I was fortunate to be able to borrow a friend’s little (but sturdy) canal boat, aka The Red August, to cruise the city on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Every time I’m back on Amsterdam’s water ways, I enjoy and welcome the change in perspective. It basically feels the same way that cycling does, as in: you’re among many likeminded people (and with boating you DO give each other a quick nod or even wave) and you don’t have a care in the world. Added bonus: it really is the best escape… without fleeing the city. No obstructions, go as you please and so much more (time) to observe, taking advantage of an extra layer, dimension, a slightly better backdrop.

Splendid.

The green outskirts or the city center, it doesn’t matter, really. Just unwind on and off that bike, be it for 5 minutes or 5 hours, ’tis all good.

See it as a shoddy piece of anthropology, sociology, what have you. People on the move at some point between 6 and 9 pm. For all imaginable purposes. Observe and guess. Then guess again. Some are less obvious than others. But hey, that’s the fun of it. For me at least. Filtering out the details of the extraordinary ordinary that cycling in the city represents.

Leading questions:
- Is cycling gender-specific?
- Is cycling age-specific?
- Is cycling income-specific?
- Is cycling difficult?
- Does cycling require special gear?
- Is cycling healthy?
- Does cycling make cities more livable?
- Is cycling easy on the eyes?
- Etc… (*tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek*)

Specimen #1

Specimen #2

Specimen #3 & #4

Specimen #5

Specimen #6

Specimen #7 & #8

Specimen #9

Specimen #10

Nothing but time. Who’s in a rush. It’s summer and it’s the weekend. Many are on vacation, but who needs one when you live in Amsterdam, it’s zen on two wheels, all the way. Merely have a seat on a(ny) terrace, have a beer and observe…

18:00 on Sunday, July 11 2010. Lauren and I, and much of Amsterdam (& beyond) were moving towards Museum Square to watch the World Cup Final.

I’m cheating a bit here (as catching up on ones blog posts will have you do), letting Lauren’s experience of all of this do the talking, through the ‘unbiased’ eyes of someone who just moved to the Netherlands. Here and there I inserted some more orange clad bike stuff ;).

Even with the disappointing outcome of the World Cup Finals the night of the game was still great. Marc really wanted to watch the game in Museumplein with about 200,000 of his country men and women so that is where we headed! We got there around 6pm so we could witness and be a part of the excitement and partying.

But the day didn’t start at the Museumplein and neither did the partying…it was going on ALL over the city!

As you can see [above], football fans come in all ages and sizes…

And as my luck would have it the day of the World Cup Finals my bike had a flat tire but as Marc and I waited for it to be fixed Marc found lots of inspiration for his photographs..

-Tres Chic in her Orange-

Once my tire was fixed we were off to join in with the rest of the city…

Believe it or not I actually have NO orange in my wardrobe here so I had to DIY something really quick…I grabbed Marc’s Polo orange belt and was ready to go!

We cheered with some more fans along the way…

And of course the scene once we got to Museumplein was one of pure craziness and insanity….we couldn’t wait to join in!

And then the cans of Orange smoke were opened in anticipation of the game…these fans were going crazy!

What came next was beautiful too! There were multiple helicopters circling above the field and they started to throw out orange flowers over the crowd! If you look closely in the picture below you can see the flowers being released.

Caught one!

It was such an amazing feeling to be with all these people for the game…every attempted goal, every foul, every good or bad play received a reaction from the crowd and at times you could literally feel the ground move.

We all know the unfortunate outcome and I can only begin to imagine how this city would have celebrated a Holland victory…something I wish I could have experienced. I am sure a Houseboat or 2 would have been sunk. As we rode home through the now quiet Vondel Park, Marc just kept repeating how he couldn’t believe they had lost. He was so sad

The experience was an amazing one for me and one I will not soon forget. I have a feeling the following words or something of the sort ”I was living in Amsterdam when the Dutch were in the 2010 WC finals…” will be coming out of my mouth for years to come.

Didn’t have enough? Then go and read Henry’s take on it. Like Lauren, he’s an American expat, but a more ‘experienced’ and on topic one :).

This summer has been hot so far, so cycling goes down just a notch, we don’t like to break a sweat, like with our daily A-to-B-isms. Good for me, gives me even more time to frame my captures.

You go and head out for one of the city’s beaches, for instance.

En route, it’s very likely you spot a certain blog post’s subject :).

This is just one of many ways to move your bikes.

Easy going at the lights.

Back in the city, cycling forms a welcome cooling off.

For some cooler than others.

Carry on.

Summer discounts and such.

Three on two equals six.

Grocery shopping togetherness.

And those days seem to go on and on, and on, and on…

Still catching up, I might as well be quick and wrap up these last two months. Were they inconsequential? On the contrary, actually the very reason for me running behind. Anyways, let’s do this rundown of May & June.

Lauren arrived in Amsterdam (to stay) and from day 1 she was cruising around, step by step, landmark by landmark, getting to know her new habitat & enjoying her first weekend with visiting friends, who also quickly adopted our cycle ways.

Spring was in full force, making a big difference, as to be expected.

Which enables great lazy days on a patch of grass in the park…occasionally opening your eyes, grabbing the camera.

May does what it pleases, as any Dutchman will tell ya…so cold spells abound

And you know, any bright day is there to seize…

Somebody tells you “That’s a nice gene pool you got there”, which lingers…and then pops up in the first week of June.

Miscellaneous shots in the mix…

Wondering whether Dutch bike ‘culture’ should be put on the Unesco World Heritage list…

Last but not least: ‘A Tale Of Fixies & Cycle Chicas‘…

Not entirely complete, but I think this pretty much makes up for lost time. How’s your summer ridin’ going so far?

On the threshold of summer & inspired by my own personal travels on the road to love, I give you the very best of my ‘Love Is…Bike’ photo series.

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As for us, correlation really does imply causation…:)

Exit train, engage escalator, underpass, stairs, bike parking, escalator…and pedal off, the weekend awaits you.

It turned out to be a very, very good weekend. More on that in the next post.

Sometimes, when life gets in the way, I get anxious to catch up. Last Saturday was such a time. The ‘overload’ covers that…and the infinite stream of cycle consciousness. You watch, turn, twist, everywhere you look you observe something even more interesting. It will never seize to amaze or bore me. Which is my way of saying I went berzerk and took far too many pictures :).

A hairdresser’s bakfiets & maybe she frequents it

Cycle Zen

Greenish & rainbowish

Stopping in your tracks…to chat it up

Cycling is for everyone & it can get you carried away a bit :)

Green, pink and black are the colors this season…oh, what do I know :)

The Amstel River is another reason for looking right & I sometimes feel what Ed van der Elsken must have felt..

Parking overload at the Hermitage

Dutchies and just a few rays..what are they thinking & there’s always a potential smile…

Little Captain on an Onderwater [Underwater] tandem bicycle

Superman is your guide & time is on your side

It’s not just women who grant me a smile ;)

Not Rokjesdag yet, but bare feet is a beginning & moving a plant is of interest to tourists

That’s what moms are for

Focus is needed, but…”Dad, she can’t even multi-task!”

In the Dutch mountains..

A kiss on the fly & not Suriname expats

Hold…& bite