Cycling in Amsterdam
I love riding a bike in the Netherlands
This week I had the opportunity to ride a bike in Amsterdam, and I took some photos. If, like me, you’ve never cycled in the Netherlands, it is quite an experience to ride with so many people in such a bicycle-friendly place. For more on how the bicycle came to be so central in the Netherlands see this Guardian article, ‘How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world‘.
An example of a cycle route, this one behind Central Station in Amsterdam. Most roads have some kind of bike lane, many entirely segregated like this one. The surfaces are smooth, and they are designed to give priority to bikes most of the time.
My trusty yellow hire bike. It had a front brake on the left hand side, (usual, of course, for many places that aren’t the UK), and a back-pedal brake.
Various bike parking pictures.
The huge bike park at Amsterdam Central Station.
On my bike, as photographed from a lofty vantage point. If you see a tourist on a yellow bicycle grinning inanely at a fourth-floor window it is probably me.
Looks good. My daughter is planning to do the London to Amsterdam Bike Ride next year, on her birthday, as a nice birthday treat to herself. Which wouldn’t be my idea of a birthday treat, but hey ho!
That does sound like a treat to me, though I’d need to do training. I imagine the conditions for cyclists gradually improve the further you go…