Bikes
Here is a telling statistic for you: there are more bicycles than people in the city of Amsterdam. In the abstract that factoid stretches credulity but it clicks true the minute you go out for a stroll. In a city boasting fleets of gleaming trams and busses and trains and canal boats, the bicycle reigns supreme and accounts for 40% of every mile of human transport.
Imagine that you have checked into your quaint hotel in Amsterdam’s old town, then decided to walk on over for a gander at the Van Gogh Museum nearby. Look out! The locals navigate these streets serenely but the visiting pedestrian moves in jerks and stops lest s/he gets knocked into the canal by a whizzing cyclist or wheeled and diced into sausage by a whole phalanx of them. They don’t stop for you, just thumb an irritated jingle at you with the little bell on their handlebars so you will leap backwards a millisecond before getting gored. This stretch of sidewalk is for walkers. That stretch is for cyclists. Then the street itself with onrushing trams and cars. And then the lip of the canal. At crossings and roundabouts these multiple lanes intersect like spaghetti so your only option is to freeze until the pedestrian light turns green and then pray as you venture forward that you have not erred into the bicycle lane.
This complexity multiplies mercilessly at the massive waterfront central station where intercity trains and commuter trains and ferries belch people out into the city streets day and night, and where all the trams and busses converge. Next to the station stands a circular glassy tower twelve stories high. An office building? A waterfront apartment complex? No, a bicycle garage with outdoor decks and ramps of auxiliary bike racks at its feet. Nearby floats a permanently moored ferry converted into yet more parking space. At every train stop, outside every apartment building and school, beneath every overpass, bike racks. Chained to every tree and light pole and stair railing, bikes.
My favorite bike-ish innovation is the roadside trash can with a contraption bolted on top to to ricochet incoming items down the chute. The passing cyclist can heave a sandwich wrapper in there without having to so much as pause.
Likely their addiction to cycling makes some contribution to the gross national longevity of the Netherlanders. For sure it makes this country a paradise if you are a leg man.
hutch adventure 2 
I also saw the bikes in Amsterdam. Did you ride one yourself? Fun description, Bill
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Great memories – we were warned that bikes have the right of way – always! Pix of the bike garage and clever parents transporting both kids & essentials on bikes occupy space on our computer, too. We loved the buildings housing the paintings from museums to homes – and hours of good viewing. Oh, yes….just say cheese and did you try the herring at the fish stands? Enjoy.
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I love Amsterdam!!! ❤ ❤ ❤
🙂
hugs Bill!!!! xoxoxox
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I remember dodging bikes and being awed by the giant bicycle parking lot at the waterfront. I was also told that Bicycle theft in Amsterdam was big business. It was not unusual for a local to see someone else riding a bicycle that used to belong to them. I was also told that the locals were so inured to it that they seldom tried to recover stolen bikes. They just treated the theft as another of life’s little setbacks and acquired another bike (perhaps one that had been stolen from someone else).
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I love these mini mind vacations you are treating me to! Always wanted to visit Amsterdam!
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Hey Bill,
Thanks for another good one.
I assume you are leg man, so you are in paradise. No virgins in this paradise, though.
Ha, ha…
Love your blog.
Jean
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So glad that you didn’t get wheeled and diced by the bike hordes. At least you didn’t get the fumes that you would have inhaled had you been in Bangkok.
It sounds like you have been having some lovely trips and how great it is for you to figuratively take us along with you. Where are you off to next?
XOXXOX
Jan
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I have a nice scar on my left leg from having been run over by a ‘fiets’ (bicycle) when i was in Maastricht many years ago. woke up in the hospital with everyone p*ssed off at me because humans DO NOT have the right of way in Holland, the bikes do and the rider was injured as well!!! Well, at least i have a permanent souvenir of my visit! Have fun, Bill!
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Not only watch out for bikes, sometimes two abreast and the riders holding hands but a lot of dog poop on the sidewalk! Jacki Silkovitz
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Ahh yes, from all of our trips to den Haag, I can attest to the dangers of moving bikes. We now have a pretty good idea of which lane belongs to them and which belongs to us but one must stay ever vigilant. Dale K
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Thank you Bill! We continue to live vicariously through you and your travels!
What a glorious glimpse into Amsterdam. Sooo many bicycles. Who knew?
Reminds us of the Vespas in Rome. Buzzing around everywhere like a hive of busy bees.
We send you our love,
Thank you for sharing your special moments.
Wishing you safe travels & sweet blessings along the way,
Susan & Peter
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