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

Latest Episode

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
Bike Advocacy Evolves

June 30, 2023

Transcript: bit.ly/3OmdSnE

0:29 https://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 https://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.

Hear the full (edited)event: https://soundcloud.com/biketalk/bike-talk-forum-at-los-angeles-ecovillage

28:02 https://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. https://www.gettingthere.city

46:31 https://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.

advocacy, losangeles, nyc, sideguards
No Status Quo

June 22, 2023

0:27 on.soundcloud.com/MuEKS

Easy Does: Father’s Day was the New Orleans Big Easy Bike Festival. Details from Bayou Queens and Bayou Cruisers Bike Club President Hardy Elzy. www.facebook.com/groups/1765096107047285/

7:58 on.soundcloud.com/3NNrL

Decongest: congestion pricing nears approval in NYC; how and why with energy-policy analyst, transport economist and environmental activist Charles Komanoff. www.nytimes.com/2023/06/08/opinio…k-congestion.html

43:40 on.soundcloud.com/FNeCs

Easy Riders: a high school group recounts their bike camping tour of Western Massachusetts. With Northampton High bike tour coach and math teacher Brant Jones.Editing by Taylor Nichols and Mitchell Bove.Closing Song, “Bike,” by Mal Webb.Interstitial music, “Just Moving,” by Don Ward.Visit BikeTalk.org to be involved.

congestion, nola, northampton, traffic
Policies

June 16, 2023

1:21 on.soundcloud.com/eVUsi
Alternative Vision: an update on campaigns of NYC safe streets advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives including Sammy’s Law and 25×25, with Associate Director of Communications Alexa Sledge.

12:53 on.soundcloud.com/FjXdn
Hunger for Justice: A hunger strike to get the NY State Assembly to pass Sammy’s Law for locally set speed limits by Families for Safe Streets co-founder and Sammy’s mother, Amy Cohen.

19:15 on.soundcloud.com/LozsA
In Memoriam: “Families Forever Changed,” a Poem by Tshaka Campbell. Available at Amy cohen’s twitter page: twitter.com/amylcohen

23:54 on.soundcloud.com/oZzFX
Kingston Trio: Ella Kondrat, Tonya Garment, and Rose Quinn on their article which stopped a reactionary attempt by the Kingston, NY Common Council to make all kinds of biking behaviors illegal. sweetenthestreets.substack.com/p/kingsto…edium=web

45:32 on.soundcloud.com/dAozN
Bike The Strike: Interviews from the road at the Los Angeles writers’ strike, by Taylor Nichols.

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

Familiesforsafestreets, sammy, slaw, speedlimits