Active Towns A FUNctional Ride w/ Brandon Lust aka @AmericanFietser
In this episode, I connect with Brandon Lust, also known as @AmericanFietser, on Twitter for a conversation about how a pickup truck-driving guy from rural Illinois became an advocate for Dutch cycling, safer streets, and electric-assist cargo bikes.
In 2017, Brandon joined his wife Tatiana on a trip to The Netherlands. She had some work to do there and they figured why not combine the travel for a bit of vacation time. What Brandon couldn’t have known at the time, was that this trip would forever alter his life and spark a curiosity to learn more about functional cycling, and ignite a passion for the simple pleasures of getting stuff done while riding a bike. Thus the @AmericanFietser on Twitter was born.
The Dutch, have a couple of different words that apply to cyclists. They use the word Fietser to refer to a person who rides for everyday purposes such as meeting one’s daily needs. While they use the term “wielrenner”, literally wheel runner, to describe a sport cyclist or racer.
Enjoy this ride with Brandon!
Additional Helpful Links:
Active Towns Landing page for this episode - access more photos and videos
BicycleDutch – Mark Wagenbuur
Not Just Bikes – Jason Slaughter
Work Cycles – J.C. Lind Bike Co.
Defining Opafiets and Omafiets (step-through frame) blog post
Tern Bicycles – Perennial Cycle, Minneapolis
Tatiana’s First E-Bike Ride – Twitter video
FFA – Future Farmers of America
Mobycon and the Mobycon Academy
STROADS video by Not Just Bikes for StrongTowns
Woonerf definition (shared space)
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Credits:
All video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music:
Various mixes also by John Simmerman
Resources used during the production of this episode:
- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm
For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:
- Website
- Podcast landing pages
Background:
Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.
I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.
Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021
Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.
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