Podcast
The Spokesmen Cycling Roundtable Podcast
Hosted by The Spokesmen · EN
The Spokesmen Podcast has been produced since 2006 by David Bernstein and Carlton Reid. It is a show dedicated to the issues and events of cycling in all of its many forms. It features cycling insiders including those from the media, marketing, manufacturing, racing, and advocacy.
11episodes
Episodes
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EPISODE 361: FUD and collywobbles with EV evangelist Ade Thomas
Sep 2, 202400:35:45Tap to summarize2nd September 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 361: FUD and collywobbles with EV evangelist Ade Thomas SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Ade Thomas, Green.tv LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid www.green.tv https://electricdrives.tv/ https://www.evsummit.biz https://www.heatpumpsummit.com/ https://www.worldevday.org https://www.heatpumpweek.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/adethomas/
Transcribe →EPISODE 360: Zsolt Schuller — Boosting cycling to National Trust properties and places
Aug 16, 202400:31:07Tap to summarize16th August 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 360: Zsolt Schuller — Boosting cycling to National Trust properties and places SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: National Trust's Cyclists Welcome Manager Zsolt Schuller LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/outdoor-activities
Transcribe →EPISODE 359: Is there such a thing as a good riot? Amsterdam, 1975
Aug 10, 202400:48:33Tap to summarize10th August 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Mark Ames, Strategic Cities LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://x.com/StrategicCities https://www.strategic-cities.com
Transcribe →EPISODE 358: Active Travel England CEO Danny Williams and Wayne Hemingway
Jul 16, 202400:38:25Tap to summarize16th July 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 358: Active Travel England CEO Danny Williams and Wayne Hemingway SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUESTS: Danny Williams and Wayne Hemingway LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://x.com/activetraveleng
Transcribe →EPISODE 357: Rob King on A-to-Zedify
Jul 7, 202400:36:04Tap to summarize7th July 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 357: Rob King on A-to-Zedify SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Rob King LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://www.zedify.co.uk
Transcribe →EPISODE 356: Simon Warren & his 100 climbs empire
Jun 19, 202400:31:00Tap to summarize19th June 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 356: Simon Warren & his 100 climbs empire SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Simon Warren LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://twitter.com/100Climbs https://www.100climbs.co.uk
Transcribe →EPISODE 355: City Thread Awards Four U.S. Cities With Grants
Jun 2, 202400:41:01Tap to summarize2nd June 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 355: City Thread Awards Four U.S. Cities With Grants SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUESTS: Sara Studdard and Kyle Wagenschutz LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://www.citythread.org
Transcribe →EPISODE 354: Enjoy Waltham Forest Turns 10 — Panel at Landor Links' birthday bash
May 19, 202401:06:35Tap to summarize19th May 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 354: Enjoy Waltham Forest Turns 10 — Panel at Landor Links' birthday bash SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUESTS: Vala Valavan, former Director of Highways at Waltham Forest Council; Chris Proctor, Enjoy Waltham Forest programme lead; David Rowe, Interim Director of Investment Delivery Planning, Transport for London (TfL); Simon Munk, Lead Technical Consultant, London Cycling Campaign; Paul Gasson, Council Liaison Officer of Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign, rider for Zedify. LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid
Transcribe →EPISODE 353: Bike Town is 10 — Inspiring Speeches From 10 Years of Enjoy Waltham Forest Reception
May 16, 202400:24:45Tap to summarize16th May 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 353: Bike Town is 10 — Inspiring Speeches From 10 Years of Enjoy Waltham Forest Reception SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUESTS: Cllr Grace Williams, Leader of Waltham Forest Council and Labour Councillor for William Morris; Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader of the Council; Will Norman, London's cycling and walking commissioner. Speeches recorded at the evening reception for Celebrating 10 Years of Enjoy Waltham Forest event, William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow, 14th May 2024. LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid TRANSCRIPT Carlton Reid 0:12 Welcome to Episode 353 of the spokesmen podcast. This show was engineered on Thursday 16th of May 2024. David Bernstein 0:28 The Spokesmen cycling roundtable podcast is brought to you by Tern bicycles. The good people at Tern are committed to building bikes that are useful enough to ride every day and dependable enough to carry the people you love. In other words, they make the kind of bikes that they want to ride. Tern has e-bikes for every type of rider. Whether you're commuting, taking your kids to school or even carrying another adult, visit www.ternbicycles.com. That's t e r n bicycles.com to learn more. Carlton Reid 1:03 There are now more people walking and cycling in Waltham Forest, and earlier this week I visited this now most vibrant of London boroughs to join events celebratating 10 years since the start of the Enjoy Waltham Forest programme. I'm Carlton Reid and I was in Walthamstow in 2015 a year after the first fruits of the so-called Mini Holland programme were beginning to ripen and yet where 100 or so protestors gathered to shout at the Labour councillor leading the borough's transformation. They carried a coffin — in safety, beause of no cars — along Orford Road and warned that Clyde Loakes and his fellow Labour councillors were being held responsoible for the predicted death of Walthamstow. Free access for cars, they said, was necessary for economic vitality and they didn't want what teir posters called a Berlin Wall. Orford road is now a poster child for how to effect change for the better. It's buzzing with business, with peaople ambling around and enjoying the pavement cafes. This previously traffic-clogged street is a honeypot destnation for VIPs and traffic planners from around the UK and the world, visiting to see how it is possible to make neighborhoods less car dependent and more people friendly. On today's show I've got three inspiring speeches delivered at an evening reception held in Walthamstow's William Morris Gallery on Tuesday 14th May 2024. The speeches are from Cllr Grace Williams, Leader of Waltham Forest Council , Deputy Leader Cllr Clyde Loakes and Will Norman, London's cycling and walking commissioner. On the next two episodes, I'll share audio recorded at the Landor Links event staged after the evening reception, an event for town planners and other professionals seeking guidance on best practice for cycling and walking schemes. But first, here's Grace Williams at the evening reception, Grace Williams 3:37 I think sounds in his night. It is a kind of reunion because we have the whole team. And we of course are climbing. We've got Martin, who's hiding on a balcony. We've got Lindsey, we've got untold officers who worked on this scheme and given hours of their life. And I know it's not because community groups here we've got plenty out to them. We've got families and everyone I know in this room has been putting the effort into what Min-Holland has been over the last 10 years. A massive amounts that we have all learned together actually scanning as it is required to scale which require that's political wiil. And that sense of keeping on going and doing the right thing, I think is really important. And I should really add that, on top of that because we have built relationships regionally, nationally, internationally and it's brilliant to have Will Norman here. And it's really also a testament to the work that's been done to involve other in Waltham Forest which I am sure Clyde will be talking about, I have been a councillor for ten years so Mini-Holland has been my reality as a councillor, and one of my earliest memories of being councillor was Clyde spoke to me and say, Yeah, the thing he wants you to talk about MiniHolland tonight. I remember that it was a protest outside that's become an occupational hazard now, but it was quite nerve wracking as a new councillor going in and doing first big speech on mini-Holland. I do remember saying something along the line of so cyclists and motorist should just go to the pub sit down and have a nice chat about. No, I did seize up. So now we'll be thinking about, you know, the culture wars that we had. You know, the fact that we have several elections since then, it really really is a different climate when it comes to talk to you about what actually travelling can do and what Mini-Holland means. I know that Clyde will tell you a bit more about his reflections on that journey. So I do want to thank the whole team. But before I end, I want to pay tribute fine, because we just would not all be standing here celebrating 10 years of mini Holland as if it wasn't view everyone in this room, probably you know quite a lot from you about how you stuck with the product. And when you go in decide, I know it was a very personal effect it has cost you and the impact on your on your life has basically become doing Mini-Holland, I don't know if it's somewhere. But it has the effort who said the political will stand up. And that sheer bloody mindedness. More in the sense of knowing that has to do the right thing. He didn't have to keep moving forward. Because if you're not moving forward on this agenda, you're moving backwards. And we have seen others move backwards in fence. So I really want to from bottom of my heart thank you Clyde for doing this. You've transformed all of our lives, you've made children's lives better. You've made our borough what it is today and I want to say a personal thank you to what you taught me.y I hand over to Clyde. Clyde Loakes 7:25 Today evening, what an honour it is to be in a room of champions, pioneers. congratulate yourselves, everyone. You're all amazing language people. And we wouldn't normally be in this evening. If it wasn't for all of you here this evening. You are the stars. were woken up not just in the forest, but across London over the past 10 years. So I'm so so grateful. Whether you are officers, you know, I will single out a couple of people, you know, Vala, Keith, over, we're going to need to do that presentation. Wow. Who knew where we were be 10 years on the answers coming back with a 30 odd million quid. Thank you so much. All the officers who then assembled Chris Proctor, Chris Harrison, Jon little, you know, all that cast, and then in a wonderful job. Wow. Wow. And it started off just as a highway project, a cycling project. And yet, we've looked at the difference we've made now, you public health terms, and offensive terms and congestion terms. We look at the difference we're making to the clients. You know, we knew 10 years ago, that this would be one of the fundamental projects in a local authority that was acting on the climate emergency, look at how building rain gardens and total resilience into those. All coming from this nugget of an idea the idea that we could make it is that we could actually help support people to walk and cycle more often have a tremendous achievement, and she would take it upon us. And everywhere I go and I speak about all we've done I always say, you know, it was that politicians, Chris Robbins that stood by me through some pretty challenging times. He was no keen cyclist Like he knew this was the right thing to do for the right reasons. Those officers with this technical skill who was so so bored with just painting double yellow lines that we are aligned and responding to the lowest common denominator consultation return that says, We don't want any change. You know, we unleash their talents now ideas so that we can deliver something so dramatically different things that they went to college and learn their skills that they wanted to do. We were able to do that here. The community activists just talking to Paul we're just now living that way now. Right. You know, Susan, you know, never gave up on your time. You never know Lee when he sat down assignment. Look for when you're worthy now you are shaping and influencing London and more because of what you did here and never gave up. And you've made it. Look at the behaviour change it received Jane, Emma. Look at what we're seeing, Joy Riders, Cycle sisters, breaking down boundaries. All the cargo bikes! you seen that on most schools, you know school districts, normal families going to school. That's why sharing some way because we've created the infrastructure, we created the environment and feel comfortable and safe, transport and cherish them loved ones to school and back again. By bike, by cargo bike.Thank you for that you didn't absolutely amazing. But it wasn't always easy. It was It wasn't the coffin. We mentioned Dutch ambassador on the second day. He literally chased out. We mentioned those things we come along mentioned the judicial review, Vala you remember the emails every day. We're gonna miss out on some Yeah, nailbiting stuff because he told us of why we wouldn't not be here today. What else? Hey, man. Yeah, the protests. Yeah. An...
Transcribe →EPISODE 352: Laura Laker
Apr 21, 202401:07:53Tap to summarize21st April 2024 The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast EPISODE 352: Laura Laker SPONSOR: Tern Bicycles HOST: Carlton Reid GUEST: Laura Laker LINKS: https://www.the-spokesmen.com/ https://www.ternbicycles.com https://twitter.com/CarltonReid https://twitter.com/laura_laker https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/potholes-and-pavements-9781399406468/ Carlton Reid 0:11 Welcome to Episode 352 of the Spokesmen cycling podcast. This show was engineered on Sunday, April 21 2024. David Bernstein 0:28 The Spokesmen cycling roundtable podcast is brought to you by Tern bicycles. The good people at Tern are committed to building bikes that are useful enough to ride every day and dependable enough to carry the people you love. In other words, they make the kind of bikes that they want to ride. Tern has e-bikes for every type of rider. Whether you're commuting, taking your kids to school or even carrying another adult, visit www.ternbicycles.com. That's t e r n bicycles.com to learn more. Carlton Reid 1:04 I'm Carlton Reid and today's show is a chat with like journalist Laura Laker, author of an excellent new book, Potholes and Pavements. This is a travelogue featuring Laura's travels around the UK, writing on some of the best and worst bits of Britain's National Cycle network. From jaw droppingly gorgeous looking ancient military roads in the Highlands of Scotland to dark and dingy urban back streets blocked with barriers. As the books subhead warns, it's a bumpy ride. Um, so you've written a book. Is this your first? Laura Laker 1:46 Yeah, my first my first book, believe it or not, Carlton Reid 1:49 well done. Congratulations. It's a brilliant first book. One of many. I'm sure it'll be one of many. I noticed you've got a an agent. Yeah, you say in the back and thank him. So I'm guessing you're going to be doing more books? Laura Laker 2:00 Yeah, I guess so. I'm not trying to think about it too much. This one was very long in the gestation. I had an idea back in 2017 to do a basically ring around talking to people. I'd listened to the audiobook of John Steinbeck's Travels with Charlie, in which he travels across the US with his big poodle, and talking to people and he says he's most wonderful conversations, which were later question for their veracity, but it's just, it's just a wonderful format. And I love I'd kind of in that trip to America, I rediscovered my love of talking to strangers, which I had as a kid, and I'm kind of lost over the years, I guess, being British, but spending time in the US where everyone is just willing to talk to you and tell you their life story. I rediscovered this just love of cycling, is brilliant for that, you know, just talking to people you're travelling around, you might stop at some lights, or you might pass someone on a path and just get chatting to them. And it's wonderful people have the most amazing stories, I think Carlton Reid 2:59 Well, there's two teachers that you met, hopefully they will read the book. You weren't avoiding them. Laura Laker 3:07 I know Greg and Norton, they were so brilliant. And the most unexpected encounters and I was up in the Cairngorms and travelling alone and feeling a bit like oh, you know, such a beautiful, it's ridiculously beautiful up there. I'm always just astounded by Scotland, and how how it's possible for somewhere to be so beautiful. And the NCN [National Cycle Network] across the Cairngorms is something else, it's really quite remarkable. A lot of its off road, it's this dedicated path. It was an old military road. And the rest is on fairly quiet country roads. And I was pootling along on my big pink ebike, which I did some of my adventures on and I saw these roadies coming up behind me and I thought well that they're going to overtake me in a bit. And sure enough, they did. We said hello. And then I saw them stopped at this bridge and they were looking over and they just had this wonderful kind of whimsy about them this they weren't they were going a long way actually they're going from kind of Aviemore back to Preston where they were at least one of them lived and doing it over a couple of days in sort of training one of them's an Ironman enthusiastic participants, but on the way they were stopping looking over bridges, that sort of waterfalls over rocks and like looking across the landscape and just enjoying the scenery. And that for me is what cycling is about. It's about appreciating the world around us and the people around us and so they said we'll ride with us for a while and as you know ebike your Aberdeen bought a bike mine included, maxes out at 15 and a half miles an hour which these guys were obviously capable of exceeding quite easily. So but they they rode with me for quite some time and we chatted and they were just fantastic. And then yeah, they they stopped for a week and I had to run inside for a week. And then I came out and they'd gone Carlton Reid 4:51 but it's quite a nice way to say goodbye. Are you are you are you taking notes as you're going along? So you wrote their names and what they did. And or you coding stuff. How are you physically? Laura Laker 5:02 Yeah, so I get back at the end of a ride and write stuff down. And I do think it's best that way, especially with travel writing, because you forget so much so quickly. And the big three Cornwall, I think is, you know, in the early parts of the book, when I first started the exploration, further afield, you know, writing stuff down as you experience it, or very soon after is really important because you lose a lot of the detail and the texture of what you're experiencing. And I think it just makes for much richer story that way, but also difficult to do because you're having to memorise and maybe that's why Steinbeck was getting criticised because he wasn't writing No, no. As he was going along, he's remembering it. Well, memories can do. Memory is really interesting, actually. Because we we probably most of us think that our memories are fairly good, or the way that remember things is correct. But actually, it's very, very subjective. And the longer time goes on, the more we forget, or the memory gets warped, or things get introduced that didn't exist, maybe and it's really very, very subjective. I've got I don't know for some things, I've got quite a good short term memory so I can remember to a certain extent, but obviously, as Homer Simpson once said, you know, one thing comes into your brain another thing has to leave it so. Carlton Reid 6:23 That's 100% me though. So this book Potholes and Pavements, a bumpy ride on Britain's National Cycle network, it comes out May the ninth published by Bloomsbur. £16.99. Excellent, excellent book. I read it yesterday and got up early this morning to make sure I finished it before I spoke with you. Now normally when when I talk to people for this podcast, I always get them to send me a photograph so I can do the you know, the socials and the thing that goes on the show notes. What have you with you, oh, an hour and a half to do that. Because I have ridden with you ridden with you on bits of the ride that you are right that you mentioned in your book. So when you mentioned that, you know the cycle superhighway. You make an item was like, I've got that photograph because I was holding my camera photographing you behind me? Laura Laker 7:20 Yeah, with Brian Deegan. Carlton Reid 7:21 There's knowing smiles when I'm reading your books like I was on that ride. Like I know, Laura. Oh, my word. It's also like me on that ride. And when you describe windmills, yes. But the windmills and it's a cute book for me. Also cute because I know lots of these people who you're describing. And I know in the book, it says he didn't want to be described as a hero. But he is a hero. And because it's about the National Cycle network, then clearly that's got to be the guy who not single handedly founded it, but certainly pushed it through with those with those early innovators. So that's John Grimshaw. So he comes in, he's, he's in at least three or four parts of the book, you've clearly gone to speak to him a number of times wonderful. And it's fantastic that he's in there, because he really doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Laura Laker 8:16 Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, he I obviously have to speak to John Grimshaw. Because a lot of people as he points out, and as I tried to convey in the book, a lot of people and probably, you know, uncountable numbers of people were involved in the foundation of and development of the National Cycle network. And then it's maintenance ever since many of whom are working for very little, in fact, nothing, because they loved it. But John really seemed like, talking to people and talking to him, was the driving this real driving force behind it and his kind of self belief and single minded determination, I think was a major driver and he is such a character. I mean, a bit of a Marmite character, I think, but, you know, it seems like you need people to kind of drive things forward. Carlton Reid 9:05 Cos you need somebody like that. He's a visionary. Yeah, you know. I love Malcolm Shepherd. I love Zavier Brice, the people who are in charge now and Malcolm was the guy who came in after after John. But Malcolm wasn't a visionary. Malcolm was an accountant. And when when the organisation any organisation any business gets big, then you very often need somebody else to take over. And there's lots of faction there at the time. You don't go int...
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