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The Velo-city conference was held in Nantes in France last week. I wandered the show with a microphone in hand interviewing some interesting folks. I grabbed Christian Prudhomme, organiser of the Tour de France, and interviewed him along with Martin Gibbs of the UCI – they talked about how the sport can influence everyday cycling.
One of the big trends at the conference was the growth of bike share systems – I spoke with Lee Jones of Bcycle of America, which is 100 percent owned by Trek. I also talked with Robert Grizedale of Nextbike, the German bike share company.
From the Netherlands I spoke with Adrian Kok of ivp Delft, one of those who created the Hovenring, the spectactular bicycle bridge, photographs of which often goes viral on social media.
Also from the Netherlands I talked Angela Van der Kloof, a cycle trainer and cargo bike advocate. She was chatting with infrastructure consultant and engineer John Dales, who’s from my home town of Newcastle, although he now plys his trade in London.
Also from Newcastle I talked with cycle campaigner Claire Prospect, and I had a lively and entertaining chat with the rock-star of cycle campaigning, Mikael Coalville-Anderson of Copenhagenize.
For some Australian flavour I met with Julian Ferguson of Bike SA, an Adelaide-based cycle organisation, and Sue Abbott of Freedom Cycliste. Among other things they talked about the imminent ripping out of a very well-used protected cycle way in Sydney.
From Portugal I chatted with Mario Alves. He’s one of the few cycle advocates who is also a prominent campaigner for pedestrian’s rights.
Last but not least I spoke with Kevin Mayne, the person in charge of the Cycling Industry Club, a progressive initiative of the European Cyclists’Federation.
The interviews can be heard on The Spokesmen podcast. The show lasts for 1 hour 46 minutes.
