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Today’s Spokespeople:
Racing
- Giro d’Italia
- Steve Smith
Cyclist Safety and Advocacy
- Health benefits of cycling outweigh pollution risks.
- WSJ Article by Jason Gay: America! Cyclists are Not Your Enemy
Industry News
- Combatting guerilla marketing – UK MTB mag to start charging for embedding “rad” brand-produced rider videos. Followed by this statement about ethics from the mountain bike mag publisher.
- Unite an Industry – Interbike video and email is such a downer. Plus, it seems like Pat Hus is begging people to attend. Odd.
Other
- May is US Bike Month – what does that even mean these days?
Tips, Hints and Best Practices
- Chris: Use a nail file to deglaze brake pads after a winter of riding through road sludge.
- Carlton: Quote from Jason Gay’s WSJ article: “It’s maddening to watch public meetings where bike lanes are raged over like they’re landing pads for Martian armies.”
- Anna: Handbuilt Bicycle Guide Web Site
- Donna: Bobke TV
How to Listen:
“Las Vegas, one of the most cycling unfriendly cities in all of North America”
And this is based on The Strip, I presume? Head over to the west side. Red Rock Canyon is gorgeous and has a healthy cycling community. Head over to the Southeast side of town in Henderson and it’s great trails and bicycle enthusiasts there as well. Add a growing number of cyclists and bike infrastructure on the North/Northwest side of Vegas and the riding in lost wages is pretty great. Oh, plus head out NW 45 minutes to Lee Canyon and ride one of the better climbs in the US.
I enjoy the podcast. I also couldn’t let that all too common remark go unchallenged. Yes, Vegas has quite a ways to go in becoming more bike friendly, but it’s nowhere near as bad as that statement paints it. Next time any of you are in Vegas, let’s get away from the strip and go on some fun, challenging, and gorgeous rides in the area.
Hi Joshua. I couldn’t agree with you more! I have done a lot of cycling in and around the Las Vegas area, including several rides through Red Rock, around Lake Mead, and through the Lake Las Vegas and Henderson areas. You may also recall that Mrs. FredCast and I participated in the Gran Fondo Las Vegas as well. I have always enjoyed cycling the area. I agree that The Strip is not the best or safest place to ride, but I have enjoyed several group and solo rides through there too.
Hey Joshua,
For sure, there are great riding spots around Vegas. I’ve ridden there many times myself, and it’s great news to hear that the cycling community is on the rise there. Red Rock Canyon is one of my favorite places, full stop.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the fact that Interbike takes place on The Strip, and this all but eliminates using a bike to actually get to the show hall. It’s a contrast that wouldn’t exist in many other places, which the organizers know. It adds to my cynicism about why the event is still held there.
What would be great is if this aspect of Las Vegas was actually a feature of the show. Advocacy is meant to be a prominent theme, and the fact that there is so much great work happening to grow cycling in Vegas should be highlighted.
I appreciate you commenting on this, and educating me on what’s been happening there. Long may that continue, and I’ll choose my words more carefully next time.
-CG
The comment was definitely aimed at the Strip.
I’ve also ridden at Red Rock and agree it’s great – for mountain biking.
The Strip is OK when you’re joined by lots of riders, and there have been some great “Critical Mass”-style social rides at Interbike, such as this one: https://www.flickr.com/photos/carltonreid/albums/72157627556577445
Actually, Carlton, the Red Rock Canyon Conservation area, and the roads leading to and from the area make for excellent road cycling as well. Give it a try next time!
Great show! I’m always curious to hear perspectives on why women’s racing doesn’t attract as much money as men’s racing. In basketball, the pro men and women are playing very different games, even easy for the untrained eye to spot, making it easier to justify a difference in money. Contrast this with cycling, and I couldn’t tell a difference at all between a men’s and women’s race, so I’m equally likely to watch both, so (similar to tennis), I’d expect more equal financials to match.
I think “policing” other riders, besides being a somewhat fruitless task, is a red herring. More importantly, at least where I live, there is a big disparity between enforcement (policing by police) of road laws for automobiles and enforcement for bicyclists.
In my younger (less prudent) years, I was pulled over on my bicycle only three times. I ran many more stop signs and lights than only that. Each of those three times the police simply told me to be more careful. That’s not enforcement. I don’t think it’s very different now, even though I, myself, am much more compliant. 🙂
Bottom line, people will, generally, do what they can get away with. Autos speed up to 10% over speed limits because that’s pretty much understood where enforcement starts. Cyclists rarely get pulled over, much less ticketed, for riding the wrong way or running stop signs and lights. Therefore, they do it. Simple as that. I really don’t think another cyclist pulling them over and saying, “Please don’t do that. It makes us all look bad.” is much of a deterrent, at all.
Yet another great show. (Are you folks getting tired of hearing that?) I thought that a show made up almost entirely of women (and in which Carleton pretty much just moved the show from topic to topic without dominating the discussion) was fantastic.
It was actually kind of interesting just to hear the difference in how the folks interacted. Hate to make too many generalizations, but I would say female conversational style seems to differ from male in some regards. Less interruption, more polite disagreement. Slightly less sarcasm.
Keep up the good work!
You guys are very kind. Thank you.
DonB – I agree with you and am not sure what the exact right thing is. I guess we all try to make the roads safer for cyclists when we can and encourage others to do it as well. Doing by example is always a good place to start.
Dan – glad you liked the different perspective. It was interesting for me, too. Completely different dynamic. But, I’ll continue to say that I’m a lucky gal to be included, especially with such a great grouping of industry pros every show.
Hi Dan
You’re spot on about the dynamics. I was aware of it as we were recording.
Great show as always.
Regarding the study about pollution. They did compare walking and cycling: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743516000402 . And they also compare it to the lazy people: “If cycling replaces driving, the trade-off would be even more beneficial.”
And about women cycling: there is some good news too, that I don’t think was mentioned: “Tour de Yorkshire becomes world’s most lucrative women’s cycling race ” https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/23/tour-de-yorkshire-organisers-lucrative-event-women-first-prize – paying more than for the men
Good links, Christof.
I’ve added the second one to the list for the next show, recorded on Sunday. Thanks.
Fantastic show and greatly appreciated hearing from women in the bike industry.