I had first coined it The Bicycle Video Of The Century, but that was just my enthusiasm running wild. It doesn’t matter. What it is: it’s a gift from my best friend & creative genius Gabemac, a gift to me and all of you who follow and support Amsterdamize.

Gabemac traveled to Burning Man and he came back with so much more than this video. Actually, he said: “Dude, this video doesn’t really tell the whole story of Burning Man, it represents maybe 1% of what I experienced there. At some point I just had to put the camera away, it didn’t do it justice.”

I believe him. But this 1% sure as hell gives a fine impression of what the 99% entails. Enjoy!

I’m so going to Burning Man in 2012 and I’m bringing my bike.

Today I read this. Then I browsed through a few folders. Which led me to putting together this little token: We’re only human.

Sometimes a cycle life gets in the way of …, well, you know, actual bike blogging. So, long overdue, but here it goes. Before I arrived in New York at the end of April I anticipated riding with my #bikeNYC friends & possibly joining well over 30.000 other individuals from around NYC & the US on the Five Boro Bike Tour. Best of all, combining the two.

As you’ve read here, the first part never fails, including the part where online friends become the offline equivalent. Cycling just unites that way, easy.

So here it is, part two of my #bikeNYC adventures in 2011.

May 1st, the day after the New Amsterdam Bike Show (which will be part three). Sunshine galore. Ignoring my jetlag, I cycled from my hotel in Soho to 6th Avenue/W Houston St & observed the 5Boro crowd cycling from down- to uptown. Quite a sight and good fun, as the film will show.

Half an hour later I met up with Ronald (Dutch expat, Research Associate at The Street Plans Collaborative) , Carina (Danish expat, freelance video reporter), Liz (Pilates instructor & advocate for Livable Streets), Noah (Mr NYC Cycle Chic), Steve (bicycle advocate/lawyer) & Noel (Asoc. Director of Engagement Technologies for the World Economic Forum) right across the street.

This was me for the day (not unlike on any other day at home):

And my hosts for the day:

Liz & Noah

Steve playing around with his 5Boro vest & Carina was ready to roll.

So we did. Setting out for our self-proclaimed ‘Un-5Boro’, circumventing a few things we couldn’t be bothered with and perhaps just join the Five Boro Tour at some point. Yes, naughty us, crashing the party ;).

Grab yourself a beer/glass of wine/a cocktail, sit back, relax and ride with us for the next 52 minutes, if you will. Roll the tape:

I know, right? Quite an awesome day, despite getting stuck on the BQE for 2,5 hours. Oh, the irony :).

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures I took along the way:

Can you say ‘I Am Legend’ & BikePeaceNYC, you look fab? ;)

You can always count on the NYPD…

Me, hard at work going up Queensboro Bridge…

Arriving at the waterfront in Queens.

Stuck on the BQE, but smiling.

You’ll always find a few Dutch around.

In a massive bicycle gridlock it’s easy to get acquainted with the nearby residents.

Stand out much? Nah..

The United Nations On Wheels #bikeNYC rat pack!

Last pit stop before Verrazano.

Noel didn’t want to freeze his toes off on Verrazano Bridge..and I figured you’d not often catch him in this position.

As I mentioned in the film, the NYPD, in this case a very bad-tempered cop, yelled us off our bikes. Steve tried arguing with him, but to no avail (and no surprise), he wouldn’t budge. Through some banter, Noel found out the cop was not on the payroll of the City of New York, which was odd, but it could easily explain his mobster-like behaviour. Anyway, it was quite entertaining.

Steve lent me his bike helmet (historic moment, I tell ya) saying he’d done 5Boro before and wanted me to finish it (thanks again for the sacrifice, Steve!). Noah & Liz also said goodbye, as they were not ‘packing gear’. Finally, Noel happened to have an extra 5Boro vest, so we were on our way, up and over the bridge, to the finish line on the other side on Staten Island.

Noel and I rode right on, towards the ferry.

But not before stopping for some brew.

Where you, predictably, bump into like-minded/familiar people.

Police started wrapping up their long day…

We caught the Staten Island ferry back to Manhattan…

Which allows beers AND drinking on board. Perfect. After all, you don’t have a utility bike with basket and panniers for nothing, aight? PS: Noel had the Heineken, I had the local flavor, in true UN-style :).

Riding along the East River…

Noel heading back to Brooklyn and me to Soho, thinking: “Wow. Just wow.” Yes, epic.

We escaped reality, tasted ‘what could be’. We Were All Legends.

Thank you, #bikeNYC. With love, from #bikeAMS.

You remember Rose from my video posts ‘Rose Loves #bikeAMS TV’ & ‘Fishing To Catch A Bicycle’.

Last Monday was her birthday. She came round to show me what she had treated herself to…

As you know her best:

Naturally, this happy occasion deserved another Bicycle TV video:

Again, happy birthday, Rose! xox

As you might have heard through the grapevine, not so long ago I was busy creating the film ‘Cycling For Everyone’ that officially launched & introduced the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

It was quite the process. Challenged by a very tight time frame before it was supposed to be presented (at the Dutch Embassy in Brussels during the Smart2Wheels Forum), I was scrambling to put both a team together and plan things accordingly.

The weather forecast wasn’t very promising. But we struck some much needed luck; nice temperature, mostly sunny and just a ‘bit’ of wind.

Of course this project was right up my sleeve. Amsterdamize has grown into something solid (albeit, I really need to catch up on posting affairs), I have years of experience in online marketing & particularly in combination with video, I’m no stranger to the historical context of things and I like to think Amsterdamize has contributed to the idea of this embassy :).

I managed to put together a great team. The creative, subtle & insightful camera skills of Erwan van Buuren, the charming presence of my friend Mi-Ah Roediger as ‘Girl On Bike’, production assistence by Reuben Hamburger and the smooth editing of one of my best friends and film director Gabe Bauer.

On day 1 we shot scenes in Amsterdam:
At the Workcycles shop…

At the underground bike parking garage (of which there are many) at Zuid WTC train station…

At the Apollolaan/Stadionweg junction, where we were often blocking people going from A to B…

Contrary to common use & customs, we sometimes put the Omafiets in the back of the van…

…to get to the infamous Nescio bicycle bridge (of British design(!)) on time, that connects Amsterdam suburb Diemen with IJburg…

Day 2 had us:
Shooting the morning rush hour on De Lairessestraat/Jacob Obrechtstraat, dominated by the school run…

Then we moved to the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat/Prinsengracht area, which included a stop-at-a-shop scene that I ended up not using…

On to Houten for the train station’s ‘Fietstransferium‘ and junction scenes…

And at the end of that busy day we moved our equipment to the majestic Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, these scenes were entirely cut from the film, due to playtime constraints.

On day 3 I had to fly to Reykjavik to be a keynote speaker at a cycling conference organized by the Icelandic Cyclists Federation (on which I’ll post soon), so the crew went ahead and worked with my instructions. And they did great, filming a tongue-in-cheek scene with a representative of the Fietsersbond (Cyclists Union) & their ‘measure bike’ and putting academics at ‘work’ at the ITC of Twente University.

Luckily (for you), I had also reminded myself to shoot a few videos along the way, for a modest ‘behind-the-scenes’ edit:

As traditions go, I also couldn’t resist assembling the footage we either didn’t use (as I said, often you have to ‘kill your darlings’) or cut it up beyond recognition. Hence: here are the outtakes. Warning: it’s almost 24 minutes long ;).

Oh, and of course, here’s the final product of all our efforts: Cycling For Everyone. Enjoy, if you haven’t already :).

And thanks to all who helped spreading this video, the counter now stands at over 45.000 views on Vimeo & the Dutch Cycling Embassy received a very warm welcome on Twitter and all the blogs!

Here are the YouTube links of two of them:
- Cycling For Everyone
- Cycling For Everyone – Behind The Scenes

And here’s the complete Cycling For Everyone photo set.

I arrived at the Workcycles shop today to have a tire changed on Lauren’s bike and I entered an all too familiar scene: two of the mechanics decorating one of the rental cargo bikes. The customer’s name is Marnix & he was pressed for time, as his sister Brechtje was going to get married to Jeroen on the other side of town…and he was in charge of arranging the bride & groom’s ride before & after the ceremony. So the guys helped speed up the process of making that procession even more stylish and festive. Have a look.

You have to know that this is quite a common, aka traditional thing in Amsterdam & the Netherlands to do. Hell, I’ve seen 30 pedicabs for wedding guests parked outside a church at one point. My summer’s favorite picture is of the soon-to-be-married couple below, which I took in Vondelpark. Also a Workcycles rental cargo bike, but the bigger flatbed one.

I’m sure Brechtje & Jeroen’s wedding photos will turn out great. Life on two, or in this case, three wheels is bliss. Marnix, I know you’ll be reading this, you’ll have to let me know in the comment section whether you made it on time :).

Meet my good friend Rose. A free spirit, a talented artist & a lover of Amsterdam. Today I helped her out at one of the locations that displays her art. After finishing up we hopped on our bikes and rode back into the center. An off the cuff, yet perfect moment to get her on the record: Rose loves #bikeAMS TV. Enjoy.

On August 18th I had a meeting in Utrecht. As usual, I got there by train and I had brought my bike. Stepping outside Utrecht Central Station and riding towards the center is always a joy, despite the ongoing road works & the obstruction by the building sites.

This video spans about 10 minutes of recording around the tip end of the morning rush hour. When I say ‘rush hour’ & ‘Utrecht’, you immediately think of Mark Wagenbuur’s famous videos. He’s done plenty of them, rain/snow or shine. This is no different. Just my drop in the media bucket of covering Dutch people on bikes. Going from A to B, conveniently.

[Update] Can’t believe I forgot to mention this. ‘Speaking of the devil’, Mark coincidentally happens to be IN this video, turning right on the bike path intersection after the first light, with the yellow/blue plastic bag hanging from his handlebar, 26 sec into the video. :)

PS: Utrecht has a bicycle modal share of 35% of all trips. Recently the city council voted on a new investments to raise that nr to 55% and reducing car use by 50% by 2025. This is no hogwash or PR spin. They really put their money where their mouths are. Why wouldn’t they…funding of bicycle infrastructure & provisions has a real return on investment. It’s an economic decision above anything else, with far-reaching positive effects, building a livable city.

It has cleared up a bit in Amsterdam and the rest of the country, two weeks of what seemed like never-ending downpour was clearly enough for most. People moaned, sighed and bitched like there was no tomorrow. But whaddayagonnado? Shit happens. At the same time we completely and conveniently forget about the absolutely gorgeous months of April and May (record droughts). Alright, alright, it’s supposed to be summer in July, not feel like the end of November.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I’ll be getting on a plane (gasp) to Copenhagen, on business. Last time I paid the Danish Blues a visit it was for leisure and I took the (slow) train, as I had to bring my bike along. It was cool. I serenaded ladies in red, competed in a slow bicycle race (and let my opponent, who was coming of age, win, of course) and drank way too many expensive beers. Emphasis on ‘expensive’, not ‘too many beers’.

Referred to by the aforementioned, herring-eating individual I was invited by Wonderful Copenhagen to cover the UCI BMX World Championships in my role as an inquisitive journalist, who expect me to insightfully peel off the layers of one of the sportiest of ’street bicycle cultures’. Naturally, I’ll try not to disappoint them.

Accredited by the UCI, yes m’am, there’s a first for everything. You see, there will be all sorts of street events going on all over town, all evolving around our two-wheeled (if not more) friend, the arts, the urban life, etc. I’ll be all over it, trust me. Lauren is joining me, so she can see for herself how cheap Amsterdam really is for shopping. ;)

My lack of BMX-cred doesn’t mean I won’t attempt to sneakily attach my GoPro camera to the BMX of one of the Dutch contestants, because I will. Or whoever will indulge me. Either that, or they’ll most likely rip off my press card and toss me in the Søerne to go look for bikes there.

As you might know or have been able to assess, I have NO knowledge whatsoever of who’s what in the BMX universe. Doesn’t mean I don’t admire these rascals. It will be intriguing to dive back into this semi-sub-bike-culture which I left behind at the age of 10. Oh, the memories.

I leave you with photos..I mean postcards, as many often tell me I live in one. From a, as you by now have guessed, VERY wet Sunday in July.

I’m charging 3 cameras as I type this, cross your fingers it will be a dry weekend in Copenhagen.

That, or I just might convert and ask this fine craftsman and fellow Dutchie if I can join him on his maiden voyage…when the moment is right. And only if I can bring Lauren, of course.

Croix De Beaucaillou.

Wanna GAGA?

Tourists will ride their rental bikes, no matter what. In style.

‘Double Dutch’ – summer contradictions.

On occasion I get asked to explain the side saddle hop, because to quite a few people it looks complicated & the Dutch make it look so easy. Or my guests want to try riding along on the back of my bike & but they’ll settle for getting on while stationary. So here it is, an instructional video, the anatomy, if you will, of the genuine Dutch side saddle hop. A three-act. Perfection in motion.

No pressure, of course. Practice makes perfect, that’s all :).

UPDATE: Ricardo Javier sent me the following video of him and his girlfriend cycling around Amsterdam (it starts in the same area as where I shot my video), it includes some very nice side saddle action too. Thanks, Ricardo!

PS: riding side saddle is illegal in many countries, including Germany and Denmark. That’s also the case in Australia (unsurprisingly), but little birds told me that some Ozzies continue to break this law and that they call it ‘dinking’. Winners.

Work is done. It’s a warm & sunny evening. Taking it easy. Grab a bag with picnic goodies and flick it in a basket. Stop along the way to pick up some tasty burgers & find that sweet spot in the sun. That’s what Lauren and I did not too long ago.

* It’s been pouring this last week, so it’s only fitting that I’d edit and post this today, to keep our spirits up :).

My friend Suze paid me a visit this afternoon to catch up on things. As is usually the case, we sat at my window and watched the world go by, which is always interesting in the Red Light District. No exception today. Among other things, we witnessed a parked bicycle getting blown into the canal by the wind.

A few hours earlier one of the renovators next door, who’s been our temporary neighbor for some time now, had been hoisting materials up to the 3rd floor (video) (as it’s often done in Amsterdam, known for its steep stairs), so I figured I could use the hook at the end of that rope to get the bicycle out.

Suze said we should so do it, which was the last nudge I needed (on a rainy day), but in the end it didn’t work out exactly that way…but either way, just watch what happened.

A new day, a new video camera, new opportunities. The early evening light was exquisite, so I just headed out, doodling about. 25 minutes of footage brought back to a little under 13. It was a beautiful maiden voyage for my little HD friend & it passed the test…no, it aced it. For those interested: I shot it at 720p & 60 frames/sec*.

Here you go, ‘Veraneando En Amsterdam’, or: enjoying summer in Amsterdam. Enjoy the ride*.

* I wanted to export it to HD 1080p, but it turned out to big. The same applied to the 720p version, too big for Vimeo. I had to choose between cutting it up yet again or leaving it at a lower resolution. I chose the latter.

** Over the years I’ve noticed (to put it lightly) that when people watch a video like this, they often comment: “But what about when it’s raining or snowing? Surely, people won’t cycle that much then?” Sure they do, because it’s convenient. Here’s an old video of mine shot in December 2008, ‘Sinfonia Cyclissimo‘. Or watch Mark Wagenbuur’s videos, winter & http://amsterdamize.com/?p=2432

Statistics don’t sell cycling, cycling does. People have to see and feel it for themselves to really understand the significance of putting cycling at the forefront of rethinking our urban mobility. The most powerful means second to that are the visual arts: photos and videos. My modus operandi.

I have more than plenty of photos to show, the video part has been falling behind this year. That’s going to change. I ordered a GoPro camera. I recognized the power of this camera when I saw Paul Martin, part of the Australian Cycling Dutch Style group which I joined a few times on their study tour around the Netherlands a little while ago, put that camera to good use. It’s awesome.

Many visitors I host, have either followed Amsterdamize or have read up on cycling in the Netherlands otherwise, also going through tons of pictures and videos. Either they still couldn’t believe it, or were expecting the ultimate cycling Walhalla. Yet, all of them, really all of them realized upon arrival that nothing beats experiencing the reality on the ground. Steven Vance from Chicago, for instance, was only half-joking when he uttered I was cherry-picking the best cycling moments with my camera…until he rode here himself.

Alas, enough of the babbling. I positioned myself on the bridge over the Prinsengracht, leading towards one of the arterial bike routes in downtown Amsterdam, Nieuwe Spiegelstraat.

That street is a one-way street for cars (not a through-way, but mostly used by people who live there or delivery vans), which can rarely (and won’t) overtake people on bicycles (as it’s a Bicycle Street) and a two-way street for people on bikes (and mopeds unfortunately) & a narrow sidewalk on each side. At that time on that Saturday it was not particularly busy, not like during the week when on average 25.000 people travel up and down this stretch on a daily basis. It’s a fast, thus popular connection between the Museum quarter in the south and the downtown area, en route to Central Station.

The video already received a first comment on Vimeo:

That is what the motor vehicle to bike ratio should be in every city…ideally.

I know, that’s why I’m still living here :). Enjoy. If you have any questions, write it in the comment section.

I like my Amstel rides. No, not the Amstel Gold Race, my Fr8 would be out of his league & element, aside from the fact that this event, ironically, takes place in the far south of the Netherlands. That, and this website is not of the lycra-persuasion.

Instead, I’m talking about just hopping on and riding down the Amstel River in the middle of the week, checking out the terraces to see which one would facilitate our need to enjoy the early evening sun & some consequential beers the best.

Passing Rembrandt’s House, he was nice enough to leave a bike path in his will…

Joining the line at Meester Visserplein…

Passing people on the Hermitage exit…

Taking a gentile short-cut, avoiding the shade of Wibautstraat, merging at the Amstel waterfront…

Looking right towards Skinny Bridge never fails…

Crossing some streams of consciousness along the way…

A bit of tunnel vision passing the Amstel Hotel…

We found the perfect spot, the terrace of Cafe De Ysbreeker. We were hardly original, aka hardly alone…Still, we easily managed to grab the best spot.

It’s far from summer, so not much later it got chilly, pre-dinner drinks were over & we headed back.

Nothing really beats this, right?

I know! Cycling is great ;). In every single way. So, you owe yourself taking advantage of it, too. Not enough inspiration for ya? Then come on down the Twitter way, join the good folks of @30daysofbiking and many more people, who are sharing and celebrating this simple but most effective, convenient & fun piece of machinery.

I think you get it by now: even when you ride alone, you ride together. Be very sure of that.

Today, like other days, I hopped on again. And not because it was such nice weather. I had to get from A to B. It sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Never mind you missed out on a few days, hop on & embrace those rides.

Predictably there were quite some April Fool’s jokes of the bicycle kind, all over the world. To catch ‘m on the go you really need to spend time on Twitter.

The Dutch couldn’t stay behind, of course. So here’s my favorite of the day, in video format, by Heineken, to the tune of & borrowing the bicycle scenes from that infamous Dutch flick Turks Fruit (Turkish Delight):

Funny/nice/cute, no? Well, you’re a fool: it’s actually for real. They actually sell those. For the launch of their new downtown shop, Heineken used this day to create some awareness. It worked.

I can’t say it’s a step up from the usual milk crate, but I’ll give ‘m kudos for the effort. Now let me pop my La Trappe Tripel, to kick start the weekend. Somebody on Twitter just said it’s going to be 25C.

I’d be a fool not to drink to that.

Humans and their pets. One thought that comes to mind is that we mostly treat ‘m like humans. In good & bad ways, but let’s go for the majority vote, the good. A snippet from a municipal policy guideline:

No city can really thrive without animals. Animals represent an important part of our community. As companions, as an endangered species and sometimes as a source of nuisance.
By connecting the interests of users (humans and animals) of the public space and align these with each other, we’ll be able to create a more harmonious co-existence. The municipal welfare policy should not only represent the human vision, but also give animals a voice. There needs to be recognition that animals shouldn’t be viewed primarily on the basis of their meaning, usefulness or the damage they possibly cause to humans, but that they should be assessed on their value as living beings.

Isn’t it striking how one can so easily replace the above subjects with ‘people on bicycles’ & ‘car drivers’, to describe a virtually equal objective? Or for that matter, ‘people on foot’ & ‘transit’? Exactly. I could now veer off into an expose on how equality has prevailed in everyday traffic & policies in the Netherlands, but I won’t.

In these pictures you can easily see the ‘chain reaction’ of positive bicycle policies & promotion at work. The more human you treat your city landscape (by design), the more inviting and inspiring it is for people to act accordingly. Cycling is dealt with as a faster way of walking, so that gets facilitated appropriately. Cycling becomes the norm, then the most normal thing in the world: not giving it another thought. With the ease of cycling comes the natural selection of applications, aka: what can I do on my bike? The options are almost limitless. And pets, well, they form just one extension of those applications. Thus, people are able to seamlessly have their pets join them on their A2B routes, regardless of time & place (& weather).

In short: nobody will look funny at you. Better yet, people copy behavior. And who wouldn’t want to copy this, right?

And why not add ‘The Chase’, while I’m at it. And click here if you wanna see me ride around with my parents’ Jack Russel named ‘Beau’.

It’s uneventful and a given, but I share what I enjoy and last night was nice. On our way to a cafe for pre-dinner drinks, Lauren and I cycled along the Amstel River and the mild temperature allowed me to whip out my iPhone to record a little something. With her family back in the US in mind and Amsterdamize, of course.

An hour and a half later we rode on, into De Pijp. A little damp, but a very nice ride. Hardly any car traffic, soothing, adding to an already good mood.

We turned into Albert Cuypstraat (which during the day has a buzzing market) and parked right outside Turkish restaurant Bazar.

Convenient, as it goes in a bicycle-friendly country.

I’m not an extraordinarily gifted photographer, but in my own world I can completely relate to what drives & inspires Scott Schumann, aka ‘the Sartorialist‘.

I like his approach. Simple, honest, no unnecessary thrills, but a keen eye for his in-the-moment subject & the setting. His photos of people on bicycles are of equal quality. I should add ‘naturally’, as these aren’t even a different genre, only a charming additive.

The late Ed van der Elsken, a street photographer / filmmaker from Amsterdam, is my absolute hero. The following sequence of two pictures boils down what he was about:

He was known for being a ‘man of the people’, a bit quirky, a bit of a clown. Following people in the streets, teasing, interjecting, his lens dancing around them, not unlike a performance artist…with either a photo or film camera. His films where often mesmerizing, ‘Fietsen’ (‘Bicycles’ or ‘Cycling’), shot in 1965, is up there with the best & saves me from using more words to describe him & do him justice:

Through two and a half years of Amsterdamize I’ve lived to experience (recognize) a few moments that I’d like to describe as ‘Eddies‘, either being the ‘voyeur’ of private moments in the public domain or me in turn acknowledged by my subjects. I treasure them & they inspire me to keep looking out for the obvious, which often reveals a thing of beauty…& a thousand words.

People (on bicycles), they’re a gift that keeps on giving.

I’ve tweeted many times about my Australian cycling friend Paul van Bellen from Sydney & his cycling tour project ‘Cycling Dutch Style‘:

“If you want to get more people cycling in Australia, you need to make it more attractive, easy and convenient.” – Paul van Bellen.

In May 2011 Paul will lead 30 Australian cycling thinkers over a 500km, 13 day tour in The Netherlands, the world’s most cycle friendly country. Filmmakers Rowena Crowe and Paulo Alberton will follow and record van Bellen’s tour as his team studies innovations and attitudes in cycling. Rowena and Paulo will shape the material collected into web friendly stories and information for a website called www.cyclingdutchstyle.com.au, and also into a documentary, once participants of the tour return to their homes and routines in Australia. Our website will be fully functional by early March 2011, in time for us to engage with our audience.

The Impact
Major cities around the world are embracing cycling as a way to commute, in a bid to combat pollution, save petrol and avoid traffic congestion. While cycling groups in Australia are trying to promote cycling as a sustainable transport alternative through initiatives like Ride to Work Day, our major cities are lagging behind the rest of the world in infrastructure investment. The Netherlands has invested heavily in bicycle infrastructure over the last 30 years. The result is today 30% of all trips are done on a bicycle throughout the country, whilst in Australia many cities are aiming towards 5% by 2016.

These stories will not only entertain broader audiences but they will also contribute to a valuable and unique online resource that may inform policy making in Australia and inspire other city planners around the world.

The Tour
The 30 participants meet in Dieren, the Netherlands on May 10th 2011 to begin their tour. Over the next 14 days they will ride an average 50 km per day. Our cameras will follow their journey, recording the sights and sounds and seeking their views on the state of cycling in these cities.

We will meet Dutch people who use the bike infrastructure daily as they ride to work, school or to the shops. We will meet with experts who are involved in developing and maintaining this infrastructure. Together these stories will help us better understand the positive effects of investing heavily in cycling infrastructure.

Each day we will be reporting from the saddle, bringing knowledge from the road. We will invite our audience to engage with our findings and consider how these ideas could be adapted to Australian conditions and way of life.

Key moments on the tour will include a visit to: Groningen, the world’s number one cycling city with 60% of all trips done by bicycle; Utrecht where they will meet the cycling infrastructure experts from Fietsberaad, the Dutch centre for cycling policy; Houten, which is recognised as a yardstick of a liveable sustainable city, where the direct route to town is on the bike path and cars are forced to use peripheral roads. For full break down of the itinerary go here.

What We Need & What You Get
We are asking US$ 8,000 (not Australian dollar) to cover the expenses of the plane ticket and accommodation, so we (Rowena and Paulo) can participate on the tour and create content for both the website and documentary. Our professional and creative work is voluntary. Also in order to offer you these fantastic and irresistible prizes, we have accessed the support of Gazelle Bicycle Australia who is offering Gazelle products (Gazelle bikes and accessories) as prizes at cost value, only for this project. This means a great return for your contribution!!! The monetary value of your contribution is just over to the value of the prizes. Check the prizes underneath. And if you prefer another bike, Gazelle is flexible and happy to discuss this with you. Please be aware that contributions are made in US dollars. Currently A$ and US$ are nearly the same value, but please check for up to date exchange rates prior to making your contribution.

This project desperately needs to get documented, thus funded & supported, so go click!

FFFYI (Fun Facts For Your Information):
- ‘van Bellen’ is a Dutch surname
- the verb ‘bellen’ means ‘ringing’, either calling on the phone, ringing the door bell or…wait for it…ringing your bike bell :)).

AND…look at Gazelle’s famous print ad series from the early 20th century that came in the form of a cartoon called ”t AVONTUUR van PIET PELLE op zyn GAZELLE.’, which translates into ‘The adventure of Piet Pelle on his Gazelle’. Both rhyme, and so it does when you exchange ‘Piet Pelle’ for ‘Paul van Bellen’…

I rest my case, there’s only so much that can be written in the stars, I suppose ;).

Coincidently, I hooked up with Rowena Crowe late November when she was in town for the IDFA. She’d bought a crappy but lovely bike to get around. Crappy as many other beater bikes, but lovely all the same, because…it got her around ;).

We rode together, she asked the questions and filmed for prosperity. As Rowena writes: “This film gives you a sneak preview of the kind of people we will be meeting on the cycling Dutch style study tour in May 2011.”

Of course we stopped for beers as well. Like the ride, we took it slowly, as her jet lag was starting to kick in. I’m looking forward to springtime, to give that part of cultural integration another shot.

Information I wanted to share with you weeks ago, so here’s a copy-paste:

Hey, my name is Curtis, I’m a film director from Canada. In the summer I worked on a film called ‘The Bike Heist’ we shot in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The central theme of the film is bicycles and friendship. We our currently releasing promotional teasers every month or so until the release this summer (2011).

Our best marketing tool is word of mouth, telling friends, blogs etc. Then they tell more people and so on, you get the idea. We have been featured on a couple bicycle blogs so far, but would greatly appreciate your support also. The website for the film is www.thebikeheist.ca and perhaps you can make a post on your blog or even embed the teaser. I would appreciate your support and it certainly is for a greater cause.

Long live cycling.

I’m riding right with ya, Curtis, thanks for making and sharing The Bike Heist!

Dear readers, followers, subscribers: share, embed, link to, RT, syndicate away

From the source (via @VrijeFietser on Twitter): “A bicycle, dramatic music & great editing: all ingredients of the short film ‘Fiets!’. There’s no narration, but the actors’ facial expressions are sufficient. Words are not needed. The music adds drama, but at the same time it’s also cheeky. At first you probably don’t see the purpose of the film, but it all comes together in the end.”

Doesn’t it always :).

Mission Workshop is a little utility bag design company based in San Francisco -they also make some other nice garments. They recently came to Amsterdam to celebrate that Pristine would stock their goods and they made this nice short film about their stay.

I like their ‘When in Rome’ attitude. They certainly made the most of their visit to our beautiful city, including transporting a Christmas tree with their Dutch bike.

Just another day in Bicycle City.

I just had a most chillin’ Sunday, joining friends at the Appelsap HipHop Festival in Oosterpark in the eastern part of Amsterdam, enjoying some good munchin’ and good…well, let’s just say at some point somebody put Stevie Wonder on, but generally just extremely relaxed, and half the city seemed to have gathered there.

Halfway dinner (mussels, yum!) I got a text message from one good friend of mine, Wiendelt, asking me whether I had checked another friend’s Facebook page yet, in this case Gabe’s. Of course I hadn’t, and couldn’t resist, so I checked…

Suffice to say, I love it when friends get together, whip out their guitar and camera, and have a good laugh. Totally jammin’, making my day truly complete!