Dutch bike culture, from an outsider's perspective

[Olebiker]

On May 30, 1:01 pm, Paul Myron Hobson <[email protected]> wrote:
> Olebiker wrote:
> > Put that guy riding in his suit on a bike in Atlanta's hills in the
> > Summer. He wouldn't look so content.
>
> Pssh...More people commute around here than you realize.

Not in a suit in the middle of Summer, they don't.

 

[Paul Myron Hobson]

Olebiker wrote:
> On May 30, 1:01 pm, Paul Myron Hobson <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Olebiker wrote:
>>> Put that guy riding in his suit on a bike in Atlanta's hills in the
>>> Summer. He wouldn't look so content.
>> Pssh...More people commute around here than you realize.
>
> Not in a suit in the middle of Summer, they don't.

Well, they have the since to leave early enough to take a shower and
change clothes.

 

[Paul Myron Hobson]

Paul Myron Hobson wrote:
> Olebiker wrote:
>> On May 30, 1:01 pm, Paul Myron Hobson <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> Olebiker wrote:
>>>> Put that guy riding in his suit on a bike in Atlanta's hills in the
>>>> Summer. He wouldn't look so content.
>>> Pssh...More people commute around here than you realize.
>>
>> Not in a suit in the middle of Summer, they don't.
>
> Well, they have the since to leave early enough to take a shower and
> change clothes.

Clearly I meant to type "cents"

 

[Zoot Katz]

On 30 May 2007 09:57:35 -0700, landotter <[email protected]> wrote:

>On May 30, 10:46 am, Olebiker <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On May 30, 7:38 am, catzz66 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > landotter wrote:
>> > > Fun pics if you've not been to Holland:
>>
>> > It's great to see so many people using bikes in their normal routine.
>>
>> Put that guy riding in his suit on a bike in Atlanta's hills in the
>> Summer. He wouldn't look so content.
>
>Put him on the street cruising from midtown to downtown on Peachtree,
>and add a nice Panama hat for the sun, and he'd be just fine. For the
>real summer heat, buy your guy a MARTA pass.

I think part of the reason for the pitiful lack of North American
commuter/utility bicycling is because the machines and images being
sold are of the sporting aspect of bicycling. You know, the image
that requires you own a SUV for transporting said bikes to fantasy
movie sets so you can ride them.

The machines are sold with models posing in lycra or body armour.
Only recently has the street image begun to be employed by more
manufacturers to sell an evolving line of bicycles to the urban hip.

Still it's not an image that appeals to everyone any more than the
helmeted pastel mom, dad and kids toddling through fantasy land on
their new matching machines.

I'm sure as many people, if not more, are deterred from bicycling by
the implied need to wear spandex as the implied or mandated need for
special headgear.

Problem is that most of the bikes offered to the N.A. public are
designed for sport and are more comfortably ridden in sport specific
clothing. The lack of "sensible bikes" has spawned the remarkable
growth of the sport specific clothing industries.

It's going to be hard to get people to shell out $600 for a reliable
urban mount when they already have a sporting type bike.
--
zk

 

[Veloise]

On May 29, 3:42 pm, landotter <[email protected]> wrote:
> Being a Scandinavian guy, it seems so odd that the guy who put up
> these pictures didn't know about what I consider the obvious. Never
> seen a skirt-guard? What a cloistered life to live. :^P
>
> Fun pics if you've not been to Holland:
>
> http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/

Let alone a folding bike. D'oh!

--Karen D.
riding in Grand Rapids Mich, on a bicycle

 

[[email protected]]

Crime must be a bigger problem in Holland if people need to monster
lock what we would generously call "garage sale specials". In the US
I can use a single u lck or cable lock to secure a Cannondale while
running errands (not overnight!!!) Maybe because Americans own more
guns and don't cotton to thievery such locks arent necessary. I
wish there were that many cyclists here.


On May 30, 8:56 am, Ozark Bicycle
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On May 30, 6:38 am, catzz66 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > landotter wrote:
> > > Being a Scandinavian guy, it seems so odd that the guy who put up
> > > these pictures didn't know about what I consider the obvious. Never
> > > seen a skirt-guard? What a cloistered life to live. :^P
>
> > > Fun pics if you've not been to Holland:
>
> > It's great to see so many people using bikes in their normal routine.
>
> Indeed it is. That is what is lacking here in the US, where so many
> cyclists fall either into the can't-afford-a-car/suspended license
> camp or the racer-wannabe camp.

 

[landotter]

On Jun 1, 12:21 am, [email protected] wrote:
> Crime must be a bigger problem in Holland if people need to monster
> lock what we would generously call "garage sale specials". In the US
> I can use a single u lck or cable lock to secure a Cannondale while
> running errands (not overnight!!!) Maybe because Americans own more
> guns and don't cotton to thievery such locks arent necessary.

Yes, it's the lack of gubs in Holland that are the problem. You hit
the nail on the head. If every omafiets had a gubrack, there'd be no
more crime. In addition, every athelete would have magical bowls of
wheaties that strengthened their tendons through chemical osmosis and
the rate of elderly trips and falls would be reduced, as when people
lost their balance, they could just fire their handgubs at the ground
till they were vertical again. Gubs! They're both the cause and
solution of every problem known!

 

[Ozark Bicycle]

On Jun 1, 11:03 am, landotter <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 1, 12:21 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> > Crime must be a bigger problem in Holland if people need to monster
> > lock what we would generously call "garage sale specials". In the US
> > I can use a single u lck or cable lock to secure a Cannondale while
> > running errands (not overnight!!!) Maybe because Americans own more
> > guns and don't cotton to thievery such locks arent necessary.
>
> Yes, it's the lack of gubs in Holland that are the problem. You hit
> the nail on the head. If every omafiets had a gubrack, there'd be no
> more crime. In addition, every athelete would have magical bowls of
> wheaties that strengthened their tendons through chemical osmosis and
> the rate of elderly trips and falls would be reduced, as when people
> lost their balance, they could just fire their handgubs at the ground
> till they were vertical again. Gubs! They're both the cause and
> solution of every problem known!


If everyone in the US had a gub, there would be no political arguments
or societal bickering. Just shoot the MoFos who dare disagree with ya.
That'll end the problem. Some guy in a big ol' pickuop runs ya off the
road? Shoot the SOB. Done!

Charlton Heston is the true Messiah. Let us prey!

 

[landotter]

On Jun 1, 11:15 am, Ozark Bicycle
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 1, 11:03 am, landotter <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jun 1, 12:21 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> > > Crime must be a bigger problem in Holland if people need to monster
> > > lock what we would generously call "garage sale specials". In the US
> > > I can use a single u lck or cable lock to secure a Cannondale while
> > > running errands (not overnight!!!) Maybe because Americans own more
> > > guns and don't cotton to thievery such locks arent necessary.
>
> > Yes, it's the lack of gubs in Holland that are the problem. You hit
> > the nail on the head. If every omafiets had a gubrack, there'd be no
> > more crime. In addition, every athelete would have magical bowls of
> > wheaties that strengthened their tendons through chemical osmosis and
> > the rate of elderly trips and falls would be reduced, as when people
> > lost their balance, they could just fire their handgubs at the ground
> > till they were vertical again. Gubs! They're both the cause and
> > solution of every problem known!
>
> If everyone in the US had a gub, there would be no political arguments
> or societal bickering. Just shoot the MoFos who dare disagree with ya.
> That'll end the problem. Some guy in a big ol' pickuop runs ya off the
> road? Shoot the SOB. Done!


Ahhh, you said it! To be a nation of universal gubbists would be a
joy! No more stuck pickle jars, extended arguments, or tedious visits
to piercing studios.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyQO6Q5hmsE

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Thu, 31 May 2007 22:21:12 -0700, bigjim wrote:

> Crime must be a bigger problem in Holland if people need to monster
> lock what we would generously call "garage sale specials". In the US
> I can use a single u lck or cable lock to secure a Cannondale while
> running errands (not overnight!!!) Maybe because Americans own more
> guns and don't cotton to thievery such locks arent necessary. I
> wish there were that many cyclists here.

No, it's that Americans don't value the bicycle nearly as much as certain
other people do. For most Americans, a stolen bicycle is merely an
inconvenience. For people who depend on bicycles for daily transport, a
stolen bicycle is a catastrophic loss.

Likewise, where there is more dependence on cycling, there's a greater
demand for bicycles, which feeds into the economics of bike theft.

My local (Northern Virginia, USA) suburban commuter rail station has a
bicycle rack by the platform with space for maybe a dozen and a half
bikes. I have never seen it more than half full. When I lived in England
(roughly halfway between the USA's total car-dependence and urban
Holland's total bike-dependence), an equivalent station would have had
space for literally hundreds of securely-locked bicycles--all of which
spaces would have been occupied.

-Luigi



--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

 

[Jeremy Parker]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote

[snip]
>
> My local (Northern Virginia, USA) suburban commuter rail station
> has a
> bicycle rack by the platform with space for maybe a dozen and a
> half
> bikes. I have never seen it more than half full. When I lived in
> England
> (roughly halfway between the USA's total car-dependence and urban
> Holland's total bike-dependence), an equivalent station would have
> had
> space for literally hundreds of securely-locked bicycles--all of
> which
> spaces would have been occupied.

That varies with location. Cambridge has a higher bike modal split
than Amsterdam, and there must normally be close to a thousand bikes
parked at the train station there. My local station, the outermost
London station, on one of the lines to Cambridge, normally has one
bike parked, except when my bike makes a second.

Mind you, the last time I went to Cambridge, last week, as part of at
Bike Week bike-to-work ride whose ride leader decided to play hooky,
I took my bike with me on the train, so didn't contribute to bike
parking at any station.

Jeremy Parker

 

[Luigi de Guzman]

On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:29:58 +0100, Jeremy Parker wrote:

> "Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> [snip]
>>
>> My local (Northern Virginia, USA) suburban commuter rail station
>> has a
>> bicycle rack by the platform with space for maybe a dozen and a
>> half
>> bikes. I have never seen it more than half full. When I lived in
>> England
>> (roughly halfway between the USA's total car-dependence and urban
>> Holland's total bike-dependence), an equivalent station would have
>> had
>> space for literally hundreds of securely-locked bicycles--all of
>> which
>> spaces would have been occupied.
>
> That varies with location. Cambridge has a higher bike modal split
> than Amsterdam, and there must normally be close to a thousand bikes
> parked at the train station there. My local station, the outermost
> London station, on one of the lines to Cambridge, normally has one
> bike parked, except when my bike makes a second.

Ah, I've been found out. A thousand cycles at Cambridge station would be
a conservative estimate... But I've seen a fair number of cycles locked
up on some of those stations, at least from the train window.

I remember being particularly impressed at the fact that some stations had
Sheffield stands built right into the platforms--roll the bike onto the
platform, lock up, and walk onto the train. Very cool.


>
> Mind you, the last time I went to Cambridge, last week, as part of at
> Bike Week bike-to-work ride whose ride leader decided to play hooky,
> I took my bike with me on the train, so didn't contribute to bike
> parking at any station.

Another nice thing about those trains. When I was in London, it wasn't a
big deal for me to ride to Kings' Cross, roll my bike onto the train, roll
off at Cambridge, and ride into the city centre for the day, and take the
cycle back on the late (non-rush) trains. Brilliant!




--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

 

[Jeremy Parker]

"Luigi de Guzman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:29:58 +0100, Jeremy Parker wrote:

[snip]

>> That varies with location. Cambridge has a higher bike modal
>> split
>> than Amsterdam, and there must normally be close to a thousand
>> bikes
>> parked at the train station there. My local station, the
>> outermost
>> London station, on one of the lines to Cambridge, normally has one
>> bike parked, except when my bike makes a second.
>
> Ah, I've been found out. A thousand cycles at Cambridge station
> would be
> a conservative estimate... But I've seen a fair number of cycles
> locked
> up on some of those stations, at least from the train window.

Yes. One of the towns along the line is Stevenage, first of the post
WW II "new towns", famous for its bike path network. If you build
the bike paths first, and then add the houses round them, its easier
to build a good network than if you try to retrofit facilities
afterwards. Back during the bike/ecology boom of the late 1960s and
early '70s Stevenage was famous throughout the world. It's the town
that taught the Dutch how to do bike networks. Eric Claxton,
Stevenage's chief engineer, used to roam the world, giving talks
about the network.

Stevenage doesn't get nearly as many bikes at its station as does
Cambridge, but does normally have well over a hundred, I would say.

It's interesting the Hitchin, the next station towards Cambridge,
which is just an ordinary market town, and has no special bike
facilities at all, as far as I know, seems to have almost as many
bikes parked as Stevenage

Cambridge doesn't really have much in the way of bike facilities.
There is a super expensive bike bridge over the railway, next to the
station, and lots of short cuts across parks, which have always been
there, probably since bikes were invented. There was an outbreak of
bike lanes in, I would guess, about the 1970s or 1980s, but the bikes
were there before the bike lanes.

Jeremy Parker