Wondered What a Dutch Commute is Like?

meanredspider

Wonder no more

My ride to work from my apartment next to Vondel Park to the office parking at Amstelplein (you'll start to see the towers about halfway through). Slightly more interesting ride than normal with a dog, taxi and rider not shoulder checking. On the plus side, nearly all the lights were in my favour and I got to chase a moped too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7jercKYb8

fat_tail

some observations

1. it is pan flat - no awesome climbs like col du jzed to contend with
2. you had a good run of green lights
3. it is very civilised

btw I recognised the Park Hotel at the start of your ride just outside Vondel park.

meanredspider

fat_tail wrote:

some observations

1. it is pan flat - no awesome climbs like col du jzed to contend with
2. you had a good run of green lights
3. it is very civilised

btw I recognised the Park Hotel at the start of your ride just outside Vondel park.

Absolutely. I laughed when I bought my Brompton because I asked for a SS. The guy said I'd be better with gears. I asked why - "Because of the bridges" he said. :roll:

Ah yes. Momo (the restaurant in the Park Hotel) is nice

itboffin

taking no prisoner eh!?

had many accidents over there yet? :roll:

gabriel959

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

meanredspider

itboffin wrote:

taking no prisoner eh!?

had many accidents over there yet? :roll:

Believe me, I'm tame compared to the locals - just quicker. The camera wide lens makes everything seem a lot closer than it really is - compresses a wide field into a narrow view.

Only the one accident - right-hooked by a car crossing the path.

meanredspider

gabriel959 wrote:

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

Yup. Theoretically limited to 25kmh and no helmet required. In reality they're often doing nearer 40kmh :shock:

meanredspider

Compare and contrast

Old Highland commute home

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EnAIFf6ulTo

gabriel959

meanredspider wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

Yup. Theoretically limited to 25kmh and no helmet required. In reality they're often doing nearer 40kmh :shock:

I was going to say that he was not doing 25kmh!!! :twisted: what about bikes? Is there a limit?

meanredspider

gabriel959 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

Yup. Theoretically limited to 25kmh and no helmet required. In reality they're often doing nearer 40kmh :shock:

I was going to say that he was not doing 25kmh!!! :twisted: what about bikes? Is there a limit?

Dunno about bikes - not heard of one. With mopeds whizzing about at 40kmh, bikes are least of their worries. I've only been passed once by a bike in the last year - and that was a full-blown skinny roadie in Lycra. The locals are generally incredibly slow on their granny bikes. That doesn't stop them riding around queues for the lights and parking at the front...

gabriel959

meanredspider wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

Yup. Theoretically limited to 25kmh and no helmet required. In reality they're often doing nearer 40kmh :shock:

I was going to say that he was not doing 25kmh!!! :twisted: what about bikes? Is there a limit?

Dunno about bikes - not heard of one. With mopeds whizzing about at 40kmh, bikes are least of their worries. I've only been passed once by a bike in the last year - and that was a full-blown skinny roadie in Lycra. The locals are generally incredibly slow on their granny bikes. That doesn't stop them riding around queues for the lights and parking at the front...

Yep, in that regard (locals being very slow) it is a bit like Cambridge, I can count with one hand the overtakes by other cyclists this year, apart from all the RLJs and people mounting the kerbs etc...

meanredspider

gabriel959 wrote:

Yep, in that regard (locals being very slow) it is a bit like Cambridge, I can count with one hand the overtakes by other cyclists this year, apart from all the RLJs and people mounting the kerbs etc...

Yes - I used to commute into Jesus Lane from Gt Shelford and was hardly ever passed (even though I was on an MTB - sometimes used to commute almost entirely off-road). There, like Amsterdam, the biggest risk is tourist stepping into your path. Market Square in Cambridge was a nightmare for that.

rolf_f

I've been commuting in Delft last week on a Dutch 3 speed. I actually wanted a single speed but there were none available but that was fine. Also rode a couple of times along the dunes between Scheveningen and Zandvoort. Which is how I managed to accumulate over 500ft of climbing in barely 50 miles! Not all of Holland is flat.......

The dunes are well visited by sport cyclists - Colnagos, Pinarellos etc - lycra and helmets. Drawn to just about the only place for miles around where the cyclist can get properly away from the cars and actually go up and down a bit and round corners that aren't 90 degree elbow bends.


The cycleway from Scheveningen to Katwijk - with cyclist just visible!

Too late to get a decent pic! Sleek recumbent..... -
A much more complicated way to cross road, rail and canal than the existing underpass half a mile further on..... -

The cycleway from Zandvoort to Nordwijk - with my transport, a trusty Pointer Horizon!

pblakeney

meanredspider wrote:

Compare and contrast

Old Highland commute home

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EnAIFf6ulTo

Wow!
Things are a lot faster in Scotland than I ever realised.
1:30 in is very interesting. An optical illusion gives the impression of going forwards, and backwards at the same time.
I trust that reality on the bike was different?

meanredspider

Rolf F wrote:

I've been commuting in Delft last week on a Dutch 3 speed. I actually wanted a single speed but there were none available but that was fine. Also rode a couple of times along the dunes between Scheveningen and Zandvoort. Which is how I managed to accumulate over 500ft of climbing in barely 50 miles! Not all of Holland is flat.......

The dunes are well visited by sport cyclists - Colnagos, Pinarellos etc - lycra and helmets. Drawn to just about the only place for miles around where the cyclist can get properly away from the cars and actually go up and down a bit and round corners that aren't 90 degree elbow bends.

Yup - I've been around that way a few times. I remember the first time I went, the map on my Garmin "ran out" (I must not have downloaded enough of it) so I was cycling a little blind which didn't help when Connect had routed me up a forest track on my Foil. At least there's a few cafés along the sea front. My Markermeer loop goes for about 50 miles with only one filling station.

meanredspider

PBlakeney wrote:

Wow!
Things are a lot faster in Scotland than I ever realised.

That's what too much Irn Bru does to you

daddy0

You seem to be p!ssing off the locals:

"I hope you crash soon, etc..."

Colinthecop

That's a bit of a detour at the Longman roundabout, I think i'd be tempted to take my chances on the road...

ddraver

meanredspider wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

That is indeed an excellent commute. Are mopeds allowed on cycle paths?

Yup. Theoretically limited to 25kmh and no helmet required. In reality they're often doing nearer 40kmh :shock:

Mopeds with blue plates are limited to about 25 odd kph and do not require a helmet. Mopeds with Yellow plates (i.e. normal Dutch road plates) are like UK mopeds. Both use the bike paths. If the yellow plates are not supposed to then it's news to me

Blue plates are great for drafting, moreso as they are often driven by young, gorgeous women (ahem). Trouble is they can accelerate away from lights quicker than most cyclists so you tend to get left behind then

meanredspider

Daddy0 wrote:

You seem to be p!ssing off the locals:

"I hope you crash soon, etc..."

I did say it was a bit more eventful than most mornings. The numpty that just pulled out around the other bike without looking isn't someone I'm going to worry about. I should (in fact I will) video the ride home. The cavalry charge at the lights near to where I pick up the moped is incredible: it must be 40-50-odd bikes all inches from each other and no-one cutting anybody else any slack. That then repeats itself in a smaller scale at all of the next crossings. How there aren't more crashes, I have no idea.

meanredspider

Colinthecop wrote:

That's a bit of a detour at the Longman roundabout, I think i'd be tempted to take my chances on the road...

No chance - especially not now we have those stupid "intelligent" lights.

meanredspider

ddraver wrote:

Mopeds with blue plates are limited to about 25 odd kph and do not require a helmet. Mopeds with Yellow plates (i.e. normal Dutch road plates) are like UK mopeds. Both use the bike paths. If the yellow plates are not supposed to then it's news to me

Blue plates are great for drafting, moreso as they are often driven by young, gorgeous women (ahem). Trouble is they can accelerate away from lights quicker than most cyclists so you tend to get left behind then

The yellow ones aren't meant to use the paths but do (though not too often). A taxi driver told me they were thinking of stopping the blue ones using the paths.

Yes - the slower blue ones (ie with at least some restriction) are great for drafting partly also because (unlike the numpty referred to above) people tend to stay out of their way as they take no prisoners. The only problem with drafting them is that they don't expect a bike to be there so are prone to erratic manoeuvres without signalling. Yes, the lighter the rider, the less chance you have of matching them for pace away from the lights - especially on an SS.

ddraver

huh, well i did nt know that.

I developed a theory whilst driving home to get a vanfull of stuff this weekend that the Dutch are so law abiding and good at following rules, that their only source of rebellion is using the roads, whether driving or cyling...or indeed mopeding

Cycloslalomeur2

I´ll keep my eyes peeled for a quick Paddy Wagon SS the next time I´m in Amsterdam. I´ll be the one on a bargain-thread Addict, mashing away inches from those lovely raised ramps of that transporter lorry. But on a serious note, I think your clip highlights the whole problem with segregation, namely that it feels safer but isn´t, chiefly because motorists are so fond of ignoring anything that is not part of the flow of other moving steel boxes when approaching junctions. Also: perhaps it´s just your wide-angle lens, but I did clench every time you overtook slower cyclists, apparently in the doorzone.

EKE_38BPM

Would I be right in presuming that the segregated cycle lanes have priority when crossing roads?
In the UK the cycle lanes generally give way when crossing roads so they are very stop/start, however, I've recently used a segregated cycle lane which has priority over the road it crosses. The road has two give way lines, one before it crosses the cycle lane and the other on the other side of the cycle lane at the exit of the road. When leaving the major road there is also a give way line before the cycle lane, so traffic leaving the major road has to give way to the cycle lane.

I like it, but I can see that it would get annoying for road users having to give way to endless streams of cyclists, however there are traffic lights a short way before this junction so there are probably waves of cyclists rather a constant stream.

meanredspider

Yes - on side roads where the path is in place, cyclists and pedestrians have priority. On proper side roads, there are lights for both bikes and cars. When the light is green, the cars have to give way to bikes before they can turn. The really interesting one is roundabouts: the cycle lane runs around the outside of the roundabout and cars/buses/trams have to give way to bikes. That can really slow up traffic as there can be a dribble of bikes going around.

The GoPro makes it look as though I'm much closer to everything - even I flinched a few times when I first watched it back! But I tend to take very few chances so I've never yet had a problem. I'm quite a positive rider but I'm ready with the brakes and I've learned to expect the unexpected. Even the right-hook car was pretty minor with a pinched finger being the only damage.

rolf_f

What I find most unnerving is the cars giving way to you on the roundabouts. It doesn't feel right somehow!

meanredspider

Rolf F wrote:

What I find most unnerving is the cars giving way to you on the roundabouts. It doesn't feel right somehow!

Tell me! I'm convinced one is going to flatten me one day! I also don't much like crossing tram tracks at an angle either

ddraver

It's a bu**er when you re new at driving in NL too...

mudcovered

ddraver wrote:

It's a bu**er when you re new at driving in NL too...

I've driven over there a few times and never really had an issue with it. It is blatantly obivious from the body language and behaviour of the riders when they expect to take priority over you.

Mike

rolf_f

mudcovered wrote:

It is blatantly obivious from the body language and behaviour of the riders when they expect to take priority over you. Mike

What? Flying over your bonnet with a surprised expression on their face?!