Some Danish guy on a WorkCycles rental bike in Amsterdam, originally uploaded by Amsterdamize.

I usually flip through the “VogelVrije Fietser” (literal translation: “Birdfree Cyclist”) in about 30 seconds and then pass it to my toddler son for shredding but this issue (January 2010) had a few bits worth sharing… before Pascal gets his way with it. The first interesting piece is the latest salvo in the imaginary Copenhagen-Amsterdam war of cycling supremacy. The Copenhagen ambitions to achieve or already have achieved the coveted, self appointed title of World Cycling Capitol are already all over the Internet and the BirdFree Cyclist even made the trek up there to the great white north to see what all the fuss was about. In a nutshell they made the great revelation in the previous issue that the crafty Copenhageners were just as busy improving cycling facilities in their city as in most Dutch cities, and that they’re being more vocal about promoting this fact. Whoopee, the Danes also see value in a city where many people cycle!

Now after a flood of backlash from indignant and competitive Dutch cyclists the BirdFree Cyclist interviews a number of Dutch lawmakers about the Great Copenhagen Question. Amongst other things they ask about the Copenhagen ambition to have 50% of all commuters on bikes by 2015. Being an Amsterdammer (OK a transplanted New Amsterdammer…) I’ll focus on and translate some comments from Hans Gerson, Amsterdam city Alderman from PvdA (Labor Party):

Hans Gerson (who’s sitting on a bike while carrying a folding chair in one hand in he accompanying photo):

“I know Copenhagen a bit. I think there’s much less cycling there than with us. But fine, let’s assume they want to compete with us. Fifty percent is completely no task. In the center of Amsterdam more than 50% of all trips are already by bike. I would want to set the bar higher. For the entire city already more than 38% of all trips are done with the bike. I find fifty percent a nice challenge for 2015.”

Gerson’s emphasis here seemed to have beeen missed by the interviewer: The Copenhagen goal is to have 50% of commuters cycling. This is certainly a worthy goal but commuters represent a relatively narrow segment of the population: working adults in their prime years. Thus we’re comparing apples and oranges. Which translates to more cyclists: 50% of commuters or 38% of all trips within the city by all people. I’d guess the latter but…

a. I’d have to dig through the CBS statistics to prove it.
b. Who cares anyway? The Dutch and the Danes are hard at work improving what are already the best cycling facilities in the world by an enormous margin.

But just because it’s fun to poke our Copenhagen friends I’ll add some more of Gerson’ comments:

BirdFree Cyclist: You totally don’t see Copenhagen as the winner?

Gerson:

I was there recently. It’s a really pretty city OK, but the number of cyclists there could be counted on one hand. Thus I can’t imagine that it even comes in the neighborhood of being a our competitor. And wherever I go in the world we’re always prized for our bike policy. But we’re not resting on our laurels. Lots must still be done.

Ooh, ouch Copenhagen! That hurt, and then to think that Amsterdam is only one of dozens of Dutch cities that take cycling so seriously. Darn, now I’m getting all into this competition thing too. Sorry folks.

But for those not so into this international intrigue there was also something fun for the tech weenies. The BirdFree Cyclist used an SRM power output meter to test the effects of various maintenance and component choices on the effort required to cycle. I’m assuming the test wasn’t executed to nano-precision standards but a few of the results are nonetheless interesting:

What can we learn from this?

Well, fixing flats in cold rain sucks so racing tires aren’t practical for urban use but pumping your regular tires up is worth the effort. Also the considerable difference between the tires suggests that smooth running tires such as Schwalbe Marathons are worth the small additional cost.

Ride a bike with a full chain case because not only does it not cause drag, your chain stays clean, lubricated and happy inside. But don’t pull that chain too tight. Still, I suspect that the chain test would have shown a much greater difference had he compared the new chain to a real Amsterdam chain.

Our feeling that Shimano’s Nexus 7 speed hubs are factory filled with crunchy peanut butter seems to have more scientific basis now. Early Shimano 8 speeds suffer from this problem in the 4th gear too but that’s a number of years ago now.

It’s ironic that some humble, dirty parts such as a parking stand actually have far more influence on your cycling experience than a beautiful frame or fancy, name-brand components. A stable, smooth working parking stand enables you (for example) to safely load up the kids and groceries, plop the bike onto the ground and cycle away uneventfully… just how you want it to be. But few people pay attention to such mundane things in the showroom so this is exactly where most manufacturers save a few bucks or euros. WorkCycles isn’t “most manufacturers” because we actually ride our bikes every day, carry our kids on/in them, move our stock between two shops on them… and listen to our customers who do the same.

Finding decent parking stands has been one of our most vexing challenges. During our quest for the perfect parking stand we’ve tried dozens. Most are so crappy that they don’t even deserve mention: All those Hebie copies from Taiwan and China fit poorly and then either bend under the weight of a loaded bike, quickly get scarily sloppy and break, or seize up from corrosion. The more sophisticated folding stands from Humpert and Spanninga (Sparta) have also failed our durability tests miserably. The cast aluminium Pletschers are light and pretty but not strong enough for bikes with child seats and heavy bags.

(more…)

Wow, I sure wish we’d known about this stuff earlier! It’s been cold and raining for almost a month straight here in Holland and I’m really itching to get out for a nice, long bike ride in the countryside. Well this new “Anti-Rain Spray” from Dutch distributor Agu just showed up and I can’t wait to try it.

I know that the Dutch continue cycling for transportation regardless of weather... but riding recreationally is another story. I’d much rather cycle under a sunny sky, or at least when it’s not pouring and slightly above freezing temperature. I stopped racing years ago so I just don’t NEED to do that anymore.

If it works well WorkCycles will add it to our wonder spray range, right next to our famous High-Tech Antitheft Bicycle Spray.

Reading the instructions I’m already a little disappointed though; It says to apply the Anti-Rain Spray to jackets, bags and shoes. Problem is that I don’t always wear the same clothes and shoes to ride. So it already looks like more work than I expected but if it brings the sun out, or at least keeps it from raining for a couple hours I’ll be more than satisfied!

Sint Intocht 2009, originally uploaded by Tom Resink Photography.

Sorry for the lack of new posts in the last two weeks. I’ve been traveling in Japan with my family. We’re visiting family and friends and talking about cycling wherever possible. I’ve also been taking lots and lots of photos. Check them out here in my Flickr Japan set

I’ve got lots to show and write about but frankly, being in a place is more interesting and productive than writing about it. So the blog posts about Japan will come in due time.

In the meanwhile here’s a little tidbit about WorkCycles happenings in Amsterdam: Once again Sinterklaas (the skinnier, less politically correct, Dutch version of Santa Claus) rode into Amsterdam from Spain accompanied by a bevy of Zwarte Pieten on WorkCycles bikes. It’s become their preferred mode of transportation, probably for their reliability, classic looks and ability to carry tons of sweets for both the kids and horses.

Tom Resink, WorkCycles mechanic and damn good photographer took the pics that you can check out in Tom’s Flickr photo set

The question whether cycling is decreasing in popularity in Amsterdam or the Netherlands has been raised here several times. Each time the answer has been “No, transportation cycling is actually increasing here.” Today yet more statistics were listed in the Bike Europe trade website that show that bike use continues to rise.

from Bike Europe (via Fietsberaad though I couldn’t find it there) with my commentary mixed in:

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands – The bicycle is the means of transport used most often in Amsterdam. Between 2005 and 2007 people in the city used their bikes on average 0.87 times a day, compared to 0.84 for their cars. This is the first time that bicycle use exceeds car use.

There are not many places in the world where bicycle use actually exceeds car use, and certainly no other capital cities. But it gets better…

In 2006 the inhabitants of Amsterdam engaged in some 2 million trips a day, an 8% reduction compared to 1990. This is due to the number of trips per person per day falling from 3.6 to 3.1. The number of transfers has fallen in the old city within the ring road in particular.

These seem to be the total numbers of trips, made by all means of transportation.

The number of trips by car, compared to 1990, has fallen in all districts (-14%), whereas the number of trips by bicycle has only risen within the ring road (+36%). The bike is used most often in the town centre (41% versus an average of 28%) and the car least often (10% versus an average of 28%). This can be attributed to the restrictive parking policies enacted here since the 1990s.

Not surprisingly the higher the density, the more bike use is favored. Thus where we live and the WorkCycles shops are the number of bicycle trips is at least four times as great as car trips.

‘Dienst Infrastructuur en Beheer’, the infrastructure department of the city registered approximately 235,000 car movements in both directions at the city centre in 1990; by 2006 this had fallen to 172,000, a decrease of over a quarter. Over the same period the number of daily movements by bicycle rose from 86,000 to over 140,000 (+60%).

Let’s keep up the good work so that in a generation cars will be an insignificant part of the traffic and street scene in Amsterdam.

I periodically see fellow bloggers denigrating the “lycra crowd” with the basic idea that recreational cycling (at least if it involves wearing special clothes) is the antithesis of utilitarian cycling and just plain old bad. But why? Cycling is just plain wonderful, whether riding the bakfiets across town to bring the kids to school, or riding up a mountain with friends. All work and no play makes a dull boy! There has to be a place in the world for objects and activities without productive function. Otherwise there would be no art, sports, play, hobbies or fun… and that world would suck.

And many activities (productive or otherwise) are enhanced by donning specific gear. The doctor pulls on scrubs for surgery, the construction worker wears tough trousers with gear loops, knee pads and steel toed boots, and the fireman stays warm but not crispy in his Nomex coat and helmet. If you’re going to spend the day in the saddle you’ll probably be most comfortable in cycling clothes. Whether you’ll look good in them or not is another story.

I’m also perplexed by why people believe it’s impossible to be both a cyclist for transportation AND and cyclist for fun. I ride a no-nonsense utility bike every day to get around the city, and then (weather, work and family permitting) I get on one of my lovely sporty bikes and ride for a few hours. For much of my life that meant riding fast: training and competing in races. With the addition of Pascal our recreational cycling has generally become a family activity. Today we took maximal advantage of a Sunday with perfect cycling weather: We were out for 6 hours, though one doesn’t ride very fast while holding a sleeping baby in one arm, nor cover much distance with multiple cafe stops.

Anyhow, just ride your bike. Certainly do it for transportation, but don’t let the hair-shirt idealists stop you from going nowhere useful on your bike… in the tightest lycra sausage suit if you wish.

Tripping Angels presents “Konijnen Fruit’; a rabbit bakfiets cycling trip through Amsterdam. Unnecessary inside joke: It helps to have seen the classic Paul Verhoeven film Turkish Delight (”Turks Fruit”), which you should see anyway because it’s a great film and has some quintessentially Dutch cycling scenes.

In case you were wondering what people do with a rental bakfiets, here’s an example.

Wobine: Thanks. The next rental is on the house!

Houston Freeways

Here in the Netherlands we’re proud of the extensive and beautifully executed public transport system and bicycling infrastructure. Elsewhere they’re proud of other achievements. Houston, Texas, for example, seems to be proud of its freeway system… proud enough at least for Erik Slotboom (with a Dutch name, btw) to have written and published “Houston Freeways, A Historical and Visual Journey”, according to its website “the most comprehensive book ever written about a regional freeway system.”

Are you a freeway fan too? You can download the book free at this site.

Thanks to Steve Pinkus, emerging livable streets planning guru for the tip.

Hong Kong: World's Worst Cycling City

I didn’t know that David Byrne has a blog, but upon finding it I wasn’t surprised to find that it’s interesting, beautifully written, and demonstrates Byrne’s interest in cycling.

In his post “Hong Kong – The Future of No Future” Byrne describes cycling around Hong Kong, with fascinating social commentary along the way. He finally congratulates “…Hong Kong for being the worst city for cyclists that I have encountered in the whole world. That’s saying a lot. Worse than Napoli, worse than Istanbul. Worse than Manila! Hong Kong takes the prize.”

Secret Service from Amsterdamize on Vimeo.

Why bother advertising when your customers make sweet videos like this with testimonials about your bikes? Thanks very much Mark and Mark and I wish you many years of pleasure from your new WorkCycles Secret Service!

You might be wondering what this plan is that enabled Mark to buy the bike. In the Netherlands there is a tax law (called “fietsenplan” or “bedrijfsfiets”) to promote cycling. An employee can purchase a bike once every three years with pre-tax salary. You thus save 35-50% on the cost of the bike, depending on your tax bracket. The rule is very straightforward and the only real limitation is that the ruling only applies to the first €750 of bicycle price and €250 of accessories though the tax service (”belastingdienst”) doesn’t seem to care how it gets added up. The bike can cost more but you have to pay out of pocket for the portion over €1000. This law applies to all employed people in the country so, as you can imagine, many of the bikes WorkCycles sells locally are purchased under this ruling.