Check out Bike Love Oakland for more details!
Featuring Linden Street Brewery with three beer offerings and World Cup projected at the event! Food and coffee!
Bike swap meet, vintage bike show and exhibition! Hope to see you there!
In light of this Sunday’s big game between Holland and Spain, we wanted to take the time to root for our team and also introduce you to another type of sport that incorporates bicycles and football: Cycleball!
The sport of Cycleball (also called “Radball”) was invented by a German-American in 1893. It’s very popular in countries like Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. Players ride fixed-gear bikes with very very low gear ratios as to wheelie the front of their bike easier as to use the front wheel to “kick” the ball. A low gear ratio also allows the players to get across the court more efficiently. As the court is not that big, having a high gear ratio would leave your pedals in a weird position by the time you get to the ball. Having a fixed-gear bicycle also allows you to travel backwards.
The ball is controlled by the bike and the head except for the case of the goalie. The game is very similar to football, but it does take a lot more skill in order to control the ball with a bicycle!
Below is a video of an example of Cycleball.
I hope to see this really unique but awesome sport come to the States soon. As for now, I will look forward to the World Cup game this Sunday morning! HOLLAND VS. SPAIN.
GO HOLLAND!
William Hsu | My Dutch Bike
This is (well one of the reasons) why I love old Bicycles. This video showcases the early production methods used at the Gazelle Bicycle Factory in the Netherlands. This is what I would consider some “rare” footage, not only of bicycle production, but of times gone by; a way of Life, a way of thinking. The end of the video being proof: the factory workers all riding off to their homes or the pub on their Bicycles. As the video shows, almost every component of the Bicycle was manufactured from scratch, in-house, by hand. Machines have knobs, dials, and levers all controlled and adjusted by hand. No CNC machining here, no robots. What does this matter, you may be asking? Well, we get out of Something only what we put in, and when you happen to stumble upon old Machinery, which was produced by Human Hands, you can sense almost, it giving off a sort of Life Force of its own. This is widely believed and accepted in certain Food preparation niches where terms such as “slow cooking” and “Macrobiotic” are used and understood. “Energy” is put into the food. Many believe that when you eat something prepared with Love, and “intention” is put into the meal, more Energy can be gained by eating that food. Well, I believe that Machinery can have the same effect; and not only metals, but woodworking, and masonry as well.
I am not going to denounce modern manufacturing methods here, as there really isn’t any reason to anyway. Everything has it’s place and purpose. An objective here, is merely to help communicate any reasons there may be as to why more and more people seem to not only be recognizing, but becoming slightly obsessed with vintage bicycles, and Dutch Bicycles. When you meet someone riding Vintage or Dutch Iron more often than not they are extremely eager to talk about their bike, and they just light-up in general whenever bicycles are around or being discussed. Internet sites are multiplying week by week. I’ve heard it said that the Old British Steel is so magnetic that it draws in Bicycle Mechanics, and then there is no escaping…..At least for me, I know that my Passion has turned into an Addiction. Seeing this video only adds more fuel to the already out-of-control fire. Old Bicycles are pieces of History, as well as Functional Art, as well as Personal Transportation, and having personal transportation is one the strongest senses of Freedom we can attain. Few things invented by Humans accomplish this.
To me, “Dutch Bicycles” mean much more than just what currently may or may not be “In Style”–they mean more than the sum of their mechanical parts. “Dutch Bicycles are the classic bicycle “Idea” if you will,–Classically-styled Machinery for a Classically-styled lifestyle with hints of Romanticism thrown in for sure: leisurely transporting yourself through the World, at a leisurely, stress-free pace. The reasons that Dutch Bicycles are gaining popularity is two-fold. The first being that they are comfortable, functional Machines; the second is that they are Stylish. The Style however, is purely incidental. These bikes, these Ideas, originated 100 years ago with Function being the Objective. The fact that now, such a functional and useful device becomes extremely Stylish means that the “Philosophy” has come around full circle: We have finally caught up with the Machine. There are quite a few stories, books, and movies about this phenomenon: The Human Population inventing Machines which eventually replace Humans. But as long as we Humans keep catching up to our Machines’ Greatness, we’ll survive….I think. As this video documents Classic production methods of Bicycles, it illuminates a Philosophy of Life, at least for those who can squint and see between the frames as they roll by at 18 frames per second.
So, if you’re wondering who the “I” is in this little piece, my name is Josh Boisclair and I am the Mechanic here at My Dutch Bike. I’ve been working in and out of bike shops since I was 16 years old. I raced BMX, and then, while riding road bikes to recover from a broken collarbone, decided to race road bikes instead. I did that for a while, but became fed-up with driving around in SUVs to races all over the South East. I quit racing. I sold my car. I worked at what was literally the original Importer of Workcycles bicycles and Bakfiets cargo bikes. We were very small, starting out in a small shop in St. Augustine, Florida. I moved with the company to Boston Massachusetts but couldn’t deal with the cold. I sold everything I owned and hopped on my fixed-gear bike which I found in a dumpster, pulling a BOB trailer. I made it to Chicago and ran out of money. Hopped on the California Zephyr and here I am: San Francisco! My hobby was always restoring old things: typewriters, printing presses, cameras, Volkswagen Beetles and Buses, motorcycles, and of course, Bicycles. The Hobby turned into my Passion, now, it is an Obsession. So that’s my story, hope you enjoy the video as much as I did! Cheers.
—Josh Boisclair—Mechanic
Bike to Work Day was a major success this year in the Bay Area! Above: Three-year-old Sidney Goldfader-Dufty, Supervisor Bevan Dufty’s daughter, hitches a ride with Kit Hodge on Bike to Work Day in San Francisco.
Check out all the Bike to Work Day photos here at 511.0rg.
Cyclists make use of the new green lanes recently implemented by SFBC and the city of San Francisco. “Happy Bike to Work Day!”
Bikers pick up BTWD schwag at the corner of 2nd and Market street. Also entering to win the grand raffle prize of a new Specialized Globe city bike.
Personally, I took advantage of the free ferry ride on BTWD by boarding at Jack London Square and getting off at the SF Ferry Building. The ferry is definitely the best and most scenic way of getting to work. It’s also great because they have unlimited bike parking - when the racks run out of room, you can just use lean them against the sides onto the railing or onto other bikes.
Downtown Oakland’s Bike-Away-From-Work afterparty! This was great with bicycle parking, pedal-powered festival rides and great food and drinks.
Your’s Truly biking to work!
William Hsu | My Dutch Bike
Photos of the Velo & Vintage show last Friday are available here courtesy of Sac Cycle Chic! Check out our gorgeous Retrovelo Paul and Bakfiets in action on the runway in the photos! The fashion and bike show was a total success and had a great turn out!
Bicycle Film Festival Poster
Also in Sacramento this Friday (May 14th) is the Bicycle Film Festival! It will run all weekend starting on Friday at 7pm with a pre-party followed by two days of bicycle related films and events! Please check it out. Visit Bicycle Film Festival - Sacramento to check out the details.
BIG REMINDER - BIKE TO WORK DAY IS TOMORROW ( MAY 13th), please take a day off the car and pedal yourselves to work! Energizer booths will be setup all around the Bay Area. Pick up some schwag!
William Hsu | My Dutch Bike
Our Bakfiets, Gazelle Toer Populaire and Retrovelo are showing at the Velo & Vintage Show this coming Saturday, May 8th at 5:30pm. The show incorporates two cultures that are more and more closely becoming hand-in-hand: The bicycling community and the vintage fashion community.
There will be two runs of the cycling show. One will be at 5:30pm and one will be at 8:00pm - we hope you can make it and we hope to see you there.
Please visit the Facebook event link above for directions and to RSVP for the event.
William Hsu | My Dutch Bike
ARE YOU READY FOR THE 16TH ANNUAL BIKE TO WORK DAY?
Bike to Work Day is coming up very soon - May 13th! This is a really great way to start biking to work (if you do not already). There will be tons of bikers on this day all utilizing their own two feet to pedal-power to work. There will be many energizing stations in the East Bay and in San Francisco. Biking to work is not only great for the environment, but it’s great for your health too!
Our cream and black Omafiets are featured on this year’s Bike to Work Day. Check it out and I hope you Bike to Work!
It’s right around the corner!
This coming Friday, April 30th, brings one of the largest traditional Dutch holidays, Koninginnedag. The largest celebration is in Amsterdam, where they celebrate with Vrijmarkt (“free market”). Vrijmarkt lets everyone bring out their second-hand goods to sell all over the street, additional to commercial traders who also use this day to profit. The beauty of Vrijmarkt is that there are no taxes to pay!
Other activities include: children’s festivities, individual musical performances and open air concerts. The preceding night is known as Koninginnenacht, greatly celebrated in Amsterdam, The Hague and in Utrecht by having many bars and clubs open throughout the night for revelers to party to the following day.
Koninginnedag celebrates the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands and is national day of unity and “togetherness”. The original tradition started in August 31, 1885 with Queen Wilhelmina’s birthday followed by various other queens with birthdays on the 30th or 31st of various months.
In addition to the celebration in Holland, our Dutch bikes will be at Supper Club in San Francisco on Friday the 30th for their Queen’s Day celebration. In addition to dinner that night, Supper Club is hosting the afterparty in honor of this Dutch holiday. RSVP on their website if interested, come see our bikes there!
Our Bakfiets will also be at the Dutch Consulate THIS FRIDAY for Queen’s Day! (April 30th). The Dutch Consulate is located at:
NETHERLANDS CONSULATE-GENERAL IN SAN FRANCISCO
One Montgomery Street, Suite 3100
San Francisco, CA 94104
HAPPY KONINGINNEDAG!
The Gazelle Cabby has more added features than our traditional Bakfiets, so naturally, it has more people wondering how it works. We found a good video produced by Gazelle to show the features of the Cabby, including how it can fold/unfold and the added accessories the Cabby also works with (babyseat and canopy). We hope you can see how versatile this bike really is - please stop in to try the Gazelle Cabby out!
Many bicycle advocates have been long-awaiting a bicycling directions feature in addition to the walking/public/car directions to Google Maps and now it’s finally here!
Even though I found the directions a little rough around the edges, like the route isn’t typically what I would recommend because it spits out routes that aren’t the flattest or it takes you to the not-as-nice areas of town, I still believe this is one big step in the right direction. We at My Dutch Bike promote bicycling as a viable form of transportation whenever possible, whether that is taking the children to/from school, going to the market or just going for a recreational ride.
This new Google Maps feature will let not only people who are new to the which ever city they may be in find out the best way to get from point A to point B, but it also shows residents new routes and roads they have never ridden on before! Below, I’ve attached a screenshot of what the new bicycle directions on Google Maps looks like. For reference, I entered in our shop address and I set the destination at the Panhandle strip in front of Golden Gate Park.
See the Google Maps Directions here.
Although, the route takes you in a relatively straight-shot from the shop to the Panhandle, McAllister is an okay street to ride on, but the area around Alamo Square (as the directions suggest) gets very hilly. Personally, I would recommend going further up Market and going up the Wiggle instead for a flatter, less traffic dense route.
I am sure as time goes by, these routes will drastically improve and the routes it will spit out will be not only flatter, but also less traffic congested. This is still a huge step and really shows that bicycling has become very viable as such a widely-used directional/map service has begun even to include it in its system!
Happy Trails,
William Hsu | My Dutch Bike