The Netherlands, a Nation of Cars too
The Netherlands is known for cycling like no other country. But did you know that there are also eight million cars?
Travelling abroad
Vamos a Mexico City
In which we take a bird’s eye view of cycling in Mexico City without being one bit complete.
Rotterdam: City Centre as City Lounge
Rotterdam is taking a lane away in their downtown arterial to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists. The population had asked for it.
In Holland, Everyone Can Ride a Bike
I remember that in my youth back in Holland in our village of 13,000 a teen called Sjaak (from ‘Jacques’) with Down Syndrome cycled by our house regularly. He had an upright bike with two enormous mirrors. His bike was his pride. The freedom for him was fantastic. He could go where he wanted, was sent out for errands by his mom and everyone knew him. Note that this was the 70’s, indeed over 40 years ago when Dutch bike infrastructure was probably not even 10% of what there is now. But Sjaak cycled on a busy road, with vehicles on [Read more…]
Back from Holland – The Train System
Those who follow me on Twitter (@HansontheBike) got a pretty good impression of what I have been doing the last three weeks. Karen and I were in the Netherlands. I live in Canada and although on average I go back once a year, it is often for work, which means I can only add a day or two to my trip in the weekend. We also go to other places in Europe, but we make sure we make a stop over in the Netherlands for 4 to 5 days. However, in all those 17 years I never went back for a [Read more…]
The Most Beautiful Bike Path in the World is in Liguria
Mention you have been to Italy, and people usually assume you have been to Rome, Venice, Tuscany and Pisa. The odd person mentions Capri, Sicily or even the Italian Alps, but few will ever ask if you have been to Liguria. Liguria Liguria is the province that stretches from the French border, past Genua towards Cinque Terre along the Mediterranean. Think Cannes, Nice, Monaco and then start from the border at Ventimiglia along that same coast eastbound. It feels like time stood still in Liguria and that is perhaps because it is mountainous (the Alpi Maritimi); perhaps that has kept [Read more…]
The Town of Velsen, North Holland
In all likelyhood, you have never heard of Velsen in the Netherlands. I have, but I have never been there. Today, I received a blog from BicycleDutch (written by Mark Wagenbuur) in my inbox. It is one of the few blogs I follow as it gives me a good picture of what is going on in the Netherlands. Contrary to popular belief, I am not often in the Netherlands. The last time I visited the Netherlands is already about 2 years ago and I have no plans to go there soon either. Usually I am not reblogging stuff that others [Read more…]
5 Gorgeous Dutch Bike and Ped Bridges + 1 Bike Garage
Netherlands’ cities have been building some fantastic bike infrastructure in 2012-2013. And not only in Amsterdam, but throughout the country. I collected some pictures from Twitter, Facebook and the web. Unfortunately, I don’t know who took the pictures, but I trust someone can let me know. Here are some pictures and a clip of a bridge in Zoetermeer (near The Hague) that is nearly finished. Plus one new bike parking garage for 1500 bikes (which is fairly small for a Dutch city). Of course, it is not always the cheapest option that is chosen, but don’t underestimate the effects of beautiful design. It puts [Read more…]
Guest Post: Kelly Roche's impressions on Frankfurt and Wiesbaden Transportation
Two years ago, I was interviewed by Ottawa Sun reporter Kelly Roche at the opening of the Laurier bike lane. At that time, the Ottawa Sun was fairly hostile towards cyclists, (but not Kelly) complaining about the cost of bike infrastructure for ‘a handful of cyclists‘ (760,000 bike trips have been counted since the opening at the Metcalfe intersection counters alone). The total numbers are even higher as not everyone passes these particular counters. Not much of a wedge issue Over the last two years, The Ottawa Sun’s attitude appears to have changed. Of course, we know that newspapers like so [Read more…]
Visiting Washington: a Few Quick Pics of Cycling near the White House
Today is 4th of July. A good day to share with you a few pictures I took in Washington, DC two weeks ago, when I was there for a work related training. There are tons of websites and blogs out to read up on all the good bicycle initiatives happening down there so I am not going to repeat them. We were last in Washington in 2008 and I don’t recall seeing many cyclists there, at least not enough that I would notice the numbers. It has definitely changed. There is a bike lane right next to the White House. [Read more…]