Are the Dutch confined to bikepaths?

Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.
Tonight I chose the opposite.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE

The whole route

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#


--
Lou

On Thursday, October 10, 2013 4:04:07 PM UTC-4, Lou Holtman wrote:
Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.

Tonight I chose the opposite.



https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE

Your photos look like our car commercials on TV. Empty streets and roads, no other vehicles in sight!

I thought it was necessary to buy the magical car they were selling to get that effect. But maybe all that's needed is to move to the Netherlands. ;-)

- Frank Krygowski

On 11/10/13 07:04, Lou Holtman wrote:
Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.
Tonight I chose the opposite.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE

I think I saw about 3 cars total. Wow. I see that many within moments
of leaving my house!


The whole route

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#



Geez, could you find a flatter place to live? Like perhaps on a salt
pan? ;-)

Anywhere I ride around my area there are hills that on your landscape
would look like mountains!

--
JS

James wrote:
On 11/10/13 07:04, Lou Holtman wrote:
Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.
Tonight I chose the opposite.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE

I think I saw about 3 cars total. Wow. I see that many within moments
of leaving my house!


The whole route

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#



Geez, could you find a flatter place to live? Like perhaps on a salt
pan? ;-)

Anywhere I ride around my area there are hills that on your landscape
would look like mountains!

Seems like I'm in the middle of both of you. When I get outside of town
the roads can be pretty empty sometime. But it's rarely that flat!

--
duane

I'm NOT GOING...LET ME ask: does the Netherlands smell of sewage gas ? manure?

the water table is high so septic or leach fields are shallow.

In the uS that equation yields sewer gas in low lying hi water table farming and village areas.

Zat true the your way ?

Op donderdag 10 oktober 2013 23:35:04 UTC+2 schreef Frank Krygowski:
On Thursday, October 10, 2013 4:04:07 PM UTC-4, Lou Holtman wrote:

Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.



Tonight I chose the opposite.







https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE



Your photos look like our car commercials on TV. Empty streets and roads, no other vehicles in sight!



I thought it was necessary to buy the magical car they were selling to get that effect. But maybe all that's needed is to move to the Netherlands. ;-)



- Frank Krygowski

Surprising is it. I have to admit that I have waited sometimes for a car to pass to take the picture, but in general it really looked like this. If I can choose the route and the time the roads I ride for fun are as empty as shown in the pictures. I have many 60-100 km door to door routes like this. I still have the idea to make a time lapse film to show how it is riding bike around here. If a Dutchman is complanining about the crowded roads he is riding at the wrong time at the wrong place ;-)

Lou

Op vrijdag 11 oktober 2013 03:03:16 UTC+2 schreef Jay Beattie:
On Thursday, October 10, 2013 3:43:19 PM UTC-7, James wrote:

On 11/10/13 07:04, Lou Holtman wrote:



Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.



Tonight I chose the opposite.







https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE







I think I saw about 3 cars total. Wow. I see that many within moments



of leaving my house!











The whole route







http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#















Geez, could you find a flatter place to live? Like perhaps on a salt



pan? ;-)







Anywhere I ride around my area there are hills that on your landscape



would look like mountains!



There is Vaalserberg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaalserberg Lou can jump in his car and go to the Alps if he needs a mountain fix.

All the famous Alps/Dolomites passes are within a day driving distance which a do for 2 weeks every year. I'm within a 40 minutes drive from the hilly part of the Netherlands and Belgium (Vaalserberg and such) were I can do 2000 meters of climbing in 135 km. Even if I start from my backdoor I have a route of 85 km with 450 m of climbing.


I have to do a mandatory 300-400 feet of climbing to get home from work every night. That's the flat route. I can do maybe 1,000-1,200 feet if I'm going home over the West Hills. Elective climbing is one thing, but I really do get tired of mandatory climbing. I'm getting old and creaky and wish there was some flat, back-door way home -- maybe on an Amsterdam-ish bike path with no one on it . .

Exactly it is better the have a choice.

Lou

Lou Holtman wrote:
Op vrijdag 11 oktober 2013 03:03:16 UTC+2 schreef Jay Beattie:
On Thursday, October 10, 2013 3:43:19 PM UTC-7, James wrote:

On 11/10/13 07:04, Lou Holtman wrote:



Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.



Tonight I chose the opposite.







https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE







I think I saw about 3 cars total. Wow. I see that many within moments



of leaving my house!











The whole route







http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#















Geez, could you find a flatter place to live? Like perhaps on a salt



pan? ;-)







Anywhere I ride around my area there are hills that on your landscape



would look like mountains!



There is Vaalserberg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaalserberg Lou can
jump in his car and go to the Alps if he needs a mountain fix.

All the famous Alps/Dolomites passes are within a day driving distance
which a do for 2 weeks every year. I'm within a 40 minutes drive from the
hilly part of the Netherlands and Belgium (Vaalserberg and such) were I
can do 2000 meters of climbing in 135 km. Even if I start from my
backdoor I have a route of 85 km with 450 m of climbing.


I have to do a mandatory 300-400 feet of climbing to get home from work
every night. That's the flat route. I can do maybe 1,000-1,200 feet if
I'm going home over the West Hills. Elective climbing is one thing, but
I really do get tired of mandatory climbing. I'm getting old and creaky
and wish there was some flat, back-door way home -- maybe on an
Amsterdam-ish bike path with no one on it . .

Exactly it is better the have a choice.

This I understand. I have the luxury of choosing hills when I want them.
And my commute is mostly flat. Maybe 150m climb. Not sure I'd have Jay's
fortitude.

For fun rides I can go west for a flat ride or north for hills. Not to
mention Vermont and New York which are close.


--
duane

On Friday, October 11, 2013 4:00:46 AM UTC-7, Duane wrote:
Lou Holtman wrote:

Op vrijdag 11 oktober 2013 03:03:16 UTC+2 schreef Jay Beattie:

On Thursday, October 10, 2013 3:43:19 PM UTC-7, James wrote:



On 11/10/13 07:04, Lou Holtman wrote:







Last week I followed a route on roads with a lot of seperate bikepaths.







Tonight I chose the opposite.















https://picasaweb.google.com/1010765...P_Byc6A-r631wE















I think I saw about 3 cars total. Wow. I see that many within moments







of leaving my house!























The whole route















http://connect.garmin.com/activity/388479156#































Geez, could you find a flatter place to live? Like perhaps on a salt







pan? ;-)















Anywhere I ride around my area there are hills that on your landscape







would look like mountains!







There is Vaalserberg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaalserberg Lou can

jump in his car and go to the Alps if he needs a mountain fix.



All the famous Alps/Dolomites passes are within a day driving distance

which a do for 2 weeks every year. I'm within a 40 minutes drive from the

hilly part of the Netherlands and Belgium (Vaalserberg and such) were I

can do 2000 meters of climbing in 135 km. Even if I start from my

backdoor I have a route of 85 km with 450 m of climbing.





I have to do a mandatory 300-400 feet of climbing to get home from work

every night. That's the flat route. I can do maybe 1,000-1,200 feet if

I'm going home over the West Hills. Elective climbing is one thing, but

I really do get tired of mandatory climbing. I'm getting old and creaky

and wish there was some flat, back-door way home -- maybe on an

Amsterdam-ish bike path with no one on it . .



Exactly it is better the have a choice.



This I understand. I have the luxury of choosing hills when I want them..

And my commute is mostly flat. Maybe 150m climb. Not sure I'd have Jay's

fortitude.

Dan's the one with fortitude. He does my weekly mileage (including weekend rides) in three days of commuting. I ride like five or six miles home on the short route, although there is a hill in there. It is not a hard climb, it is just unavoidable.

With the weather worsening and it getting darker (and recovering from ankle surgery/being off my bike), there were times this week when I sat at my desk at the end of the day and dreaded the ride home, which is probably not a good thing. I think its time to buy a new bike toy -- or maybe some EPO -- to get me excited about riding again. A hub dynamo!

-- Jay Beattie.

On Friday, October 11, 2013 3:34:09 AM UTC-4, Lou Holtman wrote:
Op donderdag 10 oktober 2013 23:35:04 UTC+2 schreef Frank Krygowski:

Your photos look like our car commercials on TV. Empty streets and roads, no other vehicles in sight!

I thought it was necessary to buy the magical car they were selling to get that effect. But maybe all that's needed is to move to the Netherlands.. ;-)

Surprising is it. I have to admit that I have waited sometimes for a car to pass to take the picture, but in general it really looked like this. If I can choose the route and the time the roads I ride for fun are as empty as shown in the pictures. I have many 60-100 km door to door routes like this. I still have the idea to make a time lapse film to show how it is riding bike around here. If a Dutchman is complanining about the crowded roads he is riding at the wrong time at the wrong place ;-)

I must ride perhaps five miles to get to roads with little traffic, and perhaps another few miles to get to roads that are truly empty. But once I'm out into true farm territory, the riding is very, very nice. I'm lucky to live in an area that was settled by farmers when the nation was new. There are innumerable farm roads to explore.

When we first traveled to England, I was struck by some towns' city limits. They actually were limits! On one side would be dense development, and on the other side, farmer's fields. (That was 1976, perhaps it's different now.)

Here, it's much different. As one rides away from the town center, one passes older city housing with small lots, fairly dense; then older suburbs, with larger lots served by fewer roads; then newer and more distant "mushroom" developments of McMansions, with their own cul-de-sac streets sprouting off of former farm lanes. Then homes with even larger lots, perhaps 50 to 100 yards apart in the rural areas. In many places, that continues until one approaches the next town.

Many, many people want to live "in the country" (i.e. rural areas) but they must drive long distances to get work, the grocery store, the dentist, the bank, etc., often on roads more suited to farm tractors. But after a while, some developer gives them a little plaza with gas station, a "convenience store" selling overpriced packaged food, then perhaps a hairdresser, a discount store, etc. And the asphalt and traffic move further out into the corn fields. And the inner city slips further into decay.

In addition to degrading nice riding territory, this adds costs to society. Infrastructure like water lines, sewers and roads must be extended. Police and fire departments must cover larger areas. But the people living in those distant housing developments fight against higher taxes. They can't afford more taxes, because all their income goes to pay for their McMansion! :-/

- Frank Krygowski