” by Don Ward.

Visit BikeTalk.org to be involved.

latimes, lyft, Pittsfield
Bikecentric

July 14, 2023

14:07 on.soundcloud.com/AfXTA
Bike Night: A bike rodeo and other bike events sharpened the skills and whet the appetites of children at North Adams, Massachusetts’ “Pedal 2 The Metal” event, with Jessi Byrne, Health & Wellness Coordinator of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, and Nick Russo, Senior Planner of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

20:39 on.soundcloud.com/XEC1y
Bike Data: Strava’s bike data through an equity lens as interpreted by Canadian researcher Jaimy Fischer, with Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher.

37:46 on.soundcloud.com/vWG7Y
Bike Action: Discussing Safe Street Rebel’s bike protests and direct actions in San Francisco with Aditya Bhumbla and Stacey Randecker, by Taylor Nichols.

firstfridays, northadams, saferoutes, strava
Tactical Urbanism the Bicycle

July 6, 2023

0:29 on.soundcloud.com/xwxnT
Money Talks: Truck sideguards are proven to save lives; the League of American Bicyclists’ Deputy Executive Director Caron Whitaker tells cohost Taylor Nichols how the USDOT chose the trucking industry over lives.

10:33 on.soundcloud.com/Le7gy
Advocacy Roots: A recent Bike Talk forum covered the past, present, and future of Bike Advocacy in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Ecovillage. Ecovillagers began the Bike Kitchen, LA County Bike Coalition (now BikeLA), and CicLAvia. This clip features Executive Director of LA Walks and candidate for California Assembly, John Yi; the ED of BikeLA, Eli Akira Kaufman; the founder of the Bicycle Kitchen, Jimmy Lizama; and Biking Attorney Josh Cohen.

28:02 on.soundcloud.com/B41qT
Getting There: A New York City project asked people who use bikes and other small wheeled devices what they use them for and how infrastructure affects their motivations and needs. The project also recruited over three dozen volunteers to ride every block of every designated bike lane on the official New York City Bike Map to better understand the issues riders face when navigating the existing infrastructure. Streetopia Upper West Side blogger Carl Mahaney reports back to cohosts Taylor and Lindsay. www.gettingthere.city

46:31 on.soundcloud.com/muN8h
Charging ahead: Qualifying applicants to the California Air Resources Board (CARB)e-bike incentives pilot program will get a voucher of up to $1,000 for a regular e-bike and up to $1,750 for a cargo or adaptive e-bike. The California Bicycle Coalition is advocating for additional funding so the program can continue past this year’s pilot. Calbike Policy Director Jared Sanchez tells cohost Don Ward all about it.

Editing by Taylor Nichols, Kevin Burton and Mitchell Bove.
Closing Song, “Bike,” by Mal Webb.
Interstitial music, “Just Moving,” by Don Ward.
Visit BikeTalk.org to be involved.

bikegrid, chicago, extinction, rebellion