Category: Bike

  • Pete Jordan Reads From In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist 5/5

    In The City Of Bikes Cover

    Pete Jordan, author of Dishwasher, tells the story of his love affair with Amsterdam, the city of bikes, all the while unfolding an unknown history of the city’s cycling, from the craze of the 1890s, through the Nazi occupation, to the bike-centric culture adored by the world today.

    Part personal memoir, part history of cycling, part fascinating street-level tour of Amsterdam, IN THE CITY OF BIKES: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist is the story of a man who loves bicycling in a city that is obsessed with bikes.

    When Pete’s story begins, his goals for an upcoming semester abroad are clear: study how to make America’s cities more bicycle friendly, and then return home—simple and straightforward. Once he sets foot in Amsterdam, however, Pete falls immediately in love with the city that already lives life on two wheels—and suddenly, he can’t imagine living anywhere else.

    But hardships loom in Pete’s adopted homeland. As Pete skips from one short-term apartment rental to the next, stability stays just out of reach and work is increasingly difficult to find. Meanwhile he stumbles upon unforeseen pleasures in his daily bike rides and begins his dig into the city’s cycling past. What he discovers there is no less an untold cultural history of Amsterdam.

    From cycling’s beginning as an elitist pastime in the 1890s to the street-consuming craze of the 1920s, from the bicycle’s role in city-wide resistance to the Nazi occupation to the legendary (yet mythical) success of the White Bikes in the 1960s all the way up to the mysterious bike fishermen of today, in IN THE CITY OF BIKES Jordan illuminates the bicycle’s integral role in shaping both the psyche and city of Amsterdam.

    “An excellent choice for bikers and those who appreciate how a city’s history can be changed by the simplest of passions.”

    –Kirkus Reviews

     

    “Part memoir, part history, the book gives readers looking to unlock the city’s secrets an opportunity to follow in the author’s tracks.”

    –Publishers Weekly

    Pete Jordan is the author of the memoir Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. Pete’s work has been featured on public radio’s “This American Life” and in The New York Times. He lives with his son in Amsterdam.

    Sunday, May 5th, 3pm – Free Event

    For more info, download In the City of Bikes Press Release from the publisher.

  • Quimby's Participates In Bookstore Crawl 2012

     

    Participating:
    Heritage Bicycles • 2959 N Lincoln Ave
    Powell’s North • 2850 N Lincoln Ave
    Bookworks • 3444 N Clark St
    Unabridged • 3251 N Broadway
    Quimby’s • 1852 W North Ave
    Open Books • 213 W Institute Pl
    Powell’s • 1218 S Halsted St
    Crawl starts at 1pm at Heritage Bicycles! Spend the day with your two favorite inventions, bicycles and books!

    It finally ends at Powell’s in University Village (1218 S. Halsted) for the opening of “Bike Crawl: An Art Show,” which starts at 7pm.
    Featured local artists: Kyle Baker, Todd Irwin, Deborah Maris-Lader, Jay Ryan, Maria Sanchez, Shawn Stuckey, Michael Una, and Julia Victor Curated by Kyra Termini
    For more info, click the images above.

  • Active Transportation Experts Jason Rothstein and John Greenfield

    Two of Chicago’s experts on “active transportation” adventure come together to discuss the joys of exploring your environment without stinking up the environment. Jason Rothstein and John Greenfield read from their books celebrating car-free travel, Carless in Chicago and Bars Across America.

    Carless In Chicago: Survive and Thrive Car-Free In the Windy City by Jason Rothstein

    carlessImagine living in Chicago with more money in your pocket, a smaller bulge around your middle, and less stress about getting from point A to B. Whether you’re an autoholic or a motorphobic, carless by choice or carless by circumstance, a savvy native or adventurous visitor, Carless in Chicago is the indispensable reference and guide to enjoying the city without that money-eating, gas-guzzling, smog-emiting two-ton monkey on your back.

    “Carless in Chicago is the most comprehensive guide to getting around Chicago I’ve ever seen, covering every aspect of travel. It’s an invaluable resource.” – Andrew Huff, Gapers Block

    For more info: http://www.lakeclaremont.com/

    BarsAcrossAmLoResBars Across America: Drinking and Biking From Coast To Coast by John Greenfield

    In Bars Across America, longtime Chicago green transportation advocate John Greenfield tells of his 5,000-mile bicycle journey from Astoria, OR, to Portland, ME, stopping to check out 48 taverns along the way. Part travelogue, part guidebook, part ode to the vanishing community tap, Bars Across America is the story of one man’s two-wheeled trek in search of the perfect pint.

    “As John spins his yarn across the U.S. via roads, paths and pubs, you’ll wish at some point you’d gone along.” – Dave “Mr. Bike” Glowacz, author of Urban Bikers’ Tips and Tricks

    For more info: http://pintsizepress.info

  • The Book Bike Stopped By Quimby's!

    The Book Bike
    The Book Bike

    Gabriel Levinson swung his Book Bike over to Quimby’s last week, and bought a whole buncha stuff and wrote an article about it! Read about it at:

    www.bookbike.org/the-great-book-bike-book-buy/

    The Book Bike: a custom-built tricycle stocked with 200 lbs of free books. Since July of 2008, The Book Bike has been responsible for placing over 3,000 new and used books into peoples’ hands. In spring and summer, you’ll find The Book Bike at Chicago public parks on the weekends; anyone who wants a book is invited to take something home to read. In the summer of 2010, The Book Bike puts a spotlight on independent publishers: from hand-crafted zines to literary magazines and books, The Book Bike is a unique resource of the global independent literary scene.