Dutch Cycling: Remember the Phone, Forget the Helmet
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 06. 5.07
Late last year an American motorcyclist, on holidays in the Netherlands, was so impressed by the bicycling culture in Amsterdam that he photographed it. In 73 minutes he snapped 82 photos. (1.12 per minute!) And then posted his observations on a website. It is a fascinating peek at how cycling is such an all pervasive part of Dutch life. In particular, Brian Wilson was taken by several aspects of bike culture there. That formal dress (a suit and tie, or a smart dress) was no obstacle to cycling. That more than half of all bikes he saw were transporting more than one person. That he didn’t see one bike helmet, not a one. But he certainly did sight many dogs on bicycles, or in tow. That dynamo style, battery-free lighting systems were all the rage, as were massive chain locks which he figured were themselves worth more than the bike they secured. He also observed a large number of bikes (and trikes) with cargo bins moving kids, groceries and dogs around, heaps of folk using mobile phones whilst pedalling their trusty stead, a multitude of garishly painted and otherwise personalised bicycles (like floral wheel guards to stop those dresses getting entangled). He does mistakenly assume that the many folding bikes on the street had taller seats/saddles to compensate for their smaller wheels (it’s just an optical illusion - you sit no higher on a folder than a standard diamond frame.) We’ve covered these same discussion points before, umpteen times before, but never with so many images. It’s a wonderful gallery of how cities and cycling can happily co-exist. ::Amsterdam Bicycles via ski-epic.
I think that his comments on Amsterdam Cycle Culture are as interesting because of his pure amazement about how the rest of the world acts on a bike.
Additionally, you can see how behind the USA is with some things ... mainly dynamo lights - the new ones work well and they don't make peddling anymore than slightly harder. (but, ain't it worth it to never have to replace batteries?)
Maybe I should do this is Oxford ... to show the differences here ...
I think you should do it in Oxford!
I know the gentleman who took the photos in the netherlands railed against helmets. But I like them. The cars in america do not expect or watch out for cyclists, and my brain may not be much, but it is the only one I have.
See treehugger post, "cyclist's head run over by truck"
Hey there
I live in The Netherlands, and I would like to add that those images you see, of whole families moving around on bikes, happen ALL OVER the Netherlands. To work, to a train station, to parties and bars (cos otherwise you cant drink and drive), groceries... everywhere. Tons of accesories on sale for the bike. The dynamo lights are the standard ones when you buy a bike.
The reasons a helmet is not mandatory is because the biking culture is so strong here, that bikes have priority over almost everything. Said simply... if a car runs over a biker... its always, no matter what, the car's fault. So, drivers do look extremely well.
Anyway, my two cents. Im not dutch, but I think this is worth copying worldwide.
Cheers!
If you go to the top of The Dom in Utrecht and look down over the city you are sure to see many many bicycles, and they all look like the old-school bikes with the big fenders that people used to ride back in the day. No hybrids, no mountain bikes. If you look a little more closely, you will see that the people on the bikes have instigated a series of multilateral abnegations of diligence by subverting the distant hornswells of dignity and a diaspara of anthricated biogenetic material buffers. When the time comes for us all to meet our makers, we must consider the ramifications of this and all others.
Thad, you should definitely do this for Oxford! I just returned from there and it came to mind when reading this post. I think I've seen the weirdest things on a bike there than anywhere else I've ever been, including Amsterdam. My favorite are the professors with the leather-patch jackets smoking their pipe while riding their bike with no hands (yes, I have seen this). And of course, the iconic image of the student biking in full academic regalia.