Amsterdamize

“Almost entirely destroyed, but fortunately still locked!” - Originally uploaded by moosterbroek on Flickr

Bicycle For A Day is a NYC bicycle project initiated by Matthew Modine, trying to help promote bike use among individuals, communities, governments and corporations. for all the known reasons.

He features in a short film called ‘The Perfect Circle’ by Daniel Leeb (Cinecycle Productions), as part of the larger I-Cycle Film Series, which is all great to watch. I’m a video buff by default and most certainly when it comes to cycle films, so I’m thrilled to share this nugget. For all the text you can write or photos you can take, nothing can match the impact of film.

A Dutch Sparta Pickup transport bike, bought at Het Zwarte Fietsenplan. I love it to death already. More about this beauty later on, now I have to [slowly] ride into town and meet a friend at a terrace.

(Click on the image, it will take you to more pictures)

The Dutch Royal House of Orange. Not a subject I thought I’d let myself post about. But, as I want to highlight ALL aspects of cycling in these lowlands, I might as well include that too. If only to emphasize that you can’t speak of ‘a bicycle culture‘ here, as everyone rides and it’s not considered something extraordinary, exotic or fringy.

Enter our Royals. For generations, since the introduction of the bicycle (type) as we know it today, they’ve wholeheartedly embraced it, like the rest of the populace. From King Henry III, Queen Emma, Wilhelmina, Juliana to current reigning Queen Beatrix, each and everyone of them, including their spouses, have not just posed with a bicycle for photo ops, but indeed actively used it on a regular basis. It also made it easy for them to blend in sort of anonymously when they decided to escape the royal confines.

The next in line for the throne, Prince Willem-Alexander is no different. He and his wife Maxima proudly carry on the Dutch tradition of ‘act normal, then you act crazy enough’.

‘Nuff said.

Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard on a tandem.

Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus.

Princess Maxima and Prince Willem-Alexander and offspring.

Last week, together with Mikael from Copenhagen Cycle Chic, Copenhagenize & The Slow Bicycle Movement, I was a special guest on the first Bike To Work podcast by Carlton Reid and Tim Grahl to talk about cycling in Amsterdam, as a prelude to the launch of the Bike To Work book, to which Mikael and I will be contributing a few pages.

Go ahead and listen/subscribe to the podcast on their website. Oh, and obviously, buy the book when it comes out, from what I hear it’s gonna be a must-read…;-)

Happy Quatorze Juillet to all the French, and I’m sure the Parisien and all those who are visiting will be storming the Vélib’, the new object of true liberation…and thanks for coining your city bike program the best way possible.

Image courtesy by Léah of Bike In The City

Yesterday I was in London for the day and the city lived up to its reputation, the rain never stopped (I know, the weather will never cease to be a topic of conversation, sigh). I saw a few bikes parked, spotted one daring city cyclist on the road near Wimbledon park, but despite these nasty conditions, that particular British cycle commuter had sort of a Dutch touch to his demeanor: no rain jacket, no poncho, no nothing.

After my return last night I mentioned to a friend that a whole day of non-stop rain is rarely the case in the Netherlands. Yes, it rains a lot, too, but it comes in spades. One moment you’d feel like going to the beach, next thing you know the place is flooding. In short, usually you can’t count on any prediction.

‘Usually’ is the segway to this part of the post. Because, funny thing, today London’s climatic seizure moved here. Jolly. This of course gave me an opportunity to do a photo series on Amsterdam cyclists in the rain:

Ride it out, brother.

Tucked in at the front, cycle chic at the wheel.

Another high tech Amsterdamize solution.

She only ‘popped the hood’ on her sweater.

Optical illusion, it’s still raining.

See more in the Amsterdamize : Soaking Cycling photo set.

1896, Sarphatipark. Mr. J.D.B. Biengreber on his new bicycle, while the photographer’s sons watch him go by. Photo by Jacob Olie.

1905, Man with bicycle and butter trader ‘De Eendracht’ at Amstelveld market, faced towards Kerkstraat. Photo by J.L. Scherpenisse.

1906, Rembrandt Parties, decorated bicycles for flower corso in Vondelpark. Photo by Josephus Nuss.

1906, woman on bicycle, child on bicycle in the distance, in the direction of Naarden-Bussum. A woman is selling second hand clothes on the side of the road. Photo by J.L. Scherpenisse.

See more in the Amsterdamize Classics : 1895 - 1910 photo set.

[Cycle Chic: riding a bike in normal clothes, on a normal bike, preferably for commuting purposes] In no particular order: London, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Bern, Vienna, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Athens and vicinity.

Feel free to e-mail your own (links to) cycle photos to Amsterdamize, see the menu bar on the top left for the address.

My last post got me inspired to do some more research. Feeling like a history major again, I quickly opened up the online image library of the Amsterdam City Archive. Back in my college days, all was done by hand for lack of interwebs and/or no online access to anything. Now, of course, it’s like being a kid in a candy store. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The image library is vast, huge, enormous. Sophisticated search options instantly got me what I was looking for. Then more, more…sure enough, 2 days later, I’m still browsing.

My catch so far: about 250 bicycle related or non-related, but with bicycle as side-kick, photos. Ranging from 1895 to 2007.

Having gone through them all, (legally!) downloaded them all, tagged them all, named them all, a few assumed and promoted aspects of the history of bicycles in the Netherlands are totally confirmed now, no myths, no exaggerations.

Since its invention the Dutch have embraced the bicycle completely (whether general usage was up or down) and started using it for work (commute/cargo), leisure, family, events, celebrations, rich or poor, etc etc. It hasn’t changed one bit. More volume now, but same attitude, same pragmatism, same no-nonsense, same feel for style (or just disregard for necessity to wear something else), the same joy for riding.

Alright, I’ve decided to gradually put them all up, working from back to front, starting at the turn of the 19th century, coining this series ‘Amsterdamize Classics’. For this first post, however, I wanted to pick a decade that I have some familiarity with…thus bringing you the Cycle Chic Jive of the 70’s.

A few from this batch:

1975, girl on Dam Square. Photo by Ed van der Elsken.

1970, corner of Eerste Laurierdwarsstraat and Eerste Rozendwarsstraat, two friends pedaling off into town. Photo by the Amsterdam City Archive.

1975, Vijzelgracht, gotcha! Photo by Ed van der Elsken.

1979, Reguliersbreestraat, view from Rembrandt Square, a time when cars were still allowed there, rush hour for all. Photo by Ed van der Elsken.