This evening I bumped into this magnificent video, ‘Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS‘:

Time lapse sequences of photographs taken by the crew of expeditions 28 & 29 onboard the International Space Station from August to October, 2011, who to my knowledge shot these pictures at an altitude of around 350 km.

Meanwhile on the surface: sometimes I feel like I’m hovering in this urban space of ours, zooming in on the little things that we, more often than not, pass by on a regular basis, without noticing.

Like this scene: a mom trying to put her gloves on with her teeth, while riding home with her child.

She figured she could manage the last stretch by rubbing her hand over her upper leg.

She couldn’t, so she finished the job the way she started.

Life’s little observations. Precious.

In September BikeSnobNYC wrote about his family trip to this ol’ continent, cycling around Amsterdam on Henry Cutler’s Workcycles bakfiets & observing London’s day-glow extravaganza on top of a Boris Bike. Go on, read that first, it’s a good laugh.

In his post he succinctly & humorously describes the differences between his own American/NYC bicycle culture and that of ours (and the UK/London’s accordingly). It neatly amplifies and supports the ‘cultural’ context I elaborated on in my previous post ‘Bicycle Cultures Are Man-Made‘:

WARNING: Do not attempt international travel. Leaving the United States may provoke thought and result in reflection, dissatisfaction with the quality of your social services, and acute Arby’s withdrawal. The US Department of State shall not be held responsible for your imprisonment or death at the hands of a godless socialist foreign power. If you must visit another country, be sure to wear latex gloves at all times to avoid foreign currency-borne illness. Have a great trip!

“With that out of the way, I spent the bulk of my time in two (2) non-American cities, one of which was Amsterdam. When one thinks of Amsterdam, one thinks of the heady aroma of “Wednesday weed” wafting out of the coffee shops, the even headier aroma of human genitalia wafting out of the red light district, and of course the notorious feral cats that have taken to the canals over the centuries and evolved into strange flesh-eating otter-like creatures that have been known to bite off at the wrist the hands of unsuspecting tourists. But let’s leave all that aside for the moment and look at that other hallmark of “the big A,” which is bikes.”

“Simply put, in Amsterdam people ride bikes to go places. More than this, though, they ride bikes to go places without making any sort of fuss about it.”

“…and to say that riding around a city where cycling is a completely normal mode of transportation is to understate how pleasant it is to be someplace where you can simply get on a bike with your family without giving a shit.”

“Ironically, while I was in Amsterdam a bit of a kerfuffle arose on Bikeportland about how Fred Armisen of “Portlandia” is too much of a “woosie” to ride in the most cycling-friendly city in America. In particular, he’s afraid of the streetcar tracks:

“Armisen is young and healthy. If he’s too afraid to bike in the Pearl, what does that say about our city?”

“To me it says that the city of Portland should remove an entire mode of public transportation to make it easier for someone who probably hasn’t been on a bicycle since he was 9 to move there and ridicule them. I wonder if anything will ever be enough for the people of Portland–who, were they to be liberated from their hated streetcar tracks, would probably find some other cycling injustice to rail against, such as the high cost of Stumptown coffee or an overabundance of low-hanging tree branches. It seems to me that focussing on streetcar tracks as an obstacle to cycling is like saying the problem with living in Antarctica is that there aren’t enough Whole Foods. Anyway, Amsterdam is completely covered in tram tracks and it doesn’t seem to pose much of a problem.”

BikeSnobNYC…I mean Eben Weiss, has inadvertently entertained us with the notion how perception creates a certain reality. Many people with an equal interest for history and culture, aka the framework that entails describing and dissecting bike ‘cultures’, would agree with me when I say that it stems from a unprecedented decline in everyday cycling, fading from the public consciousness, shoved aside by prosperity, suburbanization and motorized transport, leaving one single vertical market for the sport cycling industry and ample growth of a zealous Health & Safety complex in a hostile urban traffic environment.

However, at the same time his post bridges that cultural gap, one step of many, taking us back to that place, to the perception that so many people around the world have forgotten about: cycling is a perfectly normal activity. Thus creating a ‘new’ paradigm for ‘perception creates reality’. Oh, the irony :).

I know I’m working on it and, naturally, in an unfazed and nonplussed kinda way, I’m very pleased to see that many more are and that it’s gaining ground & momentum around the world.

‘3 + 1′

‘Errands’ & ‘Out Of The Wind’

‘A To B’

‘That’ll Do’ & ‘Grace’

‘Unfazed’

‘Solitude’ & ‘Urban Fabric’

‘Someone Needs To Pedal’

‘Top Of The World’

‘Run, Darling, Run’, ‘Hop’ & ‘Anticipation‘

‘Lining Up’ & ‘Shuffle’

‘In One Go’

Going around Amsterdam it’s not particularly hard to capture people on bikes. They are everywhere. They take it very much for granted (a point I’ve often made, but meant as a positive one, what I call ‘the endpoint of building a bicycle ‘culture’, its nirvana) and I often have to take my time explaining my efforts to my fellow (and often puzzled) Dutchies when the subject comes up.

‘Time’ is the operative word here. If you take your time a little bit in Amsterdam, stop to smell the roses, if you will, you can witness all kinds of everyday, yet very entertaining scenes. The devil is in the details. Case in point: after crossing a junction to make good use of the beautiful fall light, I parked my bike and as soon as I looked up I hit the jackpot.

A woman, nicely dressed for a chilly but warm enough autumn Saturday, her broken left arm in a sling, stopping at the light. It was clear she had been doing her shopping rounds around town, accompanied by her Jack Russell. ‘Jack’ was clearly loved and pretty excited as she rolled to a stop, leaning on the edge of the front crate. She laughed at him and said: “Easy, boy, be patient. Yeah, be patient!” The best guess then is that Jack just likes to move. Quick observers of this scene would just think he wanted to get out or that he’d be very close to leaping out. Not the case. He just wanted her to get going already.

The streetcar..I mean the tram beside her was already accelerating, so she double-checked for green and off they went again.

Time was the operative word. It all transpired in less than 30 seconds. The best 30 seconds of the day.

Update: Xander of Toronto Cycle Style quoted it eloquently on Flickr:

Stop dog stop the light is red
go dog go it’s green ahead.

Dr. Suess

Meet Reuben. A young professional, climbing the ladder of the film industry. I met him after he was referred to me, hiring him to help us out with the ‘Cycling For Everyone‘ production.

For this shoot I had lend him my OV-Fiets card (transit bike share scheme). There was not enough room left in the production van, so he had to travel by train. This weekend he came by to return it.

We talked about how well the film had been received by the embassy’s target audience, which he was pleased to hear, of course.

This was also a good opportunity to take a closer look at his bike. A Batavus. As you can see, not of the transport-type that people usually associate this well-known Dutch brand with. Bottom line, the Dutch bicycle industry has a rich history when it comes to road bikes and Batavus was and still is no stranger to it.

His Champion is a beauty. Nice proportions, quality steel & it sure looks nice in white. It’s from the early 80’s. Reuben was able to buy it via the Dutch equivalent of eBay for practically nothing.

I told him about my plans to get into track racing on the Velodrome in Amsterdam, which includes getting a similar bike for the fun of it, getting me to the track & facilitating other enjoyable moments.

Yes, you read that right. There’s more to Dutch cycling than meets the eye :).

You remember Rose from my video posts ‘Rose Loves #bikeAMS TV’ & ‘Fishing To Catch A Bicycle’.

Last Monday was her birthday. She came round to show me what she had treated herself to…

As you know her best:

Naturally, this happy occasion deserved another Bicycle TV video:

Again, happy birthday, Rose! xox

As you might have heard through the grapevine, not so long ago I was busy creating the film ‘Cycling For Everyone’ that officially launched & introduced the Dutch Cycling Embassy.

It was quite the process. Challenged by a very tight time frame before it was supposed to be presented (at the Dutch Embassy in Brussels during the Smart2Wheels Forum), I was scrambling to put both a team together and plan things accordingly.

The weather forecast wasn’t very promising. But we struck some much needed luck; nice temperature, mostly sunny and just a ‘bit’ of wind.

Of course this project was right up my sleeve. Amsterdamize has grown into something solid (albeit, I really need to catch up on posting affairs), I have years of experience in online marketing & particularly in combination with video, I’m no stranger to the historical context of things and I like to think Amsterdamize has contributed to the idea of this embassy :).

I managed to put together a great team. The creative, subtle & insightful camera skills of Erwan van Buuren, the charming presence of my friend Mi-Ah Roediger as ‘Girl On Bike’, production assistence by Reuben Hamburger and the smooth editing of one of my best friends and film director Gabe Bauer.

On day 1 we shot scenes in Amsterdam:
At the Workcycles shop…

At the underground bike parking garage (of which there are many) at Zuid WTC train station…

At the Apollolaan/Stadionweg junction, where we were often blocking people going from A to B…

Contrary to common use & customs, we sometimes put the Omafiets in the back of the van…

…to get to the infamous Nescio bicycle bridge (of British design(!)) on time, that connects Amsterdam suburb Diemen with IJburg…

Day 2 had us:
Shooting the morning rush hour on De Lairessestraat/Jacob Obrechtstraat, dominated by the school run…

Then we moved to the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat/Prinsengracht area, which included a stop-at-a-shop scene that I ended up not using…

On to Houten for the train station’s ‘Fietstransferium‘ and junction scenes…

And at the end of that busy day we moved our equipment to the majestic Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, these scenes were entirely cut from the film, due to playtime constraints.

On day 3 I had to fly to Reykjavik to be a keynote speaker at a cycling conference organized by the Icelandic Cyclists Federation (on which I’ll post soon), so the crew went ahead and worked with my instructions. And they did great, filming a tongue-in-cheek scene with a representative of the Fietsersbond (Cyclists Union) & their ‘measure bike’ and putting academics at ‘work’ at the ITC of Twente University.

Luckily (for you), I had also reminded myself to shoot a few videos along the way, for a modest ‘behind-the-scenes’ edit:

As traditions go, I also couldn’t resist assembling the footage we either didn’t use (as I said, often you have to ‘kill your darlings’) or cut it up beyond recognition. Hence: here are the outtakes. Warning: it’s almost 24 minutes long ;).

Oh, and of course, here’s the final product of all our efforts: Cycling For Everyone. Enjoy, if you haven’t already :).

And thanks to all who helped spreading this video, the counter now stands at over 45.000 views on Vimeo & the Dutch Cycling Embassy received a very warm welcome on Twitter and all the blogs!

Here are the YouTube links of two of them:
- Cycling For Everyone
- Cycling For Everyone – Behind The Scenes

And here’s the complete Cycling For Everyone photo set.

Random bits and pieces from the month of August that I caught along my cycle ways that are worth posting. Top photo: after over 6 months of nudging my Swedish-Egyptian expat neighbors, they finally acted upon it and got themselves two 2nd hand, practical bikes. With crate. For their French bull terrier Baby.

The rain, oh the rain. The summer of 2011 went down as the wettest on record since 1906. Harsher winters, spring turns out to be our summer (yet again) and summers turn to fall. Nothing to see, moving on.

‘Never A Bike Bridge Too Far’.

Two friends making things tidy for the ride.

Putting my GoPro camera to good use while testing the Brik Brut bicycle (more on that in October), for the obligatory ride down the bicycle parking garage at Central Station.

‘Strolling In The Red Light District’ & ‘Mr Fr8 Got A Brand New Crate’

‘Canal View’

‘A Bike Is A Terrible Thing To Waste‘

‘A View From The Cycle Path’. “Sorry I’m late…the bridge was open.” A very valid excuse in Amsterdam.

On Nieuwmarkt. Tom of Workcycles polishing my Fr8 (first time since I’d bought it) for a special photo shoot. Roos of ‘Ride With Me NYC‘ fame assisting.

Friends joining us for drinks.

Pannier action: ‘Unloading’ & ‘Loaded Up’.

‘Parting Ways’

‘Stack’

‘Bird’

Fire Department Ordinance: ‘Don’t Park Your Bike Here. Parked Bikes Will Be Removed.’

‘Meeting Point’ & “Who’s Going Side Saddle, You Or Me?”

Stay tuned for August posts with a more themed approach.

Humid, warm. Buzzy, dusk. People gathering. Men in frogs and high heels. Limelight, glory. Performance and just play. A jury & drinks. Laughs.

Yes, a gay evening. Joyful & carefree. Also car-free. Naturally. Just ask Jeroen…I mean Julie.

It has cleared up a bit in Amsterdam and the rest of the country, two weeks of what seemed like never-ending downpour was clearly enough for most. People moaned, sighed and bitched like there was no tomorrow. But whaddayagonnado? Shit happens. At the same time we completely and conveniently forget about the absolutely gorgeous months of April and May (record droughts). Alright, alright, it’s supposed to be summer in July, not feel like the end of November.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I’ll be getting on a plane (gasp) to Copenhagen, on business. Last time I paid the Danish Blues a visit it was for leisure and I took the (slow) train, as I had to bring my bike along. It was cool. I serenaded ladies in red, competed in a slow bicycle race (and let my opponent, who was coming of age, win, of course) and drank way too many expensive beers. Emphasis on ‘expensive’, not ‘too many beers’.

Referred to by the aforementioned, herring-eating individual I was invited by Wonderful Copenhagen to cover the UCI BMX World Championships in my role as an inquisitive journalist, who expect me to insightfully peel off the layers of one of the sportiest of ’street bicycle cultures’. Naturally, I’ll try not to disappoint them.

Accredited by the UCI, yes m’am, there’s a first for everything. You see, there will be all sorts of street events going on all over town, all evolving around our two-wheeled (if not more) friend, the arts, the urban life, etc. I’ll be all over it, trust me. Lauren is joining me, so she can see for herself how cheap Amsterdam really is for shopping. ;)

My lack of BMX-cred doesn’t mean I won’t attempt to sneakily attach my GoPro camera to the BMX of one of the Dutch contestants, because I will. Or whoever will indulge me. Either that, or they’ll most likely rip off my press card and toss me in the Søerne to go look for bikes there.

As you might know or have been able to assess, I have NO knowledge whatsoever of who’s what in the BMX universe. Doesn’t mean I don’t admire these rascals. It will be intriguing to dive back into this semi-sub-bike-culture which I left behind at the age of 10. Oh, the memories.

I leave you with photos..I mean postcards, as many often tell me I live in one. From a, as you by now have guessed, VERY wet Sunday in July.

I’m charging 3 cameras as I type this, cross your fingers it will be a dry weekend in Copenhagen.

That, or I just might convert and ask this fine craftsman and fellow Dutchie if I can join him on his maiden voyage…when the moment is right. And only if I can bring Lauren, of course.

Croix De Beaucaillou.

Wanna GAGA?

Tourists will ride their rental bikes, no matter what. In style.

‘Double Dutch’ – summer contradictions.

I recently stated that bicycles are the most social means of transportation. Some would say I’m merely preaching to the choir, others might quip “Yeah, sure, maybe in your world, over here it’s war/we’re not even allowed to ride two-abreast/we don’t have time for that sort of thing”.

I understand all that, but putting that aside for a second, I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s really the case. I witness it every day, the socialization factor is X. Yes, Social Factor X marks this mode. This social mobility is vertical, horizontal and diagonal. It enhances city life, personal experiences & generally puts the observer in a very good mood. A win-win.

Using a bike for practical purposes is no different than, aka part of, just going about life, really, so just this fact alone allows every aspect of life to continue, albeit on two wheels (or more).

Amsterdamize was established to not talk the talk so much, but show it, so here we go. First up, a man moving his painting by bike. Again, Dutch people carrying stuff on their bike is as ordinary as…well, name anything.

Then he slows down and gets off his bike. At first I thought he had arrived at his destination. But no, he dismounted because he saw a friend and decided to catch up with him, walking along.

Others bumping into a friend and catching up…

Which brings us to the classic ’sharing the ride with your offspring’…

Equal to walking, it also allows you to catch up with the state of affairs on the fly…

And it helps speed up the shopping together process…despite a few inclines here and there…

You’re also more likely to have some heartwarming interaction with street photographers…

Finishing lunch while making the handicapped more able…

Strengthening the father-daughter relationship…

Checking up on your daughter and friends, swimming in the Amstel River…

Finally, when you’re a kid, there’s no reason not to continue fooling around with your best buddy…

Well, the following ain’t half bad, either :)…

Just a few summer images from the Bicycle Capital. A stack of postcards, if you will.

I have to admit, I have it easy. I live in Amsterdam. Whether I stick my head out of the window or step outside, ANYwhere I go and look (aka, point my camera) there are bikes. Either stationary or with people on them. There’s not a single angle you can view this city without them draping the mis-en-scene. The same, and often more of it applies to the rest of the country.

Anyway, as Amsterdamize’s faithful readers know, it doesn’t mean I take that for granted, unlike many of my fellow Dutchies. They just ride. They put cycling on the same conscious level as walking. You just move, from A to B. “Cycling is just a faster way of walking” & “Bikes are like shoes” are popular memes. We’ve come a long way since the destructive decline between 1950 – 1975. Newcomers: that’s geek speak for ‘this bicycle culture was man-made‘.

Sundays aren’t any different from other days of the week. So similarly, I had my camera with me and on my A to B to C to D route I first stopped for 15 minutes at Meester Visserplein near Waterloo square I started clicking away, aka I put my hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

It’s always nice to get a kiss for your efforts ;).

Next up, I positioned myself in front of Cafe Americain of the American Hotel on Leidseplein, again for about 15 min. Plenty to see.

And often enough, somebody notices me too ;).

Last week I was on my way to Foam, the photography museum on Keizersgracht, to go on a guided tour of the exhibition ‘Set Amsterdam‘ by Dana Lixenberg.

I had 10 minutes to spare, so figured I could shoot a few pics of people on bikes & how they were dealing with the rain and heavy winds that had come upon us.

The tour was supposed to be led by Paul Marbus, location scout for the popular Dutch tv series ‘A’dam & E.V.A’ (Adam & Eva / Amsterdam & And Many Others), but he called in sick and the tour topic changed to ‘Antiphotojournalism‘. I had been looking forward to hearing more about the visual backgrounds of this show, as its main character is the city of Amsterdam, so this was quite a bummer.

Here’s the trailer for ‘A’dam & E.V.A.’:

Every day our lives cross that of dozens, maybe hundreds of others, other people we don’t know: incidently passing by, people from the same neighborhood, shop keepers, complete strangers, a voice at the other end of the line, young, old, closeby or at a distance. Our existence continuously touches that of others. Often there’s nothing particular that happens; we just happen to be close, at the same time and at the same place, to then disappear from each other’s lives forever.

The series’ season ended a month ago, I had never watched it on tv, so I resorted to the internet archives. I was blown away. So clever, so nice, so compelling and so true to form. The reason I got to this show was that Marco (the author of Muenchenierung) and I did a presentation about marketing (cycling) at the Agora Symposium, and he’d picked this video as a prime example of co-promotion. (Marco was also the one who tipped me about the photography tour).

Back to Foam: ‘Antiphotojournalism’ was very impressive, moving and interesting as a viewing excercise (being the news buff that I am), but it was not what I came for. Dana’s photos of humanless interiors in Amsterdam were beautiful and I was able to put them in the right context, but Paul’s presence was needed. All in all, I was glad I went.

Before exiting the building I bought the spring issue of Foam magazine, themed ‘Happy’.

Its feature article starts with:

What is the fundamental nature of happiness? Is it a mood, an emotion, or simply a series of agreeable events? Are there different kinds of happiness and what characterizes a pleasant and satisfying life? And, of course, how can we achieve a state of supreme happiness? Perplexing questions indeed.

It explores the cultural and economical aspects that so popularly define ‘hapiness’, states different surveys and looks at the question through the prisms of different photographers, sprinkled with famous quotes on the subject:

To be truly happy and contented, you must let go of what it means to be happy or content. – Confucius.

Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. – Albert Schweitzer.

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads? – Albert Camus.

For me it is easy. My two-wheeled friend lifts more obstacles between myself & happiness than I can count. I just have to remind myself of it occasionally.

Then I read this…

Weekend in Vondelpark. You wonder how it’s possible, 3 weeks straight of nothing but summer-like weather. Yet another day (*gasp*) of getting together, in this case with Álvaro, his girl Tatiana & their friends from all over Europe, each bringing a contribution to the bbq.

Off and on, I glance in the distance, pick up my camera & snap. Or walk to the bike/ped path, sit my ass on the gravel & gaze in wonder. Or frantically hop on my bike and actually chase after some individuals. My bewonderment doesn’t manifest itself because of the sheer ‘critical mass’, as that’s a given. No, it’s just about how incredibly at ease everybody looks, much more so than usual, as if my brain needed another reset. More of the ‘take a load off’ & loads of ‘joie de vivre’ vibes intoxicating one’s mind. I’m Marc & I’m an addict.

‘Adjust’

‘Back Seat’

‘Face It’ & ‘Hi!’

‘Trailing Young’

‘Atta Girl’

“This Small!”

“There!”

‘Comfy’

‘Different Priorities’

‘Back Bending Fast’

‘Straight Up Fast’

‘Audience’

‘Dottie’

‘Rokjesdag’

‘Matrimony’

“LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL” & ‘Sindändùne’

Beautiful & grand.

As witnessed on the corner of Nieuwmarkt and Zeedijk last week.

I like my Amstel rides. No, not the Amstel Gold Race, my Fr8 would be out of his league & element, aside from the fact that this event, ironically, takes place in the far south of the Netherlands. That, and this website is not of the lycra-persuasion.

Instead, I’m talking about just hopping on and riding down the Amstel River in the middle of the week, checking out the terraces to see which one would facilitate our need to enjoy the early evening sun & some consequential beers the best.

Passing Rembrandt’s House, he was nice enough to leave a bike path in his will…

Joining the line at Meester Visserplein…

Passing people on the Hermitage exit…

Taking a gentile short-cut, avoiding the shade of Wibautstraat, merging at the Amstel waterfront…

Looking right towards Skinny Bridge never fails…

Crossing some streams of consciousness along the way…

A bit of tunnel vision passing the Amstel Hotel…

We found the perfect spot, the terrace of Cafe De Ysbreeker. We were hardly original, aka hardly alone…Still, we easily managed to grab the best spot.

It’s far from summer, so not much later it got chilly, pre-dinner drinks were over & we headed back.

Nothing really beats this, right?

I know! Cycling is great ;). In every single way. So, you owe yourself taking advantage of it, too. Not enough inspiration for ya? Then come on down the Twitter way, join the good folks of @30daysofbiking and many more people, who are sharing and celebrating this simple but most effective, convenient & fun piece of machinery.

I think you get it by now: even when you ride alone, you ride together. Be very sure of that.

Today, like other days, I hopped on again. And not because it was such nice weather. I had to get from A to B. It sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Never mind you missed out on a few days, hop on & embrace those rides.

Let’s celebrate the fact that cycling is for everyone. The most democratic means of transportation that benefits the individual (old, young, rich, poor), the urban landscape and the whole of society. It did back when, it does now & will increasingly do so in the near future.

For this blog it means I can pick and choose from a sheer endless stream of people on two (or more) wheels. As others have described it more eloquently: capturing the stream of consciousness of the urban fabric, humanity in motion.

Let this stream invade and tickle your brain. You should demand the same. Oh, and the photo stream below does at some point come to an end. There will always be more bike thrills for a next post. Enjoy.

Meanwhile, in New Amsterdam there’s a media war/debate, triggered by one(!) bike path, going off the chart.

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.

You may remember this post from last fall, Le Grand Départ, in which I showcased my lovely Lauren, leaving the house & getting on her bicycle. Simple, mundane but beautiful. To me, anyway.

To recap, she dressed (up) for the occasion/destination (a night out with friends/cafes, clubs), stepped out, unlocked her bike, walked her bike to the bridge and set off. It was a beautiful evening, not too cold, no wind, all perfect to enjoy the ride, even more than usual that month.

Fast forward to a week ago. One nasty Saturday. Cold, heavy winds, non-stop rain, a real downpour. Now, to show you more than one side of the coin, here’s an updated version of that series: ‘Le Grand Départ…quand il pleut’ (The Grand Departure…when it rains).

Where she was going, you ask? Again a social occasion: a bachelorette party, which required her to go all over town and take all kinds stuff with her. She dressed to a T once again…the only thing different was she put on my rain coat. “Way too big, but it is way more practical”, she said.

Hence her smiling, despite the rain. :)

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.

Mikael recently published a set of 49 pictures called ‘Bicycles: Cyclists Signalling* a Turn or a Stop‘, 48 of which he took in Copenhagen, 1 in Amsterdam. Two examples, one of a stop & one of a turn:

Given the similarities of our two bicycle cultures (which also includes drinking habits), I figured I could match that, so I roamed my archives and found out I had the opportunity to top that figure by 1..call it symbolism :) (and I’ll get to cycling & drinking some other time).

As you obviously figured out on your own, Amsterdammers & Copenhagenianerannersuskjuians (freely translated from a Dane’s mouth chewing on raw herring with pickles) have the signaling in common, but the Dutch don’t do and have never done the stop sign. We don’t miss that, what we have works for us. Stopping just needs a little anticipation, a quick scan of your environment and it’s fine to do so. No fuss.

Or…you could just argue that the Danes are more polite, in conversation (less blunt) and in this case, regarding gesturing to their fellow human beings – leaving out the middle finger phenomenon. But…then you could counter that the Dutch are more laissez-faire, no-nonsense. Which in turn are generalizations that probably have some truth to them, but don’t do little nuances any justice. Nuances like that people on bikes in Amsterdam are so intuitive in traffic, they don’t need to read a whole lot of body language to see what’s going on or going to happen. [...] Oh right, ‘body language’. No no no, I’m not even touching that sexist filth called ‘Cycle Chic’. Ugh, what is he on, right?!? People in normal clothes on normal bikes (or vacuum cleaners, as he calls them) going from A to B, chatting about livable urban utopias and what not. Pff, you’re not fooling me.

Anyway. For those who can’t be bothered to take a look at the rest of my specially arranged photo set, here are a few more:

Oh wait, about that ‘cycling & beer’ thing;

It’s not my kind of beer, but it is my town & exactly my spirit. Now, can somebody direct me to København’s equivalent? :p

* ‘Signalling’ is British spelling. Mikael is half British, half Dane. ‘Signaling’ is North American spelling. My girlfriend is from the US…yup, that’s my excuse.

There’s this little ol’ bridge over the River Amstel. De Magere Brug, aka Skinny Bridge. It’s a popular route for people biking east from downtown Amsterdam & vice versa.

It’s also one of my popular spots to take my time and watch, observe & click. This is one of a few sequences I clicked a week ago:

Now tell me, didn’t you just feel that Dutch wind yourself? :)

Just in case you didn’t, watch this video I shot back in 2008:

Slowly but surely a heavy snow front moved over the Netherlands last Friday. Given that our national railway company has shown to be ill-prepared for anything wet, whether liquid or solid, I left the office (about 55 km south of Amsterdam) early, around 3pm. Unsurprisingly, trains were out of order indefinitely.

I took a shot at taking a bus. As that schedule was shaky too, I used the winter scenes as a way to calm down :).

I’ll spare you the details, but I got home over 5 hours later. Yes, completely knackered, fed up & generally frustrated at the complete melt-down of our public transportation network.

So I popped a beer, took it easy and occasionally looked out the window, appreciating the fact that I actually made it back home.

I woke up to an even whiter wonder world. That called for a ride & pictures. Not exactly a comfortable one, because again the city ordinance neglected to do the right thing & clear the roads, even the most traveled ones. And this weekend it’s certainly worse than last one, lots of ice, sleet and piled up crap that creates unnecessary havoc & risky situations. Of course, Amsterdammers/the Dutch are pretty pragmatic, you’ll still see ‘m out there on two wheels, but not as much as usual. With trams and buses not exactly running on time, there are only two options left: on foot or by car. Guess what, people will not walk 2-7 km for their daily errands.

Anyway, I think I managed to capture the essence of the aforementioned. Regarding the mood of this post & to be absolutely clear: this city’s beauty quickly melted away all my built-up frustrations. Some would say: nothing a bike ride can’t fix.

I fell on my butt twice this weekend. Both on foot. Just sayin’. :)

No matter how many times I see it, I -am not Marc by the way. Álvaro, nice to meet you- never get used to just how beautiful Amsterdam is when it’s covered in white. Other than the tamed cars and the muffled noises, life really just goes on. Well, actually the city sort of cheers up a wee bit all of a sudden.

Don’t get me wrong, people in Amsterdam are always nice and cheerful, it’s just a subtle mood switch. They will smile at you when you ride by them and wish you good luck. Anywhere you look there’s someone throwing a snowball, a kid with a sled, a hipster snowboarding down canal bridges, and of course, people on two wheels.

Or even three wheels.

People still do their groceries, go to hockey practice,

take the kids to school early in the morning and deliver parcels.

And of course, Amsterdam girls still go around on their bikes looking fabulous, in their usual effortless sort of way of being pretty.

PS: Yours truly was kindly invited by Marc to bring in the point of view of an expat who loves this city and its bicycle culture to Amsterdamize. I wholeheartedly accepted.