Bicycle Anecdotes From Amsterdam 

In all these videos, it looks like the rush hour traffic jam is traded for a rush hour bike jam…finding a place for the bike, staying warm or dry in inclement weather, lifting your bike to stow it away, etc. For people with health problems, how do they get about?

@@gregnixon1296 Dear Greg. Take a look at this (old) video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xSGx3HSjKDo.html

"... and somehow got plugged into the cycling gestalt." I don't think I've ever seen "gestalt" used in a RU-vid comment before ... You deserve a reward for that!

@@gregnixon1296 they get around with mobility scooters, tri-cycles, wheelchairs, little electric cars (25km/h) that are aloud in city centers, public transport, taxi's and believe it or not ... cars. How do they get around where you live?

@@mdsign001 They don't is my best guess :(

stop de kindermoord!!!

Amsterdam is also a very cosmopolitan city and packed with tourists and foreigners, so they are prepared to expect the unexpected.

the secret is that every dutch driver probably has more biking hours in their life than drive hours.

Here thy will/would call you a pancake (pannekoek)

its controlled chaos over here, we run reds all the time there is a learning curve to the negotiations of when it is less frowned upon lets say, its not a cyclist vs car experience comparable to other places in the world it is just another person on a bike. There is bad and good etiquette ofc and never running a red is fine too but when there are no cars or its clear u can go safely as incoming traffic is 8 sec + away people behind u might sigh silently at the inefficiency xD. Also just raising your hand a bit in an aah my bad gesture is such an example or showing cars with a gesture they don't need to give and can just keep their momentum going or noticing others not sure of your direction making them slow down unnecessary roundabouts are a good example for where it happens frequently. its more of a common sense thing then a i have the right to be here bleh :D

He may have manners as well, but part of the story is that, when in a collision with a bike, a vehicle owner can only claim max 50% of damage on the cyclist's insurance, even when the cyclist is at fault ! Dutch Road Law states that car drivers have an extra responsibility towards more vulnerable road users like bikers and pedestrians ..

Thanks love it!

I didn't even noticed that ...

I rode on my bicycle about 20km everyday to school and back and i did it without using my hands many times except when i had to stop for some traffic lights.

Im dutch I brought my bag from my back to my hands and put a bottle in it and then put it back

Haha... True. Lately I've been watching these videos while cycling. Peanuts ;)

It's even more fun when you have a pullover - there is that tricky moment when you have to get it over your head without pulling your glasses off and not actually being able to see for a moment.

America build a BRIDGE for bike and walk in PORTLAND. RATHER NICE BRIDGE.

That kid has quite the ride, he's gonna be shredding the fietspadden very soon lol

That's the way it should be - Cyclists in Ireland and the UK need to take note!

@@RedKnight-fn6jr the negative comments always come from England, why is that?

@@bloopblooper490 that was not a negatieve comment lol. Learn proper english before replying.

@@jbird4478 That makes sense. Most Dutch people are even able to ride a bike without holding the handlebars, steering the bike using just their legs. This definitely requires a sense of balance and feeling where the bike is going, to adjust if necessary.

It used to be like that till I was 15 years old in India. Now, even kids are riding motor bikes. It has become a prestige to own a motor bike than riding a bicycle. We enjoyed our childhood

Chris P NO! You will be dissapointed. There is no community, it just IS. Nobody cares if you ride a bike or if you shaved the right part of your skull. It’s just a tool. It’s a function of society, not a fucking statement. Stay in NYC. Go to the Ned for other things.

@@hansy3 He's giving a compliment and you rudely fly off the handle about shaved heads and cycling as a statement which I don't see anywhere in his comment. It's amazing how so many people saw his comment as positive and you chose to see the negative. Says a lot about you.

@@triplerainbow6269 to be fair he said "bike community" which sort of does imply this group of people seperate from the rest doing their thing "fighting against the main stream". It probably wasn't intended this way, but I can see how someone interprets it that way and gets annoyed. Because he has a point: it isn't a community, it isn't just Amsterdam. The entire country of the Netherlands, and people of every age and every walk of life bike every day. It is a mode of transport as common as cars or walking. It is so ingrained in every day life it's dead normal. And on top of that it isn't just Amsterdam that is this way, but the entire country. Every Dutch city, village,... has biking infra. The country is crisscrossed by bike highways. The entire country is biking friendly. The biking "community" he speaks of is just main stream Dutch culture. Even in north Belgium where I live, biking is common and a normal everyday thing. So seeing someone comment about ema "biking community" seems a bit weird from a northern European perspective as here (in most parts of n-eu) biking is just a normal, everyday, commonplace part of life. Personal example: Part of my primary school years, my entire high school years and university years I spent biking to and from school/uni. I still don't have a driver's licence to this day. Biking and public transport are just so normal here. Cars are too. But we have the freedom of not having to have one...

I understand but different people have different culture. For Americans we do not live in such a society where cycling infrastructure is everywhere. He is speaking from his perspective. I just thought his response was completely uncalled for and rude when someone was trying to be nice.

@@triplerainbow6269 Well that's another part of Dutch culture. They're very direct, don't mess about, and don't embellish things that they say... You find it insulting and rude, to a neighbouring Belgian like me that's just a Dutch person being very Dutch... 😁

So what? That is where a bakfiets (=cargo bicycle) is for.

A few days ago I saw a man with egg trays under his arm while bikinh

At 8:06 I thought you were kidding!

I've moved all my stuff several times (and helped others to move as well) on a 1950's bakfiets (cargo bicycle). Not a big deal...

Exactly so don't give up and hope all will improve.

curios where in mexico? can you work and make a better living vs cost of living?

Playa del Carmen is a nice place in Mexico to ride a bike.

"You just want to get to work safely" Tell that to the 9 out of 10 suicidal cyclists that have never heard of a blind spot and divebomb us out of nowhere in our little 10 ton trucks. All while we're trying to do our job manouvering around pedestrians and other trucks in the cramped medival hellhole that is the inner city of maastricht. I get that trucks are guests in these places, but ffs some (read=loads) of people have no sense of self-preservation seeing how they would rather squeeze past two trucks that have to fold in their mirrors just to pass eachother than wait the 20 seconds it takes for us to manouver.

He also frowns because of the loss in $$$$ because 70% of Amsterdam dont use petrol

England is ignoring it completely!

bloop blooper England just hates cyclists of any age for some reason

Lol.

So right

Bakfiets.

+Mayank Sharma The Netherlands went trough the same process as India during the 1970's, moving towards a car culture from a bike culture, and then trough some activist groups we decided to do it differently, which brings us to today. All that to say: I think India still has a chance to become cycling focused. Especially in smaller cities, this can be achieved by popular movements and activism. Especialy from an equity point of view, I think this would be good for India, so that the rich don't push the people who can't afford a car out of the public streets. The city belongs to everyone, after all.

ElGrandeBanana ;not entirely true see pictures and films of the beginning of the 20th century and you'll see a lot of bikers. Always has been like that !!!

anyplace is better than india with it's garbage society

I can completely understand how u feel cuz, I live in india, in Mumbai to be precise and the name is enough! In India, the respect u get on the roads is directly proportional to the size of your vehicle, so we cyclists get mocked always...I ride my cycle to college everyday for like16 km and gotta say that I reach faster than my dad (in car) but the thing is it's sooooooo unsafe! I've got hit by cars multiple times as they want to show cyclists that they are poor, but yeah, fuck them cuz I've got cycle that's worth 1.2 lac that's like almost 1700$. And I'm sure those obese bastards will regret on day driving cars..I hope those diabetic leeches die soon!😂😂😂

People driving the car to the gym. Kind of like people smoking outside the hospital doors... :D

And very occasionally you’ll misread one another and one or both of you has to hit the anchors. It happens, but it’s not a huge deal.

Yes, leaning in, looking in a direction, making room to make the turn by moving a little to the other side. It's the subtle signs we know to read, but I do get that if you don't speak that "language", cycling in Dutch cities, especially in Amsterdam or the Utrecht CS to the Uithof part, can be quite scary and appear chaotic.

@@Snowshowslow not to Most Dutch cyclists (the elderly may be an exception)

@@rientsdijkstra4266 I think you'll find I said that to people who don't speak that language, it's scary. That obviously excludes most experienced Dutch cyclists.

@@Snowshowslow Ok, thats true: for the truely inexperienced cyclist it can be a scary experience... , but one can learn it quickly

True that. But to be fair, that only really took off after we noticed the admiration bestowed upon our bike culture, didn't it? We just happily went along with it... 😉 Before (been riding for over 55 years) I never gave it much more thought than tying my shoe laces, to be honest. (sorry, I just noticed the date of your comment. Oops)

Me too!!

Why not ride your electric bike in houston?

It's probably more for the video, we won't see him if he was riding inside.

Fabian Yee riding on the inside, means Pascal should cycle on the right side of his father. It’s safer for little kids, since they would be protected by their parent’s body/bike if there’s a collision with a car or other motorized vehicle. Besides, it’s to guard the kid not to cycle outside the bike lane.

@@smurfiennes Yeah, I'm guessing they also meant that. Just that when the kid would be cycling on the right, our view of him would be obstructed (partly) by the dad cycling to his left.

Very true. Children and dogs always go on the inside.

Pascal considered this a better camera angle. 👍🤝🇳🇱

+ArnettaC he was actually riding between his dad and the curb, but I couldn't get a good shot so he let him ride on the outside for a bit since of course I WAS ON THE OUTSIDE! So he was indeed protected by an adult.

Maybe you should write them down.. :o

I have to agree with ArnetteC. The first thing that struck my eye was the very little kid was taking the outside lane so to say. Believe me, all other dutch people notice such a huge mistake right-away. It all might seem as a bit of choas, but there are a lot of unwritten rules. One of them is that the parent will always protect his little child from the car traffic. Think of it, big people on big bikes are far easier to be seen by the car driver than a tiny kid on a mini-bike. Even car drivers can get very angry about that because you put them in a position that they might hit your child.

What are the unwritten rules?

The kid was on the outside, still inside another adult cameraman, for 5 seconds at the end for a promo shot and you guys claim its a huge mistake.

In London, the authorities acknowledge cycling and openly make efforts to make it easier. It's not like Amsterdam, but it's ten times better than everywhere else in the UK.

It's interesting, because if you just copy the infrastructure from NL to UK, it would fail completely. Dutch infrastructure is dependent on mutual respect between cyclists and car drivers. So in the UK it would have to be build up slowly, with initially worse designs than we have here, but better than they are now. Roundabouts with cyclist priority for example would be a disaster there. As drivers just don't want to give priority to cyclists. So initially, you'd have to build crossings with lights and such.

@@donder91 It's the 'chicken and egg' story once again. You're probably right about british driver's attitudes. But the mutual respect between the parties in the Netherlands is largely due to the fact that all (I dare say) motorists are cyclists first and foremost, born and raised. And without the infrastructure they wouldn't be, not to such an extent. (and large numbers of cyclists have a driver's licence, that helps) I've never been much impressed by attitudes towards cyclists in Spain. But still somehow Sevilla, a city where no one ever cycled, just rapidly implemented their biking infrastructure and that proved to be nothing short of revolutionary. Thousands and thousands of people are biking, safely. Have a look: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rz20rAJ7oIg.html It can be done faster than expected... Bye.

@@eiypo Yes it is, you just don't understand what i wrote.

Since I was riding on the outside we considered that was acceptable. To capture the shot, otherwise he would be hidden behind dad and better for me to be positioned there instead of making them ride further in the street. So you are correct.

@Roosje Keizer No... We exist.

We exist indeed. To be fair cycling is "easier" then walking, takes less effort to go the same distance. So I am at times lazy and take my bike...

but not everyone uses a bike, let's be honest.

In a word commitment. If it a choice people don’t change.

Sam Mariassouce nothing to do with climate change, Shell is Dutch

@tubetardism 20/20 hes right im Dutch and Shell is Dutch

Hahaha. Can’t wait to get fat as well? JK, I would like to work/live in the states as well for some period of time. Why did you choose Texas?

@@danielmeijer3348 Yea he's from Amsterdam, he's probably a jealous American pretending to be Dutch.

@@Brozius2512 Come on guys, does a different point of view always have to trigger assumption and insult? Not my favourite part of dutch culture.

@@mourlyvold7655 Kinda strange that you only talk about Dutch people being triggered, I guess you completely ignore the people from the US that are triggered even more than the Dutch people. Looks to me you are a selective reader.

@@Brozius2512 No, I just stumbled upon your post and had my say, is that a problem? Will I have to go and reply to every reaction on RU-vid to prove to you that I'm impartial? A daunting task if you ask me. For your reassurance: I actually do react in many ways to many people of many nationalities. Perhaps just have a look at my comments under this video? That should suffice to find out if I really only react critically to dutch people. There is a fine example of a 'triggered american' here (as you seem to relish that idea) that could tell you about it. Just ask him politely, will you? In this case I reacted to one of my countrymen (I take it, at least, that you are dutch). I just somehow felt it concerned me, being dutch myself and all. You didn't represent my country in the best of ways, I thought. So I was compelled to react. That happens... So feel free to (as you stated) guess all you want, Sir. I assure you it is not me who is a selective reader. I'm afraid it's you. Fijne avond nog. Peace.

He vaguely looks like him but...you are mistaken.

My father also brought home the christmas tree on his bike. I have also done the suitcase thing and also having a second bike at the hand. Heck, when my mother was young when she went to school and the other person bike broke she would have that person on the back while also holding that bike.

I just bought one of those bikes and had it shipped over here and it was $1,500 😬😬😬.

Weather isn't that bad, it's rarely too hot or too cold, it rains not nearly as much as people think (and if you wait 5-10' it might stop, or you dress accordingly).. it's windy, though.

It's bold to say 'a lot less' when you have no evidence at all.

We do have wind. Lots of wind. And ... most bigger cities are not build on mountainous terrain. I've cycled everywhere in France, Spain, Germany, Sweden and even in Switserland (Zürich), the US (San Diego, LA) and Austria (Vienna) a 3-speed bicycle suffices :)

It goes both ways, cycling has kept these cities much more compact, too. Many North-American downtowns are littered with huge city blocks that serve only as parking space, that's unheard of in the Netherlands, or even most other European cities. In the city centre, to use precious space to a parking lot is wasteful, but you need it because the car is the only proper way to get there... And thus we are full circle, if you create a bike friendly city, you could use all that lost space to cars for more economical uses.

@@barvdw now most city centers in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe are from a long time before cars and bicycles were invented. Of course, a lot of bicycle use ensures that cities remain compact, but often these cities were long before the bicycle was available. In addition, American cities are also built so widely because they come from a drawing board. In European cities are also big parking spaces only underground and with buildings on top. in the us there is just so much space that it is not inviting to build a very expensive underground parking space with buildings on top if you have enough space to build it next to each other which is also cheaper.

@@stephanvanlunenburg4930 But is it cheaper? North America has enough space, but well connected space is just as rare and valuable, which is why CBDs are still so important. And European cities have tried to mimic their American counterparts to some extent, roads were widened, etc. Yes, European cities are older, but most development dates from after 1900, just as in the US, the historical centres are only a small part of the entire city, with a lot of residential streets around. Those were often just as much planned as your typical us city, even including architecture competitions for the houses that were build there. Still, even the US had until quite late a lot of urban core, and many parking lots in downtown Denver, Cincinnati or Philadelphia were constructed upon, it was the motor madness that started to tear them down for parking. The question is, how do you continue from here on. I think there are many compelling reasons to 'go bike', also in the US. When continuing as before, the need for more parking, wider roads, etc will only increase, because cars keep getting bigger, more people move out and have to come in from further away, etc. The alternative is not to ban cars, but to restrict them, and redistribute some of that space previously occupied by cars to other uses, like bike lanes, pavements, plazas and parks, or new development. I know what I would prefer...

Muito inspirador.

Same man. Especially when I had a test that morning.

You can do that in the countryside for hours not in a city:)

James van der Hoorn That must have been awful. Not as awful as going through the trouble of having it fixed of course, but still. :D

@@KryzMasta Haha so true its not as if Amsterdam is short of bicycle repair shops!

how was it?

@John Yeah I agree I was going make a vlog about it but don't want the Uber Mafia after me xD hahah

normal. hahaha amsterdam full drug en sex toerist,,jou call that normal

@@adotholland22 That's just a little part of Amsterdam! And an even less part of the Netherlands! Toerist!

Most cyclists in the Netherlands have cars, but only used for longer distances. In the Innercities its not wise to use a car because parking is almost not possible or you have to buy a parkingspace. Or pay a shitload of money for parking.

And not being a man because you dont own a car, wel our men come on there own bikes to get a drink or other outing.

Tramdrivers are used to deal with (careless) cyclists, so they are normally prepared to do the right thing. And to stop or slow down for a (group of) cyclist(s) costs far less time than having an accident....

Why is there a flashing sad face? And what is the speedmeter for?

lol

People ride when they can ride, Switzerland has lots of cyclists, even in areas that are far from flat. Ebikes can also resolve a lot of that. As for cold, Holland gets fairly cold and it is windy and rainy a lot, but in Oulu Finland it is very cold, like many places in Canada and it is littered with cyclists all year round. In heat it can be a challenge, although if not too hot you can get pretty far with an ebike to prevent sweat and ride wind helps, and planting trees next to the road to provide shade also helps a lot, look at Seville Spain. There really isn't much of an excuse any longer.