I have shown you many different impressions of cycling in Amsterdam (oh, Paris and Copenhagen too, I’d almost forget) over the last six months. Some targeted at a certain topic, some for ambiance, and quite a few just to express myself.
This city is a place where people want to be, not just because they have [...]
Sinfonia Cyclissimo
The View From A Bicycle - Portland
I’ve been accumulating some more short video clips over the last week or so. Here are a couple more videos that I’ve pieced together from the clips:
The first is mostly a trip to a grocery store near us, with a couple other pieces of my work commute at the beginning and end, music by Radiohead.
The [...]
No Escape
I stepped out and walked to my local flower shop across the street from my house. Quite the luxury for some, quite normal for the locals here (yes, lots of flower shops too).
At the risk of sounding redundant, no matter where you go in Amsterdam you WILL see people on bicycles every step of the [...]
Racks Are For Parking
In August I already posted something about this, but I was merely touching on the subject, really.
It’s all true, there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. The same goes for the whole country. When so many people use their bikes on a daily basis, there’s a great need for facilities. One of which [...]
Alternative Bicycle Data
To get a good sense of how popular bicycles are becoming in car-centric countries, you sometimes need to look at it from a different angle.
Amsterdamize faithful Alan sent me this nugget from the Guardian, a few excerpts:
UK calls on sex shops and bailiffs in slump
“What a difference a year makes. Twelve months ago the [...]
Bring Your Umbrella…Or Not
Today, the ‘Research Trailer Park’ blog posted an article from ‘The State’ newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina:
Bicycle Friendly press conference canceled
A press conference to talk about the city of Columbia’s new designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community has been canceled because of forecasted bad weather this afternoon.
The press conference has been rescheduled for 3 p.m. [...]
Sing
Dave pointed me to this, then I remembered I had seen Travis’ video clip of ‘Sing’ before, but also realized I never caught the first bit. It all probably seems too good to be true to many, but let me tell you, this is a very familiar weekend scene in Amsterdam.
Now this song makes [...]
Put Your Hat On
Days and nights are getting crispy, leafs are falling and people one bikes in Amsterdam are transforming similarly.
This afternoon I took advantage of a nice enough day and sat down for lunch outside on the curb of Runstraat, smack in the middle of the famous Nine Little Streets. Slowly digesting my Club Chicken sandwich [...]
Amsterdamize In Budapest Report
Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to rent a bike and vlog a Bicycle TV episode, as other things got in the way, activities for which I had traveled there in the first place. This involved long days (and nights) on the town, geeking out and just socializing with friends I mostly talk to through the [...]
Jammin’ On My Opafiets
You remember/heard of Les & Helen from Ottawa, Canada, right? No? Ok, a short recap of what I posted before is in order then.
Les & Helen decided on spending their 2 weeks vacation cycling the Netherlands. In good spirits, and inspired by yours truly, they opted to leave their helmets, gear and mountain bikes at [...]
Care-Free & Mostly Fun
Car-Free Sunday turned out like I expected. Not entirely car-free, lots of little islands of fun for young and old, cuteness, gezelligheid…if you knew where to look. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but apart from a few more balloons and moderately cornered off areas, for the untrained eye it was hardly any different than [...]
Saddling My Butt & Bikes And Sailing Mix Well
Last night I got to go to a part of town I usually don’t visit very often, as it is across ‘Het IJ‘, a type of bay (click the link to read up on it) which seperates the metropolitan area from the North, aka Amsterdam-Noord. There are no connecting bridges because this broad waterway functions [...]
Where The Hell Is My Bike!@#!
I’ve mentioned a few times that bicycle theft is quite a problem in the Netherlands, certainly in Amsterdam. The Dutch c.q. Amsterdammers (young and old) have grown accustomed to this pesky ‘little’ problem that has steadily planted itself in the Dutch cyclists’ conscience & social fabric over the last, say, 50 years:
Using beater bikes for [...]
On The Move [Update]
Another (beautiful) day, another “time to stop and shoot up with the mobile phone before continuing on my ride to where I have to go” moment. In this case, 2 moments actually, one at the draw bridge, waiting for a ship to pass and a second moment, stopping on the bridge that crosses the Prinsengracht [...]
Everyday People
Before joining a small company reunion, I stood at the curb and flipped out my HD video camera…to shoot some photos, as it was about time for new ones.
As it was around 6 P.M. (the start of rush hour) you will see cyclists all over the place, very much more so than cars, buses [...]
Things Get Rough
Things get rough between police and protestors outside the RNC.
CNN iReport seems laudable, but in practice it is mainly a joke, satinized when it’s discussed on CNN itself (compare the two!). But here’s one other sample:
Follow live citizen journalism coverage via The Uptake. The bigger picture: journalists are also getting falsely arrested.
Featured Photo Essay
“Cycling In Amsterdam” from Harold Olejarz:
Bicyclists in Amsterdam are not outfitted with the protective layers of glass and steel provided by automobiles. There is no armor that prevents other cyclists, pedestrians, or photographers for that matter, from seeing their clothing or witnessing the changes in their expressions as events and emotions cycle through the minds [...]
Bicycle Statistics, A Question And The Answers
The Netherlands
Population: 16,5 million
Bikes: 18 million
New bikes sold a year: 1.35 million
Bikes stolen a year: between 1.2 and 1.4 million
But the number of bikes in the Netherlands has been at that level, thus stable for years, so what explains this gap? According to the chairman of the Dutch Bicycle Union it boils down to this:
broken [...]
