The Chainlink

Bicycle rush hour in the Netherlands, a time lapse video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M

I imagine the streets of heaven look very similar to this.

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Nice. Makes me homesick.
Two things I noticed:
1. Nearly everyone stops for the red lights.
2. No shoaling
no helmets???????
Awesome!

A little shoaling at about 1:02.
That is so cool!

I also had no idea there was a concept of "shoaling." Okay, yeah, well I've never been a fan of Bike Snob; I shoal all the time and I'll submit that there are many circumstances when it's perfectly fine. I know how to gear my bike down when coming to a stop so why should I wait behind you because - using the generic and all encompassing you - you don't and you're stuck in a knee-busting long gear huffing and puffing just to get going? If you don't like it, you can ring your bell in umbrage.
I've actually considered moving to Amsterdam for a while, and this is just one of the reasons.
that is pretty awesome. so, heaven would be a place with no helmets and cyclist stop for red lights. count me in!
Very cool. I'm going to Holland on vacation in a week and a half and can't wait! One of my friends there has already reserved a bike for me at a rental place and I'ma ride all over that little country.

Thanks for sharing the video!
Dunno, sounds like giving up to me . . .
Would be better if we took all the cyclists in Amsterdam and distributed them to other cities to fight for change.

Joel said:
I've actually considered moving to Amsterdam for a while, and this is just one of the reasons.
Yes, because don't you know, (ask any anti-helmet type)-- they have no head inhuries in Holland.

Michael A said:
no helmets???????
Pretty great and I'd like to move to the land of soccer, bikes and herb as much as the next man, but as I like to remind people who claim it's a workable model for America, the Netherlands is about half again as big as metro Chicago. As much as there is to learn from other cultures, we need local solutions for local problems, and to keep in mind that however friendly a given European country may be to cycling, in an American context it's a bit like Portland being so.
I lived in Amsterdam in 1998 and commuted by bike. No one wore helmets, but it was safer. We didn't have to mix with auto traffic, and didn't really go that fast. it's not viewed as a sport there whatsoever, so I never noticed the competitive streak that a lot of Chicago cyclists seem to have, nor is there the concept of some sort of elite "bike culture" there, because EVERYONE bikes. You'll often see two people on one bike, or elderly people biking along with a grocery bag under one arm.
I'm jealous, but at the same time I do appreciate our open roads (read: less populated with cyclists) and the fairly quick clip I ride at each day. I do not look forward to the days of sitting at a red light behind 30 rows of cyclists.


I'll take a little of Column A (risky high speed USA) and a little of Column B (NL commuting cyclist culture).

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