Dave has been in desperate need for proper ponchos for some time now, so I decided to go shopping for a few that will actually keep him and his wife dry when they confront showers riding their Electras around Portland.
At one store close to my home they were sold out, but there were 3 left [...]
This And That
Amsterdam Through Strangers’ Eyes, Part 4
Glenn Billingham, a UK expatriate living in Amsterdam, eloquently and entertainingly writes:
Powered By Our Own Shapely Thighs
The morning gathering took place again.
A Dutch rush-hour is a little different to the other global scenes of 9am and 5pm chaos. New Yorkers hustle and bustle accompanied by a take-out coffee amidst a sea of yellow cabs. City [...]
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. [...]
Bike To/From Work And In Between
For all the talk about infrastructure, subjective safety, policies, promotion, education, etc etc, you’d almost forget that cycling to and from work is just plain fun. Even a drizzling foggy day is welcome when you step out and hop on to go to the office. Or a client in my case.
It really puts a [...]
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 [...]
Museum Night 2008 - Bikes Included
Last night Amsterdam opened a few more doors than usual, as the annual Museum Night kicked off. That doesn’t need a whole lot of explaining.
Faithful readers like yourself also don’t have to crunch numbers on what transpires when Amsterdammers need to be on the move in their city. Right. I’ll just keep this post as [...]
(L)Eaves Dropping [Update]
Andrew latest post over at Isocrates reminds me I really need to get Amsterdamize ‘biz’ cards printed. So many times I enjoy encounters which, in the end, has me spelling out the name of this blog or writing it down on a piece of paper. It’s ridiculous. And not just because my handwriting is pretty [...]
Bike Love
“The Dutch can do everything on a bicycle”
What else?
Move furniture, kids, plants, dogs, instruments, shopping bags, tv’s, refrigerators, other bikes, police the streets, sell hot dogs, coffee, supply information, deliver parcels, go to work, go to school, visit family…without so much as breaking a sweat.
Egos & Leverage
It was that time. Budapest and a sh*tload of work got in between, all great excuses, but today it had to be done. I had to take a ‘professional’ picture of myself…
Here’s why. Some time ago I talked about my contribution (Chapter 14: ‘The Future Is Already Here‘) to the upcoming Bike To Work book [...]
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 [...]
Vlogging Budapest
Tomorrow I’m off to Budapest, Hungary, for VlogEurope 2008. A yearly, intimate conference…oh heck, I’ll just call it a get-together of passionate videobloggers (anno 2004) from all over the world, who, at one point or another, connected with each other online and created their own media spheres, where anybody is welcome.
VlogEurope is just one [...]
Multi-Task
Like thousands and thousand of others on the streets/bike lanes of Amsterdam, she talked on her cell phone from start to finish, in between stopping at intersections.
You know, those moments when you can really concentrate on important stuff.
Bridging The Gaps
We all (at least you and I) like to see more people moving around on bicycles. All around the world the best invention on wheels of the century is experiencing an unprecedented come-back. ‘Normal cycling’ is gaining lots of traction, Northern-European bike manufacturers can hardly handle demand from overseas, local dealers are struggling to keep [...]
Seize The Bridge
Blabla, the Dutch have it easy, blabla, the country is flat, blabla, no hurricanes, blabla, small place, blabla, bike lanes, blabla, more bikes than people, blabla, bikes rule the road, blabla, etc.
Not entirely true. We, the Dutch, normal people in normal clothes on normal bikes, we have to endure some rough elements during our daily [...]
Saturday Transit
You can imagine all the things you need to do, or want to do on a Saturday. No need to spell that out. Translate all of that to a place called Amsterdam and you know you’re in for a treat. Well, if you’re into bicycles, that is.
View Larger Map
I literally sat my ass down, curb [...]
Zen And The Art Of (Bicycle) Observation
Zen. I like the word ‘Zen’, the phrase ‘Moment of Zen’ and the general understanding of it. Not the (original) religious infliction from the East, but the one more closely in tune with the infamous ‘Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance‘ by Robert M. Pirsig. There you go, the inspiration for the title of [...]
Car(e)-Free Sunday
I know, I know, posting about Car-Free Sunday in Amsterdam has now officially gone past trilogy status. But hey, by now you know what to expect from me and there was just too much footage to ignore and not share with you.
So without further ado, here are my visualizations of all my impressions that day. [...]
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 [...]
A Change Of Pace
From Bike Utay Valley comes this lovely and stylish nugget:
“This is my sister, Annie. Annie used to be like a lot of us in the sense that her bike was used for recreation, if ever at all. In fact, Annie, has become a perfect example of what this blog is all about. She started reading [...]
Party Cycle [Video Update]
The only sound way to get yourself to any part(y) in this town is…wait for it…by bicycle (doh!). More so, because you just hook up with other fine people, like I did last night, on my way to a housewarming party.
Mutually acquainted with the party’s host, I rode with BicycleMark…yes, HE’S the original cycling [...]
Colorful People
As I mentioned in my previous post, after returning from a meeting I sat down on a bench at the Nieuwmarkt square, facing the street. It took me about 30 minutes to shoot 364 pictures of people cycling by. Not that this number is very important, but it only serves as a reminder that it [...]
Autumn Cycle
Today gave me another opportunity to take some photos. My second journey across town took me to that enormous new office building to the east of the city, called INIT, to meet with a client. It was around 11:30, not too much traffic, so even easier than usual to whip out my phone camera along [...]
The Village
After dropping Les & Helen off at their hotel in the Jordaan neighborhood, I pedaled over to my friend Mark’s house to catch up on the latest and ‘watch him eat and fix his toilet’ (sounds like an insider’s joke, but it’s actually true).
His house is basically one big social hub, many people walking in [...]
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 [...]
Consider The Potential
Say you have national or regional elections. In any type of democracy (or (semi-dictatorships) career politicians will fight for your (or fictional/alleged) vote, left and right. Every year more and preposterous amounts of money are thrown out the window to get the message out, aka pandering to the base with promises that would shame a [...]
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 [...]
After A Party In Amsterdam…
…you ride home with friends and turn up the music. Yup, pretty Amsterdamize’d.
Culture Beat
The Uitmarkt (’Out Market’) is the official opening and presentation of the new cultural season in the Netherlands. Of course Amsterdam has a name to uphold and for many years you’d find all the venues for theater, dance, music, performing art etc scattered around the city. Not anymore. Ever since the renovation and reconstruction (read: [...]
Leftovers
After stirring up quite the conversation about using cell phones while cycling earlier this week (thanks for that, my dear cyclelicious ones!) I thought I’d tickle your senses a bit more today. Specifically, Les’ & Helen’s, as they’ll be arriving in da Dam in two weeks from now to tour the Netherlands for a few [...]
Mondays Are Not So Bad
When you have to go for errands in Amsterdam with your dad.
When you have to go for errands in Amsterdam and bump into your friend and you take time from your ride to catch up on the latest gossip.
When you have to go for errands in Amsterdam and you have the perfect replacement for an [...]
