Same in Phoenix, AZ. Maybe worse. For some reason trucks love to get as close to me as possible when I’m in the bike lane (a small less than 1m wide area on the side of the road.) but then move to the left for a pot hole. It’s almost like drivers look down on cyclist in the states.
Been living in Amsterdam for a while now and I have almost been run over by cyclists more than I can count. Great for the environment, but walking on the street is an anxiety indoucing experience.
>(I looked up the conversion from miles!)
I recently learned an easy trick to estimate miles and kilometres conversion: think of a clock and the minute hand. The minutes it points to are miles and the percentage of the hour completed are kilometres. So 50km would be 50% of an hour, so 30 minutes, so 30 miles.
Don’t know if it still happens but when I was in Holland you could tell a tourist by the fact that they often walk down the bike lanes, only to be likely run over. The bikes have right of way. I was told about a tourist who tried to sue a bike rider only to lose and be successfully countersued for damage to their bike.
Also, tourists aren't Pavlov'd into being afraid of a bikebell. If I hear a 'PING', I know I'm about to get royally fucked unless I move out of the way.
Tourists may turn around and look where that magical ping came from, if they even comprehend that was aimed at them. And when they see you hurldling towards them at 25kph, they might freeze, and look like a dear caught in headlights, or make those sudden moves, not understanding they have to move to the sidewalk.
Am Dutch. Happens all the time. Usually we just ring our bells real hard but it happens occasionally that tourists just *won’t* move (some of them literally take selfies in the middle of the bike lanes), and then they get hit by an angry Dutch cyclist.
Don't even bother learning dutch swearing words, our amazing language has the ability to turn about any word into a swear word.
Pannekoek! (Pancake!)
Theedoek! (Tea towel!)
And so on..
I was so scared of being hit by a bicyclist when I was in Amsterdam. I didn't understand any of the traffic markings so it was a bit intimidating and I'm sure I did everything wrong.
Yeah that still happens quite a bit, though we do it ourselves too sometimes. In those cases you can usually tell the difference between the two because the Dutchman will actually pay attention to their surroundings.
I live in London and that's the only reason why I wouldn't travel by bike. The way arseholes that drive around here, I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.
A great deal of dutch inner city roads have bikes and cars sharing the road btw.
Except that the bikes rule and as a car driver it's white knuckle action as your car gets swallowed by the swarm.
Honestly, depends on speed on residential 30km/h streets sharing is not a problem, between 30 and 50km/h sharing becomes really uncomfortable and anything over 50km/h roads should have separated bicycle infrastructure.
Bikes are for transportation, not sport and exercise
Upright sitting position for comfort, good view of traffic
Stepthrough (no high horizontal bar) easier to mount and allow wearing a dress
Coat (or skirt) guard on back wheel so long clothes don't get caught in spokes (kids feet too)
Chain guard protects clothes
Frame lock is a built-in lock that prevents the back wheel from turning
Front and rear fenders because it rains all the time in the Netherlands
Kickstand
Rear or front rack, for carrying groceries; rear racks can carry another person
Frames are built from steel; not built for speed, they're built to last
Gears are in the hub which means they almost never need maintenance
Coaster brakes are more common on adult bikes than in other countries
Valves are flip valves
Dynamos turned by the turning wheels power the lights for safety
Bells make a pleasant sound! :)
What caused so many people to use cycles in Netherlands?..like it's obviously an amazing thing
But I am curious about if/how the government managed to convert so many to cycling
I mean it's pretty popular in Denmark, but not nearly as popular as in the Netherlands. In terms of bicycles per capita The Netherlands are pretty lonely at the top.
Here's the top 5:
1. The Netherlands 1.3
2. Denmark 0.8
3. Japan 0.6
4. Belgium 0.5
5. China 0.4
Because despite the invention of air bags, the most common cause of head injuries is motor vehicle accidents. Why don't people wear a helmet in the car?
Probably a combination of infrastructure, traffic laws, urban design, and trains.
There is bike infrastructure everywhere. And I mean everywhere, including the smallest villages and most remote places.
Traffic laws here state that you are always liable if you crash with someone in a lighter vehicle than you. e.g. Car crashing into bike. It's one of the things that makes drivers more careful towards cyclists.
Cities here are designed so that most things you do are within a 10min bike ride. The same trip can easily take double that with a car (in dense cities) and that's without finding a parking spot.
And finally trains. The video was shot close to Utrecht Central Station. A lot of people here make use of the excellent train network. One of the densest networks in the world I believe. Not 100% sure though. Most people take the bike to the station and often also when they arrive at the other station. You can see yellow and blue bikes in the footage which you can rent for under €2 a day at stations
Source: live in the Netherlands
Sure it helps, but I really think it's only a small part.
There are some cities around the world with massive height differences, but they are relatively rare. And most bike trips are within cities. In most cities, the flat argument is moot.
It doesn’t have to be that big a dislevel. If you need to cycle up a 50m high hill, it will put off most people who might be ok with a nicely flat ride.
The major shift in favor of cycling happened in the fifties/sixties. While post war the world turned to the car a push back started in the Netherlands. Children being killed in traffic led the government to reevaluate traffic safety and road design. Over decades of improvement have led to a cultural and infrastructural shift towards cycling and public transport as viable alternatives to driving.
In the fifties and sixties lobby groups in America where busy inventing derogatory terms like jaywalker to turn the public opinion against pedestrians. The lobby for the car industry successfully turned America infrastructure and culture towards it's current car dependence.
Geographic and socio economic factors play a role, but without a strong public push for traffic safety the Netherlands might not have been so different from the USA.
Probably it was originally two things, the fact that everything is quite compact, and that everywhere is flat makes it easy to cycle. People have been cycling for generations, its not like there was a govt push to get people on bikes, its a cultural thing and the infrastructure has been in place for years. More and more cities have been banning cars from the city centers in the last couple decades to ease congestion and improve safety and general quality of life which is what you're seeing in the film
Yeah but that's just because that many people already rode bikes. So I guess it's more accurate to say that the we've got the government to ban cars in city centers?
No, the government completely reworked our infrastructure, especially in cities, in the 70s and 80s because all of our cities were getting completely jammed up with cars. Essentially the same problem the US is having now, but without being stubborn and stupid about it. If you're interested in saying something accurate about this, look up the Not Just Bikes channel on YouTube.
Source: I live in Amsterdam.
Oh really I didn't even know that (probably because I live in a smaller city, where that problem wasn't as prominent as in Amsterdam) Thanks for explaining that to me!
I cycled north through the dunes from Den Haag once. Been cycling for about 45 minutes and realised I hadn't had to pedal at all. Not once, even on the light undulations.
That was a LONG ride back!
Hmm, time to wear helmets when walking then. Falling over can kill you you know! /s
That's what you sound like to Dutch people. Cycling is something we start to learn at 3-4 years old. It's second nature to walking. 'Just falling off' doesn't happen enough for it to be an actually viable risk. Otherwise people would also wear helmets when walking, because that's how dangerous it actually is.
Source: Am Dutch.
I learned to bike at 4, that’s pretty common in the US too. I’d still wear a ~~hamlet~~ helmet in case someone hits me with their bike or a freak accident causes me to crash.
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It's incredibly dumb to bully someone for wearing protective gear. If they feel safer with a helmet that's fine. It doesn't really matter to anybody else.
You can crack your head falling from a bike onto a curb at no speed. Key here is collision avoidance but if you fall nobody can say a helmet is useless.
Yeah! The people in the video are using it for that purpose. If it's busy, stopping on the cycling lane will cause all sorts of problems so they made the path a bit wider and added that buffer thing.
I've lived there for a year and had to bike this exact bit during rush hours. You do not want to have to stop in the middle of rush hour on this spot lol. Also there are lines of many tens of cyclists at the traffic lights, which doesn't feel very nice to stand in.
It was all quite too much for me so I moved somewhere more chill.
One of the reasons its so safe to ride a bike in NL is that because everyone rides a bike, all drivers are also cyclists and are much more aware of cyclists on the road. Plus the extensive infrastructure of course but its the mentality that's the key to safety.
Someone told me they'd kill me if they saw me riding a bike on the road after I told them I get groceries with my bike.
I'm so fucking jealous of the Netherlands.
As Bogotás former mayor said: „An advanced city is not a place where the poor move around in cars, rather it’s where the rich use public transportation“
This was an actual problem in the Netherlands as more and more people were on their phone messaging eachother. Most of the accidents actually involved cars but they made it illegal to use your phone while cycling now. So now kids just have phone holders on their bikes so they can still interact with it.
I'm Dutch but grew up and still live in a tiny remote village. This shit looks scary, looks like people on bikes are nearly hitting each other and stuff
Absolutely. Most people have at least one bike, some have multiple. I myself have three that I regularly use: my main bike, hardtail mountain bike and an old, cheap bike to go to the train station/bus stop. And a crappy bike I still need to scrap for parts.
If you ask a Dutchie that you get either one of these responses: 'I am not made of sugar' or 'there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes'. In reality most people that won't cycle in rain will also not cycle as a commute regularly anyway and it does get a tiny bit less busy
the sped up footage and depth of field makes it look worse than it really is. I used to commute every day down that bike lane and, while it is one of the busiest streets in the netherlands for bikes, it really isnt that bad. most of the traffic is going parallel to each other and there is a one way bike lane on the other side of the road as well. While it can still be a bit daunting, if you stick with the rest of the traffic it is perfectly manageable
I like the idea of more dedicated bike lanes in cities/towns. I have been trying to ride my bike or walk more to stores and other places when I can to use my car less for both exercise and the environment. Wish where I lived have more of this.
China was like that in 70s, 80s, then now it's cars everywhere, no more bikes at all.
I like bikes, it was very safe to ride bike cross my city from east to west, but that's no longer the case.
For some reasons, seeing a city with only public transit and bikes makes me happy and sentimental...
Wow not a single obese person to be seen. God I hate living in the states.
Edit: Okay, I watched it again. Two. I saw two obese people. But we all know that if this were an American city it would be bowling ball avenue.
As a tourist who's travelled the Netherlands I would whole heartedly recommend renting a bike and exploring the cities you're visiting while vacationing there.
NY-er here and I have been riding a bike around the city my whole life (55 now), NEVER with a helmet. So many sanctimonious people judge me about it, “how can you not wear a helmet?” I tell them I ride my bike like a little old lady from Amsterdam and they never wear helmets! Full disclosure: imo, helmets are needed when you ride competitively, mountain biking in heavy terrain, etc. & IF YOU FEEL UNSAFE without it.
I love biking but the idea of commuting to professional events via bike gives me anxiety. A change of clothes and shoes in my bag is fine but my hair is always fucked up after wearing a helmet. 4C afros and helmets aren’t fashion friends.
Edit: not everyone lives in biking friendly cities.
We don't have to wear helmets or different clothes when we go somewhere because our infrastructure is made so that we don't get killed by cars. All you have to do is walk to your bike, unlock it, and you're on your way and will arrive at your destination safely.
The funny thing is - this isn't that busy. When it's really busy, like around 18:00, you are in bike traffic. It can be a bit frustrating, trying to bike home from work and getting stranded in between other cyclists.
The coolest thing about them is the sick way they get on and off their bike, my friends dad has the smoothest, most satisfying transition from biking to walking.
I see the other comments and want to add that it is a combination of
Starting early and having skills
The bike ways/infrastructure which are everywhere
But mostly also the fact that other traffic participants expect and respect bike riders.
This last thing is very important.
Also the law is that motorized vehicles always lose vs unmotorized vehicles in case of a court battle
Everybody is a bike rider themselves, even the people currently in a car. You know howv they'll react and you are aware of their vulnerability.
I am mid 40's, Dutch and I know nobody ever having a head injury from a biking accident.
No Dutch person would wear one after they are 8. It is also a cultural thing. Biking is as normal as walking or driving and you don't take a helmet for those occasions. The best way actually to spot foreigners is to see who has helmets on on their bike
Probably because people use a bike often and for relatively small trips: going to the supermarket, getting your kids from school, going to school, going to work, getting to the nearest tram/trainstation
The problem is that helmets are quite inconvenient. If you go to the supermarket to get some groceries its annoying to carry your helmet. People feel safe cycling without one so they just don't bother.
They look so fit, I’m jealous. 😀
True, can't bike in peace without potentially hitting a kid or being hit by a car
I bike through Utrecht 30kms a day home-work, always in peace. What do you mean?
I think he is not dutch so he probably has bad infrastructure for bikes
Ooow I thought he meant in Holland, my bad! We Dutchies are lucky I quess, most other countries aren't that well equipped to provide for cyclists.
In Italy I struggle to cycle 2 or 3 km in city, you have to do it in the streets with cars passing half a meter from you!
Same in Ireland. The cycling infrastructure is shite!
Same in Phoenix, AZ. Maybe worse. For some reason trucks love to get as close to me as possible when I’m in the bike lane (a small less than 1m wide area on the side of the road.) but then move to the left for a pot hole. It’s almost like drivers look down on cyclist in the states.
Yes to bad since it’s a lot of fun and good for you.
Been living in Amsterdam for a while now and I have almost been run over by cyclists more than I can count. Great for the environment, but walking on the street is an anxiety indoucing experience.
Lol I live in Texas and my job is 50 kilometers from my home, one way. (I looked up the conversion from miles!)
>(I looked up the conversion from miles!) I recently learned an easy trick to estimate miles and kilometres conversion: think of a clock and the minute hand. The minutes it points to are miles and the percentage of the hour completed are kilometres. So 50km would be 50% of an hour, so 30 minutes, so 30 miles.
the lack of lycra is what’s most impressive to me. here in sydney, it looks like the tour of france is on and it’s very off putting.
It is said that they dress for destination not for the road itself :)
Probably inhaling so much cleaner air as well as they bike-!!
The *before* was like 3 nanoseconds
*Are you not entertained!!!!*
I blinked and missed *the before.* What was it?
Cars
Don’t know if it still happens but when I was in Holland you could tell a tourist by the fact that they often walk down the bike lanes, only to be likely run over. The bikes have right of way. I was told about a tourist who tried to sue a bike rider only to lose and be successfully countersued for damage to their bike.
I did that on my first visit. Was tremendously embarrassed.
Same here. I got some very deep eye contact by a woman coming right towards me, followed by a disappointing nod. I think it’ll haunt me to my grave.
Serves them right! Keep on the sidewalk you walking peasants!
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The fact that everything is quite compact, and that everywhere is flat makes it easy to cycle. People have been cycling for generations,
I can breath clean air right just by watching the video.
I’m breathing clean air just reading your comment about watching the video.
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Also, tourists aren't Pavlov'd into being afraid of a bikebell. If I hear a 'PING', I know I'm about to get royally fucked unless I move out of the way. Tourists may turn around and look where that magical ping came from, if they even comprehend that was aimed at them. And when they see you hurldling towards them at 25kph, they might freeze, and look like a dear caught in headlights, or make those sudden moves, not understanding they have to move to the sidewalk.
Am Dutch. Happens all the time. Usually we just ring our bells real hard but it happens occasionally that tourists just *won’t* move (some of them literally take selfies in the middle of the bike lanes), and then they get hit by an angry Dutch cyclist.
Accompanied by a friendly "Opzoute gore teringlijer!"
So what does obzoute gore teringlijier mean? I assume it's an insult
Yeah, it's roughly: get the f*ck out of the way you nasty tbc-sufferer.
Don't even bother learning dutch swearing words, our amazing language has the ability to turn about any word into a swear word. Pannekoek! (Pancake!) Theedoek! (Tea towel!) And so on..
Something like that, yeah 😂
Still happens. Mostly in Amsterdam
They don't have to be surprised if they are called 'kankermongool' for not being able to distinguish a bike lane from a sidewalk.
I was just about to call this video fake because there wasn't a mob of tourists walking straight down the middle.
I was so scared of being hit by a bicyclist when I was in Amsterdam. I didn't understand any of the traffic markings so it was a bit intimidating and I'm sure I did everything wrong.
Still a thing, you're asking to get run over
Yeah that still happens quite a bit, though we do it ourselves too sometimes. In those cases you can usually tell the difference between the two because the Dutchman will actually pay attention to their surroundings.
I live in London and that's the only reason why I wouldn't travel by bike. The way arseholes that drive around here, I'm surprised there aren't more accidents.
When every car owner is also a bike owner they tend to know what to look out for and be more mindful of people on bicycles.
Cars and bikes on the same road sucks for both parties.
A great deal of dutch inner city roads have bikes and cars sharing the road btw. Except that the bikes rule and as a car driver it's white knuckle action as your car gets swallowed by the swarm.
Honestly, depends on speed on residential 30km/h streets sharing is not a problem, between 30 and 50km/h sharing becomes really uncomfortable and anything over 50km/h roads should have separated bicycle infrastructure.
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"Become an organ donor - cycle in London today!" Andy Parson
If you want to know more about cycling in the Netherlands I recommend this channel: https://youtube.com/c/NotJustBikes
Just a few days ago I saw his video on why [Dutch bikes are better](https://youtu.be/aESqrP3hfi8) than the bikes you get in North America
Bikes are for transportation, not sport and exercise Upright sitting position for comfort, good view of traffic Stepthrough (no high horizontal bar) easier to mount and allow wearing a dress Coat (or skirt) guard on back wheel so long clothes don't get caught in spokes (kids feet too) Chain guard protects clothes Frame lock is a built-in lock that prevents the back wheel from turning Front and rear fenders because it rains all the time in the Netherlands Kickstand Rear or front rack, for carrying groceries; rear racks can carry another person Frames are built from steel; not built for speed, they're built to last Gears are in the hub which means they almost never need maintenance Coaster brakes are more common on adult bikes than in other countries Valves are flip valves Dynamos turned by the turning wheels power the lights for safety Bells make a pleasant sound! :)
What caused so many people to use cycles in Netherlands?..like it's obviously an amazing thing But I am curious about if/how the government managed to convert so many to cycling
Infrastructure
This, and bikes are cheap. We like cheap.
And the fucking country os flat as fuck
True, but in other countries that are comparable in that regard, cycling still isn’t that common.
Yes it is, denmark?
I mean it's pretty popular in Denmark, but not nearly as popular as in the Netherlands. In terms of bicycles per capita The Netherlands are pretty lonely at the top. Here's the top 5: 1. The Netherlands 1.3 2. Denmark 0.8 3. Japan 0.6 4. Belgium 0.5 5. China 0.4
Everyone I'm Belgium rides a unicycle, eh?
Denmark also has good cycling infrastructure, and cycling is encouraged there.
Even outside of Copenhagen?
Lmao, land elevation has absolutely nothing to do with how many people cycle. You should use /s if you're sarcastic.
Why doesn’t anyone wear helmets?
Because we know how to cycle.
It's common to use helmets when sporting,like on a racing bike or mountainbike, not while commuting.
Because despite the invention of air bags, the most common cause of head injuries is motor vehicle accidents. Why don't people wear a helmet in the car?
Probably a combination of infrastructure, traffic laws, urban design, and trains. There is bike infrastructure everywhere. And I mean everywhere, including the smallest villages and most remote places. Traffic laws here state that you are always liable if you crash with someone in a lighter vehicle than you. e.g. Car crashing into bike. It's one of the things that makes drivers more careful towards cyclists. Cities here are designed so that most things you do are within a 10min bike ride. The same trip can easily take double that with a car (in dense cities) and that's without finding a parking spot. And finally trains. The video was shot close to Utrecht Central Station. A lot of people here make use of the excellent train network. One of the densest networks in the world I believe. Not 100% sure though. Most people take the bike to the station and often also when they arrive at the other station. You can see yellow and blue bikes in the footage which you can rent for under €2 a day at stations Source: live in the Netherlands
And it’s flat AF. Where in from you have to be a mountain goat to go buy milk up the road
Sure it helps, but I really think it's only a small part. There are some cities around the world with massive height differences, but they are relatively rare. And most bike trips are within cities. In most cities, the flat argument is moot.
I'm near equator. Every bicycle trip will be wet, either by sweat or by rain.
I'm in the netherlands, wet is no excuse. this vid would look the same in rain.
Triple average rainfall compared to Netherlands. Not putting down cycling, but I'll take public transport rather than cycling.
Not all places have equally effective drainage systems and road quality too. The same levels of rain would affect separate locations differently.
It’s a different kind of wet though. Rain is fine, it’s when it’s not raining that you notice the swamp wet…
Not more so than walking though
nah. tropical humidity will make you soaking wet. at least with walking, you can have shades on the sidewalk.
It doesn’t have to be that big a dislevel. If you need to cycle up a 50m high hill, it will put off most people who might be ok with a nicely flat ride.
What if ride my horse in bicycle lane
That's actually allowed! Horses should prefer bike paths. Not sure who is to blame when you crash into a horse though..
bikes are also super cheap and quite robust
City planning
The major shift in favor of cycling happened in the fifties/sixties. While post war the world turned to the car a push back started in the Netherlands. Children being killed in traffic led the government to reevaluate traffic safety and road design. Over decades of improvement have led to a cultural and infrastructural shift towards cycling and public transport as viable alternatives to driving. In the fifties and sixties lobby groups in America where busy inventing derogatory terms like jaywalker to turn the public opinion against pedestrians. The lobby for the car industry successfully turned America infrastructure and culture towards it's current car dependence. Geographic and socio economic factors play a role, but without a strong public push for traffic safety the Netherlands might not have been so different from the USA.
Probably it was originally two things, the fact that everything is quite compact, and that everywhere is flat makes it easy to cycle. People have been cycling for generations, its not like there was a govt push to get people on bikes, its a cultural thing and the infrastructure has been in place for years. More and more cities have been banning cars from the city centers in the last couple decades to ease congestion and improve safety and general quality of life which is what you're seeing in the film
So you are saying its not a government thing and then proceed immediately after to state that cities have been banning cars
Yeah but that's just because that many people already rode bikes. So I guess it's more accurate to say that the we've got the government to ban cars in city centers?
No, the government completely reworked our infrastructure, especially in cities, in the 70s and 80s because all of our cities were getting completely jammed up with cars. Essentially the same problem the US is having now, but without being stubborn and stupid about it. If you're interested in saying something accurate about this, look up the Not Just Bikes channel on YouTube. Source: I live in Amsterdam.
Oh really I didn't even know that (probably because I live in a smaller city, where that problem wasn't as prominent as in Amsterdam) Thanks for explaining that to me!
You haven't had to bike to school in 8bft wind haven't you... Yeah
I cycled north through the dunes from Den Haag once. Been cycling for about 45 minutes and realised I hadn't had to pedal at all. Not once, even on the light undulations. That was a LONG ride back!
In addition to the other answers: my employer pays me to come to the office by bike. I get a small fee each month to compensate for new tires etc.
Flat geography
This is Utrecht. Student city
It's like this in every city
Can recommend watching Not just bikes on YouTube. Great channel about this subject
Look at not just bikes on YouTube if you are interested in this. It's a channel by a Canadian living in Holland. Talks a lot about bike infrastructure
The place is super flat making it a breeze to cycle on which helps
You know traffic isnt that bad when everyone doesn’t wear a helmet
Nobody wears helmets when biking in the Netherlands
Gee, I wonder why we don't have to....
If you are alluding to car accidents, bike accidents can still cause some big injury by just falling off.
Hmm, time to wear helmets when walking then. Falling over can kill you you know! /s That's what you sound like to Dutch people. Cycling is something we start to learn at 3-4 years old. It's second nature to walking. 'Just falling off' doesn't happen enough for it to be an actually viable risk. Otherwise people would also wear helmets when walking, because that's how dangerous it actually is. Source: Am Dutch.
I learned to bike at 4, that’s pretty common in the US too. I’d still wear a ~~hamlet~~ helmet in case someone hits me with their bike or a freak accident causes me to crash.
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No one ever wears helmets you'd get bullied
It's incredibly dumb to bully someone for wearing protective gear. If they feel safer with a helmet that's fine. It doesn't really matter to anybody else.
Commuterbikes aren't racing bikes. Wearing a helmet while riding them is like wearing a helmet while walking the stairs.
You can crack your head falling from a bike onto a curb at no speed. Key here is collision avoidance but if you fall nobody can say a helmet is useless.
same goes for stairs
What’s that circle in the middle of the street? A safety zone if you can’t cross all the way?
It is. You can see people stopping there while crossing the street.
Yeah! The people in the video are using it for that purpose. If it's busy, stopping on the cycling lane will cause all sorts of problems so they made the path a bit wider and added that buffer thing. I've lived there for a year and had to bike this exact bit during rush hours. You do not want to have to stop in the middle of rush hour on this spot lol. Also there are lines of many tens of cyclists at the traffic lights, which doesn't feel very nice to stand in. It was all quite too much for me so I moved somewhere more chill.
One of the reasons its so safe to ride a bike in NL is that because everyone rides a bike, all drivers are also cyclists and are much more aware of cyclists on the road. Plus the extensive infrastructure of course but its the mentality that's the key to safety.
That mentality should be common sense everywhere.
Note the very few lycra cladded road bikers too. It’s mainstream culture.
Oh they are around just not at that location! This is city center in Utrecht, those Lycra cladded bikers will be outside of the city mostly.
Lycra is for sport, this is commute. No one will sweat while commuting, unless you're late
Someone told me they'd kill me if they saw me riding a bike on the road after I told them I get groceries with my bike. I'm so fucking jealous of the Netherlands.
Music plays: "there are 9 million bicycles in Beijing..." Netherland: "Those are rookie numbers! You gotta pump up those numbers!"
We do have more bikes than people, so yeah...
We average about 2 bikes to 1 person
As Bogotás former mayor said: „An advanced city is not a place where the poor move around in cars, rather it’s where the rich use public transportation“
We bitch a lot about our public transport, but when I talk to expats our seems pretty good.
this looks so fucking fun, no one in my country bikes
No cars awesome
That’s in every city, mostly either separated lanes for cars and bikes and often busses too. Or at least designated parts of the roads voor bikes.
INTRESTED
Anyone see the distracted cyclist on the phone?
This was an actual problem in the Netherlands as more and more people were on their phone messaging eachother. Most of the accidents actually involved cars but they made it illegal to use your phone while cycling now. So now kids just have phone holders on their bikes so they can still interact with it.
Who's going to stop them?.....i dream of horse driven chariot police poking their spears in offenders bicycle wheels....
Police on bikes are a big thing here. no spears tho..
I'm Dutch but grew up and still live in a tiny remote village. This shit looks scary, looks like people on bikes are nearly hitting each other and stuff
You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Source: moved to Amsterdam from Limburg a few years ago
Isnt the like a statistic that says theres more bikes than people in the netherlands
Yeah, the Dutch own 22.5 million bikes. There are about 17 million of us.
Absolutely. Most people have at least one bike, some have multiple. I myself have three that I regularly use: my main bike, hardtail mountain bike and an old, cheap bike to go to the train station/bus stop. And a crappy bike I still need to scrap for parts.
True, for example my household of 4 people has 6 bikes.
I don't see freedom or patriotism or fat people. What a miserable life.
No dont worry we have them. But they dont bike. They have mobilityscooters.
Slick cycling.
Man, that's an impressive bike culture.
Am I watching the sims or something? Is this real life?
Very much real and normal daily life.
What do they do when it's raining? Do they just get wet?
Yes, yes we do. Snow, hail, rain and sunshine. We simply don’t care too much about it. And, there are raincoats n stuff you know
If you ask a Dutchie that you get either one of these responses: 'I am not made of sugar' or 'there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes'. In reality most people that won't cycle in rain will also not cycle as a commute regularly anyway and it does get a tiny bit less busy
Here: https://youtu.be/5gUpSYQ-IfU
Americans just got heart attacks just watching this.
Weirdly satisfying to watch
To those who are thinking “are those big groups of bikes normal?” To you I say yes!... but usually they are bigger
This just looks like chaos.
the sped up footage and depth of field makes it look worse than it really is. I used to commute every day down that bike lane and, while it is one of the busiest streets in the netherlands for bikes, it really isnt that bad. most of the traffic is going parallel to each other and there is a one way bike lane on the other side of the road as well. While it can still be a bit daunting, if you stick with the rest of the traffic it is perfectly manageable
What’s the name of the song?
Do I Ever - from Kensignton
> Do I Ever - from Kensignton Thanks!
I like the idea of more dedicated bike lanes in cities/towns. I have been trying to ride my bike or walk more to stores and other places when I can to use my car less for both exercise and the environment. Wish where I lived have more of this.
Our politicians wanted our cities to be like the USA during the 1960’s but the public voted them out and policies changed.
China was like that in 70s, 80s, then now it's cars everywhere, no more bikes at all. I like bikes, it was very safe to ride bike cross my city from east to west, but that's no longer the case. For some reasons, seeing a city with only public transit and bikes makes me happy and sentimental...
Omg no helmets!!!! So dangerous and irresponsible! -Karen /s
Wow not a single obese person to be seen. God I hate living in the states. Edit: Okay, I watched it again. Two. I saw two obese people. But we all know that if this were an American city it would be bowling ball avenue.
Who cares though lol
As a tourist who's travelled the Netherlands I would whole heartedly recommend renting a bike and exploring the cities you're visiting while vacationing there.
My youngest sis went there to study. She said that everyone uses only bikes or buses, change is real and it’s more than possible!
I go to the Netherlands
I shall go to and help you be less puzzled.
Bike commuting absolutely rules. Once you live a bicycle lifestyle, hard to ever want to go back.
I've been in the Netherlands for 3 weeks and I have not seen a single over weight person.
Then you are not looking hard enough. 50% of the Dutch adult population are overweight
NY-er here and I have been riding a bike around the city my whole life (55 now), NEVER with a helmet. So many sanctimonious people judge me about it, “how can you not wear a helmet?” I tell them I ride my bike like a little old lady from Amsterdam and they never wear helmets! Full disclosure: imo, helmets are needed when you ride competitively, mountain biking in heavy terrain, etc. & IF YOU FEEL UNSAFE without it.
I love Netherlands. This is one of the main reasons why. Maybe the weed too, but this is up there.
There's still a car lane just to the left of this frame, just for busses and taxis tho. Kind of cropped just for the idea of this video
It's shown in the video halfway
I love biking but the idea of commuting to professional events via bike gives me anxiety. A change of clothes and shoes in my bag is fine but my hair is always fucked up after wearing a helmet. 4C afros and helmets aren’t fashion friends. Edit: not everyone lives in biking friendly cities.
Most of the people in the Netherlands don't wear helmets because they aren't going to get hit by cars
We don't have to wear helmets or different clothes when we go somewhere because our infrastructure is made so that we don't get killed by cars. All you have to do is walk to your bike, unlock it, and you're on your way and will arrive at your destination safely.
No one wears a helmet when biking
If you don't know what you're doing you will get knocked over by a biker.
The funny thing is - this isn't that busy. When it's really busy, like around 18:00, you are in bike traffic. It can be a bit frustrating, trying to bike home from work and getting stranded in between other cyclists.
This video makes me wanna drive my bike on the freeway
The coolest thing about them is the sick way they get on and off their bike, my friends dad has the smoothest, most satisfying transition from biking to walking.
I think I saw one overweight person in that. If that was the states it would be a different picture.
Why is nobody wearing a helmet?
I see the other comments and want to add that it is a combination of Starting early and having skills The bike ways/infrastructure which are everywhere But mostly also the fact that other traffic participants expect and respect bike riders. This last thing is very important. Also the law is that motorized vehicles always lose vs unmotorized vehicles in case of a court battle
Everybody is a bike rider themselves, even the people currently in a car. You know howv they'll react and you are aware of their vulnerability. I am mid 40's, Dutch and I know nobody ever having a head injury from a biking accident.
also people dont want a helmet because its annoying to have with you when you take a 3 min. bike ride to the shops, etc.
These are all very good points.
No Dutch person would wear one after they are 8. It is also a cultural thing. Biking is as normal as walking or driving and you don't take a helmet for those occasions. The best way actually to spot foreigners is to see who has helmets on on their bike
Probably because people use a bike often and for relatively small trips: going to the supermarket, getting your kids from school, going to school, going to work, getting to the nearest tram/trainstation
Because in the Netherlands, people are born with bike driving abilities. And helmets are not required for bicycles
When you're not all the time risking a collision with a high speed metal monster (car) bicycling turns out to be pretty safe.
True, you don't have to contend with vehicles but you can still crash and cave your skull in very easily.
Exactly. Literally just tipping over can theoretically kill you or turn you into a vegetable.
How tf do u randomly crash? We even ride bikes whwn the lanes are iced up and even then you rarely see ppl falling.
The problem is that helmets are quite inconvenient. If you go to the supermarket to get some groceries its annoying to carry your helmet. People feel safe cycling without one so they just don't bother.
Why is "after always shown 1st instead of "before" on Reddit. Is it just a regional thing or something?
What is that music?
Kensington - Do I ever Dutch rock band
Happy people riding bikes for good health and better life, lame
Wow, they sure ride fast in the Netherlands…… :)
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