An Interview with Gary Fisher

In this episode we welcome the legendary Gary Fisher to the show for a long, rambling chat. We talk about growing up in Marin County during the dawn of mountain biking, the growth of the industry he and his friends started. We also touch on the future of bicycling as the business gears up to tap the new markets that want bicycles for every day transportation and the massive infrastructure changes that will be necessary.

After the interview there's an update on the Octavia Blvd and Market Street intersection where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority want to remove a hard won bike lane.


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Photo courtesy Fisher Bikes

An Urbanist President

One overlooked advantage of the Obama win is that we are going to have the first non-suburban or rural president in recent memory. His years as an inner city community organizer tell us a lot about how he'll lead but underlying all of that is a deep understanding of how cities work and what makes them succeed or fail. Obviously transit, walkability and cycling are an integral part of urban living whereas parking lots and freeways invariably cause its downfall. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to me that our president can actually speak extemporaneously about my heroine Jane Jacobs and has even read her book. Even Biden seemed interested!

Of course, this video was shot during the campaign season. Now that Obama's headed for the White House, He's not speaking about a big infusion of money towards transit. Let's hope its just astute political gamesmanship! Go to his website and push for the things that will result in the successful life of great American Cities.

h/t to Beyond DC