I've just spent three days in Bicycle Heaven. Amsterdam. It's the city every other city tries to copy, with varying degrees of success. The sheer number of bikes in the city center was eye-popping. And if I were to venture a guess, I'd say the ratio of two-wheelers to people was 2:1. No, I didn't make a mistake there. I DO mean two bikes to every person. They were literally everywhere. Most were parked for the day by commuters in dense but orderly fashion. But plenty were in motion on the canals and on boulevard bike lanes. And if you're wondering who rules the roads in Amsterdam: bicycles do. They stop for no one, weaving and dodging and sailing through stop signs and red lights. My fellow travelers and I found it quite intimidating -- even frightening -- though the locals seemed unfazed. I wanted to rent bikes and join in the fray, thinking of my successful experiences in Paris and New York. But, alas, I got outvoted -- probably due to the lady lying in the middle of the bike lane moaning loudly while being loaded onto a stretcher.
Nonetheless, we logged lots of miles in this amazing city on foot, which enabled me to better document the bike scene, resulting in the slide show below. Oh, and btw, absolutely no one wears helmets in Amsterdam. Check out the New York Times opinion piece in today's paper pondering the question of whether American cities should follow the Europeans and ditch the helmet requirement. How do you stand on that one? |
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