Ben and Bikes
46 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 5 years ago - ★★★★★ - 22 ratingsBikes, the people that ride them and their stories. Cycling, Mountain Bike, Road Bike, Cyclocross, BMX, Commuting, Human Interest, Bicycle, Cycle, Podcast
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Episodes
3 Lights Better Than 1
January 12, 2019 07:01 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBA conversation with Thomas Prehn, a founding member of professional USA Cycling and inventor of the best bike lights money can by. Visit www.arsenalcycling.com and enter discount code BEN for a 20% discount. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Unpavement Project
December 29, 2018 07:01 - 46 minutes - 42.2 MBA conversation with Jeremy McGhee, adaptive bike ride, surfer and skier extraordinaire. Since a car hit Jeremy on his motorbike and took away the use of his legs, 16 years ago, he has made it his life's mission to get off the pavement. Nothing gets this guy down. “If it’s money, figure it out. If it’s time, figure it out. You get less of it every day, so do it now” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
My Brother's Legacy
December 15, 2018 07:01 - 42 minutes - 38.9 MBBack in June, 2017, I interviewed April Paige from the Check-In foundation about the work she is doing to raise awareness for the appalling numbers of people who commit suicide each year. Since that time I have had personal connections to 4 people who have commited suicide. 3 of them High School Students, 1 of them middle aged. All of them male, all of them white, all of them tragic. White male suicide is a national epidemic. Today I talk to the team from www.go4graham.org. 7njvygbr Host...
The Places I Pee - 2
December 01, 2018 07:01 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBBack in April I interviewed Sophie George and Chris Haag just before they set off for Alaska to begin their 20,000 mile, 2 year bicycle adventure starting in Homer Alaska and ending in Uswaya Argentina. The episode was called the Places I Pee. If you want to know about why I named the episode this way, or why their web site theplacesipee.com is so called, I suggest you listen to the episode. Here we are, about 6 months later and they have made it all the way from Homer to the Mexican border...
The Bike Ninja
November 17, 2018 07:01 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBAs ever I love it when a listener reaches out to me to be on the ben and bikes podcast If you’d like to be on the show please email me on [email protected] or go to benandbikes.com and click on the contact button on the nav bar. Today’s guest, who sent me an email, is joining me via Skype all the way from Spain. His real name is Axel Blumenberg, but he also goes by the Bike Ninja. From what I understand Axel was one of those people suffering a soul destroying, life wasting and exhausting ...
Risk & Reward
November 03, 2018 06:01 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBNike was founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, both keen runners (and waffle fans), Trek was founded by Richard Burke a keen cyclist and GoPro was founded by Nick Woodman so he could take rad movies while he was surfing. My guest today is Josh Sprague, a competitive endurance athlete, who is the founder of Orange Mud, a manufacturer of some very unique running, biking and lifestyle brands. From a garage built prototype through to global distribution using his web site orangemud.com and...
Bikes Stopped Me From Being A Jerk
October 20, 2018 06:01 - 27 minutes - 22.9 MBReceiving feedback from listeners is one of the most rewarding things about producing the Ben and Bikes Podcast. It’s a double bonus when those people want to share their bike story with me on the show. Back in June of 2017 I spoke with Robert Raymond about his experiences commuting to work in Florida - You can find this episode on my web site - benandbikes.com Today I’m joined by Sam Campbell, from Illinois. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Knives, Flannel & Women Truck Drivers
October 06, 2018 06:01 - 43 minutes - 39.4 MBDomestic Violence Awareness. Comedian Mara Marek rides her bike across the country to raise awareness for Domestic Violence Awareness. She and her dog Frank join me to talk about her experiences. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bike Frame Failed At 40 MPH
September 22, 2018 06:01 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MBSome of you may remember that my Podcast used to be called Bikes And...where I’d fill in the next part with the subject of the show. Bikes And...Beer, Bikes and Community, etc. This episode goes all the way back to Episode 15, Bikes and Making the best of it, where I was honoured to talk to Jamie Osbourne. A man who suffered a catastrophic spinal injury when his road bike’s frame collapsed travelling at more than 40 miles per hour. His approach to recovery is one of tenacity, character and pe...
You Are What You Eat
September 08, 2018 06:01 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MBAn interview with NYC Chef and Cyclist Seamus Mullen. We talk about how diet and exercise and a change in lifestyle allowed him to lose weight and help to battle his battle with early onset Rheumatoid Arthritis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
August 25, 2018 06:01 - 54 minutes - 50 MBLast week end I had the honour to see the Leadville 100 MTB race from the athletes point of view, talking to as many as would allow me to shove an annoying microphone into their face. I recorded more than 100 interviews and of course fitting them all into a podcast that lasts a little less than one hour is not possible. But I’ve a created representative selection to give you an insight into what makes people do this, their backgrounds and motivations. I am in awe of you all. This episode i...
Who Dares, Wins
August 11, 2018 06:01 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBI will be up in Leadville, Colorado this weekend interviewing the athletes crazy enough to attempt the Leadville 100 mountain bike race. While I'm doing this, please enjoy an episode from earlier this year where I interview the race's founders, Ken Chlouber and Merilee Maupin. In my next episode I'll be playing some of those interviews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Deal - Part 2
July 28, 2018 06:01 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBThere are two sides to every story. In the last Episode of Ben and Bikes I spoke with Ian Dille about what happened at the 2001 Road National Championships in Florida and the subsequent article he wrote for this month’s edition of Bicycling Magazine titled “The Deal”. Long story short: With a few laps to go on a grueling circuit, the race was between Ian Dille and Mike Friedman. Ian who had been in the lead for a while, Mike who had just caught up to him. Ian’s recollection is that Mike sai...
The Deal - Part 1
July 14, 2018 06:01 - 51 minutes - 47.2 MBAll of us can probably remember a time in our lives where we wish we could go back and change a decision we made. The results of that decision probably stick with us today, and probably will for the rest of our lives. For today’s guest, that time was 2001, and his decision was based on 6 words. It was the 2001 U23 National Criterium Championship and Ian Dille was sitting on the starting line with 100 or more other hungry young racers. It was a tough field stacked with pros, previous champio...
You gotta practice your winning pose, because it’s gonna happen
June 30, 2018 06:01 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBIt was surfing legend and fitness guru Laird Hamilton who once said “Make sure your worst enemy doesn't live between your own two ears” There is meaning in this quote for both the sport he loves and for all aspects of his life. So often sports metaphors make this transitive leap. Others include: Driving for show, putting for dough Set your goals high, and don't stop till you get there It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters If...
That Time I Went Full Enduro
June 16, 2018 12:10 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MBGloria Liu writes in the article titled That Time I Went Full Enduro “It was a fabulous lifestyle. I got over feeling guilty about spending a whole day taking lifts or banging up some steep road to get to the downhills faster. Enduro was mountain biking’s five-pound bag of red Swedish Fish; there were none of the boring flavors, only the best one. Finally, I could eschew all that character-building stuff and maximize the fun.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Places I Pee
June 02, 2018 06:01 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MBToday’s guests, joining me from St. George, Utah, are Chris Haag and Sophie George. They will be riding their bikes from Alaska to Argentina, a distance of 20,000 miles; it will take them 2 years to complete. You can learn more about their adventure and keep tabs on their progress by visiting www.theplacesipee.com and there will be a link to this page on the www.benandbikes.com web site. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Behind Handlebars Project
May 19, 2018 06:01 - 40 minutes - 55.4 MBThere is a saying that sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees. Translation: In this crazy world, where we spin around the cities and communities where we live at brake neck speeds, we forget to stop and look around and take into account what we take advantage of. So what better way to do this than on a bike. Today’s guest, joining us from, Denmark, is Oliver Andersen – the Urban Bicycle Explorer. His goal is to inspire people all around the globe to bike and use it as a tool for...
Our Land and (S)oil
May 05, 2018 06:05 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBWhen most people think of a multi-day bike tour they might consider doing it in places like the Napa Valley, Croatia or maybe even The French Alps. But not today’s guest. Martin Eberlen decided to ride 1,600 miles from the City of Stanley, North Dakota where the Dakota Access Pipeline begins through to its end in Patoka, Illinois. This controversial pipeline transports 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day across four states. The end result of his ride is a book called Our Land and (S)oil. ...
The Diva From Down Under
April 21, 2018 06:05 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MBThe Diva from Down Under is how Rapha describes today’s guest. Tiffany Cromwell is one of the World’s most accomplished female road riders having lived her stellar career racing in some of the most illustrious events on pro cycling’s calendar. Currently racing for Team Canyon-SRAM she calls Adelaide Australia her home, but spends a lot of her time racing and training on the roads of Europe. In the off season, Tiffany likes to relax with running marathons, mountain bike racing, boxercise ...
Cycling in a virtual world
April 07, 2018 06:01 - 47 minutes - 43.8 MBThere is a place where you can ride your bike that’s a cross between the French Alps and Hawaii. It rarely rains. It never really gets dark. It is never cold. It is never windy. There are no cars. You can always find friends from all over the world to ride with, or you can choose to ride by yourself. There are butterflies and Sloths and Mountain Goats and 1,000 foot waterfalls and you can ride through a volcano. Sound too good to be true, or maybe that I’ve been imbibing in too much of Color...
Think You've Got What It Takes?
March 25, 2018 10:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBAn interview with the founders of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race and the Leadville Race Series, Ken Chlouber and Merilee Maupin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Garbage In, Garbage Out
March 11, 2018 07:01 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MBThis episode is coming to you from Brooklyn and my guest is Seamus Mullen, an award winning New York Chef, author, a leading authority on health and wellness, and a cyclist. Seamus trained in Spain and, as they say, one thing led to another and he now operates two Spanish influenced restaurants, Tertulia (English translation – Social gathering) and a Tapas Bar called El Colmado (English translation – The Grocery Store). He is the author of Hero Food and Real Food Heals – But there’s a lot ...
A Conversation With People For Bikes
February 10, 2018 19:41 - 24 minutesFor those of us who like to ride bikes, whether that be for commuting to work, riding with the kids to the park, trying to get King (or Queen) of the Mountain on that 7% bastard of a hill, or riding some sweet single track, People For Bikes have your backs. Visiting their web site – Peopleforbikes.org – will show you that 1.2 million people have registered with them. This podcast talks to those people who are not the shaved leg, Lycra clad, 1% uber athletes, and that is precisely who Peo...
A Conversation with an Indian Documentary Maker
September 17, 2017 10:00 - 38 minutesBe On this podcastThe Bikes And Podcast's first international episode featuring an interview with Bidit Roy, Indian documentary film maker. I was introduced to Bidit by Ayleen Crotty of the Filmed by Bike Festival and subject of Episode 11. I talk with Bidit about his love of making documentaries, how they connect him to people who have a story to tell and his latest film. There are links to The Bicycle Maker, which was featured in the Filmed by Bike Festival, On The Church Trail and his ...
Learn about First Descents
September 03, 2017 10:00 - 30 minutesI ride bikes, I hike and I fish, to name a few of my favourite outdoor pursuits. The common denominator is that all of these take place in the beautiful mountains of Colorado. The great outdoors represents a prescription, a healing place, both mentally and physically, providing me with the ability to escape from the stress and concerns of modern life, such is the power of adventure. But, what if what ails you was orders of magnitude greater than a bad day at the office, nose to tail traffic...
Guerrilla Gravity Bikes
July 30, 2017 10:00 - 26 minutesThis episode comes to you from the Denver Headquarters of Guerrilla Gravity. Manufacturers of Badass Mountain Bikes. Made for going fast. That’s Guerrilla as in Che Guevara and not Gorilla as in King Kong. As I am a fan of a) Mountain Bikes and B) going fast I am looking forward to talking to the team about their brand, their story and what makes their awesome bikes, so awesome (y). Guerrilla Gravity bike frames are designed and built in house in Denver Colorado, no too far from Mile High...
The Rwandan Cycling Team
July 09, 2017 10:00 - 39 minutesIt’s 1994 and Rwanda, a land locked country on the Eastern side of Africa, just on the Equator, was in the midst of one of the worst genocides in history. In 100 days more than 1 million Tutsis were slaughtered, representing about 70% of their population. At that time a bicycle = life. If you had a bicycle you might escape the slaughter. If you had a bicycle you could try to make your way to safety, too afraid to look back at the staggering and stomach churning displays of man’s inhumani...
The Check In Foundation - Preventing Suicide
June 25, 2017 10:00 - 28 minutesIn the space of 12 months I have known three people commit suicide. All 3 of them were men. In my interactions with them, I never would have guessed there was anything wrong, and news of their suicide came as a complete shock. In conversations with the people they left behind though, it is clear that theirs was a thin veneer and they knew there were signs of inner turmoil; signs that only a loved one might have noticed such as severe moodiness, disinterest with things they loved to do and p...
One Man's Quest To Change Florida's Bike Commuting Culture
June 11, 2017 10:00 - 37 minutesIn a first, I’m pleased to say that I’m interviewing a member of that most select, elite and smart group of people, a listener of the Bikes And…Podcast. A listener who reached out to me with an idea for a story. Honestly, when I started this podcast back on 2016, this is exactly the sort of person I wanted to talk to. It’s been super talking to people who have events to promote, or beers to drink, but for the most part I have reached out to them to invite them onto the show. So, to have so...
Colorado's Professional Bike Race
May 28, 2017 10:00 - 25 minutesEditorial Note: In this podcast it is inadvertently mentioned that the race that precedes the Colorado Classic is the Tour of California, it should be the Tour of Utah. 7 years ago, I stood on the steps of Colorado’s Capital Building, along with 4,000 other cycling enthusiasts, to witness the birth of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Quite possibly the longest and hardest to pronounce name in sporting event history, this marked the return of professional cycling to Colorado since the heady d...
One Man's Return From Tragedy
May 14, 2017 10:00 - 52 minutesIn June 2007, Jamie Osborne was doing the one thing that listeners to this podcast love to do. Riding a bike. Nothing more, nothing less. He was on a lunch ride with colleagues, the same as he had countless times before. Things were getting a little competitive, the lead group’s pace increasing to 25 miles per hour. Jamie, ever so slightly the competitive and self driven type, found himself off this pace and dug deep within himself to catch up. Next came the unimaginable. His bike’s frame f...
What it takes to build a mountain bike trail
April 30, 2017 10:00 - 31 minutesOn April 20th, I was on the 303 Trail Monitor Facebook page and saw that someone called James Kovaly had posted some pictures of a sign he had placed on one of the crown jewels of the trail system known as “Buffalo Creek” and this generated a storm of controversy. The sign, sitting off to the side of what looks to be a 3 out of 5 switchback reads “Don’t Skid” “Skidding destroys the trail”. This was like red rag to a bull for many of the red blooded 303 Trail members who wrote comments like ...
What it's like to ride a recumbent bikes
April 15, 2017 10:00 - 28 minutesBack on February the 4th I was riding my road bike on a favourite loop near my house. I was about to hit a Strava segment named “Short Grind’ , given that it’s on a little kicker of a hill, when about 400 yards ahead of me I see something in the bike lane, that I can’t quite make out. As I get closer I pick out a small flag waving like the lure of angler fish. Closer still and I make out the unmistakable image of someone riding a recumbent bike. I pull alongside and attempt to have a convers...
A bike ride ends in violence
April 01, 2017 10:00 - 29 minutesEditorial Note: In this podcast Andrew described the attack taking place on the north facing side of North Table Mesa. It was actually the south facing side. Last week end, news began to spread, here along Denver’s Front-Range biking community about a mountain biker who had been assaulted on a popular bike trail near Golden, the North Table Mountain Trail. Most of us who live here realise that if you add the amazing access we all have to incredible trail systems to Denver’s growing popula...
The Filmed by Bike Festival
March 19, 2017 10:00 - 28 minutesIn this Podcast, I’m joined by Ayleen Crotty, the founder and Festival Director of “Filmed by Bike” a Portland, Oregon Film Festival held every year at the historic Hollywood Theatre. From May 5th – 7th the 15th Filmed by Bike Festival showcases documentaries, animation and scripted features that are not only shown to the local audience, but are also distributed around the country and the world for communities that want to host their own film festivals, spreading the word of bike advocacy ...
The Reach The Beach Bike Event
March 05, 2017 11:00 - 31 minutesWelcome to double digits and Episode 10. The second in the series of Bikes and …Great Causes, an interview with Brian Mayo, Regional Director of Special Events at the American Lung Association who is the master coordinator of Reach The Beach, a bike event held in Portland, Oregon every year to raise money for the American Lung Association. Also, Brian talks about the inaugural Washington State version of Reach The Beach. Links to organisations and companies mentioned in this episode of Bi...
Bikes and Beer - The Perfect Combination
February 19, 2017 13:00 - 44 minutesWelcome to Episode 9. Bikes and…Beer and have I wanted to do this one since the beginning of the Bikes And…Podcast? Absolutely. Bikes and Beer go together like Fish and Chips, Apple Pie and Ice Cream and Chips and Dip. For many people, the idea of grabbing a beer after a day in the saddle is one the things that motivates you to keep rolling up and down the trail. My friends at the Velominati (Episode 6) have devoted Rule #47 to the idea of the intertwined nature of bikes and beers – “Beer i...
Riding a Bike and Being a Parent
February 05, 2017 13:00 - 21 minutesFor this Podcast we’re back at the Blue Spruce Brewing Company, the location for Episode 2's podcast Bikes And…Community. The story of one man’s quest to recover his stolen Yeti. Thank you to them as ever. As a reminder the Blue Spruce Brewery is located at 4151 E County Line Road in Centennial, CO and offers its own ales on tap & classic pub fare, plus open mic & music events. Today I’m joined by the Schmidt family, Chris, Jessica and their 8 month old son Carter. Both Chris and Jessica ...
The Rules of Riding A Bike
January 07, 2017 16:42 - 31 minutesThe Velominati, Keepers of the cog, sacred order of the cycling disciple who spend their days committed to poring over the essence of cycling to understand how it makes up the sport’s colourful fabric. This, they believe is the Velominati's reason to be. They are so passionate about these beliefs that they have detailed them in a book called “The Rules” – 95 of them in fact, that talk to the way of the cycling disciple and available on Amazon. Some of you may already know about the 5th r...
Raising Money to Beat Multiple Sclerosis
December 26, 2016 15:19 - 31 minutesEver wanted to take part in a charity that raises money for a great cause by doing nothing more than riding a bike? Look no further. Sarah Klein and I talk about the Multiple Sclerosis Society's BikeMS event. What it is, how to take part, some tips and tricks to help you get the most from the event and some insight into what the MS Society does with the $85MM it raises as it tries to battle this heinous disease. Links to organizations and companies mentioned in this episode of Bikes And...
The mountain biking refugee
December 11, 2016 15:11 - 52 minutesAn interview with Sina Solouksaran, International mountain biking legend, who in 2011, was on his way to representing Iran at the Asian Mountain Bike Continental Championships in China, when he was kicked off the team for nothing more than admission to belonging to a non-Muslim Faith. “I wanted to race for my country, for the sport of Mountain Bike Racing, not for a religion” Leaving his family behind, and assuming refugee status, Sina found himself in Turkey, able to race, but prohibited...
Riding a bike later in life
November 27, 2016 21:50 - 32 minutesEver wanted to start cycling a little later in life but weren't sure if it was for you? The cycling podcast, bikesand..., interviews a man who started riding bikes when running became too much of a strain on this knees. Introduced by his neighbour and encouraged by his doctor, Peter is an ardent road bike rider in his early 70's and still going strong. Listen as I chat with Peter at www.yakima.com headquarters in gorgeous Portland, Oregon as he talks about his passion for opera, his Wili...
Recovering a stolen bike
November 12, 2016 13:55 - 38 minutesA Colorado mountain biking veteran's prized Yeti is stolen from his car. Social Media, some good people and the Denver Police all come together to help him recover it, and he gets some nice new parts too. Listen on Stitcher Listen on Google Listen on iTunes Links to organizations and companies mentioned in this episode of Bikes And...have been listed below the photos Rich's Yeti before it was stolen Rich's Yeti after recovery, note plush seat and bar ends (attached in the wrong directi...
High school mountain bike racing
October 30, 2016 20:03 - 34 minutesA interview with 5 High School Student Athletes who race mountain bikes in the Colorado High School Cycling League. Why they ride, where else they take their bikes and other great stories Listen on Stitcher Listen on Google Listen on iTunes Links to organizations mentioned in this episode of Bikes And...have been listed below the video. Links Colorado High School Cycling League NICA International Mountain Biking Association The Bailey Hundo Monarch Crest Trail Crested Butte Host...
What is Bikes And...?
October 14, 2016 21:59 - 6 minutesA 30 minute podcast published every 2 weeks once a including interviews, and public interest stories and I also want to include as much content from you, the bike riding listener, as possible. I’ve got a bunch of ideas about what this might include in the future but if you want to share any of the following, I’d love to hear from you. Listen on Stitcher Listen on iTunes Listen on Google Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.