About Us

Fietsers, not wielrenners

In Dutch there are two distinct words for a ‘cyclist’ – fietser and wielrenner.

Wielrenner (‘wheel runner’) is a sports cyclist, whilst fietser is closer to the English term utility cyclist: a person who uses a bicycle as a tool for day-to-day transport. The two types of cycling are very different in their purpose, needs, equipment and expectations of infrastructure. We are interested in ideas and concepts important to fietsers — utility cyclists.

We started this blog after completing the DTV Bicycle Planning and Design course in Breda, Netherlands during July of 2023. We utilise our learning from the course (and previous courses) to explore ideas and designs that improve the bicycle infrastructure in the town we live in.