Just thought everyone might like to know what happens when Dutch Bike Chicago heads over to Dutch Bike Seattle. Watch until the end to see who forms the head.  Who is that guy?

Padraic Swanton of Chicago's Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce sent Stephan these questions in anticipation of publishing a story about the Dutch Bike Co. in The Source summer 2010 edition.

LPCC:  How long has Dutch Bike Co. been in business? Personally, how long have you been working for them?

SS [StephanSchier]:  Dutch Bike Co was founded in Seattle by David Schmidt in the spring of 2007.  I became involved as a partner in October of 2007.  We decided during the Summer of 2008 to open a Chicago store and I moved to Chicago in September 2008.  We opened for business a few weeks later in the middle of October. I am now back in Seattle.

LPCC:  What sets you apart from your competition in Chicago or across the country?

SS:  Right from the start we decided we were going to become the Dutch bike experts – so we import ourselves, directly from Holland and focus on classic utility bikes – the bikes most typical to Amsterdam residents.  Many of us live an everyday bicycling lifestyle, so we understand the needs of families and individuals who might never consider themselves “cyclists” in the sporting sense of the word, but want to ride a bike.  We were the first to set up multiple locations (including warehousing bikes in NY) so that we could serve customers across the nation, and we have customers from coast to coast.  We specialized in shipping fully assembled bikes all over the USA – typically getting to our customers in less than a week.  We also have an online store at which people can purchase bikes and accessories.

Q: I need a bike.  What should I be looking for?

You should look for a bike that is comfortable and meets your goals and  needs.  Are you training or are you commuting; do you want to shop or carry children; will you ride in inclement weather or at night?  Answers to these questions will inform the types of bikes and accessories we would recommend.  From there it's a question of how much money would you like to spend.  We would always recommend buying the highest quality bike you can afford..  Our best WorkCycles bikes will last you a lifetime.

LPCC:  What’s the most common question clients ask you?

SS:  Because of our Dutch bikes' size and heft: “Aren't these hard to ride up hills?”  In Chicago (unlike Seattle) hills are not much of an issue, but our most popular WorkCycles all have the smoothest shifting, 8-speed internally geared hubs which will get most anyone (if they take their time) up most any hill.

LPCC:  Why Chicago?

SS:  Mayor Daley and the high level of cycling advocacy going on in Chicago was and continues to be a big attraction. The hundreds of miles existing bike lanes.  The flat topography and neighborhood oriented lifestyle create a perfect climate for incorporating cycling into our everyday lives.  In example, in Lincoln Park everything is within ten minutes by bike, from Trader Joes, to Whole Foods, to the gym, to the lake, to the post office and bank – there is little need for a car.

LPCC:  How has your company changed over the years? Have you seen changes in the LPCC or the Chicago community?

SS:  We grew quickly, took some early risks (coming to Chicago) and we've consolidated (closing our NY warehouse during the economic downturn) and now we are more cautiously moving our original shop to a new location in Seattle's historic Ballard Ave district which will include a cafe. Chicago continues to be an anchor.  We are happy to have survived a rough period in which it seemed there were far too many empty storefronts in our Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Q:  What are today’s trends in your business?  

SS:  Cycling fashions that look like everyday clothes.  More practical everyday bikes for non-”cyclists”, that come equipped with baskets, racks, fenders and chain guards.  Cargo bikes (which we love), electric assisted bikes and more specialized (and expensive and trendy) bikes for sports and recreation from cyclocross, to downhill, to bmx, to fixed-gear.  Cycling is more hip across a wide range of ages, occupations and lifestyles.  Visit progressive Portland Oregon for a day and you will see the signs of the revolution.

LPCC:   What do you look forward to most on a day-to-day basis?

SS:  In Chicago, a grinning new customer riding away on their new bike.  Seeing customers riding through the neighborhood taking their kids to school, shopping or going to work.  Knowing that a bike can greatly improve the quality of someones life.  In Seattle, I look forward to sunshine.

LPCC:  What’s one thing you’d like everyone to know about Dutch Bike Co. or yourself?

SS:  More than just being technical experts on Dutch and other bikes used for transportation and cargo, we  live with bikes as our primary means of transportation.  We love our bikes, but more importantly, we strive to love our city lives.  Our beautiful and practical Dutch bikes support our view of an urban American utopia, where public transportation, pedestrians and cycle-friendly neighborhoods are king.

Q:  Anything you’d like to add about your experience with the LPCC?

SS:  Thank you for being advocates for our business and those of our peers in the Lincoln Park community.

Our favorite man in the field, Gregg Bleakney is currently embedded with the Colombian national cycling team training in the high altitude of Medellin.  We had a chance to Skype this morning and he sent me some pic's from his recent days in Bogota.  Here you can see the everyday cycling culture in some of the poorest parts of the city.  In the last few years, the city of Bogota has built hundreds of kilometers of cycling lanes equally through both the poorest and wealthiest sections of of the city.  This has seemingly made life more egalitarian and reportedly greatly reduced crime.  Check out the burly and practical cargo bikes on which many family members are taken to work and school.

The road below is a dedicated bikeway, along which a cottage bike repair industry grows. Note man in background wearing backpack with passenger on front of his double top-tube, yellow cargo bike.

The two pic's below illustrate the great contrast between the wealthy, freeway serviced areas of Bogota and the barrio, yet note the attention to bikeway detail in both areas. There is pride amongst the residents in knowing that the government will spend money to improve even the poorest areas of town.

A recent article in the Washington Post, "For Bicyclists, a Widening Patchwork World: U.S. Lags Behind Two-Wheeled Boom" by Blaine Harden illustrates the growth of cycling worldwide.  In the case of cycling infrastructure, the bottom line is - if you build it they will come.  This has been proven in cities all over the globe.  The article was accompanied by the video below of a sweet bike parking system in Tokyo and an interview with the president of Giant Bicycles.

In the wake of Paris' successful Velib program, other European municipalities are taking note and considering similar programs to liberate their inner cities. The European Cyclists' Federation reported at the end of November that London Wants 80,000 Rental Bikes: The City Council of the UK capital has revealed an ambitious scheme to stimulate the use of bikes. Mayor Ken Livingstone has set a target of 80% increase in cycling by 2010. One of the means to reach this target could be the implementation of 80,000 rental bikes. As well, earlier in September, Cycling England the UK's national bicycle planning, advocacy and lobbying organization made public its 86 page research report Valuing the Benefits of Cycling filled with all sorts of great little tidbits:

If a cyclist makes 160 trips a year of 3.9km, rather than take a car, this would equate to savings for other road users of £137.28 a year as a result of reduced congestion in urban areas and £68.64 in rural environments.

There are over 30 million motorists in the UK, some likely stuck in traffic at this very moment. Apparently, cyclists can save them some time and money. I love seeing cycling's monetary, health and environmental benefits made more tangible.

To further the cause and provide more tangible data, Cycling England features its six showpiece cycling towns which are sharing nearly £17 million [$32 million US] to promote cycling:

There are currently four after school cycling clubs in Derby and while there is funding for another five, with the help of Cycling England's funding, Derby plans to increase this number to 27! Derby was the first local authority in the country to have a specific Community Sports Cycle Coach to work with these after school clubs and more coaches are in the pipeline.

I'd say cycling is becoming the way for some towns in the UK. I'm rooting for London to commit to a Velib-like program.

Gradually bicycles have inched into the political conversation about urban mobility. Increased cycling has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases, improve health, clean our air and streams like no other transportation modality. Many European cities have embraced this point of view whole-heartedly, lead by the oft celebrated examples of mobile culture, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The "Copenhagenization" of US cities should be on every green and mobility oriented politicians to-do list. EU transportation planners are so far ahead of us, that some of their initiatives may seem insane to the everyday US citizen. Though it's already a bit dated (but still ahead of it's time in the US), here is a great example as reported by the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association: The more recent trend in European traffic engineering ideas is to actually remove signs and signals--and in some cases even sidewalks--to force drivers to pay more attention to the road for their visual cues, with a resulting drop in accidents involving pedestrians. An important point to take away from this is that by being open to thinking differently about how drivers will respond to different roadway configurations and uses, we can discover new ways of making the streets safer. Calming traffic and making streets safer is just one of the components to making city streets fertile for cycling. The landscape to a cycle-friendly future is vast. Many Seattle citizens and politicians are preoccupied with crumbling viaducts, cute trolleys and (for heaven's sake, even) proposing licensing fees for cyclists. The beauty, efficiency, health, aesthetic and environmental benefits of cycling get lost lost in the mire. When these benefits are taken into account as a whole, we can see that cyclists should be getting paid for the benefits — reduced congestion, no emissions, longer lasting roadways, increased parking, improved health and productivity in the workplace — which they bring to society. Because of this vast landscape and the political distractions of maintaining an automobile-centric society, local citizens and politicians may not feel they have enough justification, research or support to move more confidently forward on behalf of the bicycle. As a way of instigating some healthy nationalistic competition, I suggest reading the illuminating paper Why Canadians Cycle more than Americans. The Canadians (in comparison to the Europeans) are not the world leaders, but they are three times more likely to use a bicycle than US citizens. Add to that, the ever-strengthening loonie as a prod, and we may inspire a transit inferiority complex. So, if we can bear this first little step, we can look to Canada for some inspiration: In spite of their colder climate, Canadians cycle about three times more than Americans. The main reasons for this difference are Canada’s higher urban densities and mixed-use development, shorter trip distances, lower incomes, higher costs of owning, driving and parking a car, safer cycling conditions, and more extensive cycling infrastructure and training programs. Most of these factors result from differences between Canada and the United States in their transport and land-use policies, and not from intrinsic differences in history, culture or resource availability. That is good news, since it suggests the possibility of significantly increasing cycling levels in the United States by adopting some of the Canadian policies that have so effectively promoted cycling and enhanced its safety. —John Pucher , Ralph Buehler Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney, Newtown NSW 2006, Australia; Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, 33 Livingston Avenue, Room 363, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA Once our national self-esteem has stabilized and we are ready as citizens, business leaders and elected officials to better support a bicycle-friendly future we can look to the Europeans. The great news is that the European Union has already spent hundreds of millions on better bicycle, pedestrian and public transit infrastructure, as well as research. The fruits of this research have been presented as a road map for all aspiring municipalities. This road map is in the form of European Commission's Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities - A handbook for local authorities: Every day European cities demonstrate that a reduction in the use of private cars is not just desirable but feasible. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bremen, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Ferrara, Graz and Strasbourg apply incentives that favour public transport, car-sharing and bicycles, along with restrictive measures on the use of private cars in their town centres. These cities do not harm their economic growth or access to their shopping centres. In fact, they promote them because they understand that unbridled use of cars for individual journeys is no longer compatible with easy mobility or the majority of citizens. This point of view is light-years beyond the myopia of simply proposing a licensing fee for cyclists. It reaches into all aspects of city life and culture. It illuminates a mobile utopia within our grasp. So, for those of us looking to fuel our zeal for a greater self-propelled, two-wheeled future, I highly recommend reading "the way ahead." I wish to thank my friends at the always educational, inspirational and entertaining Cycliciousness for bringing this report to my attention.