The pouring rain this morning sure got us fooled. By ‘us’ I mean, Helen & Les (read about how they experienced the first day of cycling) and I. Not that a little bit of rain could really spoil anything, but it wasn’t looking very promising. Besides that, I felt like waking up from a coma (sleep deprivation will do that to you) and my visiting cycling friends from Ottawa were dealing with the same, combined with the ever so joyful, space and time defying spells of a hardcore (east bound) jet lag.
Oh, we got over it quickly enough. No fuss, let’s go. Walking our way downtown, and yup, we were wide awake. Helen & Les had anticipated this cycling heaven for some time now, but being here, for real (and the first time since 1984) the first few hours it sometimes seemed a bit too much to soak it all up at once. Not to worry, I wasn’t planning on being the city guide/host from hell :-p.
Objects of interest: abandoned and partly destroyed bikes, decorated ones, odd balls, people, kids, animals, moving & shakin’ (rock ‘n roll, baby) in Amsterdam traffic, effortlessly. Observing the locals in their natural habitat, by the dozens, every second of cycling extravaganza was like ballet to my guests. Admiring and complementing a bakfiets mama on the go, great responses and chuckles, generally enjoying every view established by every head turn. You get the idea. And that was just the first 15 minutes, before even getting to the tram that would take them to today’s most important destination: Workcycles in the east of Amsterdam, picking up their sparkling new 7-speed…uhm, Workcycles. :-p
Helen's new Workcycles Omafiets
That’s right, Les & Helen came to grips with the notion that there was only one true way to cycle around Amsterdam and the Netherlands…like the Dutch do. Sit-up-and-beg, comfortable, steady and with style. Style over speed, as ’some’ say in Copenhagen. Good choice. I was happy to help them out arranging that and even happier that Henry Cutler from Workcycles was even more helpful in getting them the best deal possible. So that they would enjoy these bicycles as much at home as they would over here.
Watch what transpired outside the shop in ‘Cyclemania @ Workcycles’:
Les' new Opafiets
Five minutes of test rides, getting a feel for the bikes, was apparently enough for them to eagerly head back into town. Very Canadian, I’ve experienced over the years, no-nonsense, go-getter style. It could also be Helen’s Dutch and Les’ German genes :-p.
Fast forward 10 minutes: they passed the Amsterdam test. The only thing Les and Helen had to adjust to was how … utterly comforting and forgiving bike lanes really are. No stress, no matter how busy traffic got. Ok, one other thing: you can’t stop smiling when you experience your maiden voyage in da Dam.
Lunch at De Waag, Nieuwmarkt
I saw clearly that they picked up on one important vibe on our streets; you can pick your own speed, your own pace. This is easy on Dutch bikes like these, whether it’s fast or slow, with or without heavy loads. These are some ‘dam’ smooth operators.
‘Smooth’ was the operative word for how we spent the rest of the day. Giddily we transported ourselves from one part of town to the other, breaking for lunch and some further online vacation preperations at the Nieuwmarkt (free public Wifi). Exhaling after not even breaking a sweat. And whaddayaknow, there was the sun. Perfect. On with watching people. People on bikes. Families. Shopping at the fresh produce market. Intoxicated and loud, but funny British lads circling their ‘Fiets Cafe‘ around the square (and yours truly running after them with Les’ camera to capitalize on the home front’s expectations), etc, etc. You know, the usual Amsterdamize stuff :-p.
Museum Square Love
When you take your time on a bicycle in Amsterdam the odds are in your favor to encounter, let’s say, a nice street/food/music fest with strangers handing you nice drinks, enjoy more parking space for your bike than the Starship Enterprise in orbit,
Les & I
Night cap after day 1 at Cafe 't Smalle
This, and a few other things enhance and complete a day in the life of an Amsterdam cyclist. Consequently, I’ve often been asked how I can resist so many temptations on a daily basis. Simple, it’s comforting to know all those perks are going to be still there tomorrow, no need to overly indulge or freak out about it. Just take your time, your bicycle is good for that.
You’ll feel so much better. Don’t take my word for it. Just ask Les & Helen.
Ps: In case you were wondering, Workcycles also exports their bikes throughout Europe, to the US and Canada.
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