Aalst, the carnival capital
Posted by Stijn | Filed under bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
So, last Saturday the Belgerinkel campaign landed in Aalst, also known as the Rio of Belgium. Now, I thought that carnival was held somewhere before Easter. Apparently, by the looks of this guys’ helmet, that is not the fact in Aalst…
Tags: Aalst, carnival, helmet, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel
Say hi to me and my girlfriend
Posted by Joost | Filed under Mechelen
It was about time that I showed my face here. Thanks Stefan, for the lovely picture of me and my girlfriend during the “Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel” Kick-Off in Mechelen.
Tags: Mechelen, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, shopping
This week in HUMO
Posted by Stefan | Filed under campaigns, celebrities, music, video
This week in HUMO you’ll find a lovely little insert to promote Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel. Go get it, it’s fun.
It features, amongst others, one of our favourite Belgian musicians and undeniable style icon Daan. Since Belgerinkel is all about how much you can transport on a bicycle, Daan wrote the coolest little essay on…
HOW TO TRANSPORT YOUR COOL
And it’s brilliant. He covers three steps: the horse, the rider, the choreography.
About the horse, Daan suggests to go retro or to customize. As for the rider, he simply states to ‘dress for the occassion’. And when riding he has these wise words: ‘Be a gentleman to pedestrians (m/f), but a rebel to cars. You will not verbally abuse cars that block your way (a pleonasm). Simply, en passant, wiping the dust from their hood with your middle finger gives a more subtle effect.’
Let there be no doubt: Daan is a cool rider, referring to his bike as a steel horse and himself as a modern cowboy – something he already illustrated back in 2006 with his video for The Player. We posted it when we started this blog, but just for your viewing and listening pleasure: here it is once more.
Tags: daan, Humo, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel
Mother & daughter
Posted by Stefan | Filed under Mechelen, bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
In the spirit of mothersday we wanted to present you this beautiful mother and daughter. We met them at the starting event of Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel in Mechelen, and had a lovely little chat with them.
Parenthood is all about setting an example for your children. That obviously also goes for showing them the fun and advantages of riding your bike and being cycle chic.
Look how precious the little girl looks:
And here’s another photo of her mother. One of the most cycle chic ladies we’ve seen so far, with style to spare.
Tags: children, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, moms, mothersday
Be like Benedicte
Posted by Stefan | Filed under bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
Campaign alert! In just three more days Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel is off again. Now we’re not gonna repeat what it’s all about – except that it is about getting loaded – or that this year you can save up for a double pannier designed by Walter Van Beirendonck and Basil. No, you can read all about that in our previous post.
This post is about walking the talk, about leading by example. Because it is easy for a big environmental organisation like Bond Beter Leefmilieu to just tell you to go out and ride a bicycle. Preaching is one thing, but what are they really doing themselves?
And that is why I want you to meet Benedicte, also know as the Belgerinkel campaign leader.
She, ladies and gentlemen, is the one trying to get you all to ride your bike to the shop. Living in Brussels, still known as the worst city to ride a bicycle, she rides her bike to work and to the shop every day.
And she does it in dashing style, as you can see in the picture below.
Basically all she wants you to do is to follow her lead. And enjoy it. So join Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel. Be like Benedicte.
Tags: Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, pannier, Walter Van Beirendonck
Belgerinkel 2010 – get loaded
Posted by Stefan | Filed under bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
Belgerinkel’s got a brand new bag! Yep, folks. For the Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel- campaign of 2010 Bond Beter Leefmilieu decided not to change a winning recipe.
After the huge success of last years bicycle pannier, Belgerinkel is launching a new one: bigger and better. Bigger, cause it’s a double one. Better, because personally I prefer this design to last years.
Like last edition, the pannier is designed by Walter Van Beirendonck and produced by Basil. And also like last time, they’re very exclusive. Again they’re not for sale in stores. You want one? Join the campaign!
This year the campaign is about how much you can transport on a bike when you’re shopping. Studies show that 70% of people are not willing to take the bike to the shop because you can’t transport a lot.
So Belgerinkel is trying to prove all of them wrong. And with good reason. These day cargo bikes and postal bikes, to name a couple, are gaining more and more popularity. They’re not only cool as bleep, they’re also extremely practical.
And by presenting this double bicycle bag, Belgerinkel is encouraging everybody to get loaded. Heavily. Fashionably.
Tags: bicycle bag, bicycle pannier, design, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, Walter Van Beirendonck
Too cute…
Posted by Stefan | Filed under bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
This is Nuria, a good friend of mine’s daughter. This is how she goes to school, always. Goes to show that cycle chic really isn’t something you have to do a special effort for. Anyone can do this, anyone can be cycle chic, young or old, just by being himself or herself. And by riding your bike, of course.
Who doesn’t have a smile on his when seeing this photo? It really is all about those positive vibes.
And speaking of Smile + Bike: this weekend the new campaign image for Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel 2010 was shot. And we were there! We will post some ‘making of’ photos soon enough.
Meanwhile see how Nuria is showing her friends at school last years incredibly succesful pannier – 16.500 people joined the campaign and ordered one.
Photos by Wouter
Tags: Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, smile + bike, Walter Van Beirendonck
16.500
Posted by Stefan | Filed under Leuven, bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
Fall is here. And it’s raining hard today.
Good news though: yesterday Bond Beter Leefmilieu sent out a press release about the results of their Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel- campaign, or Ring your Bicycle Bell to the Shop – the reason we started this blog in the first place.
As you may or may not remember, this pannier was the center of the campaign: 
People who participated in the campaign could save for this exclusive pannier, designed by fashiondesigner Walter Van Beirendonck.
The results: from May 16 ’till June 20 no less than 175.000 people rode their bicycle to the shop and an absolutely smashing 16.500 – I repeat 16.500! – panniers were ordered. That, ladies and gents, is a hell of a lot.
We’d like to thank you very much for participating and giving cycling as a normal everyday habit the good name it deserves.
We are looking forward to seeing all of these 16.500 pannier in the city streets!
Missed out on one? Don’t worry, next year there’s gonna be a new Belgerinkel-campaign, but as you will understand, we can’t spill all the goods just yet.
Untill then, and even though it’s fall, just put on a smile and go out and ride to get your daily groceries. Just like this wonderful woman, captured by our good old buddy Wouter.
photo Wouter
UPDATE: As you can read in the comments below, our stunningly cycle chic friend txell from Barcelona spotted one of our panniers at the Cycle Tourism Congress in Costa Brava.
Here’s her photo:
photo by txell
Tags: bond beter leefmilieu, campaign, Leuven, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, Walter Van Beirendonck
Belgerinkel Launch, part deux
Posted by Stefan | Filed under Antwerp, bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
Instead of writing about it, I’ve decided just to post some photos from the launch of Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel at fashion for charity event Naked. It was one big party, I can tell you that.
So here are some shameless promotional shots for the Walter Van Beirendonck bike and bag. Why so shameless? Because we want you all to start riding your bike and look very chic. That’s why.
Models for a day sporting the bag
Stunning actrice Nathalie Meskens and a friend
Models... and natural cycle chic's
And one more time... in the spotlight
Tags: Antwerp, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, Naked, Walter Van Beirendonck
Belgerinkel Launch
Posted by Stefan | Filed under Antwerp, bond beter leefmilieu, campaigns
Boy, did we have a busy weekend! Yesterday Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel officially launched itself in an extremely fashionable manner at – how convenient! – fashion for charity event Naked. We have tons of photos and we will write up a full report tomorrow – we need to rest up first.
We also ran into or met some incredible cycle chic folks. So stay tuned, ’cause we have some good stuff coming up.
In the meantime, as a sneak-preview to keep you all warm, fuzzy and happy, here’s one of the many gorgeous models sporting the Belgerinkel bike and bag.
Tags: Antwerp, bond beter leefmilieu, Met Belgerinkel naar de Winkel, Naked
