Podcasting has been around for a number of years now. The nascent technology that allows audio content to be recorded, serialised and put online for a potential audience to download on to their various smartphones and other devices first came into prominence around 2003, but it was with the advent of the iPod shuffle that the media form really started to take off.
By 2006 the popularity of the format was demonstrated when The Ricky Gervais Show gained 4.5 million downloads in its first two months of broadcast. It wasn’t long before a whole industry of podcasts started to appear.
Whatever your interest there is a podcast to suit; with tens of thousands to choose from it can be difficult to choose the wheat from the chaff. Cycling podcasts are no different, with quality and content varying across a wide range from someone in their bedroom with a microphone blogging about their favourite bikes to professionally produced content that requires a financial subscription to listen.
I’ve listened to many cycling podcasts over the years and many of them tested my patience. Often the content and presenter’s delivery was enough for me to delete my download.
One in particular, The Spokesman Cycling Roundtable (which is actually a very popular download) consisted of leading figures in the cycling world getting together and talking bikes. It sounds interesting, but to be honest it is the sort of conversation that if I hear getting struck up in a pub I will get up and move to another table.
The Fredcast is another, for me, that fits into this drawl. Perhaps it was the stateside delivery that grated with me so much as, on the other hand, there is the Velo Club Don Logan, which is produced by a group of Scottish cycling enthusiasts and friends. It is glib and often irreverent and never takes itself too seriously. I was once a guest on a couple of their early productions, taking myself far too seriously, which is probably why I was never asked back.
Velocast is another Scottish production that started back in 2009 (and another that I featured in on an early episode) and has now become a full-time job for its two main protagonists – John Galloway and Scott O’Raw. This podcast has a subscription fee, but it is well worth checking out, if only for John’s acerbic and insightful race analysis.
They also offer daily shows during major race periods such as the Tour de France as well as off shoot podcast such as This Week in Cycling History.
There are many other podcasts from companies like Rouleur and Training Roads and websites like Cycling News, each with its own take and delivery style on the world of cycling. Just like podcasts in general, podcasts that are specific to bikes have a wide range of topics and deliveries and it is worth checking some out if you haven’t already done so.
Many offer insightful tips and tricks to enhance your riding, or inform of the latest products coming on the market and lots will give daily coverage of the professional racing world that sit well alongside the more traditional forms of race coverage. Perhaps one of the great things about many of the podcasts is their independence and lack of inhibition in telling it like it really is, which is refreshing.
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Where to Ride?   Luss to Tarbet
Start/ Finish:        OS Landranger 1:50000 Map 52 Start – Luss NS 359 931
Distance:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 28 km / 17 miles
Suitable For:        An off-road waymarked route on cycle paths
Description:         This route can be started in Balloch on minor roads, but the cycle path itself doesn’t start until Luss, so if you would prefer a more relaxed traffic free ride to Tarbet then this is the place to start
The final short section is on the pavement beside the A82 to finish in Tarbet.
