Like true Amsterdammers, I've now started to bike to work. I never did that back in London because frankly, I don't have a death wish. I used to bike to work in Portland, Oregon and also in
Nottingham, but here in Amsterdam, biking is not only safe, but encouraged. When there's not a wide, purpose built bike lane, there's often a large portion of the road set aside for bikes. Of course, once I get to the incomparable
Vondelpark, this already easy commute gets even easier.
I was taking the tram to work and that was taking about 25 minutes, but this saves an extra 10 minutes of time (and that was taking it easy!). And drivers don't get upset at bikers, but tack in the US, people would often scream at me while I was biking to work. And I don't want to hear any bullshit about "bikers breaking driving laws". Not only did I scrupulously follow the laws, but car drivers ignore driving laws all them time; they're just not inconveniencing impatient drivers as much when they do.
So far, the only city I've seen which was this bike obsessed was Copenhagen. I've been to that gorgeous city a couple of times and
many bikes in Copenhagen simply had a rear wheel lock or no lock at all. Relative to the US, there's not much crime here in Amsterdam, but there's a lot of bike theft. Seems there's not even a lot of that in Copenhagen.
How about biking in cold, rainy, dank day?
ReplyDelete@Anonymous: I find the trams much more crowded on those days, but you'll still find diehard bikers riding.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous It has to get pretty cold before the heat generated by cycling doesn't keep you warm. It is much more comfortable than anything over 80F/27C
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Frankfurt our housing was right nest to the Bundesbank. It would crack me up to see the bankers heading into work every morning in suit and tie or skirts and heels on bicycles. Rain or shine or snow there were the bikes.
ReplyDeleteTook me longest time to get used to checking the bike lane before turning when I driving. Didn't take me long to learn to stay our of the bike lane when I was walking though, just a few good bruises on my arm from people "accidentally" clipping me with the handlebars.
@Michael R pdx: I enjoy cycling very much, but I'd better choose biking at +35C, rather than on rainy day with cold-cold wind.
ReplyDelete@Ovid: Do you biking a lot? Does it make sense to look for apartments near the office (in order to biking every day to work).
Actually, I was thinking about apartments somewhere outside the city, Haarlem for example.
@Ivan: I was often walking to work before this and that would take 45 minutes to an hour, so I can't say I'm "close" to work. And having apartments further from my work's office means they're more afforable.
ReplyDeleteI live in the US and have considered riding to work. It would be a pretty lengthy ride at 9 miles one way, doubling or tripling the time it takes as compared to driving. My main concern though, as you point out, is safety. About half the ride would be through quiet residential areas, and the other half would be on a busy thoroughfare, the majority without a dedicated lane.
ReplyDeleteNice! I've been biking to work since I moved from PDX to Santa Barbara. Its ~7km each way and the return leg is straight up a massive hill. It takes ~16 minutes to get to work and ~23 to get home... its a great way to get in shape and stay that way. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Santa Barbara is one of the most bike friendly cities I've ever been in... puts PDX massively to shame. And, the weather is nearly always *perfect*. :)
-Mark