Adventure Cycling Releases First-Ever Podcast, Dynamo Jenny
MISSOULA, MT (June 15, 2020) — The advent of the bicycle coincided with, and influenced, the rise of the women’s rights movement in the late nineteenth century. But, by some accounts, it could be argued that cycling was more gender-inclusive then than it is today. Dynamo Jenny, Adventure Cycling’s first-ever podcast, explores the dynamics of women, bikes, and taking on public space in America through personal stories from the people who ride.
Podcast host, Jessica Zephyrs, introduces listeners to industry gurus like Nicole Formosa, professional creatives like Hilary Oliver, and a handful of inspiring and hilarious women from all walks of life.
With adventure being hard to come by at this particular time, connection and stories are the ways we have to get out of our own headspaces right now,” Zephyrs said. “So I’m particularly excited that I have the privilege of helping to convey some really lovely, and at times outrageous, personal accounts of bicycle travel.
The podcast has everything from grizzly bear encounters, an overnighter at a monastery, and on-tour breakups to feminist bicycle history, bicycle clubs for people of color, and a woman who’s trying to find out if she’s the first Black woman to ride the TransAmerica Trail self-supported. These women’s stories hit on some of the most poignant aspects of traveling on a bike: vulnerability, self-doubt, and joy.
How accessible, here and now, is the freedom and independence that the bicycle first promised?
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Find Dynamo Jenny on all major listening apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher. All episodes are available for download now.
Learn more about the podcast, contributors, and art on Adventure Cycling’s website, adventurecycling.org/podcast.
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CONTACT
Jessica Zephyrs, Dynamo Jenny Host
jzephyrs@adventurecycling.org
Direct: 406.532.2749 / Twitter: @advcyclingassoc / Facebook: @adventurecycling
Adventure Cycling Association inspires, empowers, and connects people to travel by bicycle. It is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with more than 50,000 members. Adventure Cycling produces cycling routes and maps for North America, organizes more than 100 tours annually, and publishes the best bicycle travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine. With more than 48,000 meticulously mapped miles in the Adventure Cycling Route Network, Adventure Cycling gives cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bike travel adventures. Contact the office at 800.755.BIKE (2453), info@adventurecycling.org, or visit adventurecycling.org.
Episode Descriptions
Episode 1 | Taking on the Town Square
Featuring Tessa Hulls, Anna Brones, and Nicole Formosa
Episode 1 dives into the past, comparing the revolutionary promise of the bicycle with the current state of inequity in professional cycling and the media’s portrayal of who rides.
Featuring Devin Cowens, Cynthia Ord, and Olivia Round
Stories in this episode reveal the hidden pleasures and problems of exploring a new place by bicycle. It includes one woman’s complex experience cycling in Montana, a Denverite’s coming to terms with being “Mid-western” on the TransAm, and one traveler’s fortune of finding much-needed feminine companionship in the unlikeliest of places, a monastery.
Featuring Jessica Zephyrs, Hilary Oliver, and Diana Sacks
Stories in this episode take you into the doubts, feelings, and triumphs of women who tackle adventure for the first time. One is a jaunt across Glacier National Park, another is an overnighter to the next town, and the last is a 200-mile technical challenge along the Mission section of the Baja Divide — as a complete novice.
Featuring Stephanie Puello, Marley Blonsky, and Kailey Kornhauser
In Episode Four, we hear from women whose perspectives on athleticism and privilege have been shaped by their backgrounds, their bodies, and their love of the outdoors. Each of them lives in a body that traditionally isn’t associated with adventure. Yet here they are, riding across states and countries, and working to ensure they’re not the last.
Their stories reveal the absurdity of widely held misconceptions about who rides and why they want to.
Featuring Jasmine Reese, Alissa Bell, and Laura Killingbeck
Stories in this episode investigate the tough moments, the ones that are completely out of our control, the ones we bring upon ourselves, and the ones that lead to bad ideas but great stories.
Perhaps it’s in these moments where we grow toughness, our fortitude and our resiliency.
Episode 6 | Bringing It Back Around
Featuring zahra alabanza, Leah Benson, and Briana Cohen with Cheyenne Meyer and Darrell Garza
In the last episode of this season, we pay our respects to a few of the people who ensure that bicycle touring isn’t just an activity for the privileged few. They’re the community organizers, bike shop owners, workshop leaders, and everyday people who put a lot of effort into creating spaces that usher in a new, more inclusive era of cycling.
