10/19/2005 04:15:00 AM|||John Calnan|||

When I get "into" something I tend to immerse myself in the subject to understand it better, and hopefully do it better.

Same is true of cycling. I've read many books and internet articles on the subject of cycling, repair, cycling over 50, nutrition, and the books about Lance, of course. I'll have to publish my reading list here sometime.

I also enjoy the occasional informative radio program. Of course, there's not a whole lot of talk/informative radio shows on bicycling, but with the advent of the internet and the portable music player, there are a few.

Thanks to a process known as Podcasting, you can download audio files of "radio" programs on the subject and either play them on your computer or portable device, like my iPod. Many Podcasts can be set up as a free subscription, downloading new episodes automatically as they are available. The PC software that came with my iPod, iTunes, handles making iPod subscriptions and downloading on my behalf. There are other Podcasting subscription options than iTunes, and they are all readily available on the web. Take a look at Yahoo's podcast subscription site for more information, if you need it. There are thousands of podcasts available already on hundreds of topics, including those of an adult nature (so just make sure little Timmy isn't subscribed to Miss Vickie's Sex Tips, O.K., Dad?). The adult ones are marked "Explicit" so if that's not your cup of tea, just chalk it up to free speech and skip them. Please. Save your letters to Congress for REAL issues like energy independence, balancing the budget, and bringing our kids home from the desert.

Bicycle Podcasts that I find informative (or at least mildly amusing) are:

Bike Talk-A real radio show that originates on KDRT in Davis, CA. Some topics are really Davis-oriented, but many are informative. Well produced, and good quality.

Bikescape- This is an internet-only Podcast, which is produced by a fellow in San Francisco. Again, much of the information here is local to the Bay area, but some of the information is useful. The production values on this program are not as high it's broadcast counterpart from Davis (it's just a guy and an audio recording device and a computer, at least that's the impression). He rambles a bit, but he gets an "A" for effort on trying to put out useful cycling information.

Sheldon Brown-The king of internet cycling information has begun to put together some audio programs on bicycles (and music). These programs are not yet set up so that you can subscribe to them like other Podcasts, but I trust he'll get there eventually. Download these files and play them on your computer, or load them on your portable device manually and listen to them like you would any music track.

There is also at least one program out there with regular information on professional bicycle racing, which I believe is produced by a couple of blokes from Australia. Not being "racing season", I haven't really given this one a try, but will undoubtedly seek it out come spring.

|||112972261460651774|||Bicycle Podcasts