Category Archives: Interviews

Jill Homer: Ultra Endurance Racing Around the World

Posted on June 19, 2012 by josh| Leave a comment


Jill at the 2008 Iditarod Trail Invitational. Photo via Jill’s Blog.

Jill Homer’s bike racing palmarès read like a checklist of some of the world’s foremost ultra-endurance and adventure racing events. They include the Ititarod Trail Invitational snowbike race, Great Divide Race (for which she’s the women’s record holder), TransRockies, Stagecoach 400, and many more. The 32 year old California transplant (by way of Alaska and Utah before that) lives for adventures that push her to her mental and physical limits. We discussed her path from not even owning a bike in her early 20s to ultra-endurance cyclist, her attraction and need to explore her personal limits through endurance racing, her new pursuits as an ultra-marathon runner, and more.

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Posted in Bike Touring, Interviews, Racing

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Amy Dombroski: Colorado’s Young, Leg-Crushing Cross Diva

Posted on May 14, 2012 by josh| 2 Comments


Amy at the 2012 Cyclocross World Championships in Koksijde, Belgium. Photo by Mat Howie

Note: This interview was conducted in May 2012. In October 2013, Amy was hit and killed by a truck while on a training ride in Belgium. It was a tragedy that rippled through the American cyclocross community. I’m just glad I was able to capture this glimpse into her life and career. The Amy D Foundation was launched in the wake of her death to support young women racers.

When Amy Drombroski gave up ski racing for a new found love of bike racing in 2006, she didn’t mess around. She won the U23 Cyclocross National Championship her first full year of racing. In 2009, she took the U23 National title in cross country mountain bikes and then, just a week later, took the title on the road as well. Now, Amy’s spending her cyclocross season in Europe, chasing world cup titles and learning to race in their deep, fast, aggressive fields. We talked about the ups and downs of Amy’s short but full cycling career to-date, how she earned the nickname “Cross Diva,” the growth of women’s cyclocross, and more.
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Posted in Cyclocross, Interviews, Racing

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Noah Budnick: New York’s Tireless Alt-Transportation Advocate, Part 2

Posted on May 1, 2012 by josh| 1 Comment


Photo by Elly Blue.

Noah Budnick is Deputy Director of Transportation Alternatives, a New York City bicycling, walking, and public transit advocacy group. TransAlt is regarded as one of the leading-edge transportation advocacy groups in the United States and Noah is right in the mix organizing and educating New York residents, pushing for policy and infrastructure reform, and more. Part one of this two-part interview covered Noah’s personal attraction to cycling, views on transportation options, and more. Part two picks up with New York City’s major bike infrastructure overhaul and its impact on ridership, how to increasing biking nationwide, and the anti-bike federal transportation bill.

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Noah Budnick: New York’s Tireless Alt-Transportation Advocate, Part 1

Posted on April 24, 2012 by josh| 3 Comments


Speaking at the Los Angeles Bike Summit. Photo by flickr user Gary Rides Bikes

Noah Budnick is Deputy Director of Transportation Alternatives, a New York City bicycling, walking, and public transit advocacy group. TransAlt is regarded as one of the leading-edge transportation advocacy groups in the United States and Noah is right in the mix organizing and educating New York residents, pushing for policy and infrastructure reform, and more. In part one of this two part interview, Noah discusses his early love affair with bikes, his views on the severe crash that hospitalized him in 2005 and his eventual recovery and return to bicycling, his appreciation for transportation options, and more.

When did you first get into bikes? Were you one of those kids who learned to ride and never stopped or did bikes come later?

I rode growing up in Vermont. Low traffic dirt roads, potholes to “jump,” lots of coaster brake skids. Fun.

I don’t think my experience growing up and riding is that different from most people. In fact, if you’re the type of person who rides a lot and is really into bikes and doesn’t think there’s much more to say about biking, then I’m writing this for you. I’m writing this for me too, to see what kind of new ideas come out, what new ways there are to talk about ideas, how people will react to them and then what we can do with it all.

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Gregg Bleakney: From Software Sales to Cycling Adventures

Posted on March 14, 2012 by josh| 1 Comment


Gregg crossing from Argentina to Chile. Self portrait by Gregg.

In the early 2000s, Gregg Bleakney was on a strong path to (one type of) success. He was earning a six-figure salary as a software salesman, owned a house in Seattle, and was generally enjoying his career. Then Gregg and his best friend from college set out on a two-year bike tour from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. Towards the end of the ride, Gregg realized he couldn’t go back to his old life. He quit his job, sold his house and started making inroads to a new career as a self-described visual storyteller focused on adventure travel. Now he’s traveling around the world telling stories as a photographer and writer, often with a focus on bikes. I spoke to Gregg on a short break he was taking in the United States after covering the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. We talked about his Alaska to Argentina ride and its sea-change effect on him, his new career and world travels, and more.

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Posted in Bike Industry, Bike Touring, Cycling Media, Interviews

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