Egos & Leverage

It was that time. Budapest and a sh*tload of work got in between, all great excuses, but today it had to be done. I had to take a ‘professional’ picture of myself…
Here’s why. Some time ago I talked about my contribution (Chapter 14: ‘The Future Is Already Here‘) to the upcoming Bike To Work book [...]

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • blogmarks
  • Live
  • BlogMemes
  • Ma.gnolia

Just an Amsterdam native who won't take his city and its cycling extravaganza for granted anymore, thinking these posts might be clues to others, inspiration perhaps, if you will...

Article by Amsterdamize
Amsterdamize’s Website

It was that time. Budapest and a sh*tload of work got in between, all great excuses, but today it had to be done. I had to take a ‘professional’ picture of myself…

Bike To Work book.

Bike To Work book.

Here’s why. Some time ago I talked about my contribution (Chapter 14: ‘The Future Is Already Here‘) to the upcoming Bike To Work book by Tim Grahl and Carlton Reid. Mikael Colville-Andersen from Copenhagencyclechic & Copenhagenize and David Hembrow will also have something to say in there. Yeah, I know, you should really pick it up when it comes out. :-p

Anyhoo, I pedaled over to Westerpark, just around the corner from my house, parked and engaged in what can only be called an awkward disposition. It was hard not to get ridiculed by the kids playing near where I was standing. Sure, it’s not that I’m shy or that I’m not used to the ‘media me’ phenomenon, but standing there in the middle of the square…well, you get my drift.

That out of the way, I decided to stay a little longer. The Cinekid Festival was still on just 20 meters away from me, and it generated quite some bike traffic. Yeah, to be expected in Amsterdam, obviously.

It was about time for another genuine Amsterdam cycle photo set. My ego photo shoot needed some leverage.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Technorati
  • blogmarks
  • Live
  • BlogMemes
  • Ma.gnolia
Tags: , , , , , ,

WHAT TO DO NOW?

Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

13 Comments

  1. Carlton Reid added these cyclelicious words on October 24, 2008 | Permalink

    It’s a great shot! And now I know the story behind it, too.

    PS
    That cover is nearly the one that’s gonna be used. It’s been tweaked since then and I will be switching at least one of the images, too.

  2. Amsterdamize added these cyclelicious words on October 24, 2008 | Permalink

    Thanks, Carlton! Pfew, I would hate to go back and do it again :-p

    Good to hear, you spend so much time on it, already. I love the fact that you involved your readers in the process, but pleasing everyone is always a challenge. Looking forward to seeing that new cover!

  3. Dave added these cyclelicious words on October 24, 2008 | Permalink

    It’s a complicated issue trying to decide how to get more people to ride their bikes to work (that is, in countries where that isn’t already a normal means of commuting everywhere). It’s nice to see that issue being addressed in some ways in Portland, and Oregon in general. There is a measure being drafted at the state level here which would give small tax breaks to people who cycled to work a certain percentage of the time, as well as small tax breaks to businesses for providing bicycle parking and showers for their employees.

    Some employers are giving incentives to commute by bike, such as my current employer which will give me a $50 check every 30 days I commute by bicycle.

    But perhaps the biggest and best thing in Portland, is that city officials and planners are looking seriously at investing a lot of time and money into bicycle infrastructure and education. In fact, a team of people from both the city government as well as some private sector folks just made a tour of Amsterdam and Copenhagen talking to city officials in those cities about how they started and how they maintain their cycling “culture”. They’re giving a presentation on what they took away from that time in early November - I’m excited to hear what they have to say.

    There is still a lot of polarization on the bike infrastructure issue here, so politically it will be tough to pull off without a lot of backlash, we’ll see how it goes. If they manage to do it, I think we’ll see *a lot* more people riding bikes in Portland.

  4. Amsterdamize added these cyclelicious words on October 24, 2008 | Permalink

    Good points, Dave and from all that I read and follow, it’s certainly moving in the right direction.

    I don’t know whether you’ve seen me link this already, but just to be sure, watch this video of John Pucher’s presentation of his 3 year research on cycling in Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands. It’s a must watch, really.

  5. Kimba added these cyclelicious words on October 26, 2008 | Permalink

    I absolutely love the pictures. Also, I am anxiously awaiting the release of the Bike to Work book!

  6. Carlton Reid added these cyclelicious words on October 26, 2008 | Permalink

    Thanks, Kimba. I’m working hard at the moment to get out the promo PDF. It’s packed full of good stuff and will be available (in theory) by Wednesday.

    It’ll be downloadable from http:www.quickrelease.tv and http://www.biketoworkbook.com but, if you subscribe to podcasts, it will also automagically download from iTunes by subscribing to the biketoworkbook.com podcast or here: http://www.tinyurl.com/quickrelease

  7. Temenoslounge added these cyclelicious words on October 30, 2008 | Permalink

    My congratulations! Sure, this is a nice work. In the past I thought that only my country was not a bike-friendly one.. Unfortunately, there are far more than only a few. This book will show another side of biking. The bright one :-)

    My friends, especially girls liked the cover very much! :-)

  8. Amsterdamize added these cyclelicious words on October 30, 2008 | Permalink

    Thanks for that, Temenslounge! Indeed, there are many many more countries and people that cry out for more bicycle-friendliness. Considering what’s happening all over the world, I think we’re destined to move in the right directon. Tell your friends thanks and to ride and take pictures! :-p

  9. Carlton Reid added these cyclelicious words on October 30, 2008 | Permalink

    Thanks. This is latest version of the cover: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carltonreid/2981173692/

    A free PDF extract will be online soon, via http://www.quickrelease.tv or an email sign-up at http://www.biketoworkbook.com

  10. Maria Gatti added these cyclelicious words on October 30, 2008 | Permalink

    Well, I guess I’ll have to buy it, if only to read Marc and Mikael… hope there are some women among the contributors as well. ;-)

    Though I only sometimes bicycle to work anymore, when I’m working at least a couple of blocks away… Rather hard to bicycle from my bedroom or kitchen to my home office, in a small flat…

    Le Monde à bicyclette, our pioneering urban-cycling association here in Montréal, brought out a brochure on cycling to work (yep, chicly dressed)… perhaps 25 years ago? Glad to see full-length works on the question, with pretty pictures.

  11. Carlton Reid added these cyclelicious words on October 30, 2008 | Permalink

    Yes, there are women contributors in the book…but not in the free PDF extract.

  12. Maria Gatti added these cyclelicious words on October 31, 2008 | Permalink

    I do wish the cover weren’t so lycra and helmet-heavy, but I guess you need the US market…

  13. Amsterdamize added these cyclelicious words on October 31, 2008 | Permalink

    I think it’s not that bad, the number of helmets on the cover are harmless and given the fact that normal cycling, aka cycling to work is way more popular/common outside the US, the balance is pretty accurate. Yes, the book is primarily aimed at the US and UK market.

One Trackback

  1. AMSTERDAMIZE » Bike To Work Book Sampler on November 28, 2008

    [...] have written about this a few times, but there’s again another reason to do so. Authors Tim Grahl and Carlton Reid have just [...]

POST A COMMENT

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*
« Back to text comment

Subscribe without commenting

  • Subscribe!

    Total page loads since 26/07/2008:

    web stats

  • Blog Content

    • Members 42
    • Posts 282
    • Comments 1,939
    • Categories 12
    • Links 218
    • Tags 714
    • Words in Posts 115,633

  • Amsterdamize Shops At:

  • Amsterdamize Shop

  • Recent Cyclelicious Comments

  • Top Commentators

    1. Adrienne (1)
    2. Alan (1)
    3. Anneke (1)
    4. Dave (1)
    5. dave b (1)
    6. John . Dubln Ire... (1)
    7. Maria Gatti (1)
    8. Phil (1)
    9. ProgressivePete (1)
    10. Scott Mizée (1)
    11. Tiago (1)
    12. Wilma (1)

  • Recent Posts

  • Upload!

    One moment please ...

    If your upload form doesn't display within a few seconds, please check the FAQ or contact us at info@uploadthingy.com or +1 415 670 9090. We'd love to help out!

  • Tags

  • Categories

  • Archives

  • Meta

CONTACT

INFO at AMSTERDAMIZE dot COM
twitter.com/amsterdamize

Cycle Chic Pics

Amsterdamize : Soaking Cycling

TAG CLOUD