Dutch Cycling - Holey Moley

meanredspider

Wow - you can tell that cycling is safe in Amsterdam

Cycling without a lid is de rigeur of course
Texting whilst riding - 1-in-20 riders?
No lights at night 1-in-3?

But it's safe. Except for the guy who'd head butted a lamp post (?) whilst texting (?) - he was still moving but copious blood from his head as he was sprawled face-down - not good.

Loving the city though. Found a place near Vondel Park - 3 weeks and counting.

bill_gates

I love the Vondel area of The Dam. Not been for a few years but always head around there for accommodation and culture.

rick_chasey

People will think you're a weirdo wearing a helmet.

rick_chasey

People will think you're a weirdo wearing a helmet.

meanredspider

Rick Chasey wrote:

People will think you're a weirdo looking where you're going.

EFA since you double-posted

veronese68

A few more cyclists than on the Black Isle then?

itboffin

Yeah and those same people head to the mountains for the Marmotte with riding skills pretty much as you described, scary to the in the pack with especially descending a col. :? :shock:

that said I did help me carve my way past any groups larger than two

iPete

I noticed in Florence that the you must always cycle in nonchalant fashion.

Methods include smoking, texting, phone calls and holding a dog.

Doing them all at the same time is recommended but optional.

rolf_f

meanredspider wrote:

But it's safe. Except for the guy who'd head butted a lamp post (?) whilst texting (?) - he was still moving but copious blood from his head as he was sprawled face-down - not good.

You might still get knocked off by a driver but you'll always have another cyclist to cushion the fall.

mroli

So my Dutch cycling tip from when I lived in Amsterdam is, when you are cycling along with your girlfriend riding side saddle on the rear rack, remember that her legs are wider than your body when you try and squeeze between two bollards at speed.

I was very unpopular after that one.

Also, if you leave your bike on the street, don't get too attached to it...

meanredspider

mroli wrote:

Also, if you leave your bike on the street, don't get too attached to it...

I swear some of the chains were bigger and heavier than the (incredibly big & heavy) bikes they were securing.

rubertoe

Why are people nicking rubbish bikes?

Sending them abroad in containers?

meanredspider

rubertoe wrote:

Why are people nicking rubbish bikes?

Sending them abroad in containers?

That's a good question. There's also a question that, if the crime is so commonplace, why don't the police just crack down on it and close off some of the supply chain.

The slightly bizarre thing is that, according to Cambridge police (10 years ago now), bikes nicked in Cambridge would wind up in Amsterdam.

ddraver

The best I ever saw was a very dreamy girl doing her hair whilst riding along no handed, then stretching and yawning...man i nearly hit a lampost then too...

Some bikes are stolen by druggies who flog them for cash but most of them are taken mistakenly, taken drunkenly to ride home when someone can't find/didnt bring their own bike or just vandalised by idiots (i.e. thrown in the canal). There is no big organised bike mafia or something...Plus if you leave it outside of a designated parking area then council can remove them (which is urgently needed in Leiden now the students are back!)

meanredspider

ddraver wrote:

most of them are taken mistakenly

Just doesn't make sense that people need battleship anchor chains to lock them then... Seriously, I've never seen bike locks like it.

ddraver

The common advice I got is to lock it to something and lock it twice (i.e the horseshoe wheel lock thingum and then a chain around a post).To be honest it seems that that will deter 99% of druggies or drunks (unless it's one of the fancy Dutch Bikes).

Second, most of those massive locks actually cost 5E in Hema and would nt deter a 4 year old for more than 2 mins...

meanredspider

ddraver wrote:

The common advice I got is to lock it to something and lock it twice (i.e the horseshoe wheel lock thingum and then a chain around a post).To be honest it seems that that will deter 99% of druggies or drunks (unless it's one of the fancy Dutch Bikes).

Second, most of those massive locks actually cost 5E in Hema and would nt deter a 4 year old for more than 2 mins...

Yup - I suppose those horseshoe locks prevent the rear wheel going missing.

Yup - in life, size isn't always a guarantee of quality. The lock part of those chains looked more feeble than the chain.

I did see more SS bikes than I was expecting after advice on here. That said, as I'm going to try to go "sans car" whilst I'm in NL, I definitely need a load-lugging bike and my commute is insignificant (especially after what I'm used to). I'm tempted by those wheelbarrow bikes as some sort of battering ram

ddraver

You want a battered looking single speed, backpedal brake with a strong rear rack (so you can give lifts to more dreamy girls). Then you want to ride it as hard/fast as you can

You need the back peddle brake so you can slow down when you re texting, holding a crate of beer, doing your ponytail...

If you can afford/park the car I'd recommend keeping it so you can escape the city and go and see other places in Holland/Belgium/Germany etc. You won't need it in A'dam though

meanredspider

ddraver wrote:

You need the back peddle brake so you can slow down when you re texting, holding a crate of beer, doing your ponytail...

If you can afford/park the car I'd recommend keeping it so you can escape the city and go and see other places in Holland/Belgium/Germany etc. You won't need it in A'dam though

Hadn't considered those advantages of back-pedal brakes!

I'll just hire a car if I need one. I'm probably not going to be there too many weekends and I'm sure I can cover quite a distance by road bike (which I'm taking and will store in my apartment) at weekends that I'm there

pjm300

ddraver wrote:

(which is urgently needed in Leiden now the students are back!)

yup, the students are back in force! bio science park is littered with them!

cesco

Interesting perspective. I'm Dutch and ended up in England, so for me it felt like the other way around. I remember being surprised to see helmets (and fluo gilets) everywhere and people looking at me like I'm from the circus when I just wanted to stretch my back and take my hands off the bars on a straight road. However, I thought that riding without lights in the dark is more heavily fined and checked in The Netherlands, so I'm not with you there.

meanredspider

cesco wrote:

However, I thought that riding without lights in the dark is more heavily fined and checked in The Netherlands, so I'm not with you there.

There was a significant proportion of people not using the lights fitted to their bikes. It was a city street but very dark.

For me it's going to be such a radical change: 15+ miles to work down hilly back roads where I hardly see another person let alone another bike to a couple of km on bike tracks and swarms of other cyclists. And that's before we start to talk about the kit and the clothing.

cesco

meanredspider wrote:

cesco wrote:

However, I thought that riding without lights in the dark is more heavily fined and checked in The Netherlands, so I'm not with you there.

There was a significant proportion of people not using the lights fitted to their bikes.

Yep, I almost forgot: 9 out of 10 time the lights fitted to Dutch bikes don't work.

ddraver

yeah you ll find an unpoliced route from work/pub/etc to home quite quickly