Amsterdam Bicycles

The guidebooks about the Netherlands aren't kidding when they talk about it being “Land of Bicycles”. There were more bikes on the streets in Amsterdam and Leiden than there were cars on the frigid January day we were visiting there. These are not racing bikes or mountain bikes or recumbent bikes with riders dressed in high tech bike gear and helmets, set for a 20 mile fitness ride. These are the old fashioned single gear bikes which cause the rider to sit upright and tall, some fitted with child seats or little wagons. Riders are dressed for work, in nice shoes, heels, dresses, slacks, bundled up for the cold. No one wears a helmet, even children who are riding among the bus and car traffic. People carry backpacks, bundles in wicker baskets on the front of the bike; we saw several riders talking on cell phones while riding along. The streets are busier with bicycles than with cars; many of the bigger streets have special bike lanes, and pedestrians are definitely lowest in the pecking order when it comes to right of way. Bikes fill the sidewalks outside businesses and special double decker bike parks fill alleys. Many bikes are properly locked, but just as many are simply parked outside a building. I hear there is bike theft, but mostly by drunk people who hop on one then drive into one of the canals, which are dredged annually for the thousands of bikes which end up in them.

This “Bike for Transportation” concept is slow in coming to Iowa. We blame it on the weather---and for sure, who can possibly ride a bike anywhere when the snow is sixteen inches deep or a 50 mile hour, negative 20 degree wind is blowing? But it goes deeper than that. The people in Amsterdam rode in spite of the 23 degrees, and there was even some ice here and there on the pathways. The main reason is that the city is designed to accommodate the bicycle, drivers are used to dealing with them, it's OK to ride a bike wearing your suit and dress shoes, and there is no pressure to wear a helmet thus causing the dreaded Helmet Hair. We also suffer from Suburban Separation, which causes us all to live very far away from where we work or go to school. It is not only impractical to ride 10-15 miles across busy 4 lane highways, it is a danger to all on the road. But the real reason is the American love affair with the car. Until that changes, with all its implications for industry and consumerism, we will not become a nation of bicyclists.

Then again, there is that fact that you can drive in a car across the Netherlands in about 4 hours, which does not even get you all the way across the state of Iowa. And it's flat, totally flat out here. The bicycle in the Netherlands is an example of a culture supremely adapting to its best features. Before we decry our apparent laziness or lack of environmental consciousness, we should remember the fundamental differences between our countries.

That, plus the fact that many Americans would never consider riding bicycles so worn and ugly as the Dutch. It does deter theft.....