Kunstfietsen

Bicycle performer Nicolas Edward Kaufman invented art cycling in 1888.
Art cyclists are actually acrobats.
While riding, they perform all kinds of figures and jumps.
It is done in a sport hall, solo or in teams.

The discipline is mostly practiced in Germany, this is why all the rules and regulations are in German.
Before participating in a game the cyclist has to make a list with the figures he is going to do. This has to be finished as good as possible in a certain amount of time.

A jury judges the execution of the figures and subtracts points from the 200 total the cyclist receives at the start.

An art cycling bike is really simple, no brakes, no lights, no mudguards or other unnecessary stuff. It has some special features though: a peculiar saddle and handlebars, and support pins attached to the wheels.
The bike is single gear, which makes it possible to ride backwards. All the bike parts have to be really solid to resist the force that is used on them.
In the Netherlands there is only a art cycle club in Heerlen.
Thats in the south, on the Germanborder.

Ask me why I cycle without a helmet

I am not against bicycle helmets but only for kids and with sports activities like mountain biking, road racing or BMX riding.

The problem lays in the use of bicycle helmets in everyday use of the bicycle.
Mikael-Colville Andersen, founder of Copenhagen Cycle Chic, tells about his anti-helmet opinion and research at a TEDx talk. And I can only agree with him.

Netherlands Numbered Junction Bicycle Network

The Netherlands has a bicycle network of numbered junctions that can be used to plot a (recreational) cycle route. The advantage over previous systems is the great freedom with which routes can be planned.

The system started in Belgium and is slowly but surely finding its way to the North of the Netherlands.

This video shows and explains the system.

Music maestro, please!

Bicycles and music, a great combination

History of Cycle Paths in the Netherlands

It is impossible to single out one reason for the fact that the Dutch have more cycle paths than any other nation in the world. Many factors contributed to this phenomenon. But is interesting to look at one of the historic aspects.

This video is not a comprehensive explanation of the development of transportation in the Netherlands. This video is just highlighting one of the many aspects that made the Dutch think a main road is not complete without a cycle path. The video focuses on the 'how' it happened not on the 'why' it happened.

Dangerous situation in NY!

A Dutch tourist named Jasmijn Rijcken, 31, was in town for the New Amsterdam Bike Show and was stopped by NYPD while biking on Broadway because she was wearing a skirt.

Her story. "I stopped to check the map, to check where I had to go. This policeman was in a car, and he stopped next to me and got out of the car. I was like, 'Oh my God, what did I do wrong?' I was by myself. I thought maybe I rode wrong or something. But he starts talking about the way I was dressed."

At first she thought he wasn't serious. But it soon became clear that he was. "He said I was distracting cars, and that it was dangerous, I shouldn't wear these clothes on a bike." She was not wearing a helmet, she says, but the cop never mentioned that.

"he was acting like I did something really stupid, and asked for my I.D." Rijcken gave him her Dutch train I.D., and he responded, "Oh, you're not from here." Fearing she might have trouble leaving the country for her flight back to Holland the next day, Rijcken apologized, and said she wasn't aware there was a dress code. She says the cop told her, "I decide what's a dangerous situation."


A perfect "dangerous situation"!!

Rijcken said, "It's sad to see that there is so much disrespect between cars and bikes. in Holland, you do both -- one day you're in a car, one day you're on a bike -- and you respect each other. In New York it feels like a big fight." Still, she says, "I thought riding in New York City was beautiful."

The bicycle she is riding is a Dutch Van Moof


Yep,also available in a female version.

Cycling infrastructure Netherlands

In the Netherlands we put a lot of effort, in better infrastructure for cyclist.
Especially the bicycle lanes used by commuter cyclist are getting lots of attention.
Faster and safer cycle lanes promote other people to get on their bicycle.

In the Netherlands a cycling infrastructure was build in 's-Hertogenbosch (aka Den Bosch), The before and after view gives a good insight in the changes.
This is a typical Dutch example of a highway for cyclist.



Note: there is NO doorzone problem. The cycle street is so wide that cyclists do not have to cycle in the door zone of parked cars.

To Den Haag and Scheveningen

I don't now here but I like her little bicycle video!!

Dutch junction design - safer for cyclists

The Dutch have been designing junctions with cycle paths for decades. There is nothing experimental about these junctions. They have proven to be safer for cyclists than junctions without such provisions




See this junctions in practice

Brabants Fietsharmonisch Orkest

Wherever this surprising and very humorous orchestra appears on their 4 meter-long tandem, they steal the hearts of the audience. Mouths fall open in astonishment and there is laughter in the air.


Catchy, cheerful music emanates from the six figures on the enormous bicycle. Suddenly the colossus stops, the musicians get off amid a lot of fuss and bother and they start on an unparalleled tattoo, a hilarious ballet act or an absurd slapstick act with acrobatic feats. They don’t hesitate to flummox the spectators and making fun of themselves is one of the ingredients. When the tandem finally leaves amid a whirl of commotion, the audience is in no doubt they have witnessed a unique spectacle



Yep, I am a fan!!
See more on there website

Danny Macaskill

Not Dutch but fantastic cycling.
The newest video from the trials phenom Danny Macaskill is one of the best yet in terms of filming and editing, and the riding is right just INSANE. From riding on top of trains, insane cable rides, and mind blowing drops!

Frank Lenz "The lost Cyclist"

I love history and bicycles. So what is better then a book over cycling history?


I found this book about Frank lenz, the Epic Tale of an American Adventurer and His Mysterious Disappearance by David V. Herlihy


In the spring of 1892, Frank G. Lenz, a gallant young accountant and expert amateur photographer from a modest German-American family, set forth from his unhappy home in Pittsburgh to circle the globe atop a new 'safety' bicycle with inflatable tyres (essentially the modern machine). He brought along a large wooden camera, which used newly introduced film, and arranged to send regular reports to his sponsor, Outing magazine, effectively making him a harbinger of the great bicycle boom that was about to explode with stunning social and industrial repercussions.


Two years, fourteen thousand miles and many adventures later, after crossing the United States, Japan, China, Burma, India and Persia, just as he was about to enter Europe for the home stretch, Lenz vanished. His presumed murder in Asiatic Turkey.

Amsterdam loves Bikes!

Welcome on this blog were we cycle trough the Netherlands, the World and history.