Just Back from The Netherlands - Amazing Story

I just got back from The Netherlands (and other places) but before I
give you a description of the riding infrastructure and culture I want
to tell you this amazing story:

I ride casually at home but in The Netherlands I do anywhere from 20 to
60 miles in a day. Well, on the second day I was so excited I rode
about 80 miles and the last three miles were pure torture. I was
covered in sweat, everything ached and I was sort of going in a state
of shock. Then I saw my hotel a quarter mile away and just as I saw
this I looked on the bike path on the other side of the road and saw
the Olympic Torch go by! Amazing. And I was to stupid shy (and beat to
hell) to go over and ask the guy if I could carry it a few meters.

The Netherlands is bicycle Nirvana. Dedicated, 1st quality bike paths
connect the entire country. You can ride for days and days past and
through cities, towns, villages, fields and sand dunes (along the
coast). I loved riding for a couple hours and stopping in at one of the
fine "minimarkets" to get a Extran (thick sports drink). Everyone's on
bikes so be prepared for bike traffic jams in the cities. Everyone is
so fit over there (and very good looking I might add). No one is fat.
You've heard that northern Europeans value exercise. This country is
proof of that. Bike paths start right at the Schipol Aiport front
doors. No violent crime but bike theft is very high so always lock up
if you go. Excellent bicycling here. Recommended for singles, couples,
and families. Excellent facilities for children of all ages.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I just got back from The Netherlands (and other places) but before I
give you a description of the riding infrastructure and culture I want
to tell you this amazing story:


The Netherlands is bicycle Nirvana. Dedicated, 1st quality bike paths
connect the entire country. You can ride for days and days past and
through cities, towns, villages, fields and sand dunes (along the
coast). I loved riding for a couple hours and stopping in at one of the
fine "minimarkets" to get a Extran (thick sports drink). Everyone's on
bikes so be prepared for bike traffic jams in the cities. Everyone is
so fit over there (and very good looking I might add). No one is fat.
You've heard that northern Europeans value exercise. This country is
proof of that. Bike paths start right at the Schipol Aiport front
doors. No violent crime but bike theft is very high so always lock up
if you go. Excellent bicycling here. Recommended for singles, couples,
and families. Excellent facilities for children of all ages.


I've spent a fair bit of time there. The cycling culture there is totally
different from North America - and wonderful!

Almost no one wears helmets (or any other kind of cycling clothing for that
matter), yet the cyclist injury rates are incredibly low.

You see very few fancy bikes. Almost all are single speed or three speed, 50
lb city bikes like the Chinese Flying Pigeon. You almost never see a fancy
road bike or mountain bike downtown - it would be stolen within seconds of
being locked up.

In an altercation between car and bike, the onus is on the car driver to
prove they are innocent. (also between bike and pedes. - onus on cyclist to
prove innocent). Needless to say, the drivers there are far more careful
around cyclists. They are in the minority in the cities.

At most intersections there are more bikes than cars. One of the biggest
sources of injury for N. American tourists is being hit by a bike - they
tend not to see them.

I've seen: A person riding a bike carrying 5 dogs on a huge rear
rack/platform. A mother riding a bike with 3 small children (1 behind on
child seat, 1 on top tube, 1 on handlebars). People riding whilst talking on
the phone. Outside the central train station - literally hundreds and
hundreds of parked bikes.

Yep, we here in N. America have a very long way to go before we can really
call ourselves civilized....

Paul

Civilised???

When a bike will be stolen in seconds???

Holland is as flat as a pancake. That's why you don't get fancy bikes.
You don't need them.

I did a lot of riding there 5 years ago. You don't see fancy bikes or
clothes because the bicycle is the primary mode of transportaion for a
large percentage of the population. However, go out into the country
on weekends, and you will see some quality stuff.

Cars are quite understanding unless you try to ride on the road when
there is a bike path next to it. Then they become angry.

I would love and plan to go back sone day.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Civilised???

When a bike will be stolen in seconds???

Holland is as flat as a pancake. That's why you don't get fancy bikes.
You don't need them.

Yeah, but the majority of bikes are out and out junkers, mainly due to the
theft rate. I did notice a stealth bike in a rack at the Amsterdam bus
depot. Aluminum frame painted flat black and flaking. Bike was filthy and
looked like the other Amsterdam turd bikes. However, on very close
inspection, it was loaded up with all Deore components.

Paul R wrote:

Yep, we here in N. America have a very long way to go before we can really
call ourselves civilized....

The Netherlands has something like 10 times the population density of
the United States. That's part of the reason the Dutch were among the
first settlers of North America, to be followed by more huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of their teeming shore
coming to claim a little bit of space.

The fact that you need a car to get around this huge space wasn't seen
as a negative until pretty recently. Even many environmental groups are
slow to pick up on this in the United States, cf the Rocky Mountain
Insititute and its sprawl into pristine mountain acreage.

RFM

On flat lands, you do not need multiple speeds. Try that
3/single-speed junker in a place with topography; will not fly.

As to drivers and bicyclists, it is common in continental western
Europe for the drivers to be quite cognizant of cyclists and to be much
more courteous towards cyclists than drivers in the US. It is
cultural; here, the culture worships the auto, speed, shortest time
between two points. In much of Europe the goal is to get from A to B
without as much emphasis on the modality and speed. Trains, bicycles,
buses are all more respected as a method of transit and the populace is
more used to dealing with all the above.

I just returned from 15 days in France and Spain, all on a bike. The
biggest transition in returning is having to regain the techniques for
dealing with egotistical and brain dead drivers here in the US; they do
not seem to notice or care what else is on the road, the only goal
being to do what serves them the best.

- rick

wrote:
: Civilised???

: When a bike will be stolen in seconds???

Not as uncivilized as you think: Many bike thieves will give you a
guarantee - if the bike you bought from them gets stolen, they
will steal you a new one at no extra cost.

: Holland is as flat as a pancake. That's why you don't get fancy bikes.
: You don't need them.

It's also small as a pancake.

Of course they have fancy bikes, but only the select few ride
them: http://www.velomobiel.nl/

--
Risto Varanka | http://www.iki.fi/~varis/
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