[Closed] The Dutch, obsessed with bikes?!

Cool...
Obsessed, but not proud by the sounds of things, as for some any old bike (or anybodies bike) will do for there journey they need to make 😯

It speaks volumes about UK culture that the equivalent picture here is:

[img] [/img]

🙁

Imagine if all the bikes in the OP's picture were cars.
Oh that's right, you don't need to imagine, just visit the UK.

Ha, well said Graham!
As someone who is living in the UK and UK born, but half dutch (and a frequent visitor to my other motherland), it never failed to amaze me just how many highly automated and car obsessed Brits completely fail to understand the far more healthy culture of the Netherlands, one of their nearest neighbours (and a neighbour with good historical links too)! The bikes shown above are quite typical in larger dutch cities, especially outside train stations and schools, as part of a nation where it is estimated that virtually all of the 18 million dutch population own and use a bike. In the Netherlands, we have plenty of quality recreational bikes around, but yes most are quite cheap and humble commuter bikes for simple commuting around the very high quality cycling infrastructure we have, that every other wealthy nation in the world is trying to copy (yet fail)! There is also alot of bike theft and crime in larger cities, including Amsterdam, Utrecht etc, which is why many everyday people only use "cheap" commutor bikes to get around. Most Dutch young children cycle better than most adults do around europe. Many light goods and children are transported in efficient cargo bikes and bike trailers. The Netherlands government spends approx 15 times more per year every year, than the UK, and even Germany, putting people, their health, and their cultural link with the bicycle, first, before commercial gain from any motor trade!

If only the entire population of the UK owned and used a bike regularly, as the dutch do, it would transform the nation into a far more pleasent, healthy and cost effective nation.

I recently read in two seperate british newspapers, that "the average/most frequent car journey in the UK, is less than 1 mile, and involves carrying children". I think that is a disgrace on many levels as well as a great shame.

So to answer the original question asked here, No the dutch are not "obsessed" with bikes. They simply practice common sense by the million.

By the way, the motor obsessed UK and Germany feature often in the dutch press!

Tot Zeins!
GBR.

PS: A quick tip for any tourists visiting dutch cities with expensive/quality bikes: ALWAYS use the large security guarded bike parking, found by train stations or large libraries. A nice quality machine will otherwise stand out by a mile, and be stolen no matter how well locked it may be! Esp mountain bikes!

Some bike parking is FREE, some you pay a small fee for, but even if you pay, it is WELL WORTH IT! Theft is quite high there.

GBR.

I really don't understand the obsession with driving short distances in the UK and similar places. It's just such an immense waste of money and resources, as well as time and lost opportunity to get a nice bit of fresh air.

Did you hear about the Dutch cyclist who was wearing a helmet and stopped at a red light [b]greenbikerider[/b]?

Me neither 🙂

Hurdy gurdyland is ace!

I will be doing my sixth Elfsteden nxt year 🙂

^^^^ I ride one of those things and love it. I love it so much I sometimes feel like a traitor. Oh yeah and I took the (modular) mudguard off in order to change the chainring and then couldn't put it back together. So now it looks better without 8)

Has she got one leg shorter than the other or just need a wee?

Not obsessed at all. Just more normal to ride a bike.

It speaks volumes about UK culture that the equivalent picture here is:

Well no it isn't. That appears to be a port waiting area or something else that isn't a city centre parking facility, so it isn't the equivalent picture.

I recently read in two seperate british newspapers, that "the average/most frequent car journey in the UK, is less than 1 mile, and involves carrying children".

Average UK car journey is about 7 miles. 22% of all car journeys are less than a mile.

But have you seen those awful 'Dutch Bikes' they ride around on?

Point being that everyone bikes in the Netherlands because it's the best way to get around town (much thanks to the infrastructure), not because they are obsessed with bikes any more than the average car rider is obsessed with cars.

But have you seen those awful 'Dutch Bikes' they ride around on? Heavy as ****, crap brakes, well crap everything, and often with some obscure outdated wheel/tyre size, as well as stuff like chainguards that take a day and a half to remove if you ever need to get to the drivetrain.

Yeah. Who wants a bike that you can ride in normal clothes without getting covered in oil and spray from the tyres...

Don't think you quite get it do you?

It speaks volumes about UK culture that the equivalent picture here is:

Rotterdam...

[img] [/img]

Don't think you quite get it do you?

I fear it maybe you who has missed the point of Mr Error's post.

This is a picture of a secondary school in Assen
[img] [/img]

And another school on a snowy -8°C day in February:
[img] [/img]

Compare and contrast with your local school in the UK!

( Pics from http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com )

I don't know about the Dutch, but in Germany car ownership is higher than it is in the UK. The difference is that people use them far less for short journeys - they use bikes or public transport where appropriate, the car for longer trips.

That comment about security is funny though -years ago on a trip to visit Koga, we came out of a restaurant to find someone had stolen the saddle off our host's bike. "That happens all the time" he sighed, then took a spanner out of his pocket and pinched the saddle off the next bike in the rack...

The school one that Graham posted is the most telling. Can't imagine that happening here.
The only place in the UK that is remotely like Holland or Denmark for cycling is Cambridge. 3000 cycle parking spaces at the train station.
[img] [/img]

If you think people in the UK are car obsessed, visit certain parts of the US!

Why don't we Brits cycle? Cycle paths. The road design and segregated cycle paths make all the difference.

The only place in the UK that is remotely like Holland or Denmark for cycling is Cambridge. 3000 cycle parking spaces at the train station.

People use cars for short journeys because they are lazy and can't be bothered walking.
In fact, they are so lazy they have to park their car on a busy road in front of a shop rather than the car park to the side of the shop because it is closer to walk to the shop door.
This is why we have such a high proportion of obese adults - lazyness...

It would certainly be an interesting exercise to graph say national obesity rates

[img] [/img]

and compare it to national percentage of trips by bicycle:

[img] [/img]

😕

When we were in Amsterdam there was some absolute hotties riding round on bikes. heels, big dresses etc etc. I don't think mrshora minded too much as they weren't in hotpants etc but still 😀

People ARE lazy - so if the quickest and easiest way to get somewhere is by bike then that's what they will do. The OP isn't really correct as the Dutch aren't exactly obsessed with bikes anymore than we are obsessed with taxi's - its just that its so easy and convenient to jump on your bike to go down to the shops or to the cinema or the pub etc. Dutch roads are crowded, parking is difficult and fuel is very expensive whilst cycle paths are numerous, safe and all weather. No lycra OR HELMET needed, just jump on and off you go...Most places within 5-8km of a cloggy's house are quicker and easier to get to by bike.

I know 20-30 families in the Netherlands of all ages and social strata - only 2 of them are hobby cyclists (1 road, 1 Mtb) and only those 2 would call themselves cyclists. All the families have bikes though.

Where is EU27 ❓

Yes, there aren't that many cyclists in the Netherlands, but lots of people on bikes.

(okay that's a bit clunky, but you know what I mean)