Candy Cranks

So i’m sitting in my comfy leather chair wondering how i will make it to bed..my legs are numb..totally dead! But a good feeling nonetheless..i was the only girl in today’s ‘How to ride fixed’ workshop here in Amsterdam. The workshop was part of the Sur Place exhibition and events that have been happening at Mediamatic Bank (check it out here )

The workshop was pretty cool - Keng from Pristine was our instructor and he gave us some good tips for improving our skids, skid jumps, track stands and a few tricks..i didn’t realize fixie riding in the sun could be so much hard work!! Lotsa fun tho..maybe next time more girls !!

Here are a few pics from the actual exhibition space

I just got back from a trip to Paris via Rotterdam - catching the start of the tour and getting a peep at where it will end!

The Grand Depart was just that : Grand ! Rotterdam was full of cycling enthusiasts and the atmosphere was great ! To top it off The Netherlands put on it’s best weather..a real treat !!

Here are a few pics..

So summer is nearing and the days are getting longer..which means more time to play with my bikes! My lovely ex-housemate left an old bike for me to tinker with and i have made it my summer project. The big plan : strip and re-build my first bike

I have never built a bike before and the extent of my bike fixing knowledge is flat tyres and adjusting seat posts/handle bars ! So..2 bike fixing manuals later i stripped the old bike, sanded the frame and re-painted it. Looking good so far.

Next steps : bike building course booked in the UK in 2 weeks (yay!!) then come back home and start the tricky bit! It’s loads of fun…i’ll post updates (and hurdles) in the coming weeks

Amsterdam has Giromania! This weekend we kick off the Giro d’Italia here in Amsterdam and the city is dressed in pink waiting anxiously for the big race !
Extremely bad planning on my part means i won’t be in town for the big day but here are a few shots of our lovely bout of Giromania.

If you are in town be sure to check out the bicycle procession that starts Museumplein to Olympic Stadium on Saturday 8 May, they are saying there will be about 4,000 unusual bikes with cyclists in pink outfits..cool !!

Stage 1, 2 and 3 will start this weekend - check out more info here http://www.giroditalia2010.nl/

One of my favourite blogs about riding in Amsterdam is by Marc over at Amsterdamize - he takes the BEST pictures of everyday cycling in Amsterdam and reminds me on a daily basis how lucky i am to be living in bike heaven !

Today he re-posted a video taken at a random intersection in Amsterdam - in it you can see the cris cross of cyclists and how we flow with the traffic here. One of the things i have learnt since being here in Amsterdam is that you don’t stop..you just ride…in, out, around, over, around..and you flow with the traffic. It’s a great feeling - it’s like a language all in it’s own. Luckily much easier to learn than Dutch

What a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than watching some cool bike polo? The guys from EHVFXD (Eindhoven Fixed) http://www.ehvfxd.net organized a comp here in Amsterdam so my sister and i took the ferry over and took a look.

Hopefully there will be more comps and events to come..good work guys !

Snow..Amsterdam has been full of snow for the last week! It doesn’t usually happen this early here or this much so we are all loving it. And the best thing? Not even snow stops us from cycling !! This is what i love most about Amsterdamers..nothing comes in between us and our bikes

It has been slippery and the bike paths have been full of snow but that’s not a problem ! The bike paths are usually clear of snow by mid morning and everyone is out and about.

Here are a few pics - i even saw cyclists at 3am while it was snowing! Very cool

Merry xmas everyone !

Cyclists at 3am

View from my bedroom window

Cold orphan bikes all over :(

Brrrr cold start !

I didn’t really have high hopes for London..after not seeing many cyclists in Paris i thought London was going to be more of the same but no !! I was pleasantly surprised !!!! London has an amazing number of bike commuters - i was so impressed ! And the fixie scene is amazing..i saw fixies and single speed bikes everywhere..literally everywhere !!!

The best part of the trip? coming out of Kings Cross station one night and finding myself in the middle of a sea of cool fixie riders..i thought i’d landed in heaven !! So cool

I just got back from a quick trip to Paris - what an amazing city! I didn’t really see many cyclists on the roads but i did manage to do a tour of the city on a bike

My sister and i spent about 3 hours riding around the center of Paris..overall it was a great experience! The traffic was a bit chaotic at times and we had to get on the footpath and wait our turn but for the most part it was safe and fun..i highly recommend it!

Here are some pics

It took a while but slowly slowly i’m starting to see more fixies in Amsterdam..can’t wait till we take over! here’s mine