Episode 28: The Vulture Space (Milwaukee Community Bicycle Project)

Enjoy my interview with Evan Pack, founder and director of the Vulture Space: Milwaukee Community Bicycle Project, a community bike shop focused on getting more people riding bikes more often. The shop sells inexpensive bikes, parts and accessories and provides the tools necessary for all kinds of people to learn and practice bicycle repair. Evan Pack is a Milwaukee native with a passion for long-term bike touring, when he's not busy helping other people get back on the road. Support this great community resource by donating money, parts, tools and accessories, and by becoming a member.  Find out more on website and Facebook page.

All of Evan's favorite bike coops and many more can be found on the Community Bicycle Organizations wiki compiled by the Bicycle Collective Network.

Other useful links: Milwaukee Bicycle Community; Amtrak bike policy (see also this bike packing video); Michael Horne's historic bikes (Milwaukee Magazine); South Shore Cyclery (donated equipment to Vulture Space and vintage bicycles to the Bike Federation); NPR affiliate WUWM on the Vulture Space opening (at the end) and their brief interview on Lance Armstrong; Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park; Milwaukee Bike Share (would be similar to Madison B-Cycle).

Episode 27: Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

On the last bitter cold morning of the year I stopped by the Milwaukee office of the Wisconsin Bike Federation to learn about their efforts to improve bicycling across the state. Their education programs are a model for bike advocacy organizations looking to teach safe cycling skills to new cyclists of all ages. They are working to bring complete street designs to Wisconsin cities and towns and foster an already impressive bike culture.  Thanks to Communications Director Dave Schlabowske; Education Director (and soon-to-be Milwaukee chapter leader) Jessica Binder; and Education Project Manager (and bike polo master) Jake Newborn, for sharing all this great info. Follow the blog and learn about how you can help, and attend their Lobby Day on Tuesday, April 9 to help restore bike funding and promote legal protections for vulnerable road users. And if you become a member you get the shiny new magazine you heard about in the interview.

Also check out the Urban Ecology Center right next door, and have a look around the City of Milwaukee bike pages.

Episode 26: Streetsblog Chicago

My last show from Chicago features sustainable transportation advocates, and Streetsblog Chicago editors Steven Vance & John Greenfield.  Streetsblog is a daily news source covering public transit, bicycling, walking and the growing movement for safe, equitable, livable streets.  Their original site remains at Grid Chicago and their individual blogs are Steven Can Plan and Vote With Your Feet. Links to Chicago DOT, Active Transportation Alliance, the Ventra fare card (Chicago Transit Authority), Chicago Cargo (bike swap photos). I am now in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after completing a multimodal trip by train, bike and bus, which I discuss later in the show.  The coldest days seem to be behind us but it still won't feel like spring in this region for another two weeks.  From here I will spend a few days in Madison and continue northwest making my way up to Minneapolis & St. Paul, Minnesota.

If you find yourself along my route please contact me to share information, suggest places to go or people to talk to, and hopefully meet to discuss transit and bikes.  And if you appreciate the show please consider donating to help support my Sustainable Transport Tour and this reporting. You can also support this work by sharing it with your friends and colleagues, following me on Facebook and Twitter, and leaving a review on iTunes or another blog/podcast service.

P.S.  I have been working on the site to fix some issues and make it load faster.  Please contact me if you have suggestions for improvements, if you experience difficulty accessing the site, or if your comments don't appear after you post them (sometimes real comments get stuck in the spam folder).