My observations on immigrants and Dutch bikes:

Dutch people are the tallest on average, in Europe. The smallest
adult womens' bike I have seen parked on the street in Amsterdam, is
50 cm. There is much unspoken peer pressure to ride these archetypical 45- lb. black 1- or 3-speed bikes. I am guessing that immigrants
wishing to integrate will try extra-hard to conform by trying to
ride these bikes.. which I suspect is a lousy experience for
them.... no wonder they prefer to take the bus!

Moroccan immigrants are about my size, 5' 1". They are hard-put to
even reach the pedals on these black bohemoths. So, they find themselves either stretching ridiculously far to ride
a 50 cm. woman's black bohemoth... or riding kids' bikes with 20" or
24" wheels.

Furthermore: I have been tasked with adjusting the entire fleet of
childrens' bikes that the Moroccan immigrant women are riding in
their bike lessons... NO one was doing this, before I came along, apparently... they had
been learning to ride on bikes with squishy tires and rubbing
brakes, in some cases...

They have also been learning to ride on bikes with rock-hard €3
narrow plastic saddles, and ( typically) about 10 lbs. of tire
pressure. No doubt they have been wondering how anyone could
possibly enjoy such an experience as bike riding... if only I could
communicate easily with them...!

My Dutch is not that great yet, and a lot of the Moroccan immigrants
in our neighborhood are still learning to speak Dutch themselves... so most of my insights on bike riding among immigrants come from
riding with my Moroccan friend Mina Menaffi, ( whom I met in Dutch
Language class) and who speaks English..

I built up a cute little one-speed bike with 20" wheels, a
comfortable womens' saddle, and a coaster brake for Mina.

We went out riding in Amsterdam... at every intersection she would
be very nervous, and tell me that it was very dangerous.

Now, I know Mina is a smart person.... I explained that the
mortality rates for cyclists in the Netherlands are the lowest of
any nation in the world... and point out that the system of parellel
bike roads in Amsterdam insures ultra-safety for cyclists, at least
compared to what I was used to in California... Hell, even that Auto
drivers in Amsterdam are deathly afraid to hit cyclists, as the
accident is automatically their fault unless they can prove
otherwise, according to Dutch law.

None of these arguments helped her feel more safe, however. So
whenever we got to an intersection where cars were present, we
walked our bikes across. And we made sure to ride in some of the
big parks in Amsterdam, such as the Amsterdamse Bos, and
Vondelpark. And we had a lot of fun. As far as I could tell, the
idea of being hit by a car, is what keeps her from riding her bike
to ..Centraal Station from her apartment. There are a lot of
intersections to walk one's bike across... better to take the tram.

There is the whole learning-to-balance aspect of why immigrants are
reluctant to ride bikes, but that is something that once overcome,
is not a problem ever again. (right?)

The bike lessons are taught out of the neighborhood community
centers... every neighborhood has one, and where women congregate
there for a lot of other activities.. get-togethers, lessons of
various types... even an Obama Election party.. which I happened
upon, in which the Turkish and Moroccan women were celebrating by
making Turkish Pizzas and dancing to Rai Music! ... bike lessons are presented as just another fun activity....

About coming to visit us in Amsterdam... It appears that my Dutch
consultant and I have found a neighborhood shop space for the bike
center.. it is still tentative at this point... but I am hoping it
would be possible for you and your wife to crash there, if worst
comes to worst... By the time the weather turns warm, we would have
a lot more information...

We're invited streams of friends and relatives to visit us from the
U.S., and some of them are actually coming... but not sure exactly
when... etc. so I can't extend any promises on space in our
apartment... more info coming soon, hopefully, on shop space an
availability...

As to whether we are permanent here...

I am writing a business plan to show to Dutch Immigration... if they
approve it we get to stay for another year. Meanwhile I am laying
the groundwork for setting up a Dutch non-profit corporation...
which is unspeakably complicated, compared to doing the same thing
in California... there is no Nolo Press book to guide a person with
that here.

Short answer... we are doing our damndest to stay here long-term.
However Dutch immigration policy may be affected by the so-called
'Krediet Crisis'... we will have to see how bad it gets.

Regards,

Wendy

Op Mar 10, 2009, om 6:33 AM heeft Rigel Christian het volgende
geschreven:

...

I think that the mobility thing is precisely what the religio- cultural proscriptions are trying to avoid. kind of like japanese foot- binding. its not particularly logical, i guess, but there are certain barriers to entry for both driving an automobile as well as use of public transportation, that a bike just doesnt have. this makes the latter form the most difficult to control.

i'm at a disadvantage here without knowing the lay of the cultural land, but i think that if you could find a major women-only cultural activity to hawk your bike wares to, so to speak, then that might
be a better sell. the american analog of what im trying to get at would be going to the sewing circle and saying "hey, we have bikes for you to use if you'd like." maybe that's been tried, but i tend to think that ethnic woman-specific cultural activities dont have a whole lot of visibility in the broader culture.

incidentally, regarding your earlier invite to show us around, the wife and i were talking about our trip tonight and we really dont
have the money to do the trip we'd like. if you have some crash space, where we could sleep in a garage or something (we have air
mattresses, sleeping bags, etc) for four or five days, we might be able to actually do a ten day europe trip. the cost of housing being what it is, even hostels, its otherwise pretty untenable for us at this
point. we might still pull something off, but its gonna take a lot of
charity and couches.

do you two plan on coming back stateside anytime soon? i mean, is this location temporary for you or permanent?

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 9:25 PM, Wendy Monroe <wendy.monroe@usermail.com

...

wrote: HI Christine, Thanks for the links... they are certainly food for thought.
Would it show cultural insensitivity on my part to try to win the immigrant
population of Amsterdam Noord over to the cycling lifestyle? One thing I have personally observed... the women who show up at
the bicycle lessons are not really enthused about the cycling itself. It is
more that they get a chance to hang out and mingle together outside their
homes. This research result ( In the German study) does not surprise me: 'Even after comprehensive training and instruction, cycling is for
many of them an “uncanny,” “dangerous,” and also “weird” activity
predominantly reserved for the ethnic Dutch' Yup, that would explain a few things... I used to think that, given the vast sums of money spent by the
Dutch government .. tens of millions of euros each year!!... to encourage immigrant women to ride bikes, a more effective campaign might be
to instead send teams of cyclists to rove around major cities in Holland,
handing out 20 euro notes, to each woman seen riding along with a head scarf
on...every single day. I am also wondering how well an earn-a-bike program might go over
in a youth population of Moroccans,... ' where the bicycle has a bad image
and little status value..' Would they even show up for such a program? I'm thinking an earn-a-bike program might be a tough sell, unless
it is marketed as job-training of sorts, for a future career of
repairing scooters and cars. It is a sorry state of affairs, to those of us who came
from a California-style bike culture. But it may be the social reality
here. Oh Noooo... I just started reading the second article...( thanks,
Google Translate!) "The latest controversy reported by the website Elaph.com
"(29/12/207) is a sad illustration, verging on the ridiculous, as was the fatwa on"
nursing major. "Indeed, the last discovery of a fatwa that forbids Muslim
women to practice cycling, because according to the religion that spread,
"straddle the saddle of the bicycle engender women as sexual arousal, and
the bike becomes this point of view, a prohibited object. " My first reaction being, ' Oh damn, now Men know our Secret!!' (Just kidding.) I don't even know what to say, after reading THAT. I guess I will
sign off and read the rest of that article... cheers, Wendy _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org To manage your subscription, plase visit: http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...