Radfahren in Wien -- a review of Vienna's new bicycle guide

"Radfahren in Wien" (Cycling in Vienna) is an extensive handbook with a lot of useful information about cycling. Although it is strongly related to Vienna, I can highly recommend it for a general German-speaking audience (in particular, if situated in Austria). This is, because it is an exhausting and wittily written, smart and neatly designed handbook on almost anything you ever wanted to know about cycling.

"Radfahren in Wien" by Alec Hager and Johannes Pepelnik

Finnish cycling culture

People around the world have different attitudes towards cycling. The attitudes even vary within Europe. In some cultures cycling is a sport, in others it is a way to get around. Some people do it just for fun. There are also presumptions on who should ride a bike and who should not. I've been writing here more or less regularly since the last fall, and so far haven't gotten around to tell you about what cycling is and who ride a bike in my culture. So I'll tell you about that today.

Let me start with how common it is. This is the view from my front door.

Back on track

What a day! First day after me being sick on the bike again. You must know that I live very close to my work now (only 5 minutes by foot) and don't have to cycle there anymore, so I grap every opportunity to ride my bike to places elsewhere. Today these were, all at once:

• my doctor
• a bike shop
• the Vienna University of Technology to meet a friend

Here's the story:

Setting off at home, I picked up Paula from the basement. There is a huge bike storage room in the house, but there are less stairs from our compartment in the basement to the street than from the bike storage room, so I keep my beloved there for the moment.

I even dressed up today (slightly).	Paula in the basement.

Moving houses by bikes?

Yesterday I moved to the 9th district. I hate moving. Of course, it's nice to live in my own apartment (and in a house with a big bike room :-)) rather than just a room in a shared apartment, but this putting-things-into-boxes and clearing everything is just a pain. I organized a moving service (2 strong guys and a truck) who did all the hard work of carrying my stuff, so at least that was very easy and relaxing for me. Earlier, when I had less crap, I used to move by (my friend's) car and public transport. But once one has to transport a lot of furniture, moving by car is too much of a pain. And by no means cheaper than just renting a service for 2-3 hours (ok, that depends on the distance, they usually charge 1 €/km for people who move countries).

Lately I read an article on derStandard.at about a few people who have established a moving service by cargo bicycles. They charge 25 € per half hour and transport up to 100 kg per bike. That's much more than I paid for a truck and two guys, who I reckon are also much faster. Thus they can't really do it commercially yet, but I like the idea as such. You should definitely have a look at the pictures (just click on the one I linked :-)).

www.heavypedals.at

By the way, one can win "them" for the 15th of May. So in case you are planning to move within Vienna soon, have a look at their website www.heavypedals.at. Unfortunately I had to be out by Friday, but I would have loved to see them in action ;-).

Meeting bikey friends

Did you ever recognise a friend on bike while cycling from A to B? It happens to me about once a month that I accidentially meet a friend waiting at a red light. I really like these moments and little chats, it cheers me up and suddenly all the time waisted at these red traffic lights seems much shorter and more valuable :).

Yesterday at Alserbachstraße I bumped into Bea who is a co-blogger on Velosophie.at. She still has some problems with her cycling bag that she keeps losing (it's a click-in system for the rack). Nonetheless she's very stylish in this ugly wintery weather.

Bea on Alserbachstraße yesterday
(it's bloody freezing, snowy and windy again -- buuh!)

The city as playground

I don't see many teenagers around here riding bicycles. Are they (or their parents) too afraid? Is it not necessary to get around because public transport is good enough (or parents drive them around)? Or is it just not cool to do so?

I remember being made fun of by other kids when I cycled to and from the grammar school in the neighboring town. Maybe it was because I didn't attend the extended elementary school in my town as most kids did (Hauptschule in German, a school from 10-14, but without a general qualification for university entrance -- see Wikipedia for an explanation). But actually I believe it was because of that stupid looking bicycle helmet that my mum made me wear. The "bicycle helmet fashion" in my area started in the early 90s, and the first helmets were really really ugly and uncomfortable. It created a very negative image of cycling amongst young people.

Better motivations for kids to cycle are those fancy trial riders, e.g. Danny MacAskill from the Inspired Bicycles Team in Edinburgh:


Cycling is really fun, and can be very challenging and cool if need be :).

Cooking and cycling

A few days back I received a lovely gift from Anna, our co-blogger from Catalonia (if you're curious about that place, visit her blog about Catalan language and culture). She's been to Florence, Italy, a while back and bought some bike-related clothes for me -- a T-shirt with the imprint "Free Bicycle Love" and an apron.

The apron has a drawing of the bicycle by Leonardo da Vinci on it. As far as I know it's not sure whether this is a hoax or true. As a matter of fact the first bicycles have only been used almost 400 years later. See my earlier blog post "The bicycle is a great invention!" for some more details. There is certainly some mystery to the invention of the bicycle.

Leonardo's bicycle ...	... and my new apron

If you're interested in the subject (and Leonardo da Vinci's bike) you may want to start your investigations by reading about "The Leonardo da Vinci Bicycle Hoax" (text of a paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Cycling History, Glasgow School of Art, August 1997, by Prof. Dr. Hans-Erhard Lessing).

Anyhow, I'm very thankful for the apron (I'm a rather messy cook) and amused by the mystery that surrounds this drawing.

Having said that I should finally also mention "The Hungry Cyclist" who is pedaling the world for a perfect meal. If you don't know what to cook yet, you might find some inspiration there. I'll probably try some of Anna's potato recipes this weekend. Have a lot of fun cycling and cooking too!

In for some tropical weather?

Actually I wanted to write about the snow biking conditions in Vienna these days, but my camera just gave up now. You'll have to wait at least till tomorrow for some pictures, sorry :(.

On the other hand, I picked up my visa for India today. Seems like some contrast at first. But it reminded my of a bike story I had read a while back in an Austrian newspaper:

Uwe Walter and Christian Sattelkow planned to spend 10 months on their bikes, starting from Graz in Austria and with destination India. The cycled in boiling heat and rain, conquered deserts and mountains, dealt with breakdowns, communication difficulties, diseases and accidents. Along the way they explored countries they didn't know yet. Altogether they wanted to cycle about 15.000 km. And all they took with them were two bikes and 30 kg of luggage each. They set of in Graz on the 17th of May 2009.

Some of their impressions in Turkey:

Unfortunately, Christian got sick in Turkey and Uwe did not want to ride through Iran all by himself. Still, Uwe decided to fly to Delhi instead and explored some places in Nepal and India by bike. Sounds like some adventure, doesn't it? If you're interested to read more about their journey, then visit their blog on derStandard.at (sorry, only in German): "Mit dem Rad nach Indien".

Another cyclist on the Mahendranagar Highway	Street in Bihar

Still, I won't go to India by bike. Nor anywhere else in the near future. My bike is mostly my local transport, but not my roving vehicle :). Got any (bicycle) traveling plans yourself?

What's up in Hungary?

Although Hungary is Austria's neighboring country and partner in crime in historical terms (I'm sure you heard about the k.u.k. monarchy), I must admit that I have not been there very often. I remember a rather long visit to Budapest in the early 90s, but apart from that I have only passed trough it a couple of times on my way to the Balkans.

But finally I will pay Hungary a proper visit again. It's all due to the Mobility Week launched in Budapest from 16th to 23rd of September 2009, organized by the Hungarian Cyclists' Club. There will be an international workshop on urban mobility and cityscapes. If you're interested, read more about it on their homepage or at the IG Fahrrad homepage (in German). The project description says:

"The objective of the project is to go over the common and alternative forms of city-scale public and individual means of transport and urban land use along with their ability to remodel the cityscape in negative as well as positive ways. We would like to show directly and clearly, that the direction of these future changes strongly depends on our present attitudes."

Although it was a bit unclear in the beginning, I hope now that I can attend all week, meet nice people and have interesting discussions. Greg Spencer from the Cycling Solution Blog already told me that he will be there and give a talk on the 16th. And seemingly Mikael Colville-Andersen from Copenhagenize.com und Copenhagen Cycle Chic should be there too.

Apart from that, Greg also informed me about the problems they have with the City Hall concerning the Margit bridge renovation in Budapest. Apparently, the orginal costs of 47 Mio. € increased to 77 Mio. €, why they now want to delete a bike path from the project. However, the EU subsides the project with 22 Mio. € including the bike path and there will hopefully be some protests coming from that side now. For more details see Greg's post.

Tom Turbo -- the bicycle with the 111 tricks

Most kids in Austria know Tom Turbo very well. Tom Turbo is a kind of a bicycle, but not an ordinary one. He's a bicycle with a face, that can think, talk and drive around on it's own. But that's not the only thing he does. He observes, analyzes and solves crimes. He's a bicycle detective.

Tom Turbo is an invention by Thomas Brezina, one of Austrians most famous authors for children's books. There are dozens of adventures of the Knickerbocker gang that I have read when I was a kid. And most of these stories are actually known worldwide as his books have been translated into dozens of languages and even been picturized.

The wonder bicycle Tom Turbo is more interesting for younger kids. I remember that the books contain a lot of colorful pictures and gadgets. But it's not just the books. Since 1993 we even have a TV series starring Tom (Turbo) and Tom (Thomas Brezina) where they investigate different cases.

I think Tom Turbo is such a cool invention. It is obvious that a bicycle is the most suitable mode of transport for children as it brings them wherever they want to – independently of adults, and fast too. Or could you imagine kids to go through adventures while they have to be driven around by their parents?

Although I grew up with KITT in Knight Rider, I do prefer Tom Turbo ;-). Watch him in action if you like:

Yehuda Moon is back!

Finally, after a few months of absence, Rick Smith continues his great daily comic strip on yehudamoon.com. A must for every city cyclist! Welcome back Yehuda, Joe, Tistle, Fizz, Bike Ninja, Fred (well, he's probably not coming back), Councilman, Carbon Rider, Shakers, kids ... I missed you guys a lot. You definitely make my days.

Here's one of my favorite strips:

Velosophie 2.0

Yesterday the fourth velosophie magazine was published. That's a funky and free magazine dealing with bicycle culture in Austria that was established last year. The online versions are available here (in German). Hard copies can be found in several bike stores all over Austria. Grab it and read it or simply look at the spacy photographs in there!

In the current issue there is amongst others an interview with Heiner Monheim (who initiated the Radlust campaign in Germany) and one with Luud Schimmelpennink (about shared bike systems in Europe), some news about E-bikes, the cultural capital Linz, cool accessories and bikes for urban cycling, a bike trip through Africa (check out their English website) and so on.

But it gets even better! Yesterday Austria's first bicycle culture community was launched as well. If you're also based here make sure you check out velosophie.at and register yourself. There's also a blog that keeps you informed about bicycles in daily life, bike culture, news etc. My humble self is one of the currently five bloggers. And of course I'm looking forward to learn from different perspectives and have inspiring discussions.

Get involved too and let's work on an outstanding and diverse bike culture in Austria (and everywhere else)!

Albert Einstein and bicycles

Well, I guess everybody knows the physicist Albert Einstein, but not many people actually understand the theories he invented and the importance of them. He was an amazing and intelligent person for sure.

And what I particularly appreciate is his attitude towards cycling. There are many quotes about life and cycling related to Albert Einstein. I'm not sure whether they are actually originally his, but they're good anyhow.

Albert Einstein riding his bicycle in Santa Barbara, 1933

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

"I thought of that while riding my bicycle."
(on the theory of relativity)

More interesting quotations about cycling from various people here and on thinkexist. Any quotations of famous people you particularly like?

I also like what Christian Ude (mayor of Munich, Germany) says about cyclists:

"Können wir Leute in Spitzenpositionen brauchen, die zu ängstlich sind, eine Innenstadt radelnd zu durchqueren? Natürlich nicht. Lasst endlich die Radler ran!"

"Do we want people in leading positions that are too scared to cross a city center on a bicycle? Of course not. Let cyclists get at it!"

He also wrote a book called "Stadtradeln" (Citycycling). Something I want to read in the near future.

The bicycle is a great invention!

As the Red Hot Chili Peppers already sing in the "Bicycle Song"

How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention

a lot of people really do forget about that and completely underestimate the transport capabilities of bicycles.

But GEO (a publishing house in Germany for popular scientific magazines) did not forget to mention the bicycle in the list of the 100 most important inventions in the GEO Kompakt magazine, number 18. According to them, the French mathematician Jacques Ozanam was the first to ask in 1694 for "a carriage that can be driven without horses". It took a while though, until the first bicycle was realized -- and the first ones didn't have pedals. In 1817 Baron Karl von Drais introduced his "Laufmaschine" (in English "running machine" or dandy horse). They say that it is controversial who invented the first bicycle with pedals. Apparently it was Pierre Lallement, who was cycling through Paris in 1863.

But well, who cares who invented the bicycle? Nowadays about 1.4 billion bicycles are in use (compared to about 800 million cars and trucks). You guys know why the bicycle is so successful, others yet have to rediscover that again ;-).

It doesn't really fit in here, but as I just read it: The fastest cyclist so far was the Canadian Sam Whittingham in 2008 -- with his recumbent bicycle he reached 132.5 km/h (82.33 mph). Isn't that amazing?

Curious pictures with bicycles

I would like to share some curious paintings with bikes with you, I hope you enjoy them! :)

1- This image was painted by the famous painter Salvador Dalí. Dalí had the genius to paint really good surrealist pictures, and this is a good example. Should you happen to go to Figueres (north-East Spain, bordering France), were he was born, visit his museum. And pay visit to me as well ;)

2- This is another picture from the Catalan Modernist painter Ramon Casas. Have you ever thought of trying a tandem? Since I saw two people riding one when I was a child, I want to try. Who want to "tandem"? By the way this image is very famous around here ;)

3- I do not know whose that image from. But it is a curious bike. I think it is also a modernist (or art noveau) painting.

4- The last image is dedicated to a very well-known character. At least for certain in Spain everybody knows about him (I learnt the first lines by heart when in highschool). I do not know who had the idea to paint this, but is very original. Though there weren't bikes in Spain up in the 17 century...

Anna from BCN

Public space to the people!

I have complained many times about poorly designed bicycle infrastructure in Vienna. But it's not only the traffic planners that should be pointed at. Usually as a traffic planner you have more than one solution to a problem, you work out all the positive and negative aspects of various designs and then present it to the decision makers. It's their business to choose cheap and good solutions for everybody without being influenced by different lobbies.

All the more important it is that there are people that got the big picture. There's for example the Viennese traffic planner and Prof. (emeritus) Hermann Knoflacher of the University of Technology in Vienna. He thinks differently. For example, he walked along the streets with his so-called Gehzeug (walking thingy, a rip-off of the German word Fahrzeug for vehicle) to show how much space one person in a car needs and how unnatural that actually is. Knoflacher also claims that cars just sit around 99% of their time and therefore rather refers to them as Stehzeuge (standing thingy).

Hermann Knoflacher and his invention - the Gehzeug

Hermann Knoflacher can be proud of many things he achieved for pedestrians, e.g. the pedestrian zone in the city center of Vienna (soon after that the shops that previously where against it have increased their profits and in 2001 the historic center became Unesco world cultural heritage). Back in the 60s till 80s traffic planners had cars in mind and not people, and luckily many things have changed ever since. But the car lobby is still very powerful and politicians are mostly not courageous enough to follow the slow movement approach (which at the end of the day doesn't actually mean that one is slower).

One of Knoflacher's most famous statements is that people have to be cured from their car addiction. He says by putting one's car as far away as the next stop for public transport, people wouldn't always simply take the car but reconsider their choices. That would certainly also increase bike and foot traffic.

I don't completely agree with everything that Knoflacher says, but he recognizes problems that others don't see as we are all trapped in a car-focused society. Therefore he's very controversial and often attacked by car advocates. On the other hand it's good that he appears in public, because this gives me hope that others will follow and work for a more human way of transport.

For further reading I recommend:

• The fairkehr website of the Gehzeuge project (in German).

• An interesting interview "Warum das Auto uns verrückt macht" (Why cars drive us crazy) in the German newspaper "Die Zeit".
• The same interview "Autofahren ist schlimmer als Drogensucht" (Driving cars is worse than drug addiction) in the Austrian newspaper "Wiener Zeitung", including further discussions.
  
• The recent documentary "Der Abschied vom Auto" (Good-bye to cars) in the TV program "Zoom Europa" on Arte which can be downloaded here (in German).
  
• Many books (in German and English).

Of course he also published a lot of articles in scientific journals.

What an honor.

Many thanks to Mikael Colville-Andersen for mentioning this blog on Copenhagenize.com. It's a great honor as his blogs actually got me interested in the business of so-called "bike blogging" and are probably a shining example for many others too.