Last Sunday I played guide for the Mobile Social Group Ride, organized by Byron of Bikehugger, as a prelude to his presentation ‘Changing The World With Bikes‘ at the FITC Amsterdam 2010 (- “Design, Technology. Cool Shit”) conference at the Felix Meritis European Centre for Arts and Sciences on Keizersgracht.

‘It’s prohibited to place bicycles against this building’s facade. Bicycles will be removed. This building has permanent camera surveillance.’

We ended up with the four of us. I rode alongside Rick from Toronto and Byron and his wife Pam. We blamed the poor weather conditions, not everybody’s cup of tea. Or some were just aiming for other destinations. Byron and I joked about how the weather’s always crap when he and Pam hit Amsterdam. And when it’s not raining, snowing or frogs falling from the sky, when we start riding, it eventually will. It’s a given. ;)

FITC provided two, very artsy/colored beater bikes for the ride, put together by Champagne Valentine, one more crooked/bend than the other. Very cool. Still, we needed one more bike, so we thought we’d head over to Workcycles (where a small reception would take place later that afternoon) and see if we could borrow one. Henry hadn’t arrived yet, so we pedaled on to MacBike at the central station. And by ‘pedaled’ I mean that Byron was sitting side saddle on the back of Mr Freight. Not an opportunity to waste, of course:

We rode on to the Plantage buurt (near Artis Zoo) and forced by a downpour we fled into a nearby cafe. Cycling in the rain ain’t a biggie, but if there’s no absolute need to torture yourself, treat yourself to some nice beers instead. It was equally nice to just talk about stuff that transcends the act of cycling, aka our professional realms. I discovered that I had even more in common with my guests than just the love for bicycles/cycling. Yeah, always funny how that works.

The final stop was at Henry’s, who had provided for great finger food and more beers. A setting for lots of (real) bike geek talk and showing off stuff, as you can imagine…but with items you might not have guessed. :)

Meanwhile in the city, things transpired as usual, people going about their way.

(Yeah, I know, it’s not raining in those pictures. But for editorial purposes, this just will have to do :-p)

Last October I ventured outside with a video camera on a cold, windy and rainy Saturday afternoon. I tried several times, but I never really started editing…until this week. And right after hearing this news today, I was determined to have it done by this evening.

I already confessed my love for cycling in this great, beautiful and forgiving city with ‘Sinfonia Cyclissimo‘ well over a year ago, but here’s its successor, a new ode, if you will: ‘Free’.

Enjoy!

I just have to share this short animation film by Michael Dudok de Wit, called ‘Father & Daughter’. A father says goodbye to his young daughter and leaves. As the wide Dutch landscapes live through their seasons so the girl lives through hers. She becomes a young woman, has a family and in time she becomes old, yet within her there is always a deep longing for her father.

The bicycle plays an important integral part, of course, very much worth watching, I think.

Via BicycleFixation.

Mikael recently posted the above picture of a young woman cycling in Copenhagen.

It vaguely rang a bell, so I went through my 2008 video footage of my long weekend in CPH. Bingo. And I thought I’d edit up a little something dedicated to Mikael’s birthday today and Cycle Chic in general (for the Dutch and Danes also known as ‘normal people in normal clothes on normal bikes, nothing to see).

William Hsu, employee of the San Franciscan bicycle shop My Dutch Bike that imports and retails handmade Dutch bicycles, recently visited Amsterdam and spent time at Henry Cutler’s Workcycles to ‘not only learn a bit more about the mechanics of drum/roller brakes, internally geared hubs and generator lights, but also just to absorb the culture in Holland.’

I met William (and his girlfriend) one day when I joined the crew for lunch. I think he was surprised I had heard of My Dutch Bike before ;). Time was too short to really get to know him, of course, but it was good to find his blog posts and pictures on the internets. He continues:

A Pashley bread(cheese) bike parked out as decoration in front of a cheese shop.

What I found in Amsterdam is that bicycles aren’t really thought of as a “culture” or a “means of transportation,” but rather just a way of life. Bicycles are incorporated in everything. From the way they get around town, just going down the street, carrying groceries or children or even as a front of the shop display, bicycles are present.

If you are taking the time to read this, you most likely are fond of bicycling or fond of the idea of bicycling. All socio-economic groups in Amsterdam ride bicycles and it works out due to the lay of their land. The terrain is flat, the streets are narrow and there are dedicated bicycle lanes almost on every street. It is the perfect setting for bicycles to be a quick way of getting around and the perfect setting for not allowing automobiles to do so. Most of the United States does not offer this type of urban environment, but I believe that a bicycle lifestyle should still be promoted for health and convenience reasons, but most of all – it’s just fun!

I can’t say I have anything to add, other than that the ‘flatness’ argument is over-used. Not as many (and all cross-sections of) people would ride when it hadn’t been made safe on all levels, which I think is the most important factor.

Then, on a ‘typical’ Monday morning:

I took the following video while standing at the corner of Marnixstraat and Elandsgracht on my way to Workcycles. Observe how fluid the bicycle traffic is in Holland, note that none of them ever really come to a complete stop where they have to put their foot down. They tend to yield, let the other pass and then pedal on. I feel like like Dutch bicycle riders are probably some of the most skilled riders in the world just being able to maintain such an overall fluid bicycle system with such high bicycle traffic density.

I enjoy reading and seeing how people experience and appreciate the ‘mundane’ stuff 99,99% of us Dutchies take for granted. After all, the remaining 0,01% can yap, write and publish all they want, people won’t get it until they get here and see for themselves.

Mike Rubbo from Sit-up Cycle, who’s recent video interview with Mikael Colville-Andersen made waves on the internets, posted another great video (check the whole post, it’s a good read too) with David Hembrow of A View From The Cycle Path, now a household name in the world of cycle blogs.

David is actually a Brit. who moved to the Netherlands with his family for the better bike infrastructure, which he now enjoys and makes wicker bike baskets too.

If David has a fault, it’s his constant posting of the Dutch as such paragons of bike lane building, etc. It makes you just feel like giving up in a country like Australia.

I’ve told David this, but he can’t stop. How could you in a country with 29,000 kms. of cycle paths? It’s sickening.

Anyway, my wish is to interview all the great bike bloggers of the world. With no grants, that’s a probably an impossible dream.

In the meantime, I’ve been using a young videographer, Violeta Brana-Lafourcade, who’s super economical, to go places for me, and to film interviews, which she’s done with flair.

…

Now, here’s what Violeta sent me on David Hembrow. I hope you like; Talking to David Henbrow. Do leave a comment. It’s mainly about Sit-up bikes which I see as the key to change here.

Thousand will say the type of bike does not matter much, but are they right? Here’s David.

Oh, and here’s the whole video of cycling in the Netherlands in the 1950’s that was used in Mike’s video.

The video ‘Beauty and the Bike’ has been spreading like wildfire in the bike blogo/twittersphere and was well received, I don’t think anyone missed that one and neither did I. Yesterday reader Gerco pointed me to it, and instead of just acknowledging its existence, I’m now posting it too:

This is an 8 minute version of our 55 minute documentary Beauty and the Bike. The film follows two groups of young women from Darlington and Bremen. Between them, they discover what makes – and stops – teenage girls from cycling. The answer? “It’s the Infrastructure, stupid!” The full DVD is available from www.bikebeauty.org.

Up until now I had nothing to add to this excellent video. It’s all true, true to life. Just ask any Dutch girl. Or boy, woman, man, the elderly, etc.

Last Friday I was shooting pictures around town (for the upcoming post ‘Winter Cycle Wonderland’) and I think four of these pictures basically represent that ‘beauty’ and so many other values. Quite universal, wouldn’t you think?

Christmas is approaching fast, the town has been lit up for a while now and many among us are shopping accordingly. One item in particular is hard to overlook while cycling through Amsterdam.

And have a good laugh about just riding off with it. Lumberjack-style.

Oh heck, and let’s throw in a few from a year ago for good measure.

Time really does fly when you’re having fun. Now let’s look ahead and hope for the current cold spell to deliver on its promises…

Ps, Marjon, I think your latest addition would be the perfect xmas card.

UPDATE: Drooderfiets submitted this little nugget, I edited it up and felt it would fit best with this post. Thanks!

Via Bakfiets.co.uk, via the Workcycles group on Facebook, a video report by Radio Netherlands on the popularity and dislikes of bakfietsen in the Netherlands.

Henry’s response to a group member:

There’s no movement against bakfietsen; There’s just always somebody with a superior attitude. Bakfietsen have gone from work vehicle to hippy and squatter transport to über-hip fashion for young families to yuppie minivan to “it’s just plain old practical so I ride one’ in the last couple decades.

Always practical, always opting for convenience. Yes, the Dutch are pretty boring and predictable that way. Well, most of them.

This weekend, on Sinterklaas night, the well-known Amsterdam photographer Thomas Schlijper heard people argue and shout in the street. He looked out his window and decided to record this scene. This unfolded:

The local TV station AT5 ran this video on the news and stated: “The Amsterdam photographer Thomas Schlijper recorded remarkable footage this Saturday night of a very brave woman. During a fight that took place on Herengracht five boys attacked one other boy. A woman on a bicycle intervened and tried to calm things down.”

Hat off to her. And to Schlijper for exposing these thugs.