The best video about bicycle infrustructure in The Netherlands

Yesterday Kyle, Jack and I headed into the main shopping precinct of our town, it's a network of roads that are for walking and cycling traffic only, they interlace in a sort of web that makes them easy to navigate which makes me continue to think that the Dutch are basically practical.

If I set aside all the little differences that make cycling easier here and focus on the one main difference that is the cause of all the others, it would have to come down to practicality. Since the invention of rubber tyres the bicycle has been the most practical way of achieving movement for the masses. In comparison to the bicycle I think most other forms of transport, if not ALL other forms of transport fail because of their complexity. 

If you take practicality a step further it will lead you to make infrastructure that makes ease of movement within a community a top priority. If you combine practicality, bicycles and planning you come up with an infrastructure that makes perfect sense to humans who generally always seek to take the path of least resistance. 

In the place where the majority of humans habits are formed, the childhood home, what parent in their right mind would use a car when you can plop the child in a box bike and nip to the shop before you can reverse from your parking spot in a car? I think that point alone, at the end of the day makes it different here in the Netherlands. As that child grows it is more likely to ride a bike and here is another major factor, even if that child grows up to drive a car, it will still know what its like to be a daily cyclist and therefore be more likely to show the kind of acceptance and respect that we cyclists desire. 

After we'd walked around the shops for a little bit, we took a seat on a corner, Jack climbed brick walls and cement fountains, while Kyle and I grew more grey hairs. As we sat there, a herd of of school children of about 13 and 14 years old came along the street on their bicycles. They showed the kind of confidence on their bikes that can only be attained by those who have grown up on one, they collide precariously close to each other, carry passengers that dismount and mount with grace at speed, eat and drink, chat on cell phones, grab snacks from panniers and adjust an ailing kickstand mid cycle- it is truly impressive! They do all this whilst giggling, laughing and being slightly obnoxious like any other teenager. I have to doubt that these kids will be giving up their bicycles any time soon and when I look at the younger children, they too seem to be well on their way to enjoying a lifestyle catered towards the practical bicycle. I see too, elderly people who appear to be having a laboriously hard time walking get on their bikes and cycle away with apparent ease.

Before you leave this post I want to strongly encourage you to watch this video I posted above and then please share it with your friends, lets get the other countries fired up about the amazing bicycle!

Puppy in a Bakfiets and other neighborhood sightings

Adorable Puppy in a Bakfiets, oh my! Really I could stop here and it would be a worthwhile post, does it get any cuter?  Kyle and I were standing outside the bike shop discussing something or other about bikes when I saw this nice lady and her adorable puppy riding along. Of course, I forgot everything we were discussing and we all swarmed her to pet her sweet 8 week old puppy! I feel bad I didn't get any names, but we greatly appreciated getting a little doggy time in as we all miss our Beatrix so much.

I could just squeeze those little cheeks!

 

Jack helped us load groceries, as we forgot to take bags we loaded from cart to pannier, then pannier to fridge. It worked out well. There were more bikes parked outside the shop than cars.

Just a small array of lovely bikes available less than a block from our home at Thomas Bikes, they currently have a used box-trike (The Christiania above) for about 600 Euro to give you some idea of going prices.

This is my current obsession, the Urban Arrow, isn't it just dreamy?  I get the feeling nothing has been spared when creating this bike, it looks and feels like quality. It also looks pretty lightweight in design, of course I could do a much better review if I could ride one for a week or two...hint hint! Hey, it's worth a try, right?

EDIT:
You can hear more about our friend Tinus at his Mum's blog HERE. Don't speak Dutch?
Utilize google translate!

A blog about bicycles needs a bike.

At some point you have probably heard that Amsterdam has a lot of bikes, I too had heard this and I'd even perused videos and articles about Amsterdam and it's multitude of bikes, so I thought I had a good idea of what to expect. However, nothing had prepared me for just how many bikes there are, they are literally everywhere you look.

They swarm down the streets, they congregate on the bridges over canals, they have whole parking lots dedicated to them at every train and bus station, they come in all shapes and sizes but are mostly sprayed flat black, they get stolen often and if abandoned they slowly get stripped of their useful parts, they all have bells and most of them have a basket, pannier bags or a baby seat or two, some have all of the above.

If like me, you consider some bikes to be eye candy, then you will love Amsterdam because it's the land of stunning bikes. I have seen bikes that a few months ago would have had me running down the street for a photo opportunity, but now they are completely normal and everyday.

It has taken me about 10 days to stop commenting on each bike as it passes, a habit that couldn't die quick enough for Kyle. There was a point when we were walking down a street in Amsterdam when he turned to me and said "I know, I see them too, they are all lovely, you don't have to keep talking about it!" We had a bit of a chuckle, but I sensed he would have tossed himself in a canal if I hadn't of stopped. 

Of course as I have previously mentioned, we had to sell our bikes to move here. This was somewhat of a tragedy in my mind, especially as I had heard inexpensive bikes are easy to come by here, which they are not. We perused a few bike shops and I began to realize the reasons I loved my Yuba Bikes more and more, I mourned their absence.






About the 7th day of being here we acquired a traditional "Amsterdam" bike- it literally says Amsterdam on it. It had a front mounted bike seat that we squeezed Jack into so we could make it back to the station a little quicker. It's a back pedal brake bike, has a wheel lock like every other bike here and appears to be in decent shape. I like it, but feel like it's very cramped to ride, ultimately not a bike I would be inclined to ride daily.

A few days later I started a little side job to bring in some cash, ironing for an expat family who live in a stunning home facing a canal. I knew they had a nice man's bike for sale (with a toddler seat on the back), but it was out of our price range so I disregarded it, then they messaged me that we could have the bike for free! This experience continues our excellent luck in meeting warm and kind hearted people, even when our other experiences have been less than perfect.



When exploring the streets I had seen a particular bike that I was really drawn to, it looked very sturdy and seemed to more often than not have a few child seats attached to it. We were walking past a bike shop when I noticed a used one for sale, after three attempts at wheeling and dealing we were able to reach an agreement on the price. It's a little beaten up, pretty rusty (like every other bike here), but seems to be in fully functioning condition and will ultimately be a money saver. I got the sense that the shop we purchased it from would have looked at me oddly had I asked to test ride it, they seemed very busy, had happy customers and offered a 3 month warranty covering everything but flats so I just went with it. We bought it, then put Jack in the seat on the back (which they threw in to sweeten the deal), it was kind of bizarre to have my first ride be after the money had traded hands, something I would never have done back in the U.S. or the U.K. We found a street that was a little quieter than the others, I hesitantly mounted the bike, wobbled into the path of a more experienced rider with her two kids on board, apologized profusely whilst she muttered under her breath and then proceeded on for what would become an eye opening bike ride with a sea of other cyclists at rush hour to the Amsterdam central station. I had a few moments of awe, a few of fear, but mostly an overall sense of accomplishment that I was most certainly ticking off a bucket list item.

The bike above is a Batavus Delivery Bike- this is NOT my bike. My bike is green, has a lot of dings, dents and rust, has hand brakes and a child seat, plus a double kickstand. I also paid about 15% of what they go for new! The only changes I need to make- adjust the brakes, toss on some inexpensive panniers (you can buy them for about 10 euro here!) and get a cushy seat because my bum was complaining the whole ride. I also managed to buy the only bell-less bike in Amsterdam, so I will get one of those too. Not having a bike bell here is actually dangerous. What I really love about this bike is I got on it and immediately knew we would be friends, it simply felt like a perfect fit.

One of my first fist-air-pump moments in the Netherlands came when I realized I would have a bike for the 30 days of biking in April, last year it was literally in my top 5 highlights of the year, I absolutely loved it! In fact I'd go as far as to say it was the catalyst that made me realize I had what it took to move to Europe, to pursue so many dreams. I don't think the 30 Days of Biking will be popular in the Netherlands, it seems like they would wonder what all the fuss was about, why celebrate in one month what you do every month anyway? I imagine them reacting the same way the average British person would if there was a 30 Days of Tea event.

Because I could apparently write forever today, I shall force myself to sign off and I ask that you celebrate with me that once again I can state this is a blog about bicycles and other stuff that is written by someone who actually owns a bike!

-L.