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 had some time to kill, walked around the neighborhood, moved closer to the edge and finally positioned myself along the arterial bi-directional bicycle path in front of Central Station and clicked away for about 20 minutes.

As always, I wasn’t just an outsider (on foot) or a perceived tourist, but I quickly became part of that stream of consciousness. Interactions usually occur when you create pleasant circumstances where people can see eye to eye.

At some point I got a call from my friend Gabemac: “This weather is nuts. Whaddaya up to?” “I’m hitting the city, playing catch up with the blog.” “Wanna walk around together? I’m bringing my camera, too.” “Of course, dude, come on over.”

I finished my coffee, watching the neighborhood coming to life.

Morning Feeding Time

Then 15 minutes later…

My Accomplice Arrives

And off we went.

Leaving Mr & Ms To Bask In The Sun

Cutting Through The RLD

Train

Buying Flowers & Owning Flowers

Forgot His Gloves

Bipedal & An Act Of Three (III)

Casual Chic Attack

Follow The Red Tarmac Road

Rare Species

Sunday Suit & Secret Service

Bipedal

He Also Takes Pictures Of People On Bicycles

Spot The Tourists

Purple Haze & (No) Thought

Jolie

Two Going Up & Two Going Down

hAMSter Weeks

Practical, Spots A Spot & Parks It

Just The Three Of Us, Gezellig.

#BikeAMS & Daddy-Son-Dog-Mum (II)

Yeah, Seriously?

I Always Smoke A Cigar & Read A Book When I Ride My Bike & MMM

Urban Camouflage

TXT (VII)

Red Lady In Red

Leaving & Arriving

Legs, Pedals, Rail

Penny For Your Thought & Front Row

Porcelain Is Boring

She Doesn’t Do Sit-Ups

Sunny Chic & Comfy

Color Splash

Into The Darkness

Tubes & Spokes

Practical Petit & Carry On

And Then She Smiles

She Does Art

Handlebar Talk

Chauffeur & Passenger

The Bearable Tightness Of Bike Parking

Him & Her

I saw Haley, a friend, ride by, going too fast to acknowledge & yell ‘hi’…well, I could have opted NOT to take this pic, of course :)

Fun Two

Later on our friend Rose joined us, who always adds flavor to any day. Not coincidently, she wrapped up in style.

Peace, Out

Yes, a picture perfect day. Bring it on, spring.

When I bring my camera on my rides around town I often switch it to monochrome. It’s either because of the type of light that day, the type of weather (or a combination thereof), the type of mood I’m aiming for (dependent on my own mood, bien sur) or just because I want to play a little with dark tones because it’s so forgiving when you shoot from the hip while on the move. Even failed ones (technically that is) then come out right, with some artistic flair.

I think black & white enables the photographer to focus more on the subject at hand and to more easily frame the mis-en-scene. Combined with the aforementioned forgiving nature, I’m digging it more and more.

Oh, and the subjects speak for themselves; poetry in motion.

And after all that ‘hard work’, a bike blogger deserves a little refreshment, for that last stretch.

Calling it a day with a couple of curious minds who wanted to know…;)

I hope you enjoyed this & your own ride.

Everyday, as it’s continuous. An ever flowing stream. Magic, because it just is. If you care to open your eyes.

Toronto, check. Chicago, check. Up next: Washington D.C & Miami!

No, I’m not on a grand tour :), but yes, ThinkBike’s wheels are rolling on!

The Royal Netherlands Embassy, in cooperation with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), will host a 2-day event – the ThinkBike Workshops – on Monday, November 15 and Tuesday, November 16, 2010.

The ThinkBike workshops will bring together Dutch bicycle transportation experts, local transportation planners, engineers and cyclists to plan and discuss how Washington, DC can become more bike-friendly. The workshops will address bike safety, commuting by bike, biking to school, bike parking, bikes and public transport and law enforcement. Successful ThinkBike workshops were recently held in Toronto and Chicago.

Opening and closing sessions are open to the general public. There is no cost, but advance registration is required. Click here to register for the opening session on Monday, November 15 and here for the closing session and reception on Tuesday, November 16, or contact Megan Kanagy megan.kanagy@dc.gov, Transportation Planner at DDOT, at 202-671-5111.

So, are you going to attend? Yes? Great! People who did before would say you won’t regret it. And I invite you to share your thoughts on this blog. The more the merrier!

‘DC Morning Cyclists’, photo courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen

PS: I found this picture from 1911, I thought I’d share for inspiration :)

‘Elphinstone Winning Washington marathon’ photo by Library of Congress

I started using the iPhone app ‘Instagram’ recently, as I like adding flavor to the usually poor quality of photos I (literally) shoot on the fly. It’s an iPhone 3GS after all, not enough pixels :). Anyhoo, it’s time to share them on the blog.

‘Subway’

‘Cold’ & ‘Red’

‘Four Cops – two types of horses’

‘A Woman’s Best Friend’ & ‘Cowboy’

‘Headwind’

‘Go / Mobile’

‘Coffee To Go’

‘Gimme Shelter’ & ‘Fatigue’

‘cIJcling’

‘Fun’ & ‘Warm Feet’

‘Scarfs & Hats Are Back’

‘Wait’ & ‘On The Side’

‘Stroll’

‘Corn On The Cob’ & ‘Cheese & Meats’

‘Done Shopping, Calling Home’

Any requests, guys & dolls?

Last week Amsterdam celebrated its 15th Gay Pride, the theme being…’Celebrate’. Not at all redundant, when you consider the recent acts of violence on gays in the city. Yes, even in Amsterdam. The week’s events were more numerous and diverse than ever and they draped the city in pink, easily eclipsing the Giro d’Italia :). Parties, workshops, contests, art, you name it, it was there. It’s what this city desperately needs, in a time of Disneyfication and bourgeoisie, imho.

We woke up to a very wet and thus dreary Saturday, the day of the…THE Canal Parade. You’d think that would spoil the fun. Not so much. Sure, 380.000 onlookers instead of the usual half a million, that’s easy to understand, but as a party…ahum, Celebration, the scenes could easily have transpired in Rio-like conditions.

The other parade, the parade of people on bikes in Amsterdam, meanwhile, moved on, steadily. As it does on a daily basis.

If only there was no need for a Gay Pride, just like there’s no need for Critical Mass in Amsterdam, where everyone on two wheels (and more) is regarded equal, that we would just be the people we want to be. Rain or shine.

Let me introduce you to a friend of mine: Cyrina from The Hague. A beautiful woman, a long-time blogger and a teacher.

She loves..I say she LOVES to cycle everywhere, you’ll see her tweet that on a regular basis. Recently she shot this ‘Panda’ (no, not our black/white furry friend) and with it she instantly established herself as Ambassador of Happiness. Who else can I add to this special photo gallery? I’m pretty sure there are many, MANY more :).

How’s this for awesomeness…Kristin Tieche of Velovogue fame shot a great, great video, showing how football unites, how ‘Orange’ is not exclusively a Dutch thing and literally is to be found everywhere, mixing pleasure with biking and visa versa, on to watch the NED-BRA match:

World Cup 2010 Quarterfinals… KT roots for the SF Giants brother team – Dutch Oranje! Joined by Rob and Dan from PUBLIC Bikes, it’s an Oranje and Black attack comin’ at ya! SF love direct to Amsterdam!

Thanks for showing that and sharing, Kristin! This support will surely get us into the final, enjoy the battle with Uruguay today!

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?

In early February of this year Antoine Sachs of ARTE TV from Paris arrived in Amsterdam on his tour around this country to document Dutch bicycle culture, infrastructure and more. He was particularly interested to talk to me about the ‘trouble in bicycle paradise’, being bike theft and parking problems. The first is huge, but on the decline, the latter is ever persistent with the rising cycle rates.

I was happy to host Antoine, show him around and highlight a few aspects on camera. This weekend he e-mailed me to tell me his video series about cycling in the Netherlands was finished and online on his blog ‘Chronicles Of My Carbon-Free Life‘.

I hope your French is good, because, as is still customary in France, it’s all dubbed. No big hurdle, as the footage will tell a clear enough story. Enjoy.

On Thursday, April 23 I pedaled off to go to Shirley Agudo’s book signing at the Waterstones store, in conjuction with Book Night. It being a beautiful day, I didn’t rush and snapped a few shots before entering. Still, I got there early enough to spot famous & fabulous Fabiola approaching the book store on his/her bike.

See, he/she wasn’t on the cover of ‘Bicycle Mania‘ for nothing :). It was great finally meeting Shirley and fellow-photographer Trevor Waldron, talk Amsterdam bike culture…well, actually, not culture, more about our own hows, whats and whys.

Perhaps because of that evening, I took my time, more than usual, when I hit the streets the next day.

On Sunday I met up with David Bernstein, host of The FredCast, ‘a weekly podcast devoted to the latest cycling news, gear, gadgets, gizmos, components, podsafe cycling music and more’, based in of Park City, Utah.

He was in town on business and seized the opportunity to go for a ride with me. No need for a rental bike, as he’d brought his own speedy Dahon folder.

We sat down in the Jordaan, had a great talk about a whole range of things-to-do-with-cycling and finally landed in Vondelpark to record a new episode: ‘Show #151: Amsterdamize!‘ (interview starts at 29:41). The rest is now ramblin’ history ;).

The rest of the day offered me some more observations, not to be ignored.

And last but not least, Queen’s Day came and went. Life is grand, never a dull moment.

One of the many perks of living in Amsterdam: you can stop anytime, anywhere and analyze what mood your fellow-urbanites are in. Made extraordinarily easy by the simple fact that most of them move by bicycle.

Carelessly adjusting his faulty front fender

In a different world all together…

It’s obvious her mood is a-ok & this woman’s heels and rolled up pants tell me she eagerly awaits springtime

He rose up and saluted me with a nice ‘yoooo!!’ I guess bicycle bloggers are cool in his book :).

One proud Amsterdammer…or he just has lots on his mind. Poetry, perhaps?

Dreary faces on a dreary day while getting up to speed

The side saddle hop in action. A smile when I was spotted by the rider…