Sometimes a cycle life gets in the way of …, well, you know, actual bike blogging. So, long overdue, but here it goes. Before I arrived in New York at the end of April I anticipated riding with my #bikeNYC friends & possibly joining well over 30.000 other individuals from around NYC & the US on the Five Boro Bike Tour. Best of all, combining the two.

As you’ve read here, the first part never fails, including the part where online friends become the offline equivalent. Cycling just unites that way, easy.

So here it is, part two of my #bikeNYC adventures in 2011.

May 1st, the day after the New Amsterdam Bike Show (which will be part three). Sunshine galore. Ignoring my jetlag, I cycled from my hotel in Soho to 6th Avenue/W Houston St & observed the 5Boro crowd cycling from down- to uptown. Quite a sight and good fun, as the film will show.

Half an hour later I met up with Ronald (Dutch expat, Research Associate at The Street Plans Collaborative) , Carina (Danish expat, freelance video reporter), Liz (Pilates instructor & advocate for Livable Streets), Noah (Mr NYC Cycle Chic), Steve (bicycle advocate/lawyer) & Noel (Asoc. Director of Engagement Technologies for the World Economic Forum) right across the street.

This was me for the day (not unlike on any other day at home):

And my hosts for the day:

Liz & Noah

Steve playing around with his 5Boro vest & Carina was ready to roll.

So we did. Setting out for our self-proclaimed ‘Un-5Boro’, circumventing a few things we couldn’t be bothered with and perhaps just join the Five Boro Tour at some point. Yes, naughty us, crashing the party ;).

Grab yourself a beer/glass of wine/a cocktail, sit back, relax and ride with us for the next 52 minutes, if you will. Roll the tape:

I know, right? Quite an awesome day, despite getting stuck on the BQE for 2,5 hours. Oh, the irony :).

Here are just a few of my favorite pictures I took along the way:

Can you say ‘I Am Legend’ & BikePeaceNYC, you look fab? ;)

You can always count on the NYPD…

Me, hard at work going up Queensboro Bridge…

Arriving at the waterfront in Queens.

Stuck on the BQE, but smiling.

You’ll always find a few Dutch around.

In a massive bicycle gridlock it’s easy to get acquainted with the nearby residents.

Stand out much? Nah..

The United Nations On Wheels #bikeNYC rat pack!

Last pit stop before Verrazano.

Noel didn’t want to freeze his toes off on Verrazano Bridge..and I figured you’d not often catch him in this position.

As I mentioned in the film, the NYPD, in this case a very bad-tempered cop, yelled us off our bikes. Steve tried arguing with him, but to no avail (and no surprise), he wouldn’t budge. Through some banter, Noel found out the cop was not on the payroll of the City of New York, which was odd, but it could easily explain his mobster-like behaviour. Anyway, it was quite entertaining.

Steve lent me his bike helmet (historic moment, I tell ya) saying he’d done 5Boro before and wanted me to finish it (thanks again for the sacrifice, Steve!). Noah & Liz also said goodbye, as they were not ‘packing gear’. Finally, Noel happened to have an extra 5Boro vest, so we were on our way, up and over the bridge, to the finish line on the other side on Staten Island.

Noel and I rode right on, towards the ferry.

But not before stopping for some brew.

Where you, predictably, bump into like-minded/familiar people.

Police started wrapping up their long day…

We caught the Staten Island ferry back to Manhattan…

Which allows beers AND drinking on board. Perfect. After all, you don’t have a utility bike with basket and panniers for nothing, aight? PS: Noel had the Heineken, I had the local flavor, in true UN-style :).

Riding along the East River…

Noel heading back to Brooklyn and me to Soho, thinking: “Wow. Just wow.” Yes, epic.

We escaped reality, tasted ‘what could be’. We Were All Legends.

Thank you, #bikeNYC. With love, from #bikeAMS.

I arrived at the Workcycles shop today to have a tire changed on Lauren’s bike and I entered an all too familiar scene: two of the mechanics decorating one of the rental cargo bikes. The customer’s name is Marnix & he was pressed for time, as his sister Brechtje was going to get married to Jeroen on the other side of town…and he was in charge of arranging the bride & groom’s ride before & after the ceremony. So the guys helped speed up the process of making that procession even more stylish and festive. Have a look.

You have to know that this is quite a common, aka traditional thing in Amsterdam & the Netherlands to do. Hell, I’ve seen 30 pedicabs for wedding guests parked outside a church at one point. My summer’s favorite picture is of the soon-to-be-married couple below, which I took in Vondelpark. Also a Workcycles rental cargo bike, but the bigger flatbed one.

I’m sure Brechtje & Jeroen’s wedding photos will turn out great. Life on two, or in this case, three wheels is bliss. Marnix, I know you’ll be reading this, you’ll have to let me know in the comment section whether you made it on time :).

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?

The deal:

The only rule for 30 Days of Biking is that you bike every day for 30 days—around the block, 20 miles to work, whatever suits you—then tweet about your adventures with the tag #30daysofbiking. Event starts on April 1 and ends on April 30!

It’s become quite a thing on the Twitterz. No wonder, it works the same way as on the streets: more people will take up cycling when they actually see (more) people do it, the more the merrier. Low entry barrier, make it look easy and share your thoughts and experiences, inspire others. It makes a great and growing global on and offline cycling community.

I’ve been cycling every day all my life and wouldn’t know what to do without it, you already know that. But I’ll support any effort, all creative means to get people on two wheels (more often).

What, you’re not cycling yet? Then get yourself a bike, get on with it…and never look back.

In honor of #30daysofbiking I recorded this little tidbit, one of my daily rides home from the train station, on an early Tuesday evening in April.

(Shot with my Nokia phone, so low quality)

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)

Staying ahead of a serious snow storm, Lauren arrived in Amsterdam one day early to spend a short week with me…in a city that had just welcomed a new white coating.

Leading up to this, she was very excited about the prospect of riding her new bicycle around. Not the omafiets I had bought her around the holidays, but a different one, the very special Workcycles Secret Service I had won in the BicycleMania photo contest. All that was left for her to do, was hop on the back of my bike and ride with me to the place where the small prize ceremony would unfold.

We were welcomed by Eduard Planting of ‘Fine Art Photographs‘, Bert van Essen of The Expat Journal, the publisher of BicycleMania and Henry Cutler of Workcycles, who sponsored the first prize.

I can safely say this bicycle found its rightful owner.

Meeting up with Daniela and her Camilla

This stylish and dependent new friend will be waiting for Lauren when she returns in May, this time to stay.

Today I received an e-mail telling me I’ve won the Bicycle Mania Photo Contest. It won’t come as a surprise when I tell you this really made my day. A bit of background information on Bicycle Mania (via Bakfiets-en-meer):

Every fan and promoter of urban cycling simply needs a copy of Shirley Agudo’s “Bicycle Mania”. You can regard it as a photo book, with probably the best collection of Dutch cycling photos ever assembled. Even as an Amsterdam resident and amateur(ish) photographer I marvel at the shots in these pages. Have a peek at a few examples here at the Eduard Planting gallery.

But “Bicycle Mania” goes much deeper. The photos are accompanied by well-informed and thoughtfully written text covering in sections covering the how and why the Dutch have achieved (and continue to build upon) the world’s best of nearly everything in transportation cycling: broad popularity, amazing infrastructure, safety, fun and pure variety on wheels. The text is in both English and Dutch, handy learning for those anglophiles who want to delve deeper into Dutch cycling culture than English can take you. Numerous authorities are interviewed, hyperbole and abuse of statistics is thankfully avoided and and it’s just a good read. In a nutshell: Recommended.

The photo I entered: ‘Family Cycle Train’, from the photo set ‘Saturday Cycle Modes‘.

As of today ‘Family Cycle Train’ is displayed in the window of The American Book Center in Amsterdam (Spui 12) and The Hague (Lange Poten 23). It will also be published in the next issue of The XPat Journal magazine (March 2010).

And of course the grand prize: a special edition Workcycles Secret Service and a copy of the book Bicycle Mania. I will read the book and Lauren will ride the bike ;).

It really made my day. Honored and proud. I think I will make one or two stops downtown and in the Jordaan today :).

Update: you gotta love the internetz, @IkbendAF (a contact on Twitter) already went by the store and took this picture:

Not only did Shirley Agudo’s book beat me to the punch, now a fan does too ;).

Disclosure: as you know I have a close relationship with Workcycles, call it ‘a fan, based on customer experience, but Henry was not on the jury, he ‘just’ sponsored this contest.

William Hsu, employee of the San Franciscan bicycle shop My Dutch Bike that imports and retails handmade Dutch bicycles, recently visited Amsterdam and spent time at Henry Cutler’s Workcycles to ‘not only learn a bit more about the mechanics of drum/roller brakes, internally geared hubs and generator lights, but also just to absorb the culture in Holland.’

I met William (and his girlfriend) one day when I joined the crew for lunch. I think he was surprised I had heard of My Dutch Bike before ;). Time was too short to really get to know him, of course, but it was good to find his blog posts and pictures on the internets. He continues:

A Pashley bread(cheese) bike parked out as decoration in front of a cheese shop.

What I found in Amsterdam is that bicycles aren’t really thought of as a “culture” or a “means of transportation,” but rather just a way of life. Bicycles are incorporated in everything. From the way they get around town, just going down the street, carrying groceries or children or even as a front of the shop display, bicycles are present.

If you are taking the time to read this, you most likely are fond of bicycling or fond of the idea of bicycling. All socio-economic groups in Amsterdam ride bicycles and it works out due to the lay of their land. The terrain is flat, the streets are narrow and there are dedicated bicycle lanes almost on every street. It is the perfect setting for bicycles to be a quick way of getting around and the perfect setting for not allowing automobiles to do so. Most of the United States does not offer this type of urban environment, but I believe that a bicycle lifestyle should still be promoted for health and convenience reasons, but most of all – it’s just fun!

I can’t say I have anything to add, other than that the ‘flatness’ argument is over-used. Not as many (and all cross-sections of) people would ride when it hadn’t been made safe on all levels, which I think is the most important factor.

Then, on a ‘typical’ Monday morning:

I took the following video while standing at the corner of Marnixstraat and Elandsgracht on my way to Workcycles. Observe how fluid the bicycle traffic is in Holland, note that none of them ever really come to a complete stop where they have to put their foot down. They tend to yield, let the other pass and then pedal on. I feel like like Dutch bicycle riders are probably some of the most skilled riders in the world just being able to maintain such an overall fluid bicycle system with such high bicycle traffic density.

I enjoy reading and seeing how people experience and appreciate the ‘mundane’ stuff 99,99% of us Dutchies take for granted. After all, the remaining 0,01% can yap, write and publish all they want, people won’t get it until they get here and see for themselves.

Last Sunday I attended Henry’s annual (6th) “Bike, Beer & BBQ Party” and naturally all who attended arrived by bike. Contrary to international perceptions these bikes don’t all look the same. Hardly, far from it.

The bicycle parking in front of the Workcycles shop on Lijnbaansgracht showed a nice cross-section of Amsterdam’s individuality on two (or more) wheels, ranging from aging, often beat up but relentless classics, spray painted/decorated Oma’s, to home-made bakfietsen with internal sound systems. You could name it, or just make it up, it was there. Lovely to watch and appreciate as decor/backdrop for a splendid get-together of customers, friends, friends of friends and family.

I had just finished my first beer of the day when I was directed outside and asked to get on a bike. Sure, but what could be so special? I quickly found out.

Soon more bike party related information…

My good friend Jan-Eric browsed bikes for months on end, trying to find a proper bike for him and his 2 year old son. New, second-hand (if you include 1930’s Gazelle transport bikes) and he was recently handed-down a 35-year-old Gazelle gents bike by a friend to tie him over.

This weekend he visited me for my house warming party and as he rode with me on the back of my bike on Friday afternoon, we figured we might as well get him a good rental bike. So we oozed over to Workcycles.

The rental part quickly faded when he entered the shop. He talked to mechanic Tom about his needs:

• a proper bike that will last forever
• room for his son, aka his Bo-Bike seat needed to fit
• sufficient gearing for the steep hill up to his house (in Arnhem)

His eyes zoned in on one that matched all the criteria…a black Fr8, the cross-frame model with white fat tires. Yeah, one of Mr Freight’s brothers.

They talked details a bit and Jan-Eric went for a test ride. Fast forward 5 minutes. “Wow…”, “Smooth…”, “Beautiful…”. “Ok, how much is it?”, “…oh, really.” “You can deduct it from your business account through the national Fietsenplan.”. Fast forward another 5 minutes: “Tom, how quickly can you get it ready for me?” “One hour.” “Ok, please do, I’ll take it.”

Obviously, Jan-Eric had fallen in love with it. It was sort of at ’second sight’, as he was very familiar with my bike, but I’m sure this black steed appeared all new to him.

We watched as Tom made the adjustments Jan-Eric wanted. Handlebars like mine (wider, more comfortable), coat guards to ensure that his son won’t hurt himself when he takes his feet out of the fitted foot rests), test-fitting a Bo-Bike seat, attaching a steel cable to secure his Brooks saddle, and last but not least, ‘No Fr8 without a crate‘.

All done, we rode off, two FR8’s side by side, as it seems it was meant to be. One owner totally amused, another completely smitten.

Double Fr8 Parking

His maiden ride that evening was quite interesting, as it couldn’t be more Amsterdamish; one big string of downpours would follow us through the night when we went bar/club-hopping.

“At least we’ve got the water baptism over and done with”.

Parking them in the bike garage next to club Paradiso prompted another shot…but the moment that really iced the cake was when we exited the supermarket the next day. Tens of kilos worth of food but mostly beverages needed to be hauled back home. Perfect job for the Freight Brothers. No sweat, either.

Stay tuned for the video of Jan-Eric leaving the shop and venturing into town on his first real ride.

[Update] Meanwhile, check out this visual of Jan-Eric’s son, checking out the Fr8. You can hear him think “Now this is the perfect ring side seat for me…”. :)

After a brief hiatus, I can now post again about my life on (and off) two wheels. In this case, four wheels, as I was fortunate to be host to Lauren, visiting me before flying off to her destination for the summer, Italy.

No better way to explore (and show off) Amsterdam than by bike. You know that by now. That, and on something that will float on the canals, of course. The weather was typically Dutch on the verge of summer, so hardly the best, but forgiving enough to enjoy the slower paced activities that this city accommodates.

Lauren blended in and stood out at the same time, graciously and more Cycle Chic that most Dutch women, weaving through traffic, enjoying her surroundings and having a giggle or two with all those Dutchies riding circles around her ;).

Suffice to say, we had a great time…then the unexpected happened:

Well I went to the left to pass a biker and all of a sudden I became parallel with the tram lines and then my wheel went right into the line…as it was all going down and I was going down for that matter a million things were going through my mind like “YOU KNOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO STAY AWAY FROM THE TRAM LINE!” “F*ck I am in foreign country and about to have an accident”, “please don’t let a car hit me”, oh my goodness my parents are going to be so worried” and finally….”this is mortifying!!!!”

Yes, very unlucky. However, you’ll find that after a medical checkup she didn’t let the bruises dampen her spirits. In true form and with a great sense for reality, she came to grips with it and moved on.

She could easily have been Dutch :).