As many locals know, Red Hook’s roots go all the way back to being settled by Dutch colonists in 1636. What many locals don’t know is that nearly 400 years later the neighborhood continues to have a connection with its Dutch heritage – through bicycles.
Rolling Orange Bikes (ROB), a Dutch bicycle shop that opened on 269 Baltic Street in 2010, began to offer bike rentals and guided tours through Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Staten Island in 2012. Currently there are 12 tour guides on board: nine Dutch-speaking and three English-speaking. Marije Tolsma-Groen, editor-in-chief of Added Value magazine, is one of the Dutch-speaking tour guides. She says that she loves being in touch with her Dutch heritage and being on her bike during the excursions.
“As a Dutchee living in New York I’m finding out about New York history and am able to tell a story and also how that partly connects to the Dutch heritage that we obviously have in the city,” Tolsma-Groen says. “I enjoy being with people, having a fun time [and] giving people a fun afternoon.”
Shelly Mossey, a born-and-raised New Yorker, current Red Hook resident and licensed New York City sightseeing guide, currently manages the business. Mossey has cycled through the streets of New York as a bike messenger, a bike shop owner and a cargo biker his whole life. Mossey has also led groups of family and friends on trips to Martha’s Vineyard, Central Park and the Staten Island beaches. In 2013, he became the first English-speaking tour guide at ROB.
“I got a lot of flak,” he says with a laugh. “But I always hoped my group was having as much fun as I was because it’s really fun taking a group around New York.”
Mossey says the Red Hook portion of the tour is hugely popular. “Our visitors are amazed to see the Dutch names of our streets. Van Brunt, Dikeman and Van Dyke are all names of Dutch streets. Some of the buildings remind them of Amsterdam.”
Rolling Bikes has experienced one wedding proposal and at least five couples celebrating their 50 year wedding anniversaries.
After about a year and a half of giving tours, Mossey approached the owners and asked if he could become a partner, as he had rerouted some of their established tours. Rather than solely focus on the historical aspects that connected New York to its Dutch settlers, he also incorporated stops to better-known locations and hidden gems on his tours for visitors to also see.
“[The Dutch] want to get out on their bikes and ride like a New Yorker in the New York crazy, to go be a part of New York and not be looking from the outside in,” he said. “My goal is to make them feel like they live here, like any New York City cyclist.”
Bikelyn and ROB works with two agencies that only deal with bookings from the Netherlands. Mossey says that he often gets reservations a year in advance, resulting in being booked solid for two weeks usually in October and at the end of April/beginning of May. He finds that the Dutch, who primarily make up his customer base, ride like professionals, as they enjoy cycling and are very proud of their bike culture back home.
There are 60 bikes on-site, with an average range of 30 to 40 bikes going out per day, according to Mossey. Though many Dutch tourists take trips between Brooklyn and Manhattan, local residents also hop onto the orange Batavus bikes and further explore the boroughs they call ‘home.’ Bikelyn and Rolling Orange Bikes Tours offers 3-hour-long, 5-hour-long and all-day tours with set stops and destinations. But individuals and groups can also request bike tours with custom routes to suit their specific interests or to explore other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan that are not usually visited.
Mossey recommends taking the 5-hour-long Brooklyn/Manhattan tour that is offered 11 am to 4 pm on the weekends (Fridays-Sundays, April 1 to October 31) and is available in both English and Dutch. Riders bike from Park Slope to Red Hook to Brooklyn Bridge Park, before going over the Manhattan Bridge into Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo and Greenwich Village. They also ride through the West Village to the High Line, enter the Hudson River Greenway and return to Brooklyn via Battery Park City, Tribeca and the Brooklyn Bridge.
“We don’t get the most people on that tour, but it’s our favorite because you really get to see the city as somebody from the city. You’re on the inside, looking out, because you get to see all the spots that would take you three days on sightseeing buses; on a bike it’s a snap,” he said, snapping his fingers.
For more information, contact Shelly Mossey at info@rollingorangebikes.com or 347-554-4162. To make a reservation, visit rollingorangebikes.rezdy.com.
