Skylar Franke and I sat down in Victoria Park to chat and dive into topics like traffic, commute times, the significance of walkable communities, and the realities of housing in London. And, of course, the upcoming international Car Free Day when London buses will be FREE to ride during the entirety of the day! As per usual, it's A LOT of great stuff! And if you’re interested in urban planning, active transportation, or simply making London a better place to live in, you’re going to love this conversation. –––––––– This episode's guest: Skylar Franke (London, Canada Ward 11 City Councillor) Host: Ben Durham 🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these podcasts: https://patreon.com/bendurham Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/ Check out https://bendurham.ca to ground yourself and see what I'm up to.

Dan Cameron is a father, scientist, musician, and advocate for safer streets, and we're sitting down with him to chat on Episode 6 of the Wheels and Beyond Podcast.

Dan is an avid cyclist who regularly rides his bike in London, Burlington, and Hamilton, and has experienced cycling in cities like Toronto, Washington, DC, London (UK), and Winnipeg.

Recorded in Doidge Park in Old North, London, Ontario, Canada. This episode delves into Dan's unique commuting routine, which involves combining a collapsible Brompton bike and a VIA rail train ride to travel between London and Hamilton, where he works at McMaster University.

We explore Dan’s thoughts on urban cycling, the challenges, and joys of biking in various weather conditions, and his passion for creating safer, more bike-friendly communities.

We also touch on the concept of hygge, the charm of cobblestone streets, and the inspiration behind School Streets—initiatives aimed at making streets safer for children around schools. Tune in to hear more about Dan's lifestyle, his commitment to sustainable commuting, and his insights into urban planning and cycling advocacy.

Yep, that's that!

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This episode's guest: Dan Cameron

Host: Ben Durham

🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these podcasts: https://patreon.com/bendurham

Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/

Check out https://bendurham.ca to ground yourself and see what I'm up to.

Welcome to episode 5 of the Wheels and Beyond podcast. Today I'm joined by Tamsine Gervais, an urbanist and student in the Bachelor of Environmental Design and Planning program at Fanshawe College, and the founder of Strong Towns London. Tamsine is passionate about the ways our environment shapes our lives and dedicated to creating spaces where people want to be. In our conversation, we dive into her journey from moving to London, Canada, eight years ago and falling in love with the city—flaws and all—to her advocacy for active transportation, which recently led her to buy her own commuter bike. We also explore her future plans, including pursuing a master's in urban planning to turn her passion into a career. We cover a variety of topics including Tamsine's early fandom of the popular urban planning channel “Not Just Bikes,” her experiences commuting around London, the city's stellar staff and services, bike valets, and the growing interest in Strong Towns London. Tune in to hear how Tamsine and Ben met through their shared interest in urbanism, the founding of Strong Towns London, and Tamsine's thoughts on how city planning can transform our communities for the better. –––––––– This episode's guest: Tamsine Gervais Host: Ben Durham 🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these podcasts: https://patreon.com/bendurham Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/ Check out https://bendurham.ca to ground yourself and see what I'm up to.

Welcome to episode 4 of the Wheels and Beyond podcast! Today I'm joined by Luis Patricio, a PhD student and part-time professor specializing in urban mobility and environmental sustainability. Luis, who hasn’t owned a car since 2007, brings a wealth of knowledge and passion for transport justice, making him the perfect guest to discuss how cities can better serve their residents. We recorded this episode in downtown London, Ontario, right on the sidewalk at Dundas Place, to stay true to the podcast’s mission of engaging in conversations about safer streets, traffic reduction, and accessible transportation in the very environments we’re advocating for. In this episode, we dive deep into Luis's thoughts on transport justice, focusing not just on accessibility but on ensuring everyone has the freedom to live, work, and thrive, regardless of how they choose to get around. We also chat about his experience counting cyclists in the city and why it’s crucial for urban planners to have firsthand experience with the transportation systems they’re designing. Tune in to hear more about Luis's insights, his unique perspectives, and some interesting encounters we had while recording in the heart of the city.

–––––––– This episode's guest: Luis Patricio Host: Ben Durham 🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these videos: https://patreon.com/bendurham

Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/

Engineers Katie and Tom Lardner (and their two young kids) recently discovered the joy and freedom of cargo biking in the City of London… and have a lot to share with us! Some of the stuff that popped up about midway through this podcast recording blew my mind and has TRULY changed the way that I see urban street design forever. Talking to these Engineers was an absolute delight and had my brain melting at least ever so slightly a few different times throughout this podcast. This is episode 3 of the Wheels and Beyond podcast.

Just upgraded microphones, so yay! But then immediately also upped the number of people, so we have an SM58, SM57, and me wired up with a DR-10L. Slowly inching towards better audio quality.

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This episode's guests: Katie Lardner and Tom Lardner

Host: Ben Durham 🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these videos: https://patreon.com/bendurham

Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/

Today's Wheels and Beyond guest is Jamieson Roberts! He's a parent, bicycle rider, geek, a video-and-board gamer, coffee addict, and sci-fi junky.

During the day, he is a full-time software engineer with over 15 years of professional experience in web and software development.

And man, do we get into a bunch of topics! I hope you have as much fun as I did!

We aimed for 30 minutes but ended up chatting for over an hour. Whoops.

I'll attempt to keep the length between 30 and 50 minutes in the future, because it gets to be a LOT of editing otherwise haha.

Also, for reference, the audio is the best I could get it while using the lav mics and while also dealing with a lot of background sounds. So after this episode, I started using some proper dynamic mics instead of these Tascam DR-10L lav mics, which ARE great mics, but aren't made for podcast recordings. ––––––––

This episode's guest: Jamieson Roberts

Host: Ben Durham 🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these videos: https://patreon.com/bendurham

Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/

This Canadian School Principal has been biking to work for years… and in just the last 3 to 4 years has ridden more than 27,000 km! Her commute is 16 km one-way (32 km roundtrip) across London, Ontario, Canada from around Wonderland and Fanshawe to around Clarke and Huron.

16 km one-way isn't a “short” distance to ride your bike, but with the help of her Gazelle e-bike, that distance is SO BENEFICIAL to Annette for SO MANY REASONS… especially during rush hour. And if she drives instead of biking, it doesn't save her much time at all because she becomes traffic (i.e. part of the problem).

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This episode's guest: Annette Gilbert

Host: Ben Durham

🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these videos: https://patreon.com/bendurham

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Welcome to the Wheels and Beyond Podcast! This introductory episode (Ep.0), lets you know what's what.

Host: Ben Durham

Find me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/bendurham.ca/

🌟 Join my Patreon to get ad-free videos, behind-the-scenes content, and support the production of these videos: https://patreon.com/bendurham