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…

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)

People keep asking me whether we Dutch ride with tire studs much during winters like this one. Nope. You just deal with it, adjust and take care out there. I certainly don’t see the need, my Fr8 handles very well, plenty of traction, it’s just a very well-balanced bike. Dare I say it…its weight comes in handy.

I shot a few pics in between snow fall here and there, taking advantage of a bit of clear sight. Just as much as this city can make you pout when it’s grey, wet and windy, the snow turns into something majestic. Vondelpark was really appealing to just stop, hear the silence and watch people go by, in their new-found element.

Some of my fellow Amsterdam photographers ventured out on different times of the day, to show you all sides of this beautiful (yes, sometimes demanding) winter season.

Winter Wonderland Amsterdam by AmsterS@m

A saddle too cold for biking by Ben

amsterdam by Wojofoto

Ice skating in the Jordaan by Ben

To close: as you may have noticed, Amsterdamize looks kinda empty. You’d be correct. Last week I tried auto-upgrading this blog and it messed up the database. After looking into it and weighing my options, I now have the daunting task of putting back over 400 posts, one by one. It’s a long story, let’s just leave it at that. Anyhow, if you’re a subscriber, my apologies for seeing all those old posts popping up in your feedreader again. This will go on for quite a while, I’m guessing, so bare with me. Cheers.

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!

Every day I leave the supermarket and turn into this street to continue my ride home. Up until last weekend I hadn’t really noticed these signs. The owner(s) of the restaurant on the corner apparently had enough and wanted to put a stop to people biking there, probably hindering their clientele and employees. The signs have a nice touch, movable plant ornaments with a polite message and signed with the peace symbol. Still, at first I was surprised, because I couldn’t imagine it to be such a problem, knowing that locals mostly (and shortly) ride there to actually park in front of their homes or the shops. Besides that, you won’t find many of the obligatory flocks of tourist bike salmons in this part of town. Quickly I realized the bike lane was put there only recently. So I did a Google Streetview check to see if that would supply me with some ‘before’ footage…bingo:

Google Streetview Amstelveenseweg/Veerstraat

I was right, there had to be more to it, I just forgot about the fact that the entire street leading from Surinamestraat up to this junction at Zeilstraat had been under construction, renewing the tarmac and tram tracks and reconfiguring the bike lane grid, moving away from the on-street situation.

As you can imagine, as well, I can see how people would cut corners at this junction during rush hour and move to the sidewalk to turn right, avoiding the hassle of dealing with tightly lined up cars at the traffic lights. Ergo, leave no real room for road users and these road users will quickly find an alternative. And at some point annoy others, like pedestrians and restaurant owners.

The newly installed bike lane is of standard (a-grade) quality. Completely segregated with a buffer zone on the left side, a billiard-like smooth surface, integrated bike junctions and exit paths and, of course, bicycle traffic lights at every car junction. Here are a few shots to get the picture:

The new bike lane, starting at Surinamestraat

Passing the western side of Vondelpark

The new bicycle crossing at Vondelpark entrance

Passing the restaurant in question

You know it's all good when young kids can ride home alone from hockey practice

Now I wonder how long it will take the restaurant owner to realize there’s no real use for them anymore. Well, the ornaments can stay, I guess :).

Every once in a while I have some catching up to do with what’s happening in the vlogosphere. I’m in the middle of writing a guest post for Curbside Cycle in Toronto, but I probably get to finish that tomorrow and meanwhile I wanted to post at least something interesting.

So, here you have it, a trailer video posted by Californian Michael W. Bauch of everydaybike.com in early May of this year, called ‘Riding Bikes With The Dutch’.

I quote:

Welcome, Come Along for the Ride

The first time I stepped off the train in Amsterdam I was literally speechless. As soon as I set foot on the ground I was almost run over by a mob of bikes. I turned to look up and to my amazement there was a 3 level structure dedicated to just parking bicycles. Everyone from three years old to 93 seemed to be tooling around the city on two wheels. This was too much to take in with just my own eyes. I needed to share this with everyone I could and this is why I made my film: Riding Bikes with the Dutch.

The Dutch Get it

Bikes aren’t just for Lance Armstrong. You don’t have to have the latest carbon fiber frame and wear a spandex body suit to ride a bike…what a revelation.

Bicycling is a lifestyle – not just a race, a hobby, or the latest fashion craze.

Bikes aren’t just for kids. Adults can play too!

Cars treat bikes with respect. Cyclists are treated like real modes of transportation, not second class citizens.

Cities should be designed for people – not cars.

Bicycling infrastructure is a key part of the planning process for new construction, not an after thought.

It being a trailer obviously means there’s something to be released:

Anyone who has ever made a movie will tell you that it takes a lot of time & patience; no different here. With over 35 hours of raw footage the editing process has begun. I will let you know where you can see my movie and how you can buy my DVD when it is time.

I am aim to have more details for you in the coming months. So be patient, stay tuned, and keep riding…

Oh, I can relate, Michael, take all the time you need, I’ll be waiting. I’m a big sucker for bicycle film awesomeness :).

[Update] This just came in through the feeds from Pascal van den Noort of Vélo Mondial, which I think fits perfectly with this post:

New Amsterdam Bike Slam Part 2

Four hundred years after Henry Hudson’s arrival in Manhattan, two teams of Dutch and American planners & designers face off in a battle for the future of New York City transportation. Their challenge: find ways to bring NYC cycling up to the level of the Netherlands, the only country in the world with more bikes than people. The New Amsterdam Bike Slam is being organized in New Amsterdam (sometime also referred to as “New York City”) from 10-13 September 2009. It is an initiative of Amsterdam Cycling to Sustainability, produced by Vélo Mondial and Transportation Alternatives, with funding from Transumo and the City of Amsterdam. After three days of preparation, the New Amsterdam Bike Slam teams face off in a live debate “battle,” and compete to provide the most compelling vision for making lower Manhattan and Brooklyn a bicycling area on par with Amsterdam. The battle begins at 10:00 pm, followed by a late night dance party at the renowned Meatpacking District club, with DJ John Julius Knight. Full background on the program: newamsterdambikeslam.org.

Here are the posts New Amsterdam Bike Slam Part 1 and Part 3.

Nice work, Pascal! And a nice aside: my good friend Henry of Workcycles fame is one of the sponsors:

…The next morning at Battery Park, Mr. Job Cohen, Mayor of Amsterdam – one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world – will convey the prize to the winning team: free Dutch bicycles, courtesy of Workcycles.

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.

Anticipation For Two.

This city is a place where people want to be, not just because they have to. A place for people, on foot and on bicycles. An historic, thus a dense city, as well. Limited in space, so there has always been a need for maximizing the possibilities, advancing, evolving…and often departing from common conventions. Throw some Dutch pragmatism and fortitude in there and voila, you get a very special cocktail for urban development. Not forgetting the very Dutch nature of being vocal about what they want and need (it’s nice to get something back from paying all those taxes).

In short, Amsterdam may seem chaotic and obscure, hell, even exotic (not from this world) to many visitors, but it embodies everything good and bad of its people. What you see is what you get.

Give Me Light.

In this particular video I tried to bring all aspects of cycling in Amsterdam (and the Netherlands as a whole, imo) together. The individuality of the people, the absolute normalcy of cycling, come rain or shine, a few facilities, the interactions, vibes, flow and probably a few things that fall in between, left for interpretations.

The Dutch have made cycling part of their DNA, it’s in their social fabric. It’s been a long time since they last stopped, paused and thought about how it came about. Why giving it a second thought when there’s no real need, right?. It’s just there. And it shows.

Particularly with Amsterdammers. They have always had an edge on the rest of the country when it comes to style, non-conformity and ingenuity. It’s a joy to watch and an inspiration for any creative spirit.

I like to think this video will also help convince any hardcore denier that the possibilities are endless. Analyzing and interacting with cycle gear heads all over the interwebs, I’ve heard too many excuses for too long now, big and small. Now would be a good time to stop backpedalling and just embrace it.

Explaining why I came up with this title and that score (as an idea beforehand) is probably not necessary, but I’ll just say it was a no-brainer :-p. (Hold your horses, I know I coulda/shoulda/woulda called it ‘Ciclissimo’, but I didn’t. So there)

Enjoy!