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
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!
So it’s been 5 months since i arrived in bike heaven and it still amazes me..the hundreds of bikes at peak hour, midnight, midday..anytime, everywhere!
The one thing that impacts me most though is the number of abandonded bikes - they are everywhere..missing front wheels, rear wheels, saddles, or just rusted and left to die.
Bakfiets are the working horses of bikes and very popular in Amsterdam. Usually a bike with a wooden trailer in the front, you see them in all shapes and sizes carrying groceries, bags, kids, dogs and all sorts of things..even couches
I had to move house yesterday so what better than to hire a bakfiets to transport all my stuff across town. I was pleasantly surprised when the shop owner told me it was a fixed gear..an extra challenge
So i managed to get my stuff over to my new place in a few hours and had great fun doing it !
For more on bakfiets check out this blog http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl/
So it’s been 2 months and a bit since i arrived in the city of bikes..Amsterdam. Having just gotten into cycling in Sydney moving to Amsterdam was a dream come true!
The cycling infrastructure still amazes me - the bike traffic lights, bike paths everywhere, neighborhood fietstallings (communal bike depos/parking shed) and the fact cars actually stop for bikes is amazing!
The first thing that blew me away was the bike parking lot at Centraal Station, it’s packed at all hours of the day and night!
Another thing Amsterdam is famous for is the rate at which bikes are stolen - some people get very creative trying to secure their bikes..
And then there’s the people that come to Amsterdam for the fun factor..BeerBike anyone?
Sydney | London | New York | Tokyo | Berlin | Los Angeles | Milano | Boston | Dublin | Vancouver | Amsterdam | Paris | Chicago | Philadelphia | San Francisco | Zurich | Nagoya | Singapore | Nashville | Honolulu | Shanghai | Montreal | Toronto I Budapest | Salt Lake City | Houston
but i did manage to do a tour of the city on a bike 
