I’ve heard dark mutterings in Oz lately, even from cyclists, about how bicycles have taken over Amsterdam, making life miserable and dangerous for pedestrians.
Walkers, I see you and I hear you! Amsterdam has an unfortunate combo:
- Very many cyclists, mostly residents, mostly “on a mission”;
- Infrastructure and rules to streamline bicycle movement;
- Very many tourists;
- Most tourists unfamiliar with cycle lanes and cycle traffic;
- Lots for tourists to gawk at and chat about;
- Narrow streets: Amsterdam is seriously old;
- Very many parked bicycles, taking pedestrian space;
- A few (stoned?) cyclists who delight in scaring walkers!
The mutterings context is my recent Dutch solo, self-supported cycling tour. It’s such a shame that many tourists see only/mainly Amsterdam. Having just cycled extensively in the Dutch countryside, the other major cities, and plenty of towns, I say that Dutch cycling works a treat, including for pedestrians. It’s exhilarating to be immersed in a culture where “Bicycles Rule”, where all drivers are sometime cyclists, their families all cycle, etc. And The Netherlands is quite scenic and “livable” (climate aside for a Sydneysider) AND the Dutch are civilized, friendly and helpful, and most speak excellent English..
My Bike
I intended to rent a pedal-powered touring bicycle, but was disappointed in the discounting available for my 33 days, and the “clunker” bicycles that WERE cheap long-term. I bought a good used touring bicycle at Waterloo Market, Amsterdam, for A$466. After 33 days, 1,130km, and minus the broken chain cover, I sold it back to that vendor for A$200. So A$8/day for my workhorse.
Nowadays, I ride mainly e-bikes in Oz & NZ. But touring solo, I worry about lugging an e-bike up steep stairs: into accommodation for security, lifts not working, onto trains. Averse as I am to pedal-powering uphill, especially lugging 14kg in panniers, I thought I could manage non-e because my intended cycling was “flat as”.
My Route and Plan
The vision was some NW Netherlands, train to NW Germany, some Rhine-side, some Belgium (first visit), Western and Central Netherlands. The only “lock-in” plan was joining my daughter and family who were to be briefly in Cochem, Germany, on the Moselle. I wanted to otherwise stay loose, with detailed planning only a day or two ahead, when I knew how body, bike, and weather were shaping. September and early October was post peak tourism, right?
Alas! Weeks before the trip, I was seeing a very tight and expensive accommodation market (booking.com and Airbnb) for intended towns/cities in envisaged timeframe. I finished up locking in accommodation beforehand for the bulk of September! That left (super-soft) me weather-exposed, except where trains could help. (I believe Euro touring in September has boomed partly because of the recent years’ heatwaves in July and August).
Headwinds
My over-relaxed prep left me unprepared for the prevalence of significant Dutch wind, especially near the Atlantic (SW, S, SE, NE). My forecasting apps predicted the wind well, a day or three beforehand. Had I NOT prebooked accommodation, I could have wandered mainly downwind. Headwinds, combined with some ill-health, led to more train-catching than intended.
Heading back into the Netherlands from Bruges (Belgium), I was dismayed to find that my intended western route through Zeeland Province was not supported by direct train routes. So I radically changed plan and headed more directly to Rotterdam.
City and Town Layouts
“Rotterdam” provides a good Segway to my admiration for Dutch city and town layout. I thought Rotterdam would be drab and industrial, and intended but a quick glimpse. So wrong! The Luftwaffe totally destroyed it in 1940, providing scope for a spacious rebuild with spectacular architecture. But all other Dutch cities and towns also had spacious, cycle-friendly road networks, parks galore, and mega roundabouts.
Roundabouts
Rusty-red surface indicates bicycle lane, or at least priority. There are similar rusty-red surfaces in some other Euro countries, but not the Dutch prevalence: it’s rusty-red everywhere! Most roundabouts have a wide rusty-red circle around the outside. Regardless of the letter of the law, cyclists hammer into the roundabouts as if they own them! As a “defensive” rider (don’t snigger!), I was wary, watching hither and thither for signs of drivers slowing for me. But they always did! Even the ones who’d entered the roundabout a second or three before me. (That happens because, with cyclists “everywhere”, vehicles often enter the roundabout slower than cyclists). And the drivers want the cyclists to “get on with it” and begone, rather than be hesitant.
I pity the drivers, particularly older ones without rubber necks. Before exiting a roundabout, drivers need to peer back over their right shoulder (think left shoulder in Oz), in case a non-exiting cyclist is ranging up alongside. They cannot trust their mirror because of the varying angles involved.
I didn’t see ANY cycling accidents on my tour, but did arrive at a roundabout soon after one. A cyclist was shaking himself off and self-testing for injury. And then I saw he was Lycra-clad: say no more. It was a weekday. You saw/felt the occasional solo Lycra-clad cyclist whizzing by. “Hammering” into a roundabout would probably mean 30kph, take-no-prisoners for a Lycra-clad. I can well imagine an exiting driver not seeing a late Lycra blur.
Chaos Theory
I saw a few intersections with traffic lights that had this sign for cyclists. There was one near where I stayed outside Amsterdam, at start and end of trip, so I studied activity. One period of the light sequence is for cyclists only. The cyclist on Corner A aims directly ahead to Corner B. If not exiting, that cyclist hangs a hard left for Corner C, etc. A cyclist need not worry about cyclists ahead or behind, as each is dutifully tracing the same outer route until exiting. What could possibly go wrong?!
Well, it’s a busy time of day. Corner A has six bunched cyclists. Corner B has SIXTEEN bunched cyclists, including two child/children-bearing cargo bikes. The cyclists’ green won’t last long. Chaos cometh, including, but not limited to, cyclists looming straight at you, diagonally!
A local told me, earnestly, that this procedure was introduced to reduce accidents. Perhaps bike-on-bike accidents don’t count! Unfortunately, I only photographed this intersection at a quiet time. (Typically, no helmets on commuters)!
Cars as guests
When a road is not wide enough for a vehicle lane AND cycle-lane, they sometimes mark THE lane as cycling, with vehicles as “guests”. If our advocacy team can supply the stencil with English wording, I’ll supply the paint for trialing here.
Bike Storage
I saw some nifty solutions to secure, dry bicycle storage, such as these cage structures outside low-rise apartments, storing up to 6 bikes under a locked “lid”.
Water Water Everywhere
There are canals of various widths seemingly everywhere. And rivers, and lakes, and seas. Sometimes I’d be thinking I was well away from a substantial waterway, yet see a nearby large sailing mast above the rooftops, on a seaworthy boat on a small canal that led to larger canal that led to a river that led to the sea! There are many lifting bridges over navigable canals. Mostly, the bridges are so low that they need lifting for even small mast-less boats. Locals seem to take delays due to such lifting quite patiently.
Belgium
I wanted to see Belgium, particularly as competitive cycling is so big there. Perhaps because Belgium is more hilly, there wasn’t as much commuter cycling. But there was a great path network throughout the countryside, and plenty of speeding Lycra on very fit-looking bods. And on weekends, Lycra pelotons abound, often clad in club uniform. The big difference versus Sydney, was that they were typically hammering two abreast at 30+kph on PATHS. Fortunately, they seemed quite disciplined with calls and signals re approaching cyclists.
Bikes on Trains
Bikes are allowed on most trains in The Netherlands, in designated sections. BUT! It costs A$13 per day AND not allowed during 2.5 hours morning and afternoon peak. Folding bikes are exempt from the payment and the restricted hours. I saw relatively few bikes on trains, even folding bikes. I suspect that many train commuters had a bike at the home end and the work/study end (and in Amsterdam?!). In Belgium, taking a bicycle on a train costs < A$7/trip.
Oz Wanderer