Cycling For Everyone — an Expose: Organically Flowing

Seamlessly Integrated Bike Flow

“Cycling is part of everyone’s life, because it was made part of everyone’s life.” This film, Cycling for Everyone, is a light, moving record of health and happiness. The film shows Amsterdam as a place where sharing the road is easy and safe.

Inhabitants of this city and country value cycling so much that the rich and the poor, young and old, keep the roads busy. Pleasant companions in transit glide in smooth lines which circle and sway nicely in a city and culture of folks who cycle with expertise.

This organically filmed video recorded for the Dutch Cycling Embassy shows cyclists in normal life as they easily flow around the city on a typical day. Thanks to a “seamlessly integrated bike flow”, we find a world that is not at odd with automobiles — they operate by side by side in sustainable form.

To make a video such as this in the US, one might have to close the streets and script the autos and cyclists. This video seems choreographed, however no extras were used. All folks on bikes are in daytime activity. This is a natural unified bike and transit flow because this is just how the Dutch are: Smart. Wise. Green.

Complimentary Closing Shot

Following a Girl on a Bike

It was a matter of putting the girl, Mi-Ah Roediger, on the bike and following her through the city. Certainly the camera skills of Erwan van Buuren, with the assistance of Reuben Hamburger, and the editing of film director Gabe Bauer are part of the success of the short film. Their work with the city, the bike, and with Mi-Ah, are all part of the manifest beauty.

Meanwhile

Meanwhile

Common Sense and Safe Roads for Cyclists is a System the Dutch Clearly Chose

Commonness and common sense in transit, employed by the Dutch, is a way of being. This is a uniqueness they clearly chose.

In the 1960s, in the Netherlands, availability of cars increased. Due to more traffic, more gas, more cars, there were more accidents, injuries, and deaths involving cyclists.

By the 70s, a movement was started by the Dutch people and well organized. The people directed change and put a stop to the problems. Their efforts put to stop the accidents in traffic. The organization of Dutch citizens enabled clear thinking, better changes in transit, and improved choices in planning. Pragmatically inclined, lawmakers were intelligently cooperative. Plans were effectively made and put into action, which put safety of the public first.

This seamless and safe union of bikes, mass transit,  and autos was implemented and became a very peaceful system. This speaks to the innately quiet, green intelligence that is normal to the Dutch. Folding bikes travel free on trains, so one sees a combination of mass transit with folding bikes. There are also rental bikes available anywhere you want one.

Outtakes and Behind the Scenes

Enjoy the director’s darlings along with the featured film over on Amsterdamize. I love this fun, 24-minute Outtake video from the project (below). And the bicyclist clearly smiles as prettily as she rides in the 2 minutes of behind the scenes coverage (below the outtake video).

A Note on the Lack of Helmets

One note about this video is the obvious lack of helmets. No one seems to be wearing them. When questioned on this, the response is: (1) Cyclists are more skilled from early on; (2) The ease and safety of the roadways makes for exceptionally low incidents of accident; (3) The consciousness of all participants in travel promotes such “seamless” peace on the road, protecting cyclists.

There is a sublime but complete and clear attentive awareness of all travelers. Thus, (4) the cycylists are safe, aware, integrated, and careful in regards to each other.

I would not advise this in the US and many places, where the problem is one of a certain lack of awareness. In a sense, a blindness in the minds of automobilists is evident and predictable — drivers simply are not used to cyclists and do not expect to see them — so they don’t. This danger along with an ongoing “need” for wider roads for combining automobiles and cyclists makes for more difficult circumstances in transit,… outside of places such as Amsterdam, the Netherlands as a whole, Copenhagen, and perhaps a few other cities.

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