miss.spin

I pulled apart Oregon’s House Bill 3149 (HB 3149) a while ago for a policy brief. It was a policy insuring car owners who opted to enroll their vehicle in a peer-to-peer carsharing system, making some money while their car sat idle for odd hours of the day.

If any of you are like me you’ve got a couple of extra bikes just lying around your house waiting to be ridden. You have the road bike for riding-riding and racing, the commuter which will most likely not be rentable because it is almost always in use by you, and you have the 1-2 speed cruiser (mine is soon to be introduced in a post to come, stay tuned!). This website allows you (well, you in New York and San Francisco) to put one of your steeds up for rent for a price per day determined by you. Prices range from $4 to $50 for bikes of all sorts. Check out the details on the link provided.

I would love to make some cash money off of my lovely steeds when not in use and help out a fellow bike enthusiast. And this is just another way showing that bikes can use the same systems that cars are implementing. Fingers crossed that it is successful.

Bill Nye’s City of the Future. Just disregard the fact that Bill also has a “how to talk to aliens” video linked on the youtube page.

Cheers to a constant tailwind.

One year ago I shipped my bike across the country. I disassembled the components, lugged the 56 pound case two blocks away from my temporary home at Fox Way, said goodbye to a fantastic job selling chocolate, hugged some of my nearest and dearest friends for the last time, and put on my metaphorical helmet to prepare for a new life in Oregon.

My legs have not stopped pedaling since.

p.s. nearest and dearest friends- come visit!

The article posted below was written about my beloved hometown, Pittsburgh, and its scenic riverfront trails. I can relate to the author’s feelings of forgetting about safety and feeling “the freedom, the joy of smooth self-propulsion and the expectation of getting somewhere in 15 minutes that would take an hour to walk.”

I had a similar feeling the first time I bought a raincoat in preparation to move to Oregon. I felt impenetrable by the weather. I completely forgot about the fact that it was raining because I was out and about, dry, and not wrestling an umbrella in the middle of the sidewalk. I volunteered to go to the bank to get change for work just because I wanted to put my hood up and down to see the results of the raincoat’s protection. My non-raincoated coworkers happily obliged. It was a new, hooded, and water-resistant freedom. This is where my term “the raincoat effect” developed.

I experienced the raincoat effect my first time riding on a cycle track in Eugene. I felt significant as a cyclist, fast, and above all safe. The few inches of separation between me and the vehicles felt like miles, and I could cruise along and take in my new scenery without a white-knuckled grip on my freshly wrapped handlebars.

And I had this same feeling my first day on a bike in Copenhagen. I caught on to the bicycling system quickly, I understood the city layout (surprisingly), and I felt comfortable pedaling at a slower pace amongst herds of cyclists. I am constantly amazed with the ease of cycling in that city and just how accessible Copenhagen makes it for all riders.

One year later on a completely different bike, in a completely different city I experienced this freedom of cycling. That feeling still feels awesome.

Amsterdam, the peak of my travels. This is the final installment of my “why to ride a bike” series for my summer European travels, and it could not have ended with a better city for bicycle riding. Here are my nine reasons to ride a bicycle in Amsterdam:

This poster at Fietsersbond summarizes my thoughts nicely. It says “Amsterdam is nicer by bike” and I could not agree more.

For the lady cyclists, you will be part of the majority.

We met with the local Amsterdam bicycle union Fietsersbond, mentioned above, to receive some insight on past and recent projects that have moved cycling to the forefront in Amsterdam. Part of our time with Fietsersbond was spent taking notice to who exactly rides a bike in this wonderful city. We collected data along certain routes in 15 minute intervals and one of the most prominent findings was that there is generally a higher level of female ridership in Amsterdam. Ride on ladies!

You will look forward to another scavenger hunt.

We had another semi-structured scavenger hunt like the one in Copenhagen that sent us around the city to see bicycle infrastructure, visit the local zoo, and even stop by a candy shop in the Red Light District run by a former Eugeneian! This is really just a way to get us moving around the city with eyes wide open. These scavenger hunts have been some of the most fulfilling and jam-packed days for me, and I have been downright exhausted after each one!

The photo above shows my rental bike for the week on a bicycle bridge. You can faintly see the red pedestrian bridge in the background.

You will find great beer.

This beer came after an Amsterdam country ride out to Rembrant’s windmill. Karen, our trip helper, mentioned that this company was one of the few craft breweries in Amsterdam. It seemed like a solid choice for a quality beverage after a day of biking. All of the Brewery De Prael beers are named after historic men and women throughout Netherlands history, and I mistakenly ordered the Willy instead of the Johnny. Little did I know that this 11.5% slice of heaven would be the best beer of my trip, and quite possibly one of the best beers of my lifetime.

So naturally on scavenger hunt day me and Sheila, my partner in seeking out all things delicious, found De Prael to get a Willy fresh from the tap. The retail location (known as a winkle in the Netherlands) had bottles for sale between one and two Euro (a STEAL) and staff nice enough to walk us directly to the tasting room. The tasting room had an awesome ambiance. Sheila and I sat in leather chairs with delicious beer before continuing onwards with our scavenger hunt.

You will inevitably run into people from your part of the world.

Amsterdam is a world city and it seems only fitting that I would have an encounter with a fellow Pittsburgher in the very same hotel that I was staying in. And there was also the aforementioned candy shop owner Mathias. Mathias lived in Eugene for a few years before moving halfway around the world for his love and now wife, Iris. They opened their shop together this year. It was a huge hit with my trip mates, and I can only image that the rest of Amsterdam loves it as well. Mathias greeted us warmly, told hilarious stories, pressed his passion for cycling on us, and fed us free samples. Mathias certainly fits the “we’re all here because we’re not all there” description of a Eugene citizen. It was an absolute pleasure meeting him and his family. Check out their facebook page.

You will see that bicycle accessories can be art!

This is an awesome display of bicycle bells found in a local bike shop in Amsterdam. This shop, Het Zwarte Fiestenplan, really made it a point to use bicycle accessories as novel ways to decorate the shop. A red and a yellow bell made it home with me, and I have to (partially) accredit my purchase to the persuasion of this bell art. Below are seat covers creatively organized to beautify an entire wall, amazing.

You will be immersed in historical context of all kinds.

Myself and a few others had the privilege to visit not just one, but two cheese and clog factories while in Amsterdam. Cheese and clogs go hand in hand (or foot and mouth?) when discussing Holland history and culture, and believe it or not with all of the cheese and clogs in the country there are only four locations that still use the original style of production for both items. In case you were wondering- people still wear these clogs today but mainly for gardening purposes, and the cheese is delicious.

We also received a guided tour of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Despite what one might immediately think the Red Light District has a long-standing history in the city’s center. The Red Light District is comprised of outstanding architecture, rich maritime history, and cultural diversity all of which date back to before America’s founding. And then there is the legal prostitution which is not really identified as a positive or a negative. It is just seen as part of the culture. It has been part of the community since Amsterdam was a key port city. It was both eye opening and phenomenally interesting to be led through this culturally dense area with a personal tour guide on a Friday evening.

You will learn to recognize your bicycle.

The cities we visited all seem to have the same problem- there is not enough bicycle parking in the city! Amsterdam has gone above and beyond other cities to create novel and effective parking systems for more bikes than you can imagine.

This photo shows a three story bicycle parking facility called the fietsflat. The fietsflat is located at Central Station. You can see the incline of the ramps and the countless bicycles amidst the “XXX loves bikes” sign. XXX is an old identifier for Amsterdam.

This is a better photo of how the structure is organized to hold 2,500 bicycles. It becomes absolutely essential to be able to identify your bicycle amidst the sea of two-wheeled transports because it can easily become one of many. It is breathtaking to not only realize that a city needs one location that can hold over two thousand bicycles, but also to see it filled to nearly the maximum allowance. I remember when I first moved to Eugene my mom commented on how many bikes were parked by the University of Oregon campus. Mom, I wish you could have seen this!

This is another way Amsterdam has made bike parking into something out of the ordinary. This is a photo of a reclaimed barge that is being used for additional parking at Central Station. My home town also used a reclaimed barge to serve as a new public amenity, a park. Parks are great, but I have to admit I think this project tickles my fancy just a little bit more.

You will appreciate your surroundings and the people you are with.

Marc, our professor, made a comment as we were organizing to take photos at Rembrant’s windmill. We spent a good hour taking photos. We built pyramids, I tried to do an assisted hand stand (and failed), others took multiple photos to get the perfect jumping picture. He said “two weeks ago I don’t know if you guys would have felt comfortable doing this with each other.” He was right. There is no better way to create long term bonds than by living out of a backpack, sharing a room with three others, sharing a house with 14 others, sleeping overnight on a train car, and learning your way around a city by bicycle.

Out of all of the professionals that we had the opportunity to meet and work with throughout our three weeks in Europe I feel most privileged to have met my 14 trip mates, the future movers and shakers of America, looking to make a difference in the bicycle transportation in our own communities. Thank you all for the laughs and memories.

I had the pleasure this past Friday of spending the day with Ronald Tamse, who I first introduced you to in this post. He extended an invitation for some more exploring around Utrecht and dinner with his family. There was no way I could have said no, and it came at a perfect time because I was feeling the slightest bit homesick. While it was no replacement for my own family (miss you Mom and Pops) it was a great little taste of family life to keep me satisfied until I return back to Eugene.

Ronald and I enjoyed a coffee at HEMA, the Target of the Netherlands, and continued by foot and bike to see a bit more of Utrecht. One of our stops was the Information Center which provides details and models on all of the upcoming redevelopment and construction projects for Utrecht. I fell in love with the city map on the floor, and coming from a person with a not-so-great sense of direction Ronald did a fantastic job of orienting (and reorienting) me on this map during our discussion.

Entrance to the Information Center

My dad would have loved the talks about the maritime defense systems against the Germans. Utrecht utilized the canals for flooding against enemy attacks, and on the opposite side of the city where citizens were without canals they utilized fortresses. Utrecht is on its way to declaring some of these 20 fortresses as UNESCO sites, neat!

Ronald showing a woman where the buses will enter the new Central Station, equipped with 22,000 bicycle parking spots!

I rode Dutch style with Ronald. He was not familiar with this term which makes me think it is more of a tourist/outsider perspective of riding bikes in the Netherlands. I taught him some Pittsburghese throughout the day too.

I then met his beautiful wife and daughter for dinner. Ronald and I grocery shopped beforehand. Those who know me know that I absolutely love to grocery shop and especially with company. We had a delicious dinner complete with great conversation, ice cream, and fruit fly trap-making. This day was one of the best days of my trip. It was wonderful to be in a family atmosphere for even the tiniest bit. A big thank you to Ronald and his beautiful family for having me for the day.

Welcome to Utrecht! Utrecht is a medieval city just south of Amsterdam, and many people who work in Amsterdam live in Utrecht because of its affordability and access to the city. We arrived by train two days ago and promptly met up with Mr. Ronald Tamse for a personal tour of his city. Ronald came to the University of Oregon back in the fall for a speaking event. He remembered me from back then, and we had some solid one on one time both before the tour began and during the tour. Ronald is a traffic engineer for the government agency within Utrecht. He is one of the most personable people I know, and has an amazing sense of humor and life. He is in love with my bicycle tattoo and asked for a photograph. Keep an eye out for it in his coming slideshows if you are hearing him speak!

Ronald also arranged for us to visit the construction site of the newest rail line in Utrecht. The company completing the project, ProRail, took us to see some of the major components of the new line’s construction. ProRail has made some notable ecological accommodations such as a bat tunnel to clear a path for the native bats to fly through and a small critter tunnel beneath the rail line for animals to crawl through to safely cross the tracks.

It was interesting being so close to the construction elements, something I often forget about while studying planning. I will have to return in five years to see its completion!

I have been in Copenhagen for the past week and have had a chance to experience some really really great things, culturally, physically, and emotionally. I attribute many of these things to being able to ride a bike around the city which allows me to experience city life in a closer, more personal way. Below are six reasons why one should ride a bike which were fueled by my experiences in Copenhagen over the past 7 days.

You will see the city in a whole new way.

Our first full day here we had the pleasure of taking a Bike Mike tour. Mike is a Copenhagen native and a bicycle enthusiast. He believes that seeing the city by bike is the best way to absorb the culture, and I could not agree more. Unfortunately, we absorbed a lot more than just culture during our three hour tour. It poured rain, absolutely poured, for the larger chunk of the morning. I was completely unprepared for the 58 degree temperatures and sideways rain, but we did get to see some notable Copenhagen landmarks while with Mike.

Just as we approached the Carlsberg Brewery’s famous elephants the rain disappeared and we had blue skies for the remainder of our tour. After riding with Mike I began to understand the city’s flow better. I recognized where I was in relation to other things. I had a sense of direction, which for me is a big deal.

You will rediscover your sense of adventure and search for things you never thought to look for.

Marc, our professor, scheduled us a very loosely regimented scavenger hunt around Copenhagen, but it was mainly just to ripen our sense of exploration. Being on a bike allows for the opportunity to hop on and off at any given moment to more thoroughly explore.
I scavenged with two of my fellow trip mates and we encountered many things that we would have passed by otherwise. Below is a photo checklist of the neatest things we encountered:

A new family purchasing the Danish minivan- a Nihola cargo bike.

The Carlsberg brewery complete with beer and horses? Yes horses. They still use these bad boys to pull beer carts at local events.

A bicycle green wave! A green wave is a light system along a cycle track that signals to the cars that a bicycle is to the left of them, and if that cyclist keeps at a consistent speed (usually around 12 mph) the light will remain green for them if they are within the green wave portion of the path.

Double-decker bike parking, enough said.

You will encounter delicious Danish foods (well, not guaranteed for everyone).

This is a flu(super soft d)-boh-leh, a traditional Danish sweet filled with meringue, marzipan, and covered in chocolate. My bike brought me to it.

This is a traditional Danish lunch spread. After a few hours of biking in the cold, wind, and rain it tasted awesome. Included are four little pieces of rye bread all with different toppings.

You will meet remarkable people.

This is Eva. Eva took some of my trip mates and I out on a country ride to the King’s Castle this past week. It was raining, it was windy, it was about 50*. Eva looked fabulous in her poncho and rain cap and could show us around all day. I, however, was tired, cold, and feeling rather defeated by the mud and gravel we were riding through. Eva smiled the entire time and completely turned my attitude around. She is a phenomenal person, and her family has welcomed us into theirs for the duration of our stay in Copenhagen. Eva even invited us to their community spa for some top notch treatments after our cold adventure. I cannot thank Eva, Henrik (Eva’s husband, a fantastic chef), and their family enough for the hospitality to not just their home, but to Copenhagen as well.

Eva took us to the Jægersborg Dyrehave. Dyrehave means deer park and we saw tons of deer! We also saw Sweden just across the sound. The picture above does not do the view justice. It was breathtaking.

You will see that cycling can change urban form in fantastic ways.

We had the amazing privilege of meeting with some very talented architecture firms while in Copenhagen. Marc and Kory, our two trip planners, arranged for us to meet with an architect at the Big 8 affordable housing complex, Jeffery Risom at Jan Gehl architects, and Rune Boserup at Cobe Architects.

Our meetings were centered on the current projects at these firms and how they play into the overall cycling infrastructure. A major theme throughout each of these meetings was that these housing and development projects were not created to support the image of cycling, but rather cycling is just a normal element of the city that they must consider while planning these major projects.

The first site we visited was the Big 8 housing project by the Bjarke Ingels Group. This housing development is a mixed income, mixed demographic project that is already 80% filled with owners. Big 8 is located in a section of Copenhagen accessible by bicycle and Metro, but not yet fully developed in the surrounding areas. Surrounding the Big 8 project is every service and commodity a person may need in addition to wildlife and scenic views. It was interesting to hear later the next day that other architects did not support this type of development. It was eye opening to hear that Copenhagen is still going through trials with new land use experiments and combinations. Read more about it here.

 

We then had the amazing privilege to visit Jan Gehl Architects. Jan Gehl reconfigured how architects think about space. His architects start with the people and how they use the space and build atop of that. It sounds like a basic idea, and it sounds like every architect should be pursuing jobs in that manner, but it is groundbreaking and effective. The firm is recognized world wide. I had a chance to talk one on one with Jeff, below. It was inspiring. Jeff took us on a tour around Copenhagen, pointing out notable spots of architectural design. He gave us an American viewpoint on European planning. He was honest. I’ve never felt so positively about architecture until meeting with him. Please look up Jan Gehl Architects if you are not familiar. And someone please buy me Jan’s four books for Christmas this year.

Finally, with Cobe Architects we had the opportunity to see their project at North Harbor which will be one of the largest undertakings in urban planning in Copenhagen. They are planning to actually extend Denmark’s land further into the sound separating Sweden and Denmark to supply housing for the growing populations. On this land Cobe is trying to recreate a natural Copenhagen community feel by keeping one out of every five existing structures, cutting canals into existing and new land, and encouraging the same bicycle and lifestyle behaviors as in Copenhagen’s city center. It is a humungous and novel undertaking. Rune, below, seemed quite optimistic about its turnout.

You will begin to see cycling as a normal, everyday thing.

Less and less do I think swaths of cyclists are an odd or exciting thing. Oh who am I kidding, large swaths of cyclists will always be an exciting thing for me. But I now realize that it is a completely normal thing in other countries. Below are two photos with the times visible on them. This is the bike counter on the busiest bridge in Copenhagen, Dronning Louise’s Bro or Queen Lousie’s Bridge. This bridge can achieve between 20,000 and 30,000 cyclists crossing it a day! The times are visible in the photos. You can see just how many cyclists travel across this bridge on a daily basis. These numbers in the photo below are some city’s entire level of ridership! And it occurs all before 10:00am almost every morning!

120+ cyclists in 12 minutes! Bike Mike pointed out this bridge on our tour. Thanks Mike.

This city now holds a special meaning to me. Copenhagen reminds me a lot of my hometown of Pittsburgh. That post is soon to come! I could spend months exploring all of the nooks and crannies Copenhagen has to offer, but that will have to wait until another time.

I thought it might be neat to do a breakdown of some bicycle and travel related stats of the past few days.

Skirts worn successfully while bicycle commuting: two

Holes ripped in jeans from constant bicycle seat wear and tear: two giant ones

Number of pairs of jeans without holes from constant bicycle seat wear and tear: zero

Bike hugs: one long overdue bike hug

Days I can last in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Utrecht wearing just v-neck tee shirts: twelve

Finds of the week on Eugene’s craigslist: one sleek Trek, a bike posting that made me laugh out loud