Bike Snob Abroad: Strange Customs, Incredible Fiets, and the Quest for Cycling Paradise

by Bike Snob NYC

The doyen of bike etiquette leaves NYC behind to experience a strange new world of cycling—through London, Amsterdam, and beyond.What does it really mean to be a bike-friendly country? BikeSnobNYC decided to find out for himself. With his toddler son in tow, he heads to London, Amsterdam, Gothenburg, and San Vito dei Normanni in search of the ultimate bike culture. With humorous anecdotes and his trademark wit and wisdom, BikeSnobNYC takes us on his most personal narrative journey yet, and ultimately shines a light on the growing pains that exist in any culture that asks smartphone-obsessed text-happy pedestrians, the two-wheeled, and the four-wheeled to share the road.

Genres: Cycling, Nonfiction, Bicycles, Travel, Sports, Humor

155 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2013

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don't need to be obsessed with cycling to love this book. The author lives in New York City and commutes by bike, which is a challenge, especially with a small child in a seat behind him. The Bike Snob travels to several cities in Europe to compare the cycling cultures, and finds that some places are much more bike-friendly than others. I especially like the description of Amsterdam, where everyone wonders what you're doing if you don't have a bicycle. Though I haven't been riding in years, I liked this funny, smart, and insightful book. After reading it, I decided I may have to get back on that bike! I won a free copy of this book from Good Reads.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like riding bikes and short bursts of laughter that make your drink shoot out of your nose, this is the book for you.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

bikesnobnyc asks how we can go to next level in bicycles in usa, that of it being no big deal to use bikes everyday, for commuting, chores, exercise, fun, family. he uses the some tropes from his blog and 2 previous books, how there is a disconnect between kids riding bikes for fun, to grownups riding for sport, but no in betweens, hardly none anyway. so he travels to bike heavens (portland or., london, amsterdam, southern italy, sweden) to experience for himself and wife and little child what that would be like. turns out the dutch teach him what fully integrated and worthy biking looks like. it looks like nothing, it is just normal. no car drivers cursing, spitting, throwing trash on bike riders, no "bike tribes" holding on in their own segregated worlds of $6000 bikes and spandex or hipsters with big glasses or nyc road warriors delivering packages, but just people going on with their lives, mostly on bikes. if one doesn't already look at car culture as destructive and all-powerful and skewed, he can shed some light on usa 'lifestyle' (death style?) of cars and help readers analyze the world around them. bikesnobnyc IS a snarky mf, and probably many discount him as a thinker and writer, but if read with and open mind his observations are fresh and help one understand the place you live and how you live.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right after reading BikeSnobNYC's first two books and being highly disappointed with them, I went ahead and checked out his third book (from the library), despite that over-quoted "definition" of insanity and expecting different results from the same thing. The first half of the book seemed to prove that quote wrong, or at least proved to be an exception. I enjoyed how the blogger let go of his repetitive attempts at humour and simply stuck to telling helpful stories that had more sincerity and heart than pretension. I didn't even care that the book wasn't all about traveling abroad. In fact, the parts of the book that justify the title reveal how little Eben Weiss (the author's real name) has traveled outside of the U.S. or even New York City for that matter.

His latest growth in perspective has come from being a new father and husband, and portrays a tension between the excitement of portaging one's toddler and the irrational judgments that come from our society's motor-centric denizens. Weiss is just as oblivious to his own privilege as he was in his first two books, constantly throwing pity parties about his many woes as a straight, white, married, cis male who makes enough money to maintain a fleet of expensive bikes and at least one automobile that he sometimes uses to drive his bikes outside of the city before getting on them. Oh, and now, because of his success making snarky blogs, he gets flown around the world and pampered by organizers and industry manufacturers who want the Snob to endorse their luxury products. But because he loves riding bicycles, his writing always goes back to how much he has to endure the hatred of society.

Like I said, the story-telling aspect of this book was much more enjoyable to me than his first two books, but about halfway through, it starts to feel like he's just filling pages and going back to waxing philosophical about the way of the world when all he really knows is the way of NYC.

Additionally, the last chapter seemed to be entirely unedited, and several portions read like frustrating, anticlimactic non sequiturs. For example, when he arrives in London with his wife and son, he explains how excited he was to test out the bike share program (which NYC hadn't started yet at the time), but because the city bikes didn't come with child seats, he went off to be measured for a "bespoke cycling coat." After googling "bespoke," I know that it's an old term for tailored clothing, but when I was reading this portion, the context combined with the fact that "spoke" and "cycling" were in the name of this fancy coat led me to hope that we were about to hear about some amazing, expensive, nice-looking coat that doubles as a baby sling. Nope. I really wish that was what had happened, but instead, he just describes looking around at things during the fitting, forgoes cycling in London altogether during this leg of the trip, and never mentions the coat again.

The way BikeSnob draws out the second half of the book with an elaborate metaphor of Amsterdam and London as "America's" parents (scare quotes because I get really irritated by xenophobic tendency to refer to the United States as America, thereby writing off every other group of people in North, Central, and South America) and turns in a sorry excuse for a report-back on a few short stays in different countries brought down my opinion of the book and the writer by multiple stars.

Another point I want to make about this book is that, despite it being ostensibly a book about families riding bikes in peace, we never hear from Eben Weiss' wife. He sets up lots of anecdotes with lengthy quotes from random strangers, and mentions his toddler's mutterings more than once, but we never learn his wife's thoughts about all this.

[citybeagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! I am not a huge fan of the Bike Snob blog or his first book, both of which are a disconnected series of rants. But I was interested to see his take on cycling in other cities and, while still filled with the kind of acid observations Bike Snob is known for, this turned out to be a much more thoughtful, thematic book.

And I agree wholeheartedly with his theme: why can't we just have a normal relationship with bicycles in this country? Riding a bicycle here so often identifies you as part of a specific subculture: the spandex-clad weekend warriors on $5,000 carbon-frame bikes; the hipsters on their fixies; the bicycle-as-fashion statement or bicycle-as-environmental-statement crowds. Why can't we just see bicycles as a sensible form of getting from A to B in a densely-packed but relatively small and flat urban environment? Even in bike-friendly Portland we can't seem to get it right.

What I love about places like the Netherlands and Copenhagen is that riding a bike isn't something you do; it's just second nature. Nobody thinks about it and no one is doing it to make a statement about anything. You'll see families, blue-collar workers, girls in dresses and 5-inch heels, and professionals with briefcases, all on bicycles just because it's a reasonable way to get around town.

It could happen here and I hope it will happen here. We're not trying to turn New York into Amsterdam by saying it would be nice if bicycles and pedestrians could make safe use of the streets, too. But the recent addition of bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and the coming bike share system have all been hot political issues because many people still believe that every transportation decision should put cars first, and that every square inch of roadbed should be dedicated solely to the use and parking of cars. This is indeed a fragile, watershed moment and I hope we don't fall back to where we came from.

[Dewayne Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agreement with several of author's remarks regarding Black SUVs and the lack of investigation into bicycle riders being hit my cars. I ride my bicycles for pleasure and transportation. The book is full of smart remarks and good humor. The author has ridden a bike and still does. Lots of bike books are written by desk jockeys.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there certainly were flashes of the Bike Snob’s previous wit and humor and cutting insight, his latest book is little more than a self-wallowing and poorly edited tale of discovery in which the author finds that Amsterdam is not at all like Brooklyn.

[Hannah Weinberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Travel reminds you of the folly of solipsism, and of the fact that your reality is not necessarily reality." And the last page, are the things that stand out most to me.

[Gonçalo Antunes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast easy reading book, humorous (sometimes not that good), sarcastic and thought provoking, about commute cycling in different places between europe and the states and the important issues around cycling safety and society transformation. Cool views between cycling as a fashion and a way of life.

[Trevor McGuire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I finally decided to finish this book just to compare it to the other bike blogger book I recently read (Frostbike). It turns out that books written by bloggers just aren't my thing. I found the sarcasm in this book to be too cynical and constant, but I guess that's the author's schtick.

[Johnny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring. Almost too boring to keep a place as bathroom reading.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

clever and funny

[Greg Golz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book continues my hope to do more city touring by bike, especially on vacation. I had a great time exploring Nashville with their bike rental program.

[Madeline Kruschke · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun and quirky with some laugh out loud moments. damn i love cycle culture

[Ruben · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book feels dated and the author writes like a long-form blog. I like some of the ideas behind this one but the pacing, tone, and overall vacation recap content wasn’t to my taste

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like BSNYC, I own and enjoy his first two books and have read his blog every day since the fourth post (I even got him to make fun of my bike in an early post!). I've enjoyed his career arc, so to speak, and as someone from a similar background and age, I feel that I've matured along similar lines. The writings he's done have, while satirical, have been relevant to me for the most part, except this whole family cycling thing. That, and BSNYC not doing a publicity stop in PDX for this book, kept me from purchasing at the release date. Well, having read about his Big Dummy and son portaging on the blog, and my new son having just reached a safe age to be portaged himself, I got myself a Big Dummy this week. So I figured I had cause, now, to buy this book. I'm very glad I did. As a young man I'd enjoyed the kind of us vs. them thing about cycling, and BSNYC would usually have some very, again, relevant to me remarks and thoughtful commentary to solidify and explain to me that which I felt but couldn't articulate about my place in the world (or the road, at least) as a cyclist. As I grew up a little, I tired of being angry, every ride being a war, every interaction with a driver being a rage-fueled confrontation. I was ready to let go and try to just be happy while riding. About the time this change was happening to me, BSNYC released the Enlightened Cyclist book and it couldn't have been more timely. And here we are again, on the same page. The theme of this book isn't so much about the rides he takes with family, but it's his desire to see America accept us bike riders as just normal and to stop accepting the death and carnage of automobile "accidents." I don't think I'd have enjoyed this book as much two years ago, and certainly wouldn't have liked it back when he started the blog ("cmon and make fun of goofy bikes again, dude," I'd say). But to hear him talk about the very perfect joy of riding bicycles with his family to run errands or to go to a park or picnic or beach resonates very strongly with me. In more than a few passages of this book (and the previously mentioned Enlightened Cyclist) I've felt like we are two Dudes with the same mind. I am similarly grossed out by the way cyclists are treated by the media, police, automobile drivers and the public in general. I am also similarly bursting with joy to be able to ride with my son and wife. So here we are again, Mr. BSNYC. It's been a joy growing up with you, and I thank you for your time and your words. I hope we can be friends always, even though we've yet to meet.

Oh, I would've given this 5 stars if it hadn't been so dang short; it's like a two hour read. But a good one!

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

In his third book, Mr. Snob produces a book that looks like it will make observations about cycling outside the United States, but it is really more about cycling with his family - to the extent that it is about anything in particular.

Having produced a first book that was fairly focused and seemed a reasonable variation on his blogging style, he then quickly produced a second book that was much the same but . . . boring. This third book lacks any structure and is 191 pages of stream of conscious.

Mr. Snob's wants to answer the question, "why can't we (motorists, pedestrians, cyclists) all get along?" based on his analysis of evidence gathered from his foreign travels. Foreign readers of his blog have paid for him to visit Gothenburg (Sweden) and San Vito dei Normanni (Italy) for a few days and he also spent a few weeks in London and Amsterdam and on the basis of three weeks in four countries, he decides that it is some kind of national American character fault - we don't like "weak stuff." (Really, that's what he concludes.)

The publisher blurb refers to "his trademark biting wit and wisdom" - I'm doubtful Mr. Snob would claim his wit and wisdom are his strong points in his blog writing. What he does well in his blog it to make some observations, generally of the "isn't that amazingly dumb?" variety, on a number of disparate cycling topics, and then tie them together at the end of the blog post, occasionally quite cleverly. He also is often somewhat potty mouthed, which isn't really necessary but is integral to his writing style (such as it is). This book has little of any of that, it hardly seems like the same author.

I checked this one out of the library, so at least it didn't cost me anything.

[Larry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was neither as good nor as consistent as the author's first. In fact, one could argue that this was several different long magazine articles shuffled into one book. And the title? While the author does report on himself being "abroad", much of the book is not outside America and has nothing whatsoever to do with being abroad. So, (1) we have sort of general comments about dealing with other bicycle people in just a few other countries. (2) We have sometimes almost mindless chatter about how his life is good, and, by the way, we like riding our bikes as a family. And then, (3) we have some the author's best work on the very essence of using a bicycle in American society. In fact, I'd like to take roughly a fourth of the book and republish it as, "What Every Non-Cyclist Should Know About Cycling in America and What Every New Cyclist Better Learn Very Fast". The author has expanded his family since his first book. Perhaps, he is more distracted. Perhaps, a new child has shifted his values somewhat. Perhaps, his energies have been spread over more areas. In any event, there are very certainly parts worth reading, essential even, for cyclists as well as for those in love with their cars, but some of this is just twaddle.

[JDK1962 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, enjoyable and clever writing, but ultimately felt like sound and fury signifying nothing. Yes, we're all outraged that drivers kill cyclists without consequence, but...can't you provide more depth than to merely express momentary outrage? Yes, we're aware that there are different sub-cultures of riders, but...so? Yes, we're aware that many drivers (and many cyclists) are asshats...thank you for pointing out human nature. 80% of the book seemed to be pointing out how much things suck (albeit in an entertaining and amusing fashion).

And how could you mention Jack Thurston in London without also mentioning that he's the host of The Bike Show on Resonance FM (probably the best cycling related radio show/podcast around)?

[Adrian Fingleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I raced through this book - it was a very easy and accessible read. As a recent convert to cycling I found the stories compelling, interesting and engaging and there were a few great phrases in there that I hope to steal for future outpourings of my own. Imitation/flattery and all that. I notice this guy also has a well supported blog so I have started following him on Twitter too.

The primary reason I read this book btw was that I was able to download it as an e-book from my local public library. I downloaded it to my Kindle fire and read it suing software called 'Overdrive' in my web browser. So another first - but I do plan to read his blog too and may check out his first book. Worth a read, especially if you have strong thoughts about cycling (and hey, who doesn't?)...

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was already a big fan of BikeSnobNYC from his Bicycling magazine columns and his previous books. This latest book was everything I expected it to be. Classic BikeSnob. It was both thought provoking and hilarious. I especially love BikeSnob's sarcastic, clever descriptions of weird cycling behavior. It makes me laugh until I cry, even though I am essentially laughing at myself, because it's all true. And as someone who occasionally daydreams of moving to the cycling paradise of Amsterdam, I was quite pleased to read BikeSnob's synopsis--"It's real, and it's spectacular." My daydream can live on. This book is probably best enjoyed by those who really love bikes. The rest of you are missing out. You should go ride a bike and then read this book.

[Daniel Christenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first encountered The Bike Snob NYC,
AKA Eben Weiss, he was writing a cynical and acerbic humor column for Bicycling magazine. publishing books and posting a blog now. His books are more earnest, full of "life is wonderful" stuff. In his books he moves away from racing to promoting bicycles as a valid way to get somewhere. Is and always has been about bicycle culture. We follow Bike Snob as he finds delight in carrying his toddler son on the back, as he visits the world's foremost bicycling city, Amsterdam, plus Gothenberg Sweden, Portland Oregon, and a town in Southern, Italy where he seems to have acquired a following.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I follow the bike snob blog but this book was different than his normal blog. I enjoyed this book a lot because the stories he tells and the issues he talks about are so true to being a cyclist in Calgary. Many times his stories ring true as having happened to me or something that certainly will in the future.
His primary point is that cycling should not be considered something crazy and radical to do, it should not automatically make you a part of a subculture, it should just be a fun and convenient way to transport yourself and your family around the city you live in.

[Ron S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iconoclastic blogger and social critic BikeSnobNYC travels outside the 20 square miles he's always lived within in search of more progressive cycling cultures. He finds them, pretty much where you'd expect (e.g. Amsterdam, Portland) and the book is short on variety, but this book is mostly about preaching to the choir anyway. If you haven't read him before, there is a lot of humorous self deprecating snark here to enjoy, executed deftly enough to prevent legitimate social commentary from coming across as boring rants.

[David Ackland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a gift for christmas, and I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. It was mainly enjoyable, but that was probably because I ride my bike a lot, so can relate to a lot of what happens in the book (maybe if you drive a large "SUV" (the writer is American) you might disagree). The actual plot was a bit disjointed, as it was more of a recount of the past few years, merged with a mini - autobiography, which is similar to a blog (the writer is a blogger). To conclude, it is definitely worth a read, whether you ride bikes or not.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bike snob makes a lot of (sometimes repetitive) observations worth pondering. I do like how he draws a distinction between places like Portland, where bicycling is in 'fashion' and Amsterdam, where biking is just a way of life. He prefers the latter. I'm happy that Madison is closer to Amsterdam in attitude than Portland, but we need to be careful to what we aspire! A little bike smugness goes a long way.

[Butch Byers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Folks who enjoy the bike snob's sarcasm will greatly enjoy the new addition. And if like me, you (1) have kids and (2) are from a US city and have spent any time at all in Amsterdam and/or London - and wondered, why don't we do it that way - this is one of the funniest, thought-provoking books about the differences in cycling culture across the pond ever.

And closing with an intro to the ways of the Italian cyclist is just a bonus.....

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and humorous read: BikeSnobNYC writing is witty and reads well. I even chuckled aloud a couple of times while reading this. It has definitely made me look forward to cycling in Europe, and resulted in some reminiscing of my cycles to school in the Netherlands.Whether I enjoyed this book so much due to my love of bikes (which helped me relate to his stories), or because it is actually a great book, I'm not sure. A combination of both, I think!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book touches on many cliches that exist here and abroad with a light tone that doesn't take anything too seriously. The author makes fun of himself and realizes oftentimes the irony and contradictions in many aspects of how we view life. Many of the cliches hit home and this was just a fun light read. A good reminder that the way Americans view life is not the only view in the world.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's preaching to the choir in me. But unlike other earnest bike advocates, he made me chuckle out loud on several occasions that I think non-bikers would find it good fun (and hopefully persuasive).