Word: karstens
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Looking to more seasoned actors, whose career would you most like to emulate? -Karsten W.N. Kurze, Bad Honef, Germany I think Leonardo DiCaprio's done a great job. I was dead set against the guy when I was growing up, kind of force-fed his image from Titanic. Since then, through very hard work and incredible performances, he's done a complete 180. Now he's one of my favorite actors. He's at the top of his game. (See pictures of Disney teen stars...
Welcome aboard the Amsterdam beer bike. In recent years, the pedal-powered bar on wheels has become a popular draw for tourists who want to combine city-cruising with daytime boozing. "Riding a bike while having a beer is simply amazing," says Ard Karsten, the Dutch founder of the company Beerbike.co.uk, one of three outfitters in the city. Not only that, he adds, but it is an environmentally friendly alternative to gas-guzzling bus and boat tours. "It's a new and unique way to see Amsterdam," he says. (See a TIME video on beer-biking...
...while visitors have embraced the service - nearly 10,000 foreigners rode Karsten's bikes last year - locals remain ambivalent about it. Those in the tourism industry understand that the city makes a lot of money from the legions of tourists who come to Amsterdam to get drunk and stoned. But as opponents point out, most do so in bars or cafés - not on the street. "We look at it with horror," says Ton Boon, a spokesman for the Centrum Borough, the quaint, canal-lined district in the heart of the city. "It brings in one kind of tourist...
Authorities are now contemplating whether to put the brakes on some parts of the booze-bike experience. New rules will be unveiled in the coming weeks that could force companies to cap alcohol consumption, provide designated drivers and follow pre-approved routes. Karsten, for one, supports such measures as a way of improving the image of the beer bike in Amsterdam. He sticks by the safety of his vehicles, noting that both accidents last year involved rival companies. And his bikes, which start at $680 for a two-hour tour with 8 gal. (30 L) beer, already come with...
...Karsten is also trying to limit disruptions to local residents. He requires his guides to stop their bikes near a restaurant or hotel every 20 minutes so passengers can relieve themselves indoors. "I hate when they pee on the street," he says. "It looks unprofessional." And, aware that drunken tourists sometimes block traffic when they struggle to pedal, he plans to add an electrical mechanism to the undercarriage this year to "help push the bike forward." In a city known for its tolerance, these efforts may be enough to assuage angry residents - and keep the beer flowing, and the bike...