
Bike Commuting help Dutch meet physical activity guideline - harscoat
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/7/1/89
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lenni
I ride my bike everywhere all year round here in Berlin and I find the main
point of making it more enjoyable/safer for cyclists is having many other
cyclists. It raises drivers awareness and provides a critical mass. I know
this is some kind of chicken and egg situation but I find it to be true.

When I was living in England the Cycling Touring Club there deemphasised
separate bike lanes arguing that they were for the convenience of drivers and
not cyclists. For a long time I wanted to believe this but now I have arrived
at the conclusion that integrated bike lanes (the ones on the same level as
the actual road not behind a line of trees) are actually useful and it makes
me feel safer using them.

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beoba
I likewise feel the same in the US. In areas where cyclists are common, I am
more confident that cars/etc are more used to cyclists and know how to
'handle' them. I've noticed that cyclists have become more common since ~2008
when gas prices spiked, and car drivers now tend to be more accommodating of
them.

I think bike lanes are more useful as _indicators_ of bike traffic on a given
road. The bike lane tells drivers that there may be many cyclists on that
road, and to watch out for them. The lane's typical proximity to parked cars
(prime 'dooring' territory), pedestrians, and debris can often make it less
useful as an actual lane for cyclists.

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kleiba
I always find it absolutely fascinating to see how many people ride their
bikes whenever I'm in the Netherlands. Where I come from, I think you'd have a
really hard time seeing somebody ride a bike in public who's older than 30
years. It's probably already difficult to find someone who's older than 20 and
not a student.

In the Netherlands however, people of all ages ride a bike on a daily basis.
It's not unusual to see more bikes on the bike lane than cars on the street. I
remember once I was walking through a Dutch city and had to wait for more than
a minute before I could cross the street, because there was a huge chain of
bikers passing by, they just kept coming one after another. And that wasn't a
sports event, just regular people. Oh, and they go hella fast and ride up
really close to the one riding before them.

Really cool!

~~~
NiekvdMaas
Here's a sample video shot in the city where I live (Utrecht):
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M>

At times (e.g. 6PM workdays) certain routes can be even busier. If you're
interested, here are a lot more videos on this subject:
<http://www.youtube.com/user/markenlei#p/u>

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Starmonkey
I would suspect that the density leading to more walking also aids greatly in
that guideline, much like the denser US cities on the East Coast.

My wife's grandmother lives in Den Hague, and she has a Great Aunt who lives
in a tiny town called Terneuzen (which apparently I never pronounced
correctly, judging by native reaction). Two years ago, we went all over
Holland, starting with a few days in Amsterdam. The biking culture was quite
the shock to the system. Not just people biking to and from work, but
everywhere. I remember riding trains and seeing bike lanes between cities.
Kind of a revelation to me. I found it completely fascinating. The bike racks
overflowed with so many bikes that I have no idea how folks keep track of
where they left their bike.

I've unfortunately let my tech skills get rusty by moving into a project
management position these last few years, and I don't speak Dutch. That said,
I would immigrate there in heart beat if I could figure out a way to do so
that wouldn't break our finances (I'm trying to get up to speed on Ruby to
perhaps the point where I could consult/work remotely). Everything just seemed
to make sense in that country, very logical people. Not only the biking, but
their attitude towards social programs and families I found very refreshing.

Tot ziens!

~~~
beoba
If you're interested in biking more often, the easiest way is to ensure that
you live a short distance from where you work. Then, at least when its nice
out, it'll be easy to make your commute more interesting.

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VB6_Forever
The Dutch reclaimed a large proportion of their national territory from the
sea, presumably because they needed more space and then proceeded to allow
large scale immigration from Morocco. I wouldn't like to live in Holland.
They're packed like sardines there. Not cycling is probably not an option

~~~
Luc
I'm baffled. Someone even upvoted this. I guess it's performance art!

~~~
VB6_Forever
Can I ask you to explain what you mean?

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Luc
I suspect you are trolling? You made a characterization of the Netherlands
that seems to be constructed from randomly chosen and misrepresented facts,
misunderstandings, and hand-waving...

~~~
VB6_Forever
I wasn't trolling.

The netherlands has increased its area by an extraordinary 25% by reclaiming
land from the sea.

Despite this the netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries on
earth.

It has further increased its population by allowing immigration on a large
scale, which whatever else its consequences is not going to reduce population
density.

Now if you look at a nightime satellite view of Europe, the Netherlands is an
uninterrupted patch of light.

I'd rather live in a country where I have the possibility of escaping from my
fellow man every once in a while. That's not possible in Holland so I'd rather
not live there.

I can, however, see why cycling is popular/necessary there

~~~
danieldk
Use this list from Wikipedia, and order by population density:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_de...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density)

The Netherlands is at the 28th spot, behind countries such as South Korea,
Singapore, and Macao. Then compare the densities of e.g. Singapore (7,023 per
km^2) and The Netherlands (401 per km^2).

Stating the facts makes it all seem far less dramatic, doesn't it?

~~~
VB6_Forever
"Stating the facts makes it all seem far less dramatic, doesn't it?"

I don't believe that I have stated any fictions if that's what your last
remark implies.

I had a look at the wiki page you linked to.

Most of those 27 countries ahead of the Netherlands are negligible in terms of
size, vatican City, Guernsey, Monaco, St Martin?

There are some sizeable countries but I don't believe being able to report a
population density lower than, say, Bangladesh, is a cause for celebration.

As for living in a country with a population density of over 7000 per sq km,
it is not something to be aspired to.

