Hi all, it’s been a while (except for you who follow me on Twitter), things have been silent on here while I was working on the new Amsterdamize platform, getting it all ready for 2012, for a new adventure. As things go, that will take a wee bit more time. So bear with me :).

I also have to put it on hold because I’m in the middle of packing, as I’ll be heading for Melbourne on Sunday and it won’t surprise you when I say I’m really looking forward to it. 2011 granted me plenty of exciting endeavors, taking me to New York, Copenhagen, Reykjavik and on a few continental trips.

The (Un)5Boro Crew, New York

Copenhagen Posse

Iconic Iceland

Brussels Suits

Dutch Cycling Embassy launch, Brussels

Bike buddies, Brussels

But Australia is the icing on the cake. It will be the first time in my life. It had to happen at some point, as my older brother has been living there for years now.

It will be a 30 hour journey with a few layovers. First London, but time won’t allow me to go search for Little Britain on wheels.

Not to worry, I sense I will in the foreseeable future.

Then Singapore. Again, the window of opportunity is too small to be able to explore.

Touchdown in Melbourne. From the airport I’ll be transported directly to the mountains a few hours from the city, where I’ll spend a relaxing week with my family & experience New Year’s Eve in the wilderness. Right after that the second leg kicks off: returning to Melbourne, meeting up and riding with my bike friends in Melbourne and elsewhere.

Also, on Jan 4th at 5:05pm local Melbourne time I’ll be on Radio New Zealand, the national public service radio station. I’ll be interviewed about Dutch bike culture in general & New Zealands’ efforts. From the preparations for it, I can tell you this could be interesting. So if you have time, do tune in (on the website) and let me know what you think.

I leave behind a wet, windy & dark Amsterdam, diving right into a pool of summer fun. I know what you’re thinking: “There’s a helmet law there! Waddaya gonna do?” Maybe this outfit would be a tad too warm & inconvenient to pull off, but I like the idea. I’m sure I can think of something to circumvent the issue…

So, I hope y’all have a wonderful xmas, a NYE blast and I also hope to see you back here in 2012. BikePLANET-wise, it’s only just begun.

In September of last year the good people of Dublin Community TV hopped over to Amsterdam, here to film for The Pedal Project:

Rob Carr to me:
“The TV Series is 3 part documentary on cycling in Dublin. The main premise of the series will be to look at how a cycling culture can be developed in Dublin and what that might look like. To that end, one programme will be a kind of travelogue where we go on a journey from Dublin to Amsterdam via London by bike, ferry and train. We will follow Ciaran Fallon (the new Cycling Officer at Dublin City Council) on his journey as he meets various people involved in the cycling cultures of London and Amsterdam to see what is happening from a cycling perspective in those cities and what Dublin can learn from them. We are of course hoping you will be one of these people…

From DCTV:
“As Dublin has grown wealthier we have become carcooned basing our personal and city transport system on the car” said director Barra Hamilton. “We know this isn’t working – but what is the alternative and how do we get there? That’s the question we set out to answer with this documentary. We spent months talking to academics and elected officials, council planners and staff, campaigners and cyclists – and through the production process of TV we’ve constructed a convincing case and viable plan to recast Dublin as a cyclable city.”

“The Pedal Project is an ongoing debate emerging into public view in all its complexity and variety for the first time” said co-director Rob Carr. “We are inviting people to contribute to the process. From the reasons we should, and shouldn’t, insist on cycling helmets to how we design our roads to create dedicated spaces for cycling while ensuring ‘permeable’ road systems with a mix of transport forms – The Pedal Project offeres a tool for people to use in instigating wide ranging discussion on what we want from our city.”

The end result is fabulous. The Pedal Project does indeed make the case for much needed change and does so by covering all the important angles. And I think it’s safe to say that in this series Dublin is interchangeable for many other cities around the world.

Go watch and after you finish, don’t hesitate to see the other parts: One Less Car & Two Wheeled City (those are external video links, but you can instead navigate to those parts inside the embedded player). Oh, and just fyi, the Amsterdam part starts at 13:43, but don’t skip ahead, watch it in full.

Photo by NoelH

From Hypebeast.com’s post on the Tweed Run:

Photo by NoelH

“The London Fixed-Gear & Single-Speed forum held their first Tweed Run this past Saturday the 24th. The social gathering brought together approximately 150 bike riders from the London area on a cruise around the historic city. The event suggested attire of elegant proportions including Harris tweed & merino wool pieces, flat caps, ties and everything else that keeps a gentlemen looking dapper. Along with various awards in play, including: most dashing dame, most dapper chap and best mustache, the event held a draw for prizes benefiting Bikes4Africa, an organization that refurbishes bicycles and gives them to rural African schools so that students who live far away can attend class.”

Many more beautiful pictures of this inspiring event were taken (and you’ll also find more ‘normal’ but vintage English bicycles), so I’ll leave you with two slideshows to enjoy.

Thanks for sending me this, Ashley, so well-timed, as I was struggling to find the time to post something relevant this week.

I have a real English flat cap, corduroy trousers, proper shoes, scarf and socks…the tweed jacket is the only thing missing. What do you think, should I try to organize a similar ride in Amsterdam?