playbook
Tour de Vinexwijk
Four hours through your own neighbourhood, in loops you've never ridden before. Playgrounds you didn't know existed, a community allotment, and a dam where someone's dog catches a fish.
4u
duration
€ 5–30
budget
Ground
pace
You know the neighbourhood where you live better than anywhere else. Or so you think. But strip away your driving routes, your school run, and your supermarket run, and a surprisingly large blank spot remains on your mental map. The streets you never ride down because they serve no purpose in your day.
The trick is to move in loops, not in a straight line. Start at home, pick a random street you never turn into, ride it all the way to the end. Then turn off in a direction you don't know. An hour later you land on a square you've never seen before, with a playground that's newer than yours and none of the feuds with kids from other neighbourhoods. After that, you've become your own neighbour.
Checklist
0 of 4
Geen route gepland
Bewust geen plan
Snacks en drinken in de bak
Telefoon in vliegmodus
Geen Google Maps reflex
Eén foto op de stadsplek die je nieuw vindt
Voor de aandenking
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by PlayTryBe team
Leave from home on a weekday afternoon. No route, no plan. First street: turn right instead of left.
Suggestion: The afternoon works better than the evening. The neighbourhood is awake.The first fifteen minutes feel uncomfortable. You'll have an urge to grab Google Maps, to check something. Don't, that's exactly what you're trying to avoid.
At every junction, consistently choose the least familiar direction. Flipping a coin is a good switch when you're in doubt.
Somewhere along the way you'll cycle onto a square you've never seen before. Or a ditch, or a community allotment, or a playground with a strange merry-go-round. Stop, linger for a moment, look around.
Halfway through: an ice cream somewhere new. Not the familiar parlour, just wherever you happen to pass.
10One street further, someone rides by with a dog that pulls a fish out of the ditch. That kind of thing happens in every neighbourhood all the time. You usually just cycle past.
The way home: try to make it back without checking your phone. That usually works within 25 minutes because the neighbourhood is smaller than you thought.
You live in a neighbourhood you know far less well than you thought. That's not a criticism, it's an invitation to go for aimless bike rides more often.
For anyone copying this
Do as we did
Suggestions
- Don't plan a route in advance, it ruins the experiment.
- At every junction: choose the direction you know the least.
- Flipping a coin works surprisingly well when you get stuck in a loop.
- Get an ice cream somewhere new, not the familiar ice cream parlour in your neighbourhood.
Variations
- - Met kinderen vanaf 5: laat hen kiezen welke straat in. Dat geeft hele rare routes en heel veel plezier.
- - Solo: pak een fototoestel mee. Andere blik geeft andere foto's.
- - In een andere wijk: dezelfde aanpak in de wijk van je ouders of je beste vriend, zien wat je niet wist.
- - In het donker: dezelfde lussen na zonsondergang voelen radicaal anders.